Brand Engagement: 5 Successful Brand Strategy Examples
Are you trying to up your brand engagement? Customer retention relies heavily on brand engagement, and if you're not working on maintaining that, you might be seriously missing out. Check out Our Work to see some great examples.
There are plenty of strategies that you can use to successfully increase your brand engagement, but taking a few tips from previous successes is a great way to formulate your own.
Combining different brand strategy examples, using one at a time, or even just picking and choosing different parts of each one to make something that works for your specific brand can all be great methods of creating a custom brand strategy.
If you want to learn about a few successful brand strategies that you can pull ideas from, keep reading!
1. Dennys' Social Media Absurdity
This might be a strange one, but while social media has been a hot topic for all brand engagement experts, America's diner did it in a way that left some people bewildered and confused.
Dennys' Twitter and Tumblr (the latter is less popular now) accounts are downright whacky.
While all brands have their own methods of navigating social media, very few of them touch on the core of a late millennial and Gen Z audience. These things that are tweeted are sharable because they're so strange and appeal to the absurdist humor present in this age group.
These posts get shared because they're amusing, not because they're selling something. The audience wants to engage with the brand in hopes that their jokes get reposted.
It takes a special creative marketer to do this work. It can't try too hard, or it won't be successful. Touching on this specific type of internet humor can be a great leg up if other people in your niche aren't doing it.
2. Coca Cola's "Share A Coke" Campaign
Have you ever found a bottle of Coke with your name printed on the side and gotten a little bit excited? You wanted to buy it, right? Maybe you saw one with "mom" or "dad" or the name of your best friend and picked it up to give to them.
That's by design.
This is a great way to make your customer base feel seen and give them something that they can engage and have fun with.
Coca Cola gave their customers a tangible object that they could purchase and then share with social media. The technique is sales-y, clearly, but in a way that still gave customers something that they wanted.
How can you provide a personalized good or service to your customers that would be sharable and fun?
3. Taco Bell's Millennial Engagement Through Transparency
Taco Bell knows what it is. Similar to Dennys, it isn't fancy. It knows that it's cheap, typically "drunk food", and about as far away from the "real thing" as you can get while still being in the same general flavor profile.
They've done everything right as a brand, though, from their funny and sharable sauce packets to their fun social media presence and even some "real life" events.
Taco Bell doesn't pretend to be anything it's not, and in a social media age, that's important. Young audiences value transparency and are quick to turn on a company that is clearly doing phony work.
Advocating for a social cause that clearly goes against the actions of your brand? Don't try it. Pretending to be all about health and wellness while not selling a single healthy menu item? It won't get past the millennial or Gen Z eye.
They've allowed the "cheap" to become cool with everything from Taco Bell parties to Taco Bell weddings. They reach out to influencers who follow their general brand ethos (authentic, affordable, low-maintenance) to widen their scope.
Taco Bell's consumers know they're being sold to. The Bell doesn't try to hide it through phony marketing or niceties. They put themselves out there on all of their social platforms and have reaped the benefits.
4. Bringing Art to the People with KFB Law
Law firms can be a hard sell to the average person. You don't really notice them until you really need one, so making them stand out from the crowd is crucial.
How can you make that happen and engage an otherwise uninterested crowd?
Well, law isn't especially exciting (unless you're a lawyer), but art and design are incredibly engaging, especially for a younger crowd.
Making large and unavoidable art displays that show what the brand's intentions are is a great way of grabbing consumer attention, but hosting a gallery of local art is a great way to actually engage the local audience. Even better, the gallery benefits the Make a Wish Foundation rather than the company itself.
This shows a brand's concern with the local community (something that's important for a law firm) and also gives consumers something to do (via creating) and something to share (when they visit the gallery and take photos).
This gets the community involved in the service and alerts them to the existence of your brand!
5. More Broad: Sharing User-Generated Content
This is a strategy used by plenty of younger brands, and it's one that you should also employ. There's no one right way to do it, and it's impossible to pick one specific brand that's doing it the best.
Your audience is already using your product. If they're posting about you and tagging or hashtagging you, don't you want the world to know how much they appreciate your work?
Sharing their content does two things.
- It's free advertising
- It shows other people that "real people" love what you do. It's authentic (remember what we said about authenticity?)
