Holidays, Trends and Themes, oh, my

How do you beef up marketing for even the common things like savings accounts and hotels?  It’s easy if you pay attention to trends and you are not afraid to think a little creative.

Trends is best stated by a user on Business Directory:

“To follow a trend you must not only be aware of what is currently happening but be astute enough to predict what is going to happen in the future.”

Following trends is not hard and you are probably already doing it.  Do you put out decorations for Christmas, Independence Day or Halloween?  That is following an expected trend.

I want you to take it a step further in your marketing and really capture the attention of a lot more customers.

Example 1: Stranger Hotel

Hotels are everywhere and the mostly compete on pricing.  That is why there are so many sites for hotels deals.  One hotel decided to make the most of their marketing efforts and took advantage of an upcoming Netflix series named Stranger Things.

Stranger Things, produced by Netflix, was one of the hottest releases in the last couple of years on Netflix.  I am sure you have seen ads on billboards, TV commercials, Facebook Ads and Youtube.  It seems like the release date was all over the place.

One clever hotel took advantage of this trend.  The offered a special “Stranger Things” package.  It included food, decorations and even access to Netflix.  It was a smart offering that took one hotel to recognition beyond a typical ‘stay here’ type of ad. (source)

Example 2: Super Savings Account

Saving accounts at banks don’t usually get a lot of attention.  What is more ‘boring’ than saving, right?  And, how do you advertise something that few people want to do?  Well, you tag on to a growing trend: superhero movies.

Synchrony bank set up a mini comic book to talk about how the Avengers save.  (I am sure you can immediately see the pun).  The title of the story was “Saving is a Smash.”  In the comic, Thor can’t buy a hot dog because he doesn’t have money.  Hawkeye rescues him and introduces the idea of a savings account.

After the comic book, the provided a quiz so you can ‘save like a hero.’ Based on the quiz you can see if you save more like Hulk, Thor, Captain America, etc.  They created this campaign to line up with the large release of the newest Marvel movie Thor Ragnarok.(source)

The Power of Trends

When you catch on to a trend, half of the work is done for you.  Let me phrase that differently, when you catch on to a trend, half of your marketing budget is spent for you.  When a bank tags on to an upcoming movie, everyone has seen the posters and ads for the movie.  When they see the bank, they are immediately drawn in since the foundation of getting noticed has been taken care of with the large marketing budget of a movie release.

Now, don’t get me wrong, it will cost some money to ‘officially’ market using someone else’s characters.  You may have to spend some money working with the creators and you will need to get approval.  On the other side, sometimes the company will ‘co-market’ with you.  They will pay for a portion of the ads as long as you promote their upcoming feature.

Beyond Movie and TV

When I think about last year, 2016, I think about all the fidget spinners and how they were everywhere.  What if your business caught on to that trend?  Could you have used that trend to market your business?

Yes and no. Product based trends come and go.  To use those kinds of things, you want to be quick to act and quick to get out.  You don’t want to catch a trend when it is on its’ way out.  Let me remind you of the quote about trends. . .you must be astute enough to predict the future.

Good thing is that you don’t need a crystal ball to predict the future.  There are a lot of ways to keep up with trends.  As a matter of fact, sites like Twitter will show you what is trending.  Is it an event, phrase or holiday?  Is there a news happening that you could use in your favor?

Ongoing or “EVERGREEN” Trends

The way I see it, there is never a bad time to help people.  If your business can find a way to help people with what you are already doing it could be great for business.  I think about Tom’s Shoes.  They would give away a pair of shoes to someone in need for every pair that was purchase.  It was easy to align the need for shoes the fact they sold shoes.

I have seen companies come together to raise money for hurricane victims, breast cancer awareness and even food for starving children.  These are ‘evergreen’ type of events.  You can raise a social awareness in your business and tie yourself to things that are important to you.

Let me speak boldly for a moment.  If you use social causes just to promote your business, that is wrong.  You want to promote social awareness because you care about the results and the efforts of the cause.  Then, you align your company to match the values of what you are sponsoring.  That is the honorable way to tie your business to a social cause.

