Marketing

Facebook Ad

Facebook Advertising Best Practices

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What key objectives can be satisfied with Facebook advertising?

 

1. Awareness

Awareness is about to tell people what makes a business different from its competitors. Awareness is generating interest in a business’ products or services and tell people why the business is valuable to them. (Facebook, n/a)

Example: someone opens a party shop and starts a Facebook campaign to let people know about the shop and its wide range of products and services. The goal is to reach as many people as possible. Slideshow or video ad could be effective to showcase products.

 

2. Consideration

Consideration is to push target audience further in the sales funnel. Consideration is about making people think about the business and have them want to learn more. With this objective in mind a business can set the following goals:

  • Traffic to the website (Traffic)
  • Generate more likes, clicks, shares and comments (Engagement)
  • Generate more video watch (Video views)
  • Mobile app download (App install)
  • Generate communication with existing and new customers (Messages)
  • Have people who are interested in our business do a specific action in order to collect data, for example, email address (Lead generation)

(Facebook, n/a)

Example: we create a Facebook ad for our party shop aiming more newsletter sign-ups. In the ad we can offer 15% off from the first shop plus a free 1-hour party planning consultation. A simple but compelling single image ad with clear message and CTA (call-to-action) could be a great choice.

 

3. Conversion

Conversion encourages people already interested in the business’ products or services to purchase something.

We can set the following goals:

  • Encourage people to purchase something through our website or mobile app (Conversion)
  • Using e-commers catalogue to encourage purchase (Catalogue sales)
  • Promote physical shop and encourage people to stop by (Store traffic)

(Facebook, n/a)

Example: we can advertise our online catalogue using a carousel Facebook ad. Carousel ad allows us to add several images with different product details and links making it easy to reach our website and make a purchase.

 

What are the main advertising formats available?

 

1. Image Ad

 

Image ad is the simplest ad format on Facebook. Using high resolution imagery along with compelling text is a great way to increase awareness. (Facebook, n/a)

 

What to keep in mind:

  • Use simple images and maintain visual consistency
  • Use high resolution images
  • Ensure the image highlights one point to focus on
  • Use short compelling text

Image Facebook Ad

Figure 1 In this image ad Pret a Manger uses a simple high-resolution image. The image itself delivers a clear message. Image text is short and clear: Pret a Manger is collaborating with Just Eat delivery service to home deliver hot drinks to customers. The ad text is short clear and compelling. CTA (call-to-action) button is clear and compelling too: “See Menu” (Facebook, 2020)

 

2. Video Ad

Video ad allows us to show product or service or a brand and capture attention quickly. (Facebook, n/a)

What to keep in mind:

  • 15 seconds or less videos are the most successful
  • Video ads have lower cost per click and higher return on ad spend
  • Video ads generate 4X more purchase than image ads

(Facebook, n/a)

  • Put the most compelling part and brand message at the beginning of the video
  • Use vertical or square videos as people hold their phones vertically
  • Sound off

(Facebook, n/a)

Facebook video ad

Figure 2 This short video ad includes brand message at the beginning and contains compelling motion picture. The video is vertical. It fits to vertical mobile screens. The ad is without sound. It has a short compelling text both in the video and above it. The advert contains a clear CTA button: “Shop Now” (Facebook, 2020)

 

3. Stories Ad

Stories are full screen format 6-seconds photo display or video ads up to 15 seconds. (Newberry, C., 2019) It can appear on ether Facebook or Instagram stories.

 

What to keep in mind:

  • Last for 24 hours
  • Great way to advertise limited time offers

(Newberry, C., 2019)

  • Vertical full screen
  • Should be short clear and compelling
  • Should focus on one thing

(Facebook, n/a)

 

Facebook story ad

Figure 3 Zipcar UK’s story ad contains the key message at the beginning of the video and focuses one key point: only travel when you really need to travel during lockdown period. But if you need to travel Zipcar UK is here. The ad is full screen and vertical. Contains CTA button: “Learn More” (Facebook, 2020)

 

4. Messenger Ad

Interactive automated personalised ad. Helps (re)starting a conversation with potential or existing customers. (Facebook, n/a)

 

What to keep in mind:

  • Only available with other story ads or other campaigns running in feed
  • Can be tailored to fit specific needs
  • Great way to gain new customers as well as re-target existing customers
  • Built for quick engagement

(Facebook, n/a)

 

Messenger ad

Figure 4 I am an existing customer at Koin Klub. When the new James Bond coin series issued, I was retargeted with this Messenger ad. It offered me the chance to be one of the first people who order the new coin series. I could buy the coins just one click, as the ad contained quick links to the products. The second message encouraged me to check their other products on their website.

 

5. Carousel Ad

 

Carousel ad showcases up to 10 images or videos each with their own link and text. (Newberry, C., 2019) Carousel ad is great to showcase and highlight different products or tell a developing story. (Facebook, n/a)

 

What to keep in mind:

 

  • Highlight different products
  • Showcase details of the same product
  • Tell a developing story
  • Explain a process
  • The interactive format is more engaging: users have to swipe to learn more

(Facebook, n/a)

 

Facebook Carousel ad

Figure 5 Oreo’s carousel ad tells a story about how to make a real-life filter to have fun during lockdown. They used six different images to tell the story. Each image is linked to Oreo’s website. (Facebook, 2020)

 

6. Slideshow Ad

 

Slideshow ads are video-like ads created with several static images. Using motion and sound, slideshow ads create an immersive experience. (Facebook, n/a)

 

What to keep in mind:

 

  • Can be created quickly from desktop or mobile
  • Can reach audience with slower Internet connection
  • Highlight different products or benefits
  • Tell a story by adding text to each image
  • Show a step-by-step process

(Facebook, n/a)

 

Facebook Slideshow ad

Figure 6 I am showing my own slideshow advert as an example. As Urban Adventurer I used different images to highlight cool places to visit in London during (virtually) and after (physically) lockdown. (Facebook, 2020)

 

7. Collection Ad

 

Collection ad is an interactive ad type letting people tap and learn more about a specific product without leaving Facebook. (Newberry, C., 2019)

What to keep in mind:

  • Works well for retail and travel brands
  • Highlight one main image or video followed by related products
  • Organise your products by category, for example, “best sellers”, “for you”
  • People can see products in action or in use
  • Can tell a story and encourage sales at the same time

(Facebook, n/a)

 

Facebook Collection ad

Figure 7 In this collection ad Miu Miu is showcasing a product (a shoulder bag) in use in a video followed by four other related products. (Facebook, 2020)

 

8. Playables

 

Playables give a try-before-you-buy experience by letting users try a demo game before downloading an app. (Facebook, n/a)

 

What to keep in mind:

 

  • Has three parts: lead-in video, demo game, call-to-action
  • Gives immersive experience
  • Drive high-intent players to download the app
  • Generates engaged players

(Facebook, n/a)

 

Facebook Playable ad

Figure 8 Brain Test’s playable ad shows how to play the game with as simple examples as possible. While the video plays CTA button: “Play Game” is being shown to provide quick access to the app if a user wants to download it. (Facebook, 2020)

 

9. Instant Experience Ad

 

Instant experience is a full-screen fast load interactive experience designed for mobile. (Facebook, n/a)

 

What to keep in mind:

 

  • Can include photos, videos, carousels and tilt to pan
  • When clicked automatically opens full screen
  • Multifunctional: encourages brand awareness, acquires new customers, inspires mobile shopping etc.
  • Easy to create by using templates
  • Super-fast: loads faster than standard mobile web
  • There are four optimised templates to choose from

(Facebook, n/a)

 

Instant experