Social Media Marketing

I will be using this blog to analyze and discuss the trends of social media marketing and its impact on the customer to business relationships.

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Content Marketing Tips for 2015

Marketers all understand the importance of content marketing but not all have a grasp on how best to use it. Only a third of marketers believe they are implementing an effective content marketing strategy (Kapost). With such a large amount of marketers aimlessly creating content, there are a few key elements that could help them develop a more successful content marketing strategy.

·         Make Content Visual.

People are visual learners and enjoy content with images more than written content. Therefore, most content should include some type of visual depiction with pictures or videos. Even textual content would be more appealing to readers with an image or infographic.

·         Becoming a Valuable Source

Content marketing differs from traditional marketing because it focuses on providing valuable information rather than promoting directly to readers. The purpose of content marketing is to deliver helpful information to customers in order to establish your company as a credible source and build customer relationships By consistently sharing content that interests readers, readers will eventually become loyal customers.

·         Market Segmentation

With so many brands competing and offering consumers similar products, it can be hard to claim a stake in the market. Therefore, for brands to succeed in an over saturated market, they need to focus on appealing to certain niche markets. By tailoring their market strategies to certain groups, they can become the primary brand used within that community. The use of social media will be important in reaching those niche markets and engaging with potential customers.

·         Measuring Your Content Efforts

Last determining the performance of a content marketing strategy will help a company better understand what is working and what isn’t. They can verify what content their readers found interesting and how well they are gaining new customers. Over time the performance indicators will help a brand create more successful content marketing strategies.

As with most marketing strategies, the most effective strategies are thoroughly planned before they are implemented. Content marketing is still in the early stages but with careful research of what competitors are doing, what type of content your customers need, and how you can create unique and compelling content, a company will be on a good start to developing effective content.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/drewhendricks/2015/03/10/the-only-6-content-marketing-tips-you-need-for-2015/

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Don’t Lose Your Email Subscribers

Most companies strive to acquire customer’s emails but few make efforts on retaining their subscriptions. As companies focus on email blasts as a means to promote their brand they often overlook the negative impacts of their emailing strategies. Some subscribers are not frequent customers and although they are interested in a company’s email, they can often feel bombarded with too many or irrelevant emails. As a result, this can lead to customers unsubscribing. Therefore, it’s important for businesses to take measures to identify the subscribers that may feel inundated and find ways to satisfy their needs.

The best option to please these subscribers is to offer opt-down email options. If subscribers feel overwhelmed with the amount of emails they receive they can choose how many emails they would like to get instead of opting out. As some customers may love to receive your emails daily, other less frequent shoppers may just want to receive a weekly or monthly email. Also, more in depth opt-down options can give customers the choice of being notified only when sales occur. The opt-down method is probably the most helpful in receiving your subscriber’s feedback.

Another option is to switch up the content. If most emails are direct forms of product promotions then it may be time to change it up. Sending inspirational product ideas, product tips, or contests could be more interesting to your subscribers. By varying your email subjects, subscribers may feel more engaged.

Keeping email subscribers is just as important as attaining new ones. That is why businesses need to be aware in any drop from subscriptions and try to identify the cause. By keeping email content fresh and offering the opt-down subscription option, companies can eliminate the chances of losing potential customers.

http://mashable.com/2015/03/11/stop-annoying-subscribers/

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7 Ways to Boost Authentic Content

With content marketing becoming an important marketing approach, businesses are always looking at ways they can improve their content. Creating content should be a well thought out process of researching and planning. In order to write content pieces that will enhance your marketing efforts there are several steps to consider that could significantly improve the content.

1.       Conducting Your Own Research

Recent studies have shown that people find content more credible when businesses perform and include their own research. Therefore, taking the time to conduct studies on your content’s subject can make your content more effective and more apt to being shared. Businesses can easily and affordably do this through surveys, observational studies, and internal analysis.

2.       Quality Writing

The presentation of content is another factor that contributes to viewer’s perception of authentic content. The look and standard of the writing plays a huge role in creating effective content. In order for people to believe the content your business provides is credible it needs to look the part. By hiring writers or taking steps to sharpen your writing skills, it can be simple to improve the quality of your content.

3.       Positive Associations

By associating your brand with positive content or through trusted distributors, people develop an affirmative predisposition of your company. When content is shared by readers or through reliable sources, it gives viewers the perception that your content is authentic and trustworthy. Therefore, it is important to focus on ways to associate your content with positive topics and trusted industry content distributors.

4.       Building an Audience

Through focusing on efforts to build a business’s owned audience, they can develop loyal customers. It’s important for companies to utilize social media platforms in order to draw viewers to their owned content. Once a company has its own set of subscribers, they are more likely to establish customer relationships with their readers.

5.       Utilizing Content to Increase Lifetime Value

As I mentioned before, focusing on developing loyal readers can lead to loyal customers. Therefore, by consistently creating valuable content to readers they will in turn look to your company more. However, it’s imperative that content always remain authentic to keep the readers trust. Over time a company can analyze what content worked for them and that users found helpful. This will help in the creative process of developing future content.

6.       Avoiding Bad Content Mishaps

The research and planning of content is crucial in order to avoid creating ineffective content. One bad content piece can be all it takes in losing loyal followers. Readers can quickly lose trust in a company if that company shared a poorly written, inconsistent, or untrustworthy article. That is why the planning and revising of content is necessary in order to make sure the content being shared is in the reader’s interest.

7.       Reader’s Don’t Trust Ghostwriters

Ghostwriting, which is often used by many different companies, is the method of having someone write a content piece instead of the actual author. Although this form of writing is not shared with the readers, readers tend to distrust ghostwritten articles. Therefore, it would be best to avoid this form of writing or to take measures to make certain that the writer is consistent with the author’s style, opinions, and beliefs.

Overall, the best thing you can do for your content is to ensure that the content you’re providing is authentic. Content that is credible will help gain reader’s trust and is more likely to be shared. Through each of these steps a company can learn the basis of developing effective content.

 http://mashable.com/2015/03/09/data-driven-content-marketing/

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Common Social Media Mistakes

It is not news that social media is the primary platformbusinesses are utilizing most to market to consumers. However, even after years of social media marketing there are still some businesses that have not grasped social media effectively.  This Mashable article is a helpful source to pinpoint what many businesses are doing wrong. Below I have highlighted the more frequent mistakes I see made.

·         No social media marketing plan.

Having a clear outline of the type of content to post that is in line with the objective a business wants to achieve is often overlooked. By looking at their target market and competitors, a company can learn what type of content would interest their audience and how to stand out from other similar brands. They can also utilize social media to create more brand awareness, help cement customer loyalty, or to build a reputation to their liking.

·         Monotonous content.

Followers can get bored of seeing the same type of content posted every day. Although it is good to post content that is relative to a business, it’s also important to mix it up.  Businesses need to continue to come up with new interesting content and try to make it fun by engaging with their audience. Hosting contests and giveaways are also fun for a brand’s customers.

·         No real-time content.

A lot of social media content may need to be planned in advance in order to keep posts consistent, however real-time content is also crucial in gaining follower’s interests and keeping content exciting. Posting about current news or recent viral trends will make a brand’s content more relatable and compelling.

·         Trying too hard or not enough.

A social media persona for a business should maintain a real and personable tone. People can sense when a company is trying too hard to win over people and is essentially desperate. It’s best to make posts that are relatable and humorous. On the other hand, brands also need to make their posts interesting and unique. By giving a brand’s opinion on topics, but avoiding controversial subjects, a brand can give followers a perspective on what the brand stands for.

·         Posting inconsistently.

Last mistake I’ve selected to cover is one that I see most and have been guilty of making myself. By going a few days without posting content or any absent presence on social media, risks the chance of losing followers. Social media users tend to unfollow accounts that no longer hold their interest or provide interesting content. So not only will a company lose some potential customers but it is often hard to regain them back because these individuals have already determined that brand to be boring and unworthy of their time.

 Overall, there are many tips on how to develop a strong and successful social media presence but these are common mistakes that can easily be avoided. With research, planning, and time any business can gain an extensive reach through social media platforms.

http://mashable.com/2015/02/27/social-media-marketing-mistakes/

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Converse Engaging Consumer Creativity

Converse, one of the most popular and classic sneaker brands, is celebrating their Chuck Taylor sneaker line with a campaign that encourages customer involvement. The campaign called “Made By You” features a variety of pictures of worn and custom-made Chucks from many of the brand’s customers and a few sneakers from celebrities who are fans of the brand.

A campaign like this, that promotes customer self expression and creativity, is the perfect method to encourage customer engagement. The campaign which celebrates originality and individualism will further gain consumer interest and build Converse as the sneaker of choice for creative individuals. This is a good marketing tactic of Converse because it will strengthen their relationships with those customers that chose to participate and share their unique, personalized Chucks as well as allow customers to connect with others within the Converse-loving community.

Converse is already a popular and trendy brand but a campaign like this helps them to connect with their customers and reminds people what their brand represents. As a long time Converse customer, I can say their history as a sneaker brand made for creative individuals and rebels and the variety of styles they offer is what helps contribute to their large following.

http://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/converse-breaks-made-campaign-chuck-taylors/297320/

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#SpeakBeautiful

Dove is the leading brand you think of as a brand that empowers women. In most of their campaigns they express their primary objective as helping women to feel beautiful for who they are. Now with their most recent campaign #SpeakBeautiful, they are teaming up with Twitter to focus on influencing positive conversations and comments on social media.

With over 5 million negative tweets from women about body image within the last year, Dove plans to take on these tweets through positive tweets. Their campaign uses a technology that tracks negative keywords or tones and responds with encouraging comments to inspire positive conversations on Twitter. Intently launched a couple days before the Oscars, Dove hopes to initiate these positive discussions about the Oscars rather than the typical mockery that people and the media tend to place on the event. Over time they hope people will make habits of positive tweets.

Although this campaign may not be as compelling as their Real Beauty campaign, the #SpeakBeautiful campaign is true to Dove’s mission. This campaign helps promote the brand with positive messages and will hopefully generate a lot of user engagement.

http://www.socialmediatoday.com/special-columns/2015-02-23/content-marketing-minds-doves-speakbeautiful-changes-conversation

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Components of Effective Content

Content marketing is the most beneficial form of marketing that helps to create awareness and establish reputability with consumers. Most brands by now are utilizing content marketing but some are succeeding more than others. In order to create successful content there are several key components that a brand’s content must include.

1.       Attention Grabber

The content created should have a captivating headline that intrigues the audience into reading more. The headline is the first thing the audience sees so it is crucial to first gain their interest here but it doesn’t stop there. The first couple sentences that introduce what the article is concerning also need to be compelling enough to keep the reader to continue on.

2.       Informational

Next, once a brand has gained reader’s attention, they need to deliver valuable content. The content a brand creates needs to add value to their reader’s. By sharing helpful information that the audience can use, a brand can build itself as a trustworthy resource. As a result, this creditability with the audience will lead to customer loyalty.

3.       Focused Content

Although creating useful content is necessary for a brand, it must be content that is related to the brand. The brand needs to present themselves as an expert in their field. By consistently creating content they are familiar with they can then tie in their business to help them gain more customers and increase sales.

4.       Call to Action

Last in order to seal the deal as effective content, a call to action should be included. A call to action should help a brand in achieving their objectives. Asking the audience to share content or subscribe are examples of call to action that can help a generate brand awareness and gain a customer base.

Creating valuable content that is important to a brand’s target customers and that is also entertaining, will help solidify customer relationships.  By using each of these key components, a company can begin to create effective content that attracts customers and over time learn what works best for their market.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/242283

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1-800-Flowers Fail

As you may have heard there were many disappointed valentinesthis Valentine’s Day, thanks to 1-800-Flowers. Many customers had undelivered flowers, received withered flowers, or incorrect orders. As a result, frustrated customers took to social media to share their wrong orders and make their complaints to the company. In just a short time, people’s complaints gained attention from other users and many posts were shared. Although the company tried to remedy the situation by replying to upset customers and offering refunds or future discounts, the damage was done.

Not only has the company lost these unsatisfied customers, but probably other potential future customers who have discovered the incident through the media. Preventable mistakes like these can create crucial consequences for brands, especially as more and more customers take their complaints to social media. Had it just been a few orders that were incorrect, then the company could have avoided the media backlash. However, given the amount of erroneous orders I believe the company will feel the consequences of their mistakes over the next year.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2015/02/17/1800flowers-valentines-day-social-media-massacre/

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Putting the Customer First

Years of marketing campaigns have been intently focused on increasing sales. Although this is the objective for every company, the measures to reach this goal have not been very effective. Companies have tended to market their products by promoting their features and expressing why their brand is the best. However, consumers are bombarded with this type of traditional advertising that it no longer serves as a reliable tactic in receiving customer purchases.

As many brands are currently focusing on content marketing as a way to establish an emotional connection with consumers, the focus of marketing is shifting to the consumer’s needs. By placing the consumer’s needs as priority, brands can gain their trust and eventually their loyalty. It’s not only important to deliver relevant and compelling content but also to let your customers know that you appreciate them.  Taking the time to listen to customer’s wishes and engage with them will help to cement a relationship.

It is pretty simple really. In order for a company to profit they rely on customers. Therefore, a company needs to concentrate on pleasing their target customers. They must put their customers first.

http://mashable.com/2015/02/12/make-customer-the-hero-pr/

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Important Trends of Content Marketing

As companies are still getting a grasp on content marketing, I found this article clearly emphasizes the many ways content marketing can benefit businesses. This article explains the direction that content marketing is following which closely corresponds with Joe Pulizzi’s Epic Content Marketing. Below I’ve highlighted the content marketing trends that I think are most crucial for brands to utilize.

·      Use of Content Marketing to Improve Search Engine Optimization

Brands that develop informational content with keywords and links are more probable to gaining a better search ranking on search engine sites like Google. By enhancing search engine optimization brand’s content will lead to more viewers and sharing of their content. It is an efficient way of creating brand awareness.

·      Content Marketing Over Obvious Advertising

People are not interested in being advertised to, that’s why we switch the radio station as commercials come on or pass over magazine ads without a glance. Brands that focus on reaching consumers through their interests rather than blatant promotions will gain more consumer attention. By storytelling, answering customer questions, or providing useful information, brands can garner more consumers’ interests and improve customer retention.

·      Incorporating Social Media into Content Marketing Strategy

Social media is a great tool to reach a wide audience and help draw attention to a brand’s content. Using social media as a means of networking and building up a following can help bring traffic to a companies owned content platform. Social media can be a useful tool for brands to utilize but it is important that they own their own content platform. Through owning their own platform, brands have more control over their content, managing their information, as well as their viewer’s information.

·      Personalization of Content to Consumers

Content personalization is just another method of making content that engages consumers. By customizing content to certain target customer’s interests, those customers will begin paying attention because the content is relevant to them. This will further help establish the brand as a prominent resource for consumers and develop and maintain customer relationships.

·      Increasing Content Marketing Budget

It’s time for companies to put their consumers first. Businesses are realizing that people have grown immune to the typical brand promotion advertising. Traditional advertising is not the approach to building customer relationships. Content marketing is the most effective method for brands that want to establish an emotional connection with consumers, interact with them, and develop lasting relationships.

Content marketing is here to stay. Therefore, it is crucial not only for brands start to create engaging content for their target consumers but also to learn the many ways to use content marketing to their benefit.

http://searchenginewatch.com/sew/how-to/2392091/12-trends-search-marketers-can-t-ignore-in-content-marketing

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The Formula for Successful Content Marketing is Value

This article highlights the importance of valuable content for successful content marketing that I think many brands often overlook. Some brands are so focused on promoting their products that they fail to see the big picture. People are subjected to advertisements constantly that they begin to tune them out. Therefore, in order to reach consumers brands need to appeal to them in another manner, through content marketing.

Instead of marketing through brand promotion, marketers need to create content that is valuable to consumers. Valuable content can be helpful information, engaging content, or responding to customer’s concerns. By creating content in which mostly focuses on adding value to your consumer audience rather than your brand, companies can then establish relationships with consumers based on trust. Over time consumers will look to brands with valuable content as resourceful references and in turn brands will establish loyal customers.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/242368

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Controversy With Nationwide Ad

As most of you know by now, whether you watched the SuperBowl or not, there has been a lot of controversy about one company’s ad that aired. With the Super Bowl drawing a record of 114.5 million viewers looking to enjoy an evening watching a good game, a Nationwide ad seemed to put a damper on viewer’s moods. The ad initially started on a light note portraying a young boy telling viewers all the things he will never be able to do. However, it is at the end of the ad that we are informed he will miss out on many things in life because he died. Nationwide’s intent was to create awareness of preventable children deaths. They provided a website called “Make Safe Happen” in the hopes that parents would visit to learn the many ways they can make their homes a safer place for their children.

The ad sparked controversy because many viewers thought the ad was unsuitable within the context of the upbeat Super Bowl game. People found the ad to be depressing on what is meant to be an enjoyable occasion. However, Nationwide still stands by their decision saying their purpose was to create awareness of preventable childhood deaths as well as get people thinking and talking about it. Therefore, it can be said that Nationwide accomplished their objective with this ad.

While many of the Super Bowl ads focused on reaching an audience through emotional content, the Nationwide ad took on a more grim tone. Their ad may have created more awareness but I believe airing during the Super Bowl event was wrong timing. Although the ad did leave some viewers upset, I don’t think Nationwide will have a hard time recovering from the media backlash because the ad was created with the intention of making a public service announcement to make homes a safer place for children. Overall, before initiating any ad campaign companies need to take in consideration the time and place.

http://mashable.com/2015/02/02/nationwide-super-bowl-ad-cmo/

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Snapchat's New Discover

Snapchat has already made a name for themselves as one ofthe primary photo messaging applications with about 100 million users, but nowthey are looking to venture into a new domain of publishing called Discover. Discover will have content published daily by several media companies like Daily Mail, People, Food Network and more. Much like their messaging application, the daily content will eventually disappear but only after 24 hours.

For Snapchat this business venture could be beneficial because it’s an opportunity for the company to grow and branch out as one of the leading content sources. However, companies are the ones that may find this opportunity more advantageous. Not only is Discover another resource in which brands can use to share their message but it also has the prospect of reaching a vast audience. Although brands may find a greater reach with Facebook, using Snapchat gives them a chance to capture the attention of the millennial audience that makes up most of Snapchat’s users. Attaining this young audience is crucial for brands because they are one of the largest generations and tend to be the influencers.

So far the publishing enterprise looks to be off to a good start partnering with several popular media companies and already having large brands like BMW and Macy’s in line to advertise on Discover. In time I believe with Snapchat’s valuable audience and unique publishing concept, Discover will have the potential to be a huge success.

http://mashable.com/2015/01/27/snapchat-discover/

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Catalogs Are Making A Comeback

Over the past several years companies have abandoned their catalog distribution. With consumers turning to the internet for their shopping needs or to look at product reviews, the use of catalogs had became obsolete. Until recently within the last year it seems that catalogs are making a return. Many companies are now sending out revamped catalogs and lookbooks in order to drive sales.

Part of what has contributed to this catalog demand is that they are no longer used strictly as a selling medium but also as a means of inspiration to consumers. Companies now understand that what appeals to consumers are images that tell a story. Consumers are not looking for a list of products and descriptions but rather enjoy flipping through lookbooks with scenic photos and catalogs filled with beautifully decorated displays. By making catalogs that are more engaging, companies are not only providing inspirational lookbooks that customers value but are helping to create relationships with them.

As of now companies recognize the difficulty of retaining consumer’s interests and are looking to utilize catalogs as a way of delivering compelling content. Whether catalogs will continue to serve as a means of getting customer’s attention, only time will tell.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/26/business/media/catalogs-after-years-of-decline-are-revamped-for-changing-times.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=mini-moth&region=top-stories-below&WT.nav=top-stories-below&_r=1

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Bud Light's Epic Marketing 

Bud Light sure knows how to make an epic night! They demonstrate this once again with their Super Bowl campaign, which is a continuation from last year’s “The Perfect Beer for Whatever Happens.” Last year’s ad followed one man’s adventurous night out that led him to a limo bachelorette party, to sharing a random elevator ride with Don Cheadle and a llama, then to playing Arnold Schwarzenegger in a match of ping pong, and last to be whisked off to a One Republic concert. Although an epic night like that is hard to top, this year Bud Light comes close when they take a man to a life-size game of Pac-Man where he is to play the actual Pac-Man.

If you haven’t watched their campaign from this year or last year, you need to get familiar because I suspect it to be the most buzzed about ad online, yet again. With the hashtag #UpForWhatever, there is bound to be a lot trending on social media. Bud Light knows how to take viewers on an epic journey that makes us all wish we were there to live it. I don’t know about you, but I’d have a blast playing life-size Pac-Man!

Part of what makes Bud Light’s campaign so popular is that they understand their consumers and what excites them. They know how to appeal to the inner kid in all of us and they try to create an epic night, that can’t be recreated. One in which most of us can only dream of. Engaging content like this helps put Bud Light in a trendy perspective with young consumers. If the Bud Light experience is an unforgettable night out on the town, then I’m in!

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The Next Dove Dad

Over the last couple years Dove has been one of the leading brands that consistently delivers sincere and captivating content. Their campaigns, such as “Real Beauty Sketches” and “Evolution of Beauty”, focused on the misperceptions of beauty and the need for women to love themselves. Part of what made these campaigns so successful was that they appealed to the many women that experience a lack of self-esteem and the pressure to reach unrealistic standards of beauty.

 Now Dove has released another heart-felt social media campaign but rather than targeting women, their campaign is aimed at dads. Their video Dove Men + Care (shown above), which is conveniently set to air during Super Bowl, is currently online and includes the hashtag #realstrength.  The video emphasizes the importance of fathers to children at different stages of their lives. Whether you are a father or not the video can’t help but melt one’s heart.

Dove has launched so many successful social media campaigns because they are able to tap into their consumers and understand what is important to them. Reaching consumers through emotional content helps them to establish strong ties with their consumers that lead to customer loyalty. Who wouldn't want to buy a brand that represents finding your unique differences beautiful or the value of fatherhood?

http://mashable.com/2015/01/20/doves-super-bowl-ad-2015/

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Fitspirational Marketing

Three weeks into our New Year’s Resolutions and summer shortly around the corner, many of us are in need of some motivation to exercise. Maybe you turn to a fitness Instagram or Pinterest account to receive your motivational quote with a back drop of a perfectly toned model or if you’re like me you have a Victoria’s Secret model taped to your refrigerator to remind yourself you’re not that hungry after all. As much of these methods push us to join a gym with the hopes of reaching that desired result, it can be more inspiring and refreshing to see real women and men struggling like us but still pushing themselves with determination.

Luckily, this seems to be the direction that the fitness and diet industry has been taking recently to reach consumers. The example above of Sport England’s ad campaign doesn’t present the typical record-breaking athletes but instead shows average women and women with cellulite working up a sweat. Another great example is Weight Watchers “If You’re Happy” campaign (second video in link). Weight Watchers breaks away from the traditional celebrity sponsor ads with a more comprehensive approach of showing people struggling with emotional eating.

So why is the fitness and diet industry following this new marketing trend? Probably because they’re relatable videos and as a result they’re more appealing to consumers. We all understand the difficulty in starting up a workout regimen, especially after the holidays. Also, most of us at one point or another have looked to food before to help us feel better or have eaten out of boredom.  Watching videos such as these is more inspiring because it’s not some model or professional athlete but real people. It reflects overcoming the everyday challenges of motivating yourself to hit the gym or to say no to cookies in the lunch room. Nothing can connect with consumer’s emotions more than relatable content.

http://mashable.com/2015/01/22/6-fitspiration-ads/