Get in on the Trend

Take some time and look around your community. Look for trends that you can promote to your customers.  Look at calendars and days to see what emphasis this month or day is.  Look to your local chamber, search on Twitter, or just ask around. You may find something that will boost your business and catch on in your community.

Quick story: One local restaurant took time to get to know some of their frequent customers.  They found out that a lot of the customers had dogs.  The staff pulled together to create an ad campaign for dog lovers and even opened their patio for people to bring their dogs.  It was simple, did not take much money and they have loyal customers for life.

Here are some questions to get you started thinking about trends for your own business:

Is there a going trend set out by your local city board?  Is there an upcoming movie that represents something interesting about your business?  Is there a cause that you can immediately align your business with? Is there a focus for the upcoming month that you could help facilitate?

Conclusion

The key is to be aware and take action quickly.  Seeing a trend and not taking action quickly could hurt your efforts.  On the other hand, not thinking out your strategy could kill your ROI.

Develop a team that helps you catch trends, take action and set up a solid strategy to focus your marketing efforts. Then you will reach marketing success.

If you ever need help.  Don’t hesitate to reach out.

Here’s to your continued marketing success!

The post Razor Sharp Marketing – Holidays, Trends and Themes, oh, my appeared first on Marketing Digest.

What can you do to make your business stand out above the crowd?

Think about it, everyone is saying the same thing, “Buy my stuff!”  Today’s consumers are becoming more informed about what they buy and how they buy.  Why not shake things up a bit and get some attention?

With social media ads, search engine ads, billboards, business cards, etc., how do you get people to pay attention to your marketing efforts?  It is a question as old as business itself.

How do you get attention in a crowded marketplace?

A few quick case studies

Let’s go through a few examples, starting with the extreme to get your creative juices flowing and then working to the simple things that almost anyone can do.

First and foremost, it does not have to cost a lot of money to get attention.  It takes creativity, so if you are not a creative person, get a creative person on your team. If you need some help in that area, shoot me an email and let’s stir up your creative juices.  In the meantime, here are some examples:

Designer applies for a job with legos

A designer named Andy Morris recently graduated.  Instead of sending out boring resume’s or CV packets of his work, he sent out a custom built Lego Minifigure in his own likeness.  Brilliant!

He said, “Everything in life should be fun, even applying for jobs and while conventional CVs are great for conveying past accomplishments, they’re limited on what personality, creativity, and innovation you can inject into them.”  (read his story)

The App Company CEO wrestles a Sumo

Noah Kagan, founder of AppSumo, recently had a conference.  He invited digital marketers to the conference and really wanted to stand out.  He hired and wrestled an actual Sumo Wrestler!

Think about how many pictures, videos, and mentions he got from that one moment in his event.  I have not seen the numbers, but I bet a ton of new people found out about his company from that one decision to add a bit of WOW to his conference.

Yes, if you want to see the video of Noah wresting a Sumo in a Hotel Conference room go here.

The Mission Impossible Real Estate Agent

One real estate agent created videos shot like Mission Impossible.  She would go to the home at night wearing black and pretend to sneak her way into the house.  She would tell her viewers that this is a preview that no one else can get.  She played the Mission Impossible theme and houses got attention way above others, not to mention, everyone wanted to work with a fun real estate agent.

I’ve even heard of real estate agents rapping the features of their house and making other interesting videos that capture attention and get shared by potential customers. (Sorry, I couldn’t remember their names.)

The Yoga Business Card with Two Holes

Getting creative can be as simple as putting two holes in your business card.  A yoga card design has two holes to put your fingers in.  When you hold the card upright, the fingers look like feet being stretched.  People really enjoy these interactive cards and they are not much more expensive than a nice card anyway. (see a sample)

How to get your creativity started

Know Your Customers

You know your product, but how well do you know your customer?  The better you know your customer, the better you can tailor your marketing to fit your customer.  If you need some really in-depth training about your customer, check out my video Understanding Your Customer.

You always want to start with the customer.  You don’t want to bring a sumo wrestler into a sewing business.  You want an idea that fits your customer and the culture of your business.

Look Outside Your Industry

Look at what others are doing in other industries for some ideas.  Just reading these quick case studies could give you an idea or two.

