How to Market to Millennials: The Ultimate Guide

As of 2019, there are around 73 million millennials in America. That’s well over one-fifth of the entire population of the country. Indeed, millennials have officially overtaken the baby-boomers as the largest adult population in the US. And the number’s only going up. Generational change has a significant impact on society all-round. The implications stretch into all facets of life. One of them is marketing. The rise of the millennial has a direct impact on the life of a marketer. The question of the day is no longer ‘how to market to baby boomers?’ It’s ‘how to market to millennials?’

Here for answers? Keep reading.

What’s a Millennial?

Successful millennial marketing begins with understanding your audience. Marketers have to get into the millennial mind. It’s the best way to learn how to tap into the $200 billion of annual buying power millennials represent.

Let’s consider what, and who, millennials are.

The What

At its simplest, ‘millennial’ is the generational term given to anyone born after Generation X (these guys came after the so-called ‘baby boomers’), and before Generation Z. As you can probably surmise, millennials are also known as Generation Y. Go figure. Anyway, the millennial ‘window’ of years changes depending on who you ask. That said, it’s roughly between 1981 (or 1982) and 1996. If you’re born in these years, well, congratulations, you’re officially a millennial.

The Who

Now let’s turn to the ‘who’. This is of utmost marketing importance. Remember, we’re all a product of the life and times we grew up in. The world a generation grows up in is largely responsible for how it turns out. For millennials, in general, that’s created a sect of society who are highly-educated, hard-working, ambitious, tech-savvy, family-oriented, and achievement-oriented. All good qualities. However, they can also be attention-seeking, entitled, job-hopping, pampered, and wary of authority. That makes for an eclectic and diverse range of people! Marketing to millennials can be tough going. Read on to learn how to do it.

How to Market to Millennials: 7 Crucial Methods

Okay, we know who they are. Now, let’s go through what they want to see in your marketing endeavors.

1. Make it Authentic

Authenticity is the key to your marketing success. It’s the number one thing millennials want to see. They’re tired of being sold to. Tired of advertisements. Tired of being manipulated by corporate interests. Tired of having products and services shoved down their throats at every turn.

Instead, they want something real!

They want to know who you are. They want a face to the name. They want a front row seat and a backstage pass to your company. They need to see reality and get genuine value provided from you.Want their trust? You have to earn it first.

2. Traditional Ads Don’t Work

Old-fashioned advertising is dead. Millennials just don’t trust it. They will not buy from a banner-ad, pop-up, or anything else. These ads are deemed untrustworthy and are unlikely to stimulate clicks. You’re more likely to succeed from reviews and recommendations. That can come with social proof (testimonials work well) and solid brand identity. Focus on developing both to be successful in your marketing.

3. Leverage Influencers

We’ve just seen how social proof and recommendations make a difference. That’s the power of an influencer. Trusted people with large followings will help sway the audience you’re trying to tap into. Remember, millennials are tech-savvy. They’re online, on their devices, for hours every day. Social media is awash with millennial activity. The internet is alight with millennial traffic. Influencers have a captive audience. Work with the influencer, access their audience.

4. Make it Personal

Millennials are unimpressed by outbound marketing. Bad news 1980s marketing man. Your magazine ads, direct mail, and radio spots aren’t gonna work anymore. Millennials want more. They want genuine substance in the form of customer-focused, personalized marketing. Here’s the basic idea: this is about them, not you. Make a millennial feel important and they’ll love you for it. Invest in personalized marketing capabilities. Your ads, emails, and content should all be specific to the person you’re targeting.

5. Content is Still King

Content marketing isn’t dead. In fact, more content is being produced and consumed than ever before. People still rely on it in their lives and use it to inform their decision-making. However, the type of content is changing with the times. There’s still room for a good old-fashioned blog post. But video content is becoming increasingly important to marketing success. Likewise, all content should be optimized for mobile consumption. Then you have the development of virtual and augmented reality to think about too.

6. Have a Worthy Cause

Millennials are interested in ethics. They want to know you’re a worthy company. They want to feel good about purchasing from you. They will pay attention to your company morals and judge you according to what they see. Indeed, millennials are more likely to use your product or service when they know they’re contributing to a good cause, or actively tackling a world issue, etc by giving you their hard-earned money. Does your company work with a charity? Does it donate to good causes? Does it lend its hand to a world issue? If it doesn’t, then consider doing so now. It’s in your direct financial interest to make millennials feel good about buying from you.

You get to feel better about yourself in the process!

7. Get Social

Social media marketing is a major asset to anyone marketing to millennials. For instance, 87% of millennials use Facebook. That’s more than any other generation. And the same goes for other platforms too. Millennials love their smartphones. They love scrolling, liking, sharing, and watching. Any marketer worth their salt must be utilizing social media in their efforts.