Many brands choose to share this content to their stories; some choose to share it to their feeds. It all depends on the personal aesthetics of the social media pages. Doing this helps your brand and gives exposure to the pages of the peoples sharing.
This has been successful for brands that span across all industries. From tattooers to clothing companies to restaurants, this works.
Do These Brand Strategy Examples Appeal to You?
Finding a strategy that works for your specific brand can be difficult. You don't necessarily want to mimic what someone else is doing, but looking to brand strategy examples from other successful companies can be useful.
Brand engagement is critical to the success of a business, but it can be tough getting customers to interact with your work.
If you're looking for brand strategy tips, or for a whole brand strategy overhaul, contact us. We want to work with you on a campaign that's right for your customer base.
8 Social Media Marketing Mistakes to Avoid for Small Businesses
Businesses, both big and small, need to have a social media presence. Most companies know that social media can play a crucial role in generating leads and building brand awareness.
However, many startups and small businesses struggle to grow consistently on social media. Often, this isn’t due to lack of effort but the common social media marketing mistakes they make.
Whether it’s missing the point of social networks or oversaturating your content, small business marketers sometimes miss the mark. Before starting to advertise your business, it’s best to learn these 8 social media mistakes you’ll want to avoid when marketing your small company to customers.
1. Creating Many Social Media Accounts
Signing up for too many social media platforms─ especially when starting out─ can be a recipe for disaster. For small businesses, it’s more effective and much easier to master just a few platforms before branching out to more.
If you rush to create a presence on every social media platform out there and start publishing incoherently on all of them, you get confused. Then, you may consider abandoning some of your platforms, making things worse. This kind of behavior does nothing but boost your mistrust level with your audience, which is never good for business.
2. Not Having a Social Media Marketing Strategy
In Benjamin Franklin’s words, “If you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail.” Businesses without a social media marketing plan often find it hard to provide useful content to their audiences.
Without a clear social media strategy, you’ll find it challenging to know what to post, when to post, and what your audience likes and wants. Communication with customers might start to feel disjointed and confusing. A good social media strategy includes providing useful and engaging content that inspires action.
3. Deleting Negative Comments
Do your business a favor and be transparent. One of the common social media marketing mistakes small businesses make is deleting negative feedback. You need to show your audiences that you’ve got nothing to hide to build trust in your company
It’s best not to delete any negative comments and instead respond appropriately and as soon as possible. Negative feedback online provides an opportunity for you to engage with the user who left the comment and turn everything positive. Be respectful to whoever makes a comment and address the issue head-on.
4. Failing to Create Brand Consistency
What’s so unique about your brand? Let it shine through all your content. If you care about building a powerful brand that lasts, you need to focus on the consistency of your brand.
Don’t confuse consistency with monotony—if you're going to repurpose your content make sure you do it appropriately.
You should switch up your content, test different formats, and maintain variety. All the while, your content should remain consistent with your tone of voice, brand mission, and general look and feel. Being consistent also includes keeping your promises.
5. Buying Followers
While all social media networks don’t allow users to buy followers, the urge to buy followers might become more if you don’t have the numbers. Although several thousand followers can be purchased for a few dollars, you don’t want to go that route. Instagram and Facebook algorithms hate this activity.
In the past few years, there were so many fake profiles selling followers that even official ads attracted fake likes. Due to this, platforms like Facebook was forced to deactivate more than 2 billion fake accounts. Also, remember your ultimate goal is getting conversions, not building a subscriber count.
6. Promoting Yourself Too Much
Social media is typically about socializing and communicating. Not many people like promotional content ─ most people hate being sold to. If you decide to spend most of your time promoting yourself, you could lose social media followers.
Since your business needs to sell, use promotion subtly. While it’s okay to post promotional material now and then, the more engaging your posts are, the more sales you’ll attract. Don’t forget to set aside some of your time to interact with other people’s content, add value, and not just push yours down every follower’s throat.
7. Not Connecting and Networking
If you have many random followers who have little to contribute and don’t embody your ideal audience you will not yield the expected results. You want to draw in and engage potential customers, professionals, and peers with similar views and interests. These are the kind of people who will likely contribute to the success of your marketing efforts.
Make sure that your interactions are meaningful. That’s the true meaning of networking ─ adding value to relationships. Always find time to engage in discussions and send personalized messages.
By doing this, more people will likely pay attention to the things you say.
8. Following Every Trend
It’s not that you shouldn’t publish a buzzworthy post, but there’s a specific time and place to be trendy. If you’re a tech company, for example, posting about the latest baking style and over-capitalizing on movements to appear “youthful” can confuse your audience.
Jumping on social media trends and posting irrelevant content is perceived as a gimmick. It plants you in a sea of other people who jump on the bandwagon. By blindly doing what every other business out there is doing, you’re devaluing your unique voice and pushing away prospects who followed you for your individuality.
Trends are still useful in social media. But first, know what everyone is talking about and decide whether or not it’s relevant for your small business. If the trend seems to benefit your business, use thoughtful ways to join the conversation.
Be Sure to Avoid These Social Media Marketing Mistakes
Because billions of people use social media each day, social media marketing remains one of the best ways to expose your company to a large audience. However, only a few small businesses do well when it comes to using social media in the right way.
As you can tell from the list above, all of these social media marketing mistakes can be avoided. All it takes is understanding your mistakes so you can handle them.
For assistance with mapping out an effective social media strategy for your brand, feel free to contact us today.
The Top 5 Best Internet Marketing Strategy Tips for Your Business in 2020
81% of consumers search online before making a purchase. Without an internet marketing strategy, it's likely you're missing out on customers.
The internet provides many opportunities for you to promote your business to potential customers. With a strong internet marketing strategy, you can boost your brand, find new customers, and grow!
Here are the top five marketing strategy tips you need for success.
With these tips, you can make the most of internet marketing in 2020. Don't let your competitors snatch up customers. Instead, get started with these five tips!
1. Give Your Site Some Love
When people search for new products, services, or brands, they start online. If you don't have an updated, well-designed website, you're already losing customers.
Your website sometimes makes your company's first impression with customers. Make the most of that opportunity! By creating an eye-catching, compelling website, you can convert those visitors into leads or sales.
First, consider updating your website using user experience (UX) design trends.
UX design will clean up your website so it's easier to use and navigate. For example, you'll want to make sure your site loads quickly. You can use Google's PageSpeed Insights to determine what's slowing your site.
Then, remove clutter and unnecessary information. Add white space to give your remaining content room to breathe. White space will make it easier for people to read your content without feeling exhausted.
Does "HTTPS" appear in front of your domain name? If not, consider looking into a security certificate.
Hackers are getting smarter. By prioritizing security, you're showing customers you can protect their personal information. This is especially important if you're selling products online.
Next, make sure your site is easy to navigate. Can customers find what they're looking for easily and quickly?
Updating your site will help you make the most of these remaining four marketing strategy tips.
2. Step Up Your SEO
Search engine optimization, or SEO, makes it easier for people to find your website on search engines like Google. Without SEO, your content won't appear on the first page of a Google search. Not many people look beyond that first page.
A higher ranking will also make your brand look more credible. People will trust your brand over a competitor's based on your higher ranking.
Ranking at the top of the page will help you reach more people, too. As brand awareness grows, you can become a more recognizable resource in your industry.
Here are a few SEO trends you'll need for successful internet marketing in 2020.
User Intent
What are your customers searching for? What information are they hoping to find based on their search? Before you can use SEO, you need to know who your customers are and what they need.
Separate your customers into buyer personas based on age, gender, buying behavior, and interests. Then, look into what keywords they're searching with using Google Trends, Keyword Planner, and Ahrefs.
Once you understand their search intent, you can create content that reflects their needs.
Zero-Click Search
Google now displays snippets at the top of their search pages. These snippets display website content in ways that are easy to consume. With snippets, people no longer have to click on a website to find the information they need.
Structure your content for these snippets to increase your SEO ranking.
Look at the content that appears in a snippet for a keyword you're targeting. Then, adjust your content to fit that snippet. For example, you can use lists and bullet points or summarize your post in the top paragraph as a place to start.
Voice Search
By this year, voice searches will account for 50% of all searches. Over 35.6 million Americans already own a voice-activated device. Instead of typing out their queries, more people are asking Siri, Google, and Alexa for help.
In order to optimize for voice searches, you need to know who your customers are and how they're searching online.
Look at your keyword research. Then, phrase your keywords the same way your target audience does.
Make Sure You're Mobile
Google's search algorithm prioritizes websites that are convenient and easy-to-use for all consumers. Realizing more people are using their smartphones to conduct searches, Google rolled out mobile-first indexing in March 2018. Now, Google looks at the mobile version of your website to determine your ranking.
Make sure your website is optimized for smaller screens. Otherwise, people will struggle to read your content.
You should also make sure your site loads quickly, which could also impact your SEO ranking.
In order to optimize our website for mobile devices, consider some of the UX design tips mentioned above. Make sure it's easy for people to click on your forms and navigate your site.
Otherwise, you could end up missing out on potential conversions and leads.
3. Reel in More Reviews
Reviews are a great way to boost brand awareness, credibility, and your SEO ranking.
Ask happy customers to post their reviews on your Google My Business listing. Don't forget to add these reviews to your website. Happy reviews will help you attract more local customers to your business.
This social proof will help potential customers see the benefits of choosing your business.
4. Build Up Your Brand
Who are you? What sets you apart from your competitors? The answer to those questions should appear in your brand.
Focus on the unique value you offer customers. Show them that you're there to help solve their problems. Then, create a strong vision with that concept front and center.
Next, take a look at the visual components of your brand. Your color scheme, imagery, tone, voice, and font should help you stand out. If you look like your competitors, consumers will fail to differentiate you in the industry.
Make sure your brand appears cohesive across all marketing channels. A cohesive brand will help you build brand awareness and recognition.
Branding is essential to internet marketing in 2020. Otherwise, you'll look like everyone else in the industry.
5. Consider Your Content
Strong, unique content will fuel your SEO strategy and help you reach more customers.
You can create blogs, videos, infographics, quizzes; anything to get customers engaged. However, this content should focus on helping your customers.
Take a look at your keyword research. What questions are your customers asking? Create content that focuses on providing them with information and assistance.
Then, update your blog and social media with your content.
Pages with a video are 53 times more likely to rank on the first page of Google search results.
You can also great interactive content such as contests and quizzes to boost engagement. Don't forget to post your content on social media to expand our reach. With a strong content marketing strategy, you can build brand awareness, credibility, and trust with your consumers.
Make Your Mark: The Top Marketing Strategy Tips for Businesses in 2020
Ready to stand out from the crowd and make your mark? With these five marketing strategy tips, you can set your business up for success in 2020.
Don't wait to start marketing! Contact us today to get started.
What's On Our Menu For New Biz? Outback Steakhouse
We're celebrating over here. And that's because we're starting 2020 off with an announcement like this: EraserFarm is delighted to share that Outback International has named us their creative partner for social content development.
We have the pleasure of working with another one of the great concepts inside of the Bloomin' Brands family, so we couldn't be happier that Outback International came calling as well.
Our work for them began late last year as we prepared new social ideas and content for their international franchise system. Outback has a strong history in this market and across the US, so as the system continues to grow internationally they needed to ensure they had the right partner to grow along with them.
"We are excited to be working with the great team at EraserFarm. We've seen great things inside of their work for one of our sister brands, and look forward to carrying that level of creative thinking over to Outback International," said Claudia Mezzarano, International Marketing Coordinator for Bloomin' Brands International.
We look forward to continuing to make our new friends proud and deliver work that drives positive sales growth and traffic for their international business.
7 Ways to Promote Your Business with Social Media
If you’re a business owner, you’re in good company. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA) the state of Florida alone is home to 2.5 million small businesses. It’s also super friendly for startups, ranking as the number five state in the country for venture capital funding.
While these numbers are promising, they also mean that you’ll have to work harder to stand out in the crowd. Learning how to successfully promote your business is critical for your success.
Social media continues to be one of the best advertising options for startups. Start with these seven tips and you’ll be well on your way towards making a name for yourself online.
1. Humanize Your Brand
One of the most important things to remember when creating your social media presence is that people do not care about your company. Whether you’re a tech startup with a product that’s going to change the world or a stay-at-home mom selling homemade jam, the facts are still the same.
People don’t go on social media to learn about companies. They go there to engage with other people and to be entertained. Keep this in mind when creating your posting strategy.
Instead of focusing on facts and figures, or heavily promoting your products, make it a point to humanize your brand. This could mean anything from posting funny memes and cute animal videos to sharing behind-the-scenes videos and photos of your staff.
Each time you create a post, ask yourself if it’s doing anything to tap into the user’s emotions. If the answer is no, do yourself (and your followers) a favor and just skip it.
2. Hold a Contest or Giveaway
It’s no secret that people like free stuff. Holding contests or giveaways on your social media platforms is a great way to attract new followers and engage the ones you already have.
This could range from asking people to like or share a post to hosting an elaborate photo content where users can vote for their favorites. The latter is an excellent idea because it helps you build up user-generated content.
What is user-generated content, you ask? It’s basically anything that users post about your product or brand. This could include photos and videos, written testimonials, and more.
When your followers see other real people using your products and talking about how great they are, this helps to build up trust in your brand in a way that you simply can’t do yourself. It’s incredibly inexpensive (sometimes completely free!) and is also extremely effective.
3. Find Your Community
Creating groups on Facebook and LinkedIn is an excellent ways to engage your core followers on a whole new level. This fosters a deep sense of community. If you provide valuable insights and information as the leader of the group, it also gives you a chance to build up even more credibility.
You can also look for niche groups to join. This can help put you in front of the right people and give you the opportunity to create some strategic relationships that you otherwise might not have come across.
One word of warning, though. Make sure you go into these groups with the attitude of “givers gain.”
This means that you won’t blatantly promote yourself and your brand every chance you get. Instead, participate in conversations and offer advice and insight where appropriate without throwing in a sales pitch. Others in the group will appreciate this and will be more likely to refer you business when the time is right.
4. Engage with Your Followers
One mistake that businesses often make with social media is to “post and run.” You can’t expect success if you just drop a post and disappear for a week. Instead, you need to monitor your posts and engage with your followers.
This means responding to comments and answering private messages right away. Doing so will remind your followers that they’re working with an actual person instead of a faceless business. This is another critical element in building up that all-important trust.
5. Invest in Video
Video is definitely the way of the future, in social media and on almost every other platform. Any time you have the opportunity to lean towards the visual and away from the written word, do it.
It’s also important to note that you don’t need a major Hollywood production to take advantage of the video trend. Short, bite-sized videos of decent quality are perfectly fine for engaging your audience on social media.
6. Pay Attention to Analytics
Social media marketing does require time, effort, and money. So, it makes sense to ensure that you’re getting a decent return on your investment. Tracking your results on each platform with analytics software is critical for your success. Doing so will allow you to quickly see what’s working and what isn’t so you can make adjustments on the fly.
7. Go with the Pros
If you’re reading these tips and wondering how you’re possibly going to have time to implement them while still running your business, then you’re ready for one of the most important tips of all – go with the pros!
Social media algorithms are always changing, and it takes an expert to truly stay on top of all the ways to optimize your presence. Don’t make the mistake of leaving something this important up to chance. Find a great social media pro who can ensure you always put your best foot forward online.
Promote Your Business – The Right Way!
At Eraser Farm, we have all the tools and experience you need to promote your business the right way. From brand positioning and perfecting your user experience to integrated advertising campaigns and social media strategy, we’ve got you covered! Contact us today to discuss your goals and get started!
Once Upon a Time: The Importance of Storytelling in Marketing
According to Forbes, there's a new technology for marketers out there called emotion analytics. Emotion analytics can be used to scientifically measure the emotional reactions to your marketing campaigns and individual ads. Ethical concerns aside, this technology has the potential to change the way marketers target potential buyers.
Why is emotion analytics making such waves? Because in today's oversaturated online world, your prospective customers won't connect with your brand without feeling something first. That's why thousands of businesses have begun to turn to storytelling.
Storytelling techniques have been around for as long as humans have. And it's not hard to understand why - stories are the methods by which we connect with one another. Using a brand story is no different.
Curious about the importance of storytelling for your next marketing campaign? Keep reading to find out why you need to use storytelling techniques, and stick around for our top marketing storytelling tips.
The Importance of Storytelling in Marketing
So why is storytelling important for your brand?
With so much content floating around online these days, your brand story can seem like a drop in a bucket on a rainy day. How is a customer supposed to connect with your brand over the hundreds of others like it?
With a brand story, that's how.
Stories go beyond mere words. Stories evoke emotions and make people want to take action. And that's no wonder since people tend to make decisions based on their initial gut reaction.
