Make your marketing choices work for you in 2014
As we jump into the first full week of the new year it’s a good time to look ahead at the communications work that will be a priority for our clients and for the industry. It’s no surprise digital will continue to grow in importance as more marketers become comfortable with content marketing and social media and the results these channels can deliver.
Here’s a list of the communications trends that will increasingly impact your business, and our work here at PUNCH.
A lot has been written recently about paid editorial, also known as online advertorials, branded content or sponsored stories. This so-called native advertising is basically another revenue stream for traditional media as well as for some of the more prominent blogs. Brands produce the article, which reads like journalist-written editorial. The big difference being that someone pays to get this content published, hence the ‘advertising’ name.
While this is seemingly good news for the outlets getting paid to post this content for the brands that need native ads to augment their product or service stories, on the other hand, consumers might not like reading an article they feel is more self-serving than enlightening.
Content marketing is a proven communications tool that works for two reasons: 1. Search engines love good content that’s linked to by bloggers and sites and that’s shared via social media. 2. This content about your brand on your blog, on your social media channel and on external news sites and blogs raises awareness with your customers by highlighting the benefits of whatever you sell.
Many big brands and digitally savvy marketers have embraced content marketing to the point that some of them act like media companies. American Express is one of the best with its Open Forum community where small businesses can find great articles and discussions about the tools and tips needed to help them succeed. Another company that early on used content for selling is Benelli, the gun manufacturer. They created a division called Benelli Media which produced the Duck Commander show featuring the Robinson family of Duck Dynasty fame. Duck Commander is basically 30 minutes of content about Benelli’s popular hunting rifles.
This may be old news for most, but the amount of people in your social media channel isn’t as important as how you work with them to meet your business objectives. The focus should be on goals related to engagement, customer service, reputation management, page views and even sales. Build a plan that aligns your social media strategy with your content strategy and ultimately with your business priorities. Doing this front end planning will get you follower numbers needed to scale the KPIs most relevant to your business.
Better numbers for measuring communications success
As important as positive print or broadcast media coverage is for raising awareness about brands and their products or services, successful hits can also be measured by the page views they deliver and the sales generated. This online content sends referrals to your digital properties where they can find out more about your offering and ideally convert to a sale. These referrals can be tracked by Google Analytics and other tools that will show you how your communications and other marketing efforts are delivering results.
2014 will be a productive year for marketers as we work with newer communications tools and channels to deliver measurable results. During the next weeks and months the PUNCH team will use our blog to dive into the above topics.
Trevor Campbell, VP, Director of Client Services
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