Time to Get Marketing

There you have it: how to market to millennials in 7 essential ways. Millennials now make up a major part of the adult population in the US. And that comes with serious purchasing power. Marketers need to tap into this audience. However, this is an enormously diverse bunch of people, who won’t fall for old-fashioned practices. Marketers need to adapt to the times and learn what these millennials want to see. Hopefully, the information above has been enlightening!

Looking for help with your millennial marketing campaign? Contact us today to learn more about our creative advertising approaches.

by Cindy Haynes

Top 7 Content Marketing Trends to Watch Out for in 2019

Are you curious about the newest content marketing trends? I know I am. But I'm a curious person by nature.

For example, did you know that 71% of buyers say they’re turned off by content that sounds like a sales pitch? That’s one of the reasons content marketing has been so successful. Content creators design articles, podcasts, and videos that educate and entertain.

The content doesn’t sell.

It builds trust and authority. If you’ve been developing content for a while but you’re just not seeing a return on your investment, stay tuned. The sections below outline the newest trends for 2019.

When you’re ready to see your authority skyrocket, drop the sales pitch. Use the themes below and give your audience what they want. Are you all buckled in? Good, then read on.

1. Long-Form Content

In recent years, there’s been a growing shift toward long-form content (aka posts over 1500 words). Recently, Buzzsumo analyzed over 100 million articles. They found a correlation between the length of an article and its popularity. Longer posts tended to be ranked higher in search engines.

Well, that trend is continuing into 2019, but there’s a catch.

The key word is correlation. Just because popular posts tend to be longer does not mean the opposite must be true. In other words, just because you build a long post doesn’t mean it sure to become popular.

We posit that the length of a popular post is the byproduct of something else altogether. And that “something” is the secret sauce. It separates expert content creators from their less successful brothers and sisters. It’s called thoroughness.

They build articles focused on a goal, be it to inform or entertain. And they don’t stop to worry about word count. They stop only when they meet their goal.

It just happens that it usually takes more than 1500 words.

2. Webinars, Webcasts, and Live Video

YouTube is taking over the world. Actually, video as a whole is taking over the world. YouTube is just a sign of Video’s supremacy.

Unfortunately writing a script, filming, and editing can take a great deal of energy. 81% of content producers say Video is the hardest type of content to create. But it doesn’t need to be.

If you’re an authority in a field, people will want to know what you have to say. They aren’t concerned about what you’re wearing or how often you blink on camera. They don’t care about whether you stumble over your words once or twice.

They want your insight.

If you aren’t an authority, then borrow someone else’s. Find a person in your field and interview them. Audiences love genuine settings and off-the-cuff conversations.

3. Voice Search

Did you know that in 2018, 84% of buyers admitted they used their smartphones to access business-related content online? That’s amazing when you consider that the first smartphone was built in 1992, and didn’t really become popular until 10 years later. Now they’re ruling not only our personal lives, but our work lives as well.

Now, another trend is moving us toward another burgeoning technology. It’s called voice technology. If you’ve ever used Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri, you know what we’re talking about.

So how is this tech connected to content creation?

Well, you can take one of two approaches to take advantage of this trend. The first is to create more audio content. Think podcasts.

Second, you can design the rest of your content for audio technology in the same way that you design it for search engines. You need to keep in mind that search engines look for different things when they run queries for audio users.

They look for keywords or phrases that use natural language. They also tend to work better with a question and answer format, which is why Q and A webpages do so well.

4. Originality

You’re not the only one building content. If you’re only using Brian Dean’s Skyscraper Technique and nothing else, you’re in trouble. There are too many other people doing the same thing.

The problem is it’s all saying the same thing. It’s just repackaged. This approach worked fine when hundreds of people were using it. There was still plenty of internet to go around.

It worked fine when thousands were using it. Tens of thousands. Now there are millions of people who have build content aggregate sites.

It’s led to a homogenous internet. It’s like cable tv, back before satellites and the internet, when every channel was showing repeats of the same shows.

If you want to build a following, change it up. Sure, you can write about the same subject matter. Simply choose a different perspective.

Take a different stand. Breath your own life into the topic. Give it something to make it stand out rather than writing the same dry, repackaged information.

5. Brand Storytelling

Brand positioning in marketing is everything. Remember, we’re in the age of information overload. A thousand of your competitors are saying the same things, in the same ways, to your audience.

In the last section, we talked about the importance of standing out from the chaff. Well, another way to do it is by filtering your content through a brand filter.

Continue building content, but first, make sure it’s in line with your brand. That includes focusing on your niche and using a voice and style consistent with your brand. Use all relevant brand positioning tips to keep your content laser focused.