In fact, research shows that the part of your brain responsible for emotions can make decisions up to 5 times faster than the brain areas associated with reason and logic. It takes time to reason, but when you appeal to your prospective customer's emotions, they're quicker to make a decision.
That's not all, though. According to a 2016 study, customers with a positive emotional experience of your brand are:
- 15 times more likely to recommend your brand to others
- 9 times more likely to trust your brand
- 8 times more likely to try new products and services your brand has to offer
- 7 times more likely to make more purchases from your brand
- 6 times more likely to forget about a mistake your brand made
If you want to start attracting more references, increasing trust with customers, make more profits, and buffer your brand in case of future issues, you've got to make an emotional connection with your customers. That's where storytelling comes in.
5 Ways to Use Storytelling in Your Marketing Campaign
We've told you why storytelling is important. But now, we'll show you how to do it. If you want to start using storytelling in your marketing campaigns, here are the top 5 things you need to know to do it.
1. The Main Character
When you think of the main characters in your favorite story, what do they all have in common? At the very core, all main characters have a problem that is (usually) solved by the end of the story. The same goes for your brand story.
But contrary to popular belief, your brand isn't the main character or hero of your story. That role goes to your customers. Because when customers feel like they're the star of the show, they trust that they're in good hands with your business.
2. Beginning, Middle, and End
What makes a story different than a collection of words on a page? Stories have beginnings, middles, and ends. Your brand story should, too.
In the beginning, you should present a problem that is happening to the main character, your ideal customer. In the middle, the guide swoops in to offer advice and help the hero come to a solution to that big problem (more on this guide later). And in the end, your story's main character should be changed in some way by the guide.
3. The Guide
Stories about heroes almost always have a guide character. In the original Star Wars trilogy, Luke finds a guide in Yoda. In the Harry Potter series, Harry relies on the guidance of characters like Dumbledore and Sirius Black.
So if your client is the hero, that makes you, your products, and your services the guide. After all, it's their story - your job is to help them get the ending that they want. When you try to make your brand the hero of the story, it makes it harder for customers to trust you. But by putting them in the spotlight and making them feel more in control of their own success, they're more likely to come to you for help.
4. Rhetoric
If you think the only stories that use rhetoric are political ones, think again. Every good story uses rhetoric to get the theme across. Rhetoric is the language you use and the way you structure your story so that you can get the response you want.
Evoke passion with emotive language, appeal to intellect by citing stats and research, and show your social proof with quotes from happy customers.
5. Multimedia
Every truly great story has illustrations to go along with it. And the same holds for your brand story. Every truly incredible brand story is accompanied by animation, illustration, and images to really drive your point home.
Multimedia comes in many forms, but each image or video you choose should further the goals of your story. For example, if your product or service is difficult to explain with words alone, a video showing customers using your products can help. Not only that, you'll be building trust with your prospects at the same time.
Marketing Agencies as Storytellers
As a business owner, you're too busy to play the role of storyteller, too. Now that you know the importance of storytelling in marketing though, you don't want to miss out on any opportunity to engage your audience.
So what can you do, you might ask?
Well, EraserFarm can help you craft a brand that people relate to and connect with. Get in touch with us and let's chat about how we can create your story together.
Building Your Brand: The Top Branding Trends of 2019
There are nearly 200 million companies around the world. With that number increasing each year, you must know how to stand out. Building a brand can set you apart from the competition. It's also your chance to make a life-long impact on new and potential customers.
So how do you make your company stand out? Well this is how.
1. It's All About Experiences
Pushing a brand onto consumers to make sales no longer works. Instead, brand marketing allows companies to pull consumers into the brand. There are several ways for this to work. For starters, you need to create opportunities for consumers to experience the brand firsthand. Consider pop-up shops. These use the fear of missing out (FOMO) to draw people in. Then, companies offer participants an exclusive, short-term experience with the brand. These unique experiences can be virtual as well as physical.
Experience-driven brand marketing can include:
- Mono-branded stores
- Malls with tailoring, personal stylists, and spa services
- Branded hotels
- Themed restaurants
- Themed exhibits
Combining your brand with these exclusive experiences is far more memorable than any billboard or banner ad.
2. The Online/Offline Overlap
Online and offline experiences are also starting to overlap. This brand marketing trend is blurring the lines in retail, too. For example, online retailers are heading into brick-and-mortar stores. You've probably seen Buzzfeed at Macy's. More Amazon bookstores are popping up, too. Instead of keeping still, brick-and-mortar retailers are upping their game to compete. Bridging the gap between on- and offline experiences will also help companies take advantage of micro-moments.
3. Ramp Up AR
Any Pokemon Go or Wizards Unite fans out there? You might want to take a page out of that book for part of your brand marketing strategy. After all, the market for augmented reality is expected to reach $198 billion by 2025 worldwide.
AR is another way for consumers to experience your brand. It also makes it easier for consumers to get information. With AR, they can see and experiment with products. This direct engagement can make it easier to make purchasing decisions. As a result, AR is changing the game for how consumers interact with a brand. This marketing trend brings digital experiences into the real world. Let's say you're trying to redesign your living room. Brands like IKEA and Wayfair offer apps that allow you to see how furniture looks in your home. Then, you can make a purchase straight from the app.
Easy!
4. Pick A Purpose
Young consumers are choosing brands that take a stand. In some cases, this can include controversial positions. The shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School led brands to rally against gun violence and abandon the NRA. Meanwhile, some brands prioritize non-controversial positions. More companies are taking green initiatives every year. Either way, brands can no longer stand on the sidelines. No matter what cause your company supports, keep in mind that it's not enough to talk the talk. If you don't also walk the walk, people won't believe that your support is sincere.
5. Gen Z
Gen Z is taking the world by storm. This generation, defined as anyone born after 1998, now makes up 32 percent of the world's population. This generation is glued to their smartphones, Amazon, and Google. They're digital natives, too, so they jump between multiple platforms with ease. This generation expects brands to set sales tactics aside. Instead, they're looking for brands to act as advisors.
Generation Alpha is on its way, too. This generation includes anyone born after 2009. While they're not that old just yet, this generation impacts their Millennial parents' buying behaviors.
6. Digital Brands Dominate
Digitally-native brands are dominating online, too. Many are making a significant impact in the marketplace. Consider the online mattress-in-a-box company Casper as an example. This company spends a big part of their digital advertising budget on social media ads. As a result, the brand was able to compete with more prominent, more established names like Sealy and Tempur-Pedic. New digital brands will continue to emerge in the marketplace. These brands are equipped to target consumers who spend most of their time online.
7. Go Old School
If Stranger Things is any indication, old school is making a come back. Younger generations are even interested in the decades before they were born. To take advantage of this trend, Amazon is returning to brick-and-mortar bookstores. Meanwhile, consumers are buying more vinyl records in addition to MP4s. This can lead brands to bring back old products and trends as well.
8. Chatbots and AI
For a smooth online experience, more companies are using helpful chatbots. Chatbots make it easier for consumers to find what they're looking for. This helps to streamline the buyer's journey so that it becomes a smooth online experience makes your brand appear helpful and informative, too. Website chatbots can also direct website users to specific areas of content. By doing this, companies control the sales funnel as well.
Machine learning and artificial intelligence are stepping up their game, too. Data allows companies to make smart decisions based on consumer data. Using this data, you can develop a marketing strategy that's designed with your customers in mind.
9. Brand Differentiating
As one of 200 million brands, your company needs to stand out. Branding is becoming one of the most reliable business tools for company growth. Instead of trying to convince consumers to buy, companies can use branding to appeal to their emotions. That gets customers to care. This can impact customer acquisition as well as retention. That way, customers stick around for the long-term.
For this to work, your company needs a relatable, consistent brand. A relatable brand helps you connect with customers. Meanwhile, consistent branding ensures customers recognize you every time. Here are ten signs it's time for your company to consider rebranding.
10. Digital Detoxing
With all of the digital advancements out there, it's no wonder everyone is always stuck to our smartphones. However, consumers also want to take a break from their devices from time to time.
This cultural paradox offers companies new opportunities to reach out at the right place and right time.
10 Top Brand Marketing Trends of 2019
Brand marketing can redefine how you reach and interact with customers. With these top 10 trends of 2019, you can ramp up engagement and attract new business.
Learn more about how our methodology can help develop the foundations of your brand today.