I suggest researching topics outside of your area of specialty.  You can also go to Youtube and look at trending videos for the funny and creative.  Research Guerilla Marketing and you will find all kinds of creative things people are doing.

I suggest reading Seth Godin’s Purple Cow (Look at his webp page for this book, it is totally different: http://www.sethgodin.com/purple/).  It’s short and reminds you that in a field of black and white cows, the purple cow gets noticed.

Create a Collection

Take time to make your own swipe file of creative ideas.  Basically, you create a creativity collection.  You can get some index cards and jot down ideas when you run across them.  You can have a bulletin board to add creative ideas.  You can create a Pinterest board and collect interesting ideas. And of course, you can just keep a set of notes on your phone using apps like Trello or Evernote (two of my favorites).

I even have an email folder where I save creative emails.  Sending emails is inexpensive and if someone caught your attention, you can use that idea to catch the attention of your customers.  I’ll even go one step further and share with you my Pinterest board with creative advertising.  Just click here to go my creative advertising board.

Final thought:

Creativity Inspires Creativity! 

When you want to think creative, you just have to look to the world around you.  Yes, we live in a really busy world, but when you take a moment to open your eyes and really look you will see the things that stand out.  You just have to look for them… do you see it?

If you ever need help, you are in the right place.  Reading articles like this one can get you started.  You just have to take action on what you are learning.  If you have any questions or need some help, email me.

In the meantime, here’s a digital high five!
via GIPHY

The post Standout Marketing appeared first on Marketing Digest.

Content Marketing News Highlight Tools for Effective Content Marketing

In establishing an online presence, content marketing is an important component. It’s essential for building relationships and gaining customers. Many companies recognize this, in line with what content marketing news show. According to the report by Curata (@curata), 76 percent of companies are allotting more investment to content marketing.

Content marketing can be considered an activity or a process. Either way, simply doing it does not guarantee success. To carry it out effectively, one needs the right tools and tactics. Entrepreneur (@Entrepreneur) lists down strategies and recommended tools for content marketing.

Defining the Needs and Overall Strategy

The foundation of a content marketing strategy depends on the particular content needs of the company. Based on this, the exact tasks can be planned and assigned accordingly. For this part, ProofHub, Kapost, and Marketing.ai are examples of tools where the team can collaborate for the planning and other phases of the strategy.

Creation and Curation of Content

Creating new content or curating existing ones will definitely be a part of content marketing. For this, essential tools include Storify, Curata CCS, and Contently. The first two enable finding relevant content and the third one allows tapping into freelance writers for creating original content.

Spreading the Word

Having great content is important but it doesn’t stop at that. Content simply doesn’t sell itself, so promotion and sharing are necessary for success. With the right tools, these aren’t that hard to pull off. Content Marketer taps into word-of-mouth marketing, allowing connections with influencers for a boost in traffic and shares. Buffer allows management of social media sharing with post scheduling for multiple platforms. PixxFly provides automation that saves both time and money with content sharing, news releases, etc. Narrow focuses on Twitter and uses keywords and hashtags to find viable audience to interact with.

Analytics

Simply sharing is not enough. It’s important to track what works and what doesn’t, and this is where analytics come in. After all, what isn’t measured cannot be improved. Tools for this need to be accurate and focused on relevant data. Parse.ly uses predictive analytics to determine why audience respond to content. SumAll tracks social media data to see how campaigns are doing. Raven Tools allow benchmarking results against competitors, gathering results data from SEO to PPC.

These are just a few examples of tools. To learn more strategies and tools, it’s important to be updated on content marketing tips from resources, such as Marketing Digest.

The post Content Marketing News Highlight Tools for Effective Content Marketing appeared first on Marketing Digest.

SEO Tips: Using High-Quality Content for a Minimalist SEO Approach

When it comes to online marketing, SEO is the first term that comes to mind. Marketers work with specialists to enhance the ranking of the websites they are optimizing in organic search results. Needless to say, their work is guided by multiple factors, SEO news say these factors number to around 205 (and counting). To execute large campaigns, giant corporations usually hire their own team of experts for full-time work, but for startups and small businesses, SEO need not be viewed as complicated.

According to Jayson DeMers, in his article for Forbes.com (@Forbes), most entrepreneurs can get by using the minimalistic approach. By focusing more on the basics, they will be able to strengthen a few key aspects of their online marketing rather than be merely intimidated by its complexities and intricate details. The author suggests starting with the production of high-quality content.

Well-researched, value-adding articles help a company build credibility and trust with its online market. Regular content update promotes a boost in SEO ranking as well since it keeps the website from becoming stale and stagnant. Search engines and audiences alike favor websites with fresh, relevant and up-to-date content.

Thousands of books and blogs share tips about how to write great quality content. Here, we’ll compress its essential elements into six.

1. Length: Should you write something lengthy or concise? If you want it to rank high in desktop searches and attract links, go for 1000+ word content. If you’re targeting mobile users, trim it down to important points so the audience can read it fast.

2. Graphics: More people respond better to content supplemented with visual elements like images, videos, and infographics. In addition, Google factors in multimedia when ranking pages.

3. Obviously, grammatical and spelling errors as well as content with ideas popping like they’re taken from out of the blue won’t make you appear credible.

4. How is the flow of your content? Are points listed into bullets? Are you using subtopic headings? Is there appropriate white space? Is the font style and size readable? Basically, the easier it is for the reader to scan the text, the better.

5. Content must be written with expertise. If the author himself is not an expert in a topic, then at least leading industry sources must be cited to make the content more factual and credible.

6. Shares and comments. Shares increase a content’s value so if the page lacks a social media button, it signals that you aren’t that tech savvy. Moreover, if you have healthy, positive comments, the content will be deemed of high quality.

Content is a major component of a minimalistic SEO strategy. By giving it a good deal of focus, your business could gain better search engine visibility. Note that more savvy SEO tips are available in online resources like Marketing Digest.

The post SEO Tips: Using High-Quality Content for a Minimalist SEO Approach appeared first on Marketing Digest.

Content Marketing Insights: Generating Leads Effectively via Content

Decades ago, businesses relied heavily on traditional marketing tactics, like direct mail, radio ads, and cold calling, to generate leads. With improved information accessibility and rapid progress in technology, however, these marketing tactics have become outdated over time. B2B consumers now have technologies to let them screen the information that reach them e.g. spam filters, internet radio and do-not-call lists. As such, marketers and business owners should find other smarter ways to get around such ‘blockages’.

The average B2B consumer these days -studies product information through industry news and blogs. Content marketing news show that, essentially, the kind of marketing that works today effectively disguises selling as teaching via content. If you want to keep your B2B consumers glued, therefore, you have to steer clear from antiquated tactics and redirect your budget instead to building a solid content marketing strategy. Below are tips to help you garner leads through content marketing:

1. Create a buyer profile. You can’t effectively craft your content unless you identify your target. A Salesforce.com (@Salesforce) article suggests building a buyer persona, which includes the following information:

• age
• education
• income
• work industry
• life stage
• job title
• values
• goals
• information gathering behavior
• challenges

By deciding who to relay your message to, you’ll be able to create content that will appeal to their interests.

2. Develop your content mix. Once your buyer persona is clear, you can now decide what content types to offer your target audience. Note that even if your audience is fond of a particular content type, you should keep your mix as diverse as possible to broaden your reach and avoid content rut. Here are formats HubSpot.com (@HubSpot) recommends:

• Cheat sheets
• Checklists
• Contests
• Tutorials
• Product demo
• Ebooks
• Email series
• Subscriptions
• Guides
• Interviews
• Content kits
• Industry data
• Slideshare
• Podcasts
• Templates
• Tickets
• Tools
• Trials
• Videos
• Webinars
• Whitepapers
• Worksheet
• Zip files

3. Map your content strategy according to lead stage. Generally, leads are divided into 3 categories:

•  Research (75%)— the lead has a problem and is searching for a solution
• Evaluation (20%)— the lead is comparing its vendor options
• Purchase (5%)— the lead is set to buy your product

Determining at which stage your leads are will help you decide the nature of topics and content types you should put more effort on.