6. Personalization

One of the biggest current marketing trends is to build more content for each stage of a buyer’s awareness. Long gone are the days of one-size-fits-all style content. The more accurately you can give a person what they need, the more they’ll appreciate it.

The more they, and others like them, appreciate it, the more popular your content becomes. Fortunately, we’re in the day and age of heatmaps and exit polls. We have the technology to determine what stage of awareness your web traffic fits into.

It gives you greater insight into how to entice your audience. It gives you get in their heads and meet them where they are, rather than where you think they might be.

7. Influencer Reversal

It’s not uncommon to sponsor digital content influencers. To pay them each time one of their viewers watches your ad on their channel or clicks on your link. But what about the opposite?

What if rather than paying them to put your content on their channel, you ask them to build content for your channel? You still reap the benefits of connecting to the digital influencer’s audience, but now you own the content.

It’s a one-time fee rather than a monthly fee, and it stays up as long as you want it.

Try These Content Marketing Trends

Now that you know about the latest content marketing trends, it’s time to them into action. We recommend you start by developing your brand voice and style. You can introduce them to any piece of content you create from here on out.

Then move on to the other strategies we laid out in the sections above. If you found this information helpful, then hop, skip, and jump over to our vast library full of other brilliant articles on all things marketing.

by Cindy Haynes

Why Content is King (And Always Will Be)

Many businesses increased their production of content for their websites in the last year hoping to compete in the ever-changing and challenging digital space. It seems that content is in every sense of the word king in 2019 and publishing doesn't show any signs of slowing down.

But not all content is created equal.  Not all of it adds value to a business or its products. It's important that you create high-quality content that engages your potential customers and brings new purchasers to your brand. Your content should never be self serving asa as such should be relevant to your customers. They need to feel like you are on the same page with them and you can do that by showing how your products will make their lives easier.

Listen, I know at times I can ramble on but trust me, I've self-edited myself here. So if you would like to learn more about creating great content and to explore all of the reasons why it remains an important place to spend for your business to be successful this year, please, keep on reading.

It Gives You the Best Opportunity for SEO

Search engine optimization is a very popular marketing strategy for businesses of all sizes, and content is a huge part of how it's done. It used to be that you could just seed your website pages with keywords to get them to rank on Google.

Well not anymore. Today, Google ranks web pages based on the quality and relevancy of their content. That means if you have great posts on your website, you're more likely to rank for all sorts of things.

Try to research high traffic keywords to find out what your customers are looking to learn. You can also visit websites like Reddit to see what people who buy your products are talking about. Then, use your content to answer questions that are often asked there.

It Encourages Your Customers to Engage With You

When you write a blog post or make a video and post it on your website, your customers have the opportunity to see what you're about. They can then leave a comment to engage with the content and let other people know what their thoughts and feelings are.

I believe this can really foster a great relationship with your customers. The kind that makes them feel like they play a vital role in your business and its success. Because, let's face it, they do. They'll want to share their opinions and advice with others who visit your website. That means if they find your products helpful and your content helpful as well they'll be likely to leave compliments.

And now for a little pro tip: If you want to make the most of the interactions between your customers, try creating a forum for your website where they can go to discuss your products. This is particularly good advice if you're in a very small niche.

They'll really enjoy having other people to talk to who share their specialized knowledge and needs. And by creating a feeling of community on your website, people will be encouraged to come back more often and engage with others.

It Can Generate New Leads

Content used for search engine optimization is meant to pull in people who might be browsing about topics relevant to your products. By choosing the right topics to write about, you can reach people who are in the latter stages of the sales funnel and encourage them to buy your products.

You should have content targeted at all of your potential customers. That way, you will be able to reach the widest market. The more audience members you appeal to, the more sales you can make.

Try to come up with various customer identities that you want to appeal to and write content for that market. For example, if you sell hair conditioner, you will want to appeal to an audience of young professionals, an audience of mothers, and have posts for an audience of grandmothers as well.

It Adds Value to Your Brand and Products

When you are trying to sell someone something, you don't want to tell them they just have to take your word for it. You want to be able to demonstrate the value of your products.

When you are selling online, it can be especially difficult to reach your customers and let them know that your products work. Content gives you the opportunity to open that dialogue and educate them on why they need to buy what you're selling.

Content is King and Establishes You as an Expert

When you write high-quality articles for your website and publish content that is relevant to your customers, then you establish yourself as an expert on the subject. The more information you have available, the more it seems like you know what's best for your customers.

It Encourages Loyalty From Your Customers

When your customers are drawn in by your content and you have established yourself as an expert in your field, then they will come to you when they have a question.

They will look to your website for more information about your products and use that knowledge to educate themselves for future purchases. That gives you the opportunity to suggest more products to your existing customers to help encourage their brand loyalty.