8 Reasons Why Your Business, and Your ROI, Need Email Marketing
Everyone is on the hunt for the next big thing in marketing. That new magic bullet that costs next to nothing and rakes in the revenue. Ah, but what if it's been in front of you all along? Email marketing doesn't get the credit it deserves. It offers a slew of benefits no other marketing channel can provide. Not convinced yet that you should add email marketing to your strategy in 2019? Here's why it's essential for any company.
1. Direct Delivery
With most marketing channels, you can't control who gets what. For instance, not all of your social media followers will see your posts. You can put a billboard up but you don't know how many people will see it. But email marketing is more direct. Your messages land smack dab in the middle of customers' inboxes. You might be saying, "What if my emails get sent to the spam folder?" You have more control over that than you think. All you have to do is follow the right rules and that can keep your emails out of the spam filter.
2. Instant Communication
Sometimes you have a message you want your customers to get right away. With most marketing channels, there's a long waiting period while you write, design, fulfill, and deliver your message. Email marketing, on the other hand, is far quicker. Less is more when it comes to written content, and a simple design can get the job done nicely. When you hit "send," your entire email list gets the message in seconds. This makes email marketing a more flexible medium and you can use it to communicate last-minute information like flash sales, reminders, retractions, and more.
3. Customization Galore
In most marketing channels, you're broadcasting the same message to a wide audience. You might cater it to your target demographics, but that's as far as the customization goes. Email marketing is a whole new world of options. Each email goes to a specific customer's inbox. That means you can customize their messages based on their history, interests, and actions. One way companies do this is by offering recommendations. By tracking the types of products email customers view, for instance, you can recommend products that will catch their eye.
You can also set up specific actions to trigger certain emails. For example, your system can send an email to a customer when they abandon their shopping cart.
4. Earning Potential
If you're a numbers person, you're gonna love this. Email marketing has one of the highest averages around for return on investment. The average is around 4400% ROI! There are a few reasons why this is the case. On top of how successfully email marketing drives sales, it's a low-cost investment. As with anything, you can spend a range of amounts on your email marketing depending on the quality you want. Still, email marketing software costs next to nothing in the grand scheme of things, and it may take less of your designers' time than you expect.
5. Mobile-Friendliness
All you have to do is look around you at the grocery store or walking down the street to see that phones are the new arms. People are attached to their phones on a constant basis, giving them priority over almost anything. And guess what? Most people get their emails on their phone. Not earth-shattering news I know. But...this means your messages get right to that screen your customers are already looking at. This also means your emails are available to customers at their convenience. They can pop in and purchase their shopping cart while they wait in the carpool line because their phone is always there.
6. Trackability
Tracking is one of the most important parts of any marketing campaign. It's also one of the most neglected tasks. For every marketing endeavor, you need to gather data on its success. Which messages drove the best results? Which channels brought in the most customers? Email marketing makes that easy because software programs track this data for you. You can see which emails get opened most often, what links received the most clicks, and more. The key, though, is that while this gives you information, you have to use it. Take the time to look up that data and use it to inform your future email marketing campaigns.
7. Prioritization
There are some communication channels we pay more attention to than others and email is up there toward the top of that list. 98% of people check their email on a daily basis. 34% keep a constant eye on their inboxes throughout the day. With so many people getting notifications on their phone every time an email comes in, this makes it easy. Compare this to the number of times you check your social media. Chances are that you only go to your mailbox a few times per week.
8. Quick Action
Think about what happens with direct mail. A customer gets your postcard or letter. If it doesn't get tossed, they have to head to their phone or computer to take action. Then they have to open a browser window and enter a web address. Or maybe they have to get their phone and dial your number instead. With email, one click and they're there. It takes minimal effort for customers, which means it takes less convincing to get them to take that step. But not all emails are equally effective at encouraging that next step. Your call-to-action is an essential part of any email. So make that design stand out and make the wording enticing.
Adding Email Marketing to Your Marketing Strategy
You've heard the warning time and time again not to put all your eggs in one basket. It might be a cliche but it's never been truer than it is in the marketing world. Marketing is all about making an impression on customers and building familiarity with your brand. The only way to do that is with a varied, well-orchestrated marketing plan. With all the benefits above in mind, it's clear that email marketing needs to be part of your strategy. The key word in that sentence is "part," though. Pair it with your other marketing channels and keep your brand and messaging consistent across the board.
If you're not a marketing pro and you prefer to bring in a professional, contact our marketing team today.
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.