Consistently creating new opportunities for lead generation is vital to your business. Content marketing is a tested and proven tactic for building a steady lead pipeline. Does a great part of your marketing strategy still involve radio ads and cold calling? It might be time to take note of the above tips to implement new methods more effectively and efficiently. For more content marketing insights, check out resources like Marketing Digest.

The post Content Marketing Insights: Generating Leads Effectively via Content appeared first on Marketing Digest.

When Accurate Social Marketing News Aid You for the Bigger Following

Businesses that rake in customers make a killing because they address customer needs in the most ideal ways. That said, word of mouth can fly fast, especially when you have social media to consider. An underlying strategy for that revolves around studying the level of popularity of your business and its associated content, and use the data to guide you in future endeavors. Formulating that action plan can work with the information you glean from a source of fresh social marketing news such as Marketing Digest.

Hotbed of Activity

It’s not enough that you count how many likes, comments, or shares your posts reap. You also need to gauge the customers’ level of engagement in your posts and work your materials around it.

According to Simply Measured (@simplymeasured) co-founder and CEO Adam Schoenfeld (@schoeny), a marketing program should always have its key metrics. For social media, the key metric is engagement rate. When harnessed effectively, it can lead to more visibility, brand affinity, sharing, and customer loyalty. That said, you need to have a keen knowledge of tools to use that will help move your social media engagement efforts forward.

Keeping Track with the Right Gear

Adequate intelligence-gathering on the proper marketing analysis platforms can guide you on which has the best mix of services appropriate to the size of your business. Social Media Today’s (@socialmedia2day) William Johnson (@mwilliamjohnsonstates that the program needs to address questions such as which social media accounts have been producing the most customer engagement, and which platforms give insights on business decisions and product pricing, among others. Google Analytics is one such program.

A special web service launched in 2006, Google Analytics is designed to be interlinked with your website, social media channels and the search engines to further keep track of user activity on the different platforms you use. Some of the factors to look out for—which can help your marketing efforts immensely—include the visitor’s Internet address, page views, time spent on the page, and whether any file was downloaded at all.

A business that’s cruising well should not rest on its laurels in an effort to serve more customers and satisfy the interest of “fresh converts.” That’s where publications such as Marketing Digest can aid you—by sharing accurate social marketing insights that may work to your advantage in the long term.

The post When Accurate Social Marketing News Aid You for the Bigger Following appeared first on Marketing Digest.

Content Marketing Tips: 3 Qualities That Top Brands in YouTube Share

Though the amount of content available online has grown immensely, the attention spans of audiences have shrunk significantly. In a world of ever decreasing attention spans, how can marketers engage, nurture, and convert more leads? The answer—according to the most up-to-date content marketing news—is branded video content.

According to an article published on the Content Standard by Skyword (@Skyword), branded video views hit 2.9 billion in Q3 2014—the highest figure up until then (data from Visible Measures). Moreover, 70% of marketers say that video converts better than any other medium—a trend that is partially fueled by the rise in smartphone usage and mobile online browsing.

Being the third most popular website in the world, YouTube is a major destination for audiences looking for branded video content. YouTube videos from the top brands, on average, garner around 60% of its views three weeks from launching. Compare this to content posted on other channels, like social networking sites, which tend to “lose their fire” within a few hours or days. According to Google, four of the top ten trending YouTube videos in 2014 were branded videos, and more and more viewers are subscribing to brand channels too, with an average annual increase rate of 47%.

While there’s more to video marketing than YouTube, creating a channel on that platform can add value to your brand in the long run, considering YouTube’s viewership dominance. Listed below are some characteristics top brands in YouTube share:

1. They focus on interesting topics. YouTube isn’t just a place for 30-second TV commercials, as top brands are becoming more creative on YouTube with the aim of reaching a wider audience. Take for instance, General Electric (@generalelectric). GE does not only produce compelling and in-depth videos featuring its products and services, but also explores thought-provoking scientific topics—like “How Will We Live Forever?” or “How Will Robots Evolve?”.

2. They share how-to info. Viewership of YouTube how-to videos are up by 70% year-over-year, and top brands are jumping on the bandwagon. For instance, Gillette (@Gillette) provides instructional videos about shaving, including “How to Shave with Sensitive Skin.” Outdoor gear supplier REI (@REI) shares tips, like “Backpacking Tips: How to Pack a Backpack”.

3. They consistently update content. To build an audience base, savvy brands update their content regularly. A good example is the YouTube sensation Grace Helbig (@gracehelbig) who, after uploading more than a thousand videos since 2008, has garnered more than 2.1 million subscribers. More than half of her viewers are subscribers who look forward to her thrice-a-week uploads.

A good video marketing strategy helps brands create stories that leave a lasting impression on audiences, compelling them to search for more content. Do you have a YouTube channel? How often do you upload marketing videos on your channel? For more content marketing tips, check out Marketing Digest.

The post Content Marketing Tips: 3 Qualities That Top Brands in YouTube Share appeared first on Marketing Digest.

How Taco Bell Created a Loyal Customer Base with its Memorable Viral & Social Marketing Campaigns

You can call them stunts or you can call them strokes of genius. Taco Bell (@tacobell) has become famous for being ahead of the curve when it comes to marketing its products to the general public. In 1996, there was that unforgettable headline in The New York Times and five other major American newspapers stating that “the Bell” had bought the Liberty Bell and would rename it “The Taco Liberty Bell” (it turned out to be a very well-timed April Fools’ joke).

When the space station Mir came down to Earth in 2001, Taco Bell towed a massive bull’s-eye to the Pacific Ocean, saying that if any piece of the station hit the bull’s-eye, every person in the United States would get a free taco.

Figure 1 (Source: BBC News)

But that was fourteen years ago. Marketing strategies and channels have evolved considerably, and technology plays an even greater role in our lives. Brands and companies both great and small need to incorporate digital approaches to their marketing strategies if they want to remain competitive. At the same time, brands and companies need to stay true to their principles and maintain their unique identities.

Taco Bell has not only done a great job of keeping up with the times, but has stayed at the forefront of what it means to be successful in the Digital Age—all without sacrificing its unique brand identity.

Bouncing Back from 2011’s Meatgate

In 2011, controversy hit Taco Bell when it was accused of selling meat products that were not completely made of meat. While allegations against the fast food industry are hardly new and the lawsuit was eventually dropped, the controversy had an adverse effect on business as Taco Bell experienced a 1.4% decline in sales that year.

In an effort to stop becoming the punch line (to paraphrase CEO Brian Niccol), Taco Bell made a big splash the following year with the launch of the Doritos Locos Tacos. After 10 weeks, over 100 million of the new tacos had been sold. This resulted in an 8% increase in sales in 2012.

Figure 2 (Source: Taco Bell)

It wasn’t just the introduction of new products that reinvented Taco Bell. Much has been said about the brand’s social media presence, and how it has used social media channels to improve its online visibility and connect with its target market. Whether it’s humorous Facebook and Twitter posts or viral marketing campaigns, much of Taco Bell’s success comes from knowing where its potential and existing customers are and how to best appeal to their sensibilities—all while subtly telling them that they should hang out more at Taco Bell.

The virility of Taco Bell’s recent marketing campaigns can be credited to Tressie Lieberman, the company’s Director of Digital and Social Marketing. Lieberman and her very creative team are not afraid of innovation, experimentation, and a lot of silliness if it means successfully promoting Taco Bell to its target market.

Listed below are some of the factors that have contributed to the success of Taco Bell’s trailblazing marketing and social media efforts:

1. Targeting Millennials

While it’s undeniable that Taco Bell has a varied target market, its decision to focus its digital and social channels on Millennials was a smart decision. Imagine going to a foreign country for the first time. Even if you haven’t set foot on it prior, if you can get by with a few words of the native language, the locals will respond to you in a positive manner.

Figure 3 (Source: Twitter)

The brand has mastered the language of Millennials and knows how to communicate with them. A quick look at Taco Bell’s Twitter feed and Facebook page reveals numerous non sequiturs with dashes of humor, honesty, and maybe just a little hint of sass. [See Figure 3]

2. Maintaining a Strong Social Media Presence

With 1.59 million followers on Twitter and over 10 million likes on Facebook, Taco Bell maintains a very active online presence, which in turn has increased its popularity with its target market. Customers have come to expect daily posts on all of Taco Bell’s social media channels, be it about new products or simply something endearing or humorous about what makes eating at Taco Bell enjoyable. The team behind these social media accounts is focused on where the consumers are, and have figured out how to use the right social media channel to drive effective promotions.

Figure 4 (Sources: Business Insider/Snapchat)

For instance, to promote a limited offer on their Beefy Crunch Burrito item, Taco Bell used Snapchat to announce the limited offer. This strategy had two layers that fit perfectly: first, there was the limited time offer menu item; second, the limited time offer was advertised on a social media app that is known for showing media in a span of 1-10 seconds before being deleted forever.

3. Putting a Friendly Face Behind the Corporation

Online marketing success often relies on being honest with consumers, as consumers want to know that they can trust the entity they’re communicating with. It is natural for the public to always have doubts about the “big bad corporations” who probably don’t care about them and just want their money. This is true whether you’re running an established business like Taco Bell or a small crafts shop.

Figure 5 (Source: Twitter)

The professionals that man Taco Bell’s social media accounts take the time to interact with customers and social media followers. These interactions aren’t limited to saying thanks or acting as occasional customer service reps (as some businesses do on social media). Taco Bell keeps an eye on the social media landscape and engages in conversation with anyone talking about them. You could be musing about wanting to eat Taco Bell right this minute even without referencing their Twitter handle, and the company will send you a reply, subtly hinting that yes, you should go out and buy their food.

Brian Niccol, who was then president of Taco Bell, participated in an Ask Me Anything (AMA) thread in 2014 on Reddit to promote the brand’s breakfast menu launch. With over 8,000 comments, Mr. Niccol’s honest, humorous, and sometimes detailed answers to questions posted to him by users was met with a very positive response by the website, even garnering him a “Best Comment of the Day” award.

4. Taking Viral Marketing Up a Notch

If the Liberty Bell or the Mir space station incidents weren’t evidence enough, Taco Bell has built a reputation for launching memorable viral marketing campaigns. Case in point: in March 2014, Taco Bell launched a much talked about “viral war” with McDonald’s (@McDonalds) during the launch of its breakfast menu.

It started when Taco Bell released a commercial online, where “Ronald McDonald” talked about how much he loved the new Waffle Taco that was being offered.

McDonald’s social media team responded back in their own friendly way by posting a picture of the actual Ronald McDonald petting a Chihuahua, a nod to the mascot Taco Bell used in the mid-90s. [See Figure 6]

Figure 6 (Source: Twitter)

Much like its use of Snapchat, this form of viral marketing also had a two-fold effect: because Taco Bell took the first shot, the brand successfully marketed its new breakfast menu to raise awareness among an already loyal fan base. In turn, any response from McDonald’s simply generated more buzz for Taco Bell.

Want to Create a Loyal Customer Base? Maintain a Unique Brand Identity

Taco Bell is certainly not a pioneer when it comes to viral marketing on the Internet, but they are one of the best examples of how a company can use the technique to effectively promote a brand, product, or service. Taco Bell has crafted a unique voice and marketing approach, and has not resorted to changing its brand identity to adapt to current trends. This in turn has created a loyal customer base for the brand.

The post How Taco Bell Struck Gold with Its Memorable Viral Marketing Campaigns appeared first on Marketing Digest.

Content Marketing Insights: Types of Content that are Highly Shareable

We live in the Information Age, and Internet users are hungrier than ever for informational and relevant content. On the other hand, the last couple of years has witnessed the explosion of content production, with content both good and bad clogging various content distribution channels.

As many reputable content marketing news sites are quick to point out, content marketing campaigns cannot succeed without the right strategy, a deep understanding of the target audience, and proper dissemination of content through content distribution channels.

According to the renowned content marketing and social media influencer, Jeff Bullas (@jeffbullas), content marketing is about attracting attention. This attention can be turned into engagement, and engagement can be turned into leads and customers. Bullas went on to list eleven types of content that people love to share. Some of these types of content will be highlighted in this article.

First on Bullas’ list is instructional content, commonly known as “How to” content. How to’s are specific and valuable sources of information, and can help you reach a highly targeted audience. Next is large listicles. Their easy-to-read format and compelling nature attracts readers. These days, listicles with more than 20 items are pretty common.

Facts and statistics come next. If you choose the right topic, you will have insightful and fascinating data to present to your audience. Infographics are also popular, as they present informative content in an easy-to-digest visual format.

As is apparent to anyone who spends time on social media, people just love to share real images of real people with real stories. Indeed, sharing authentic stories and images of people can help you establish a stronger connection with your audience.

Meanwhile, tweets that have images are more eye-catching than pure-text ones. Plus, they’re more shareable, too. Humans are highly visual, and that’s why articles with multiple images work well. Curiosity gap headlines are something you should try, too. A long headline may not seem appealing, but if you phrase it in a way that sparks curiosity—that changes things for the better.

Writing long 1,500+ word articles may seem counterintuitive if you want your content to be shared; however, long form content still works for certain niches and certain types of target audiences. Another effective content type is quotes presented in an image. Instead of tweeting a quote textually, superimpose it on a related image.

What Makes Them Shareable?

An article from Search Engine Journal highlights the different characteristics of content that make them shareable: concise material, use of images, unique value, and audience specificity. You can see that the content types above share one or more of these characteristics. Keep checking out online marketing resources like Marketing Digest to gain more content marketing insights.

The post Content Marketing Insights: Types of Content that are Highly Shareable appeared first on Marketing Digest.

Consumers are Bombarded with Marketing Information Every Day

There are many things that consumers want. And this keeps changing minute to minute. Since consumers are human, and humans like to experience life to the fullest. This means many choices for many different types of products or services.

If you take the billions of people on the planet and all the thoughts that they have about what they desire or want, you get the idea of how huge and complex this task of figuring out what people want could become.

Okay, so you have your website built. Next is you need to have customers find your website when they are looking for something… information, or your products and services.

Today people are trying to search through a tsunami wave of information that is available online. This amount of information has become so large that customers now rely on filters, such as ad blockers or blogs or special tools to direct them to a specific area so that they don’t have to wade through so much information and take hours to finally find what they’re looking for.

Online marketers may not have gotten this concept correct when it comes to online marketing.

How Can you Stand Out and Rise Above the Clutter

Here’s one of the essential tips to get consumers to find your website and content so they can interact and possibly buy from you!

You want to enter the conversation that the searcher is having inside their head at the time they are searching to find information. If you can do this you will be their best friend because they feel like you are providing information at the time that they wanted to answer their questions that initiated this search to get information. Since you provide the answers to their questions, they will see you as the most trusted person that provides the most trusted information compared to everyone else.

They will feel like you understand them, and notice them, and care for them.

Since this conversation that they are having inside their head is in fact their search for answers to the questions that they are having, when they find this in the form of a display of information, they are extremely happy to have found it.

This display of information can be in the form of a search engine results snippet pulled from your website (it’s even possible that the snippet match the question they typed on a search engine), or a social media post, or a title of, or a caption in your YouTube video.

To give the best content to answer the questions the person is asking:

• Know your ideal customer and how they think.
• Know your products and services and how they can help your customers.
• Put yourself in your customers shoes and think how they think, and write your content accordingly to answer their questions.
• Survey your best customers and ask them what terms they searched for, or what products or services they were the most interested in.
  This will give you data for content to add to your site pages.
• While customers are in your business, listen to what they talk about in relation to your business to get clues of what they are interested in purchasing.

This way you will attract more ideal customers and not the type of searchers that you rather not do business with. You can then create the niche of customers that you want to supply with your products and services.

So no matter if you have a website, a landing page, Facebook post, or a YouTube video, make sure that the information you provide is of a simple, conversational method of delivery to them. This way, the person who found for your information will get the idea that they like and understand you. They will naturally be more loyal to you and trust you.

If they like and understand the information you provide, then they will tell their friends and neighbors about what you can provide. This in itself will provide a more viral exposure to your brand and what you have to provide as a company to consumers.

The post When It Comes to Optimizing Your Brand, Consider What Consumers Really Want appeared first on Marketing Digest.