People like to buy from someone who sounds like they know what they are talking about and the content on your website could be just what you need to gain an edge.

Content Can Sell Products

Content is king and will likely remain so for the foreseeable future. Today's customers like to interact with their favorite brands and content gives them that opportunity through sharing and comments.

And not only that, great content can bring you new customers and educate them on your products to encourage them to buy. But there are also other steps you can take to improve your business' reach.

Contact us today for help with your marketing strategy to sell more units than ever in 2019. My ramble is now officially over.

by James Rosene

Video Marketing for Business: 6 Reasons Why It's a Powerful Tool

Not sure if you should consider video content to market your business? Well consider this for starters: Over 1.8 billion people tune in to YouTube nowadays.

It is undeniable that video content is easier to take in and digest compared to other methods. Don't stick to the past. Consider using video marketing for business today!

Still not buying into it? Uncertain if the costs and effort are worth it?

To help you decide, here are six reasons how video marketing is an effective tool for building your brand:

1. Google Likes Video Content

One of the benefits of video marketing how it relates to search engines like Google. Google is all about enhancing the user experience and nothing is as intuitive as video content.

Google's algorithms are more likely to pull up your website due to embedded video content. This configuration makes it easier for you to show up on the number 1 result page.

Also, keep in mind that Google acquired YouTube a few years back. Putting promotional videos on YouTube and linking viewers back to your site will not only increase brand awareness but boost SEO efforts as well.

This does mean you have to remember to have your videos optimized for SEO. Make use of interesting titles and descriptions. Include a link back to your website as well and plan out your keywords accordingly.

2. Videos See More Traffic

Here is another good reason why you should use video marketing. Customers love watching videos.

Videos are capable of engaging both the auditory and visual senses. This helps people remember the content of the video. It's widely believed that people recall information from videos better than they can from written text.

Retention isn't the only factor here. Videos are shorter to digest compared to reading a long block of text. This may explain why more people watch videos than reading blog posts.

In fact, in 2015, about 55% of all mobile traffic accounted for was due to video content.

Another good reason why videos are likely to see more traffic is that viewers tend to share what they see. Take a quick look at your Facebook timeline and notice how many people share videos on a regular basis.

It's a trend that continues to grow. With customers staying a bit longer on your website when watching video content, you are bound to see an increase in traffic.

3. Videos Increase Conversion Rate

Businesses also tend to see a good return on investment as soon as they start using video content on their websites. That is how effective video marketing is when utilized properly.

The reason why businesses see video marketing as a high ROI tool is due to how it boosts lead to sale conversions.

Most users who watch a video about a product ended up buying it soon after. It proves that vision is our most dominant sense. People want to see a product in action before they spend money on it.

Don't know how to integrate videos on your website? We have a guide for you right here.

4. Videos Build Trust

One good reason why videos are useful for your website is that you can use them to build your brand. In this case, it's all about building trust through effective video marketing.

Now you can put a face and personality behind your brand. This creates a personal connection with your audience. You can captivate and influence your target customers by appealing to their emotions, persuading them to trust your brand.

Make sure to put out product reviews or presentations too. Viewers will take note of the recommendations that you broadcast and raise.

This degree of engagement and trust would enable your brand to build customer loyalty.

5. Videos Appeal to Mobile Users

Video content would tend to work hand in hand with mobile. After all, many of the views and hits garnered from video content are from mobile users. This makes sense since two-thirds of the world population have mobile devices.

Also, mobile users are more likely to watch ads on their devices, especially if these are on YouTube. They have easy access in the palm of their hands. It's quite a more accessible experience compared to watching videos on a desktop computer or TV.

One more reason why videos work better for the mobile crowd is that this type of content doesn't worry about screen crunch. Blog posts struggle when their text is too small to read on a smartphone. Videos take up the whole screen, making them more enticing to engage with.

6. Video Marketing Can Explain Everything

People might not understand what you offer. This may be the first time they come across your product or service. Instead of showing them graphs or a long blog post, why not educate them with a video?

It's easier to relay information in video form. It provides both an auditory and visual experience. The increased rate in receiving information makes this the perfect teaching medium.

This way, you can help customers grasp what you put on the table. Whether this is in understanding complicated concepts or learning about the business and the products and services you offer.

Animation clips and infographics embedded into the short video also increase the ease of explaining things. This should help in making the video content interesting. It's better than having a video focusing solely on a person talking.

You should also consider the use of effective pre-production methods to help you with making your video stand out. This includes proper scriptwriting or using a teleprompter if you intend to have a host in front of the camera.

Fulfill Your Video Marketing for Business Needs Today!

Video marketing for businesses makes it easier to attract more customers and build up your brand. With the popularity of video content on the rise, it is time to take advantage of the trend to reach more people, engage and start a conversation.

When it comes to your needs with video marketing, we offer a variety of services that you can choose from. Contact us to learn more and we'll help you get started.

by Will Rossiter

Top 10 Content Marketing Tips for Your Tampa Business

Did you know that 97 percent of marketers are implementing a content marketing strategy that follows a formula for success?

It is no secret that a strong content marketing strategy is beneficial to your company. But the question now lies in what makes for effective content?

Without the proper digital content marketing knowledge, it may be difficult to produce creative content, discover your targeted audience or even stand out against the sea of content on the internet.

Whether you are new to the world of digital marketing or you are looking to take your digital content marketing to the next level, this post will provide you with the best content marketing tips designed to set your business up for success.

Quality Over Quantity

Many business owners perceive digital content marketing as the more they produce, the better results they will see. While you want to produce as much content as possible, it is important to make sure that each piece of content that you publish is insightful, targeted and effective.

Basically, you want to perceive each piece of content as serving a purpose or sending a message. Then focus on relaying that purpose or message at the best of your capabilities. It is more effective to publish four excellent pieces of content a month as opposed to 20 mediocre pieces of content a month.

However, this doesn't mean that you have to be the next F. Scott Fitzgerald. Don't stress yourself out about crafting the perfect blog post, tweet or video. Make sure that you are focusing on quality over quantity but in a healthy and reasonable aspect. If your audience finds your content helpful, then you have done a great job at executing your content marketing strategy.

Know What Works For Your Audience

What works for someone else's target audience might not work for your target audience. Your content marketing strategy should be geared toward your specific audience. This includes demographic, gender, location and consumer goals. It is important to sort through your content to analyze your content marketing strategy as a whole and how to refine it for your audience.

You might be wondering how to decipher this information. Luckily, the answer is much simpler than you think: Google Analytics. Google Analytics's job is to track and report website traffic numbers. These numbers show who your audience is, where they are from, what their interests are and much more. Once you have a solid idea of this information, you can take your analytics and guide your content marketing strategy along with it.

You can use this information to decipher what tools and platforms are working better than others and focus more on them. You can gain an understanding of what content your audience responds to the most. Then simply recreate that content in various storytelling forms.

Repurpose Your Content

There is nothing wrong with reusing content that you have already published. In fact, doing so is even encouraged because it is much easier to repurpose content as opposed to creating brand-new content.

For example, if you find that 15 of your blog posts from 2018 did well and received a lot of engagement, you can repurpose them into a downloadable e-book. E-books are great for driving traffic toward your website and email subscription incentives.

If you already have an e-book that receives a lot of attention, you can turn it into 15 publishable blog posts. This is why evergreen content is so beneficial. Because you can repurpose it to use for later use when you are strapped for time or in a creative rut.

Create A Multimedia Strategy

The more content you plan ahead and the better organized you are, the more effective your digital marketing strategy will be. It is essential to create a content marketing calendar at the beginning of each month. This will allow you to appropriately plan content for holidays, events, sales and any other important dates you want to focus on. It also allows you to fill in the other days with evergreen content, which is content that can be published throughout the entire year.

Creating a monthly content marketing plan prevents you from missing any important days. It will also allow you to stay consistent with producing content. It is important to post content often to keep your audience engaged and to constantly lead traffic toward your website. Planning your content will prevent you from slacking off or running out of ideas.

You can also use your content marketing calendar to determine what content will be posted on what platform. The more details that you incorporate into your content calendar, the more effective it will be. Thus, the easier your life will be throughout the month.

Encourage Your Whole Team To Create Content

Many businesses run into the problem of not having enough time to create content consistently. Or they don't have enough funds to hire a creative team dedicated to producing content. Luckily, businesses don't need either of those resources to regularly produce content.

All you need is a team that is dedicated to their job with an ability to transform their ideas into creative content. Your team members, most likely, already have a lot of ideas in their head just waiting to be published and put on your website for the world to see. That way, the role of content creating falls on the team as a whole as opposed to a single person.

You can also offer rewards for the team members who produce the best content. Incentives encourage employees to produce great content that is both effective and publishable.

Content Marketing Tips Proven Effective

When creating a digital content marketing strategy, it is imperative to consider your audience over everything else. No matter what content marketing tips you use in your strategy, if you are not doing so with your target audience in mind, you won't get very far.

Implementing a proper digital content marketing strategy can increase the overall success of your business. Make sure to visit our blog for more expert advice on content marketing.

by Cindy Haynes

A Business Owner's Guide to Understanding Brand Positioning in Marketing

Curious about brand positioning in marketing?

Did you know that 59% of people prefer to buy new products from brands they already know? Did you also know that a simple thing like color consistency can increase brand recognition by up to 80%?

How you present your brand can affect everything from brand recognition to conversion rate. The key is to establish a link between the essential features or benefits your audience is looking for and your company. That's the core of it.

How you get there, unfortunately, isn't always so clear-cut. In the sections below, we'll delineate exactly what brand positioning is and how it affects your bottom line. Read on to discover more.

What is Brand Positioning in Marketing?

The concept of brand positioning first began back in the '60s. Two successful advertising executives, by the name of Jack Trout and Al Reis, wrote their iconic book, "The Battle for Your Mind." With it, they built a case for the benefits of establishing a connection between what consumers want and what your company offers.

That's called your brand.

The idea begins with understanding your customers. What problems do they need to be solved? What are their wants and needs?

After you truly understand your customers, you can begin building a brand which specifically speaks to them. For instance, FedEx built an empire by targeting a single, specific need: When your package "absolutely, positively has to be there overnight."

They redesigned their entire company using that slogan as a foundation. Here are a few more you may have heard:

• Subway: "Eat Fresh"
• Zurich: "Because Change Happens"
• Superdream: "Normal Sleeps. Super Dreams."
• MasterCard: "For Everything Else, There's MasterCard"
• New York Times: "All the News That's Fit to Print"

None of these brand slogans would have had the same effect if they didn't target their audience's specific need. They may not have worked at all. Remember, branding always begins with deep customer research.

Slogan vs Tagline

We're focusing on these two elements because they're the essence of your brand positioning. They're your marketing mission statement and your promise to your consumers. It's worth noting that although both tagline and slogan are often used interchangeably, they serve different purposes.

A slogan encompasses what a company stands for, its mission, and how it's helping its customers. Slogans may be different from one campaign to another. They can also be longer than taglines.

A tagline is a catchy quip designed to evoke images of your brand. They tend to be more lighthearted. They also build associations between two things, one being your company.

Also, taglines are shown more often next to a company logo. They're the cornerstone of brand awareness in your advertising campaigns. Slogans tend to project a long-term, overarching sense of your company's values and promises.

So what makes a great slogan?

Slogans are at the heart of any branding strategy. Research has shown five elements that set great slogans apart:

• They're memorable
• They include a key benefit
• They differentiate the brand
• They impart positive feelings about the brand

Great taglines carry the same key elements, but they're often shorter. They also place more importance on memorable qualities.

We've also put together a list of other brand positioning tips. Read them over before you rebrand your business.

Ways Positioning May Benefit You

If you're wondering what solid brand positioning may do for your company, we've listed a few below:

Sets You Apart

It's your ticket to stake out a unique territory. One which your competitors can't reach because your offer is unique. Determine which elements differentiate your company from similar companies and focus on those.

Laser Focuses Your Target

As we've mentioned multiple times, it all begins with research. Design your company around needs that already exist. In doing so, you guarantee people will want what you offer. That research will give you deep insight into how to approach consumers to tell them what you have to offer.

By using specific phrasing and aiming at particular problems, you can narrow your audience. That translates to higher conversion rates and lower advertising budgets.

Drives Services and Pricing

Positioning your business against competition will do two things. It'll help you understand what services to offer. It'll determine how you should price them. Are you a high-priced boutique? Or maybe a one-stop-shopping establishment?

Focus on what sets you apart. Use that to establish new services and create your prices.

It Guides Decision Making

When you establish your slogan, use it as a filter when making a decision. Will your choice lead your company closer to your brand positioning? Or lead further away?

Provides More Sales and Marketing Tools

Your sales and marketing teams can use that same filter. It'll improve their communication with consumers. By explaining how you can satisfy their needs, you dramatically increase sales. It gives your teams a connect-the-dots strategy for approaching customers.

Putting Your Strategy to Work

Once you've done your research and developed a positioning strategy, it's time to implement it. Start with your employees.

They must not only understand your position, but they must also express it in everything they do. Every decision they make. It's easy to understand when you speak about client relationships.

Take note of all the ways your employees interact with clients. Ensure each touch point mirrors your brand position. Does it closely reflect your brand, or doesn't it? That should be the basis for every communication.

Your message should be consistent throughout your channels:

• Company name
• Logo
• Product name
• All ads
• Public relations
• Customer relations
• Email communication
• Sales programs
• Recruiting
• Conferences
• Sponsorships

It's easy to see how sales and marketing teams can use your positioning. But what about upper-level management? Their focus on a ten-thousand-foot view of things. They don't regularly connect with customers, so when do they use it?

The answer? Everywhere.

They're no different than other staff. Your brand positioning should guide every decision they make for the company. Is it going to lead the company closer to that ephemeral, ideal positioning? Or further away?

What's Next?

Now it's time to make a decision. Is your brand positioning in marketing up to snuff? Or is it time to rebrand?

If you can't decide, look first at the research you performed on your target audience. If it's skimpy (most are), then it's time to rebrand. If not, check whether your tagline and slogan meet the requirements above.

If you found this information helpful, take five minutes to browse our library full of other advertising articles.

So long and good luck!

by Cindy Haynes

The Top 10 Benefits of Hiring a Professional Marketing Agency

Most business owners start their own companies because they have a passion for what they do. Hey, that's what we did. But that doesn't mean they are adept at performing all the duties associated with running a company. Here at EraserFarm, we're all wearing a multitude of different hats. But that comes with the territory I guess. Which is why many business owners learn new skills to help them run their company more efficiently. And when possible, smart owners also hire employees with specific skills they don't have. But you don't always need a full time or even part-time employee to run certain things. Especially when it comes to marketing.

Outsourcing your marketing to a professional marketing agency often makes the most sense on a variety of levels. Before you do any marketing hiring, keep on reading to learn the top 10 benefits to hiring one.

1. Hiring a Marketing Agency is Cost Effective

The advantages and disadvantages of advertising are numerous and the costs associated with marketing is usually considered a disadvantage. However, since paying for marketing is a tax deduction and when it's done right it brings in new business, it's not entirely all negative. Especially when you hire a marketing agency because you don't have to spend money on advertising or hire a headhunter to find the perfect candidate. Not only that, you save money by only paying for what you need (Who doesn't love that?) while having access to the latest marketing technology and a whole team of professionals. If you paid for that same level of quantity and quality in-house, well, naturally, that would require you shelling out wads of cash in the hundreds of thousands range. Unsubscribe, you say? Agreed. 

2. Saves You Time

You're busy running a company. And like I said, that means you wear a lot of hats but the good news is now you can take one of them off. While you should know something about marketing, it's no longer your job to be an expert. There are many pros and cons of advertising. One of the cons is that it can be time-consuming to keep up with the latest trends. But one of the pros of a marketing agency is that they handle your marketing while you focus on making sure you can handle all the new business you'll enjoy from hiring the right company. That sounds like a good deal doesn't it?

3. Access to a Team of Marketing Experts

If you hired an employee to handle your marketing efforts, you'd only be able to take advantage of their knowledge about marketing. Most marketing experts focus on one or two areas. They can't possibly know everything, especially since Google constantly updates their rules and regulations. But a team of pros means you have a well-rounded group of experts who together know everything and anything about marketing.

4. Fresh Ideas

Your employees are highly valued because of what they can bring to the table. But after a while, working together often means you begin to think alike as well. We're all individuals here, not a pack of lemmings walking towards a cliff. It may prevent you and your employees from developing fresh ideas for your company. And hiring an outside team means you have a team with a fresh perspective on what makes your company awesome.

So, in other words, go find a marketing company who has worked with companies like yours before. I would put my money on it that they already know what it takes to make your company succeed.

5. Access to a Wide Variety of Marketing Techniques

Marketing experts can't all be great at everything, as much as some of them think they are. It's usually best to focus on a few areas to become an expert on. At a marketing agency, they can afford to hire experts who are great at social media and other experts who know SEO better than the back of their hand. And together, they all form a great team whose sole job it is to make your brand shine.

6. Helps You Avoid Hiring an Employee

Marketing hiring isn't fun if you're trying to do it in-house. It can get expensive and take a lengthy amount of time. You don't have to worry that they'll suddenly decide to quit. You don't have to pay out benefits or pay for their health insurance. And if you do decide to part ways with your marketing agency, it's far easier to fire them than it is firing an employee.

7. Ability to Scale Your Marketing Efforts

One of the advantages and disadvantages of advertising is knowing how to properly scale your marketing efforts so you get the right type of exposure without going over budget. When you hire in-house, part of your budget goes to pay their salary and insurance. Hiring an agency means you can focus more dollars on marketing which allows you to scale your efforts more easily. And as you grow, it's easier to work with an agency who can work with you rather than having to pause to hire additional employees.

8. No Training Necessary

Training a new employee takes time. Then there's making sure they fit in with your corporate culture. When you hire a marketing agency, they'll help you focus on and develop your brand so they can use it for marketing purposes. That's all the training they need. They don't need to learn how to use your computer systems because they're using their own. And they also use their own technology to help your brand become more competitive.

9. Access to the Latest Technology

There are many pros and cons of advertising. The expense of technology is one of them. Technology constantly changes, especially when it comes to how we market our companies. And it costs money to keep up with it both in terms of education and arming yourself with the right programs. Any marketing agency worth their salt will always be on top of the latest technology and they're happy and eager to share that technology to help promote your company.

10. Increased Security

By 2021, it's expected that cost of cybercrime damages will exceed $6 trillion. And it's really difficult to keep up with hackers these days. Working with a marketing agency, they can help ensure that your website is a safe haven for your customers to shop at. You can trust they can help ensure that your site isn't hacked and that it won't crash at an inopportune moment. Even small businesses have to worry about cybercrime so make sure your site is protected at all times.

Work With Us

We like to consider ourselves a cutting-edge marketing agency. And trust me when I say we eat, sleep, and breath the latest technology. We're kind of nerdy in that way, I admit.  But we truly do  love to help clients we partner with succeed. And we'd love to hear from you. Whether you have a question or you're ready to hire us, click here to set up a time for us to chat.

by James Rosene

Why You Need to Start Using Account-Based Marketing Tactics

Have you noticed that your current marketing strategies seem to be losing steam?

Are you looking for more ways to learn how to cross-sell and upsell to your current clients?

Concerned that you're not making as personal of a connection as you could be with your target audience?

If so, then account-based marketing will likely be able to help you do all that and more.

In this post, we'll fill you in on why account-based marketing tactics should be used as a part of any strong marketing strategy.

We'll help you to define account marketing, understand the benefits that it offers, and connect you with the professionals who can help you to take advantage of it.

What Is Account Based Marketing?

Before we begin to talk about the advantages of using account-based marketing tactics, let's come to a clear understanding of what it is.

In a nutshell, it's the idea of advertising to your current customers by showing them products and services that relate to their specific needs. ABM is influenced by things like their past orders, their overall buying intent, and how they most like to be engaged.

Think of it almost as a kind of personalized marketing strategy for each individual account.

It's somewhat similar to the idea of market segmentation, as well. That is the process of breaking down and classifying your customers into smaller subgroups based on their needs and demographics.

It also works to directly target the decision-makers and buyers behind each account.

Essentially, the goal of account-based marketing isn't just to collect as many random leads as you can.

Instead, it's to show the right kinds of content to the most specific audience possible -- that you already know has a need for what you're showing them.

Often, you'll need to create customer avatars and personas to help you to connect the right buyer profiles with the best products for them. So, you can expect to do a lot of research, as well as to do with some serious trial and error at the start.

However, the payoff is huge and well worth the effort.

In fact, nearly 85% of marketing professionals state that ABM is more effective than their other marketing tactics.

Why Account-Based Marketing Works

Now that you have a better understanding of what account marketing is, let's talk more about why using these tactics is such an important part of your overall marketing strategy.

Read on to learn why there's no time like the present to start using account-based marketing tactics.

Leverage the Power of Personalization

Did you know that personalizing an email can increase your open rates by up to 20%?

After all, how likely are you to take the time to open, let alone read through fully, a generic message that you know was sent to hundreds of other people?

When you take the time to get personal, as well as to address in the body of an ad's text the specific needs and concerns of a client? You greatly increase your chances of doing business with them.

Your customers will feel much more like a priority, and you can prove to them that you've taken the time to get to know their pain points -- and the possible solutions you can offer.

Shorten Your Overall Sales Cycle

You're already well aware that the overall length of your sales cycle has a huge impact on not only your sales and revenue but also on your marketing strategy as a whole.

Account-based marketing tactics help to shorten the sales cycle.

First and foremost, they work because you're talking to the primary decision maker of a lead or current client. This means your message isn't just less likely to get lost in translation. It also means that the "yes or no" can happen much more quickly.

You'll also be able to reach those primary decision makers on the channels that, based on past research, you know they prefer to use.

In addition to helping you to keep your sales cycle as short as possible?

The chances are good that the impact of account-based marketing can help you to increase your overall order size, as well.

Your Strategies Are Informed by Hard Data

Yes, it's certainly important to get to know your individual clients on a personal, more abstract level.

After all, this kind of knowledge is what often helps you to develop and deliver effective and creative and brand-focused ad campaigns and content for your blog.

But if you really want to increase your sales revenue and outpace your competitors?

You also need tactics that are driven by data and analytics.

With account-based marketing, that's exactly what you'll get.

Plus, not only will your numbers improve.

This will also help to strengthen the relationship between your sales team and your marketing professionals. This means you'll be more likely to upsell, and that each team will help to hold the other accountable.

Start Using Account Based Marketing Tactics Today

In addition to helping you to answer the question, "What is account based marketing?"

We also hope that this post has helped you to see why taking advantage of the many account-based marketing tactics is the right idea for businesses of any size and within multiple industries.

When you're ready to start putting these ideas into practice, we invite you to reach out to us to get started.

We can't wait to help you leverage your current clients, connect with higher quality leads, and grow your revenue in the process.

by Cindy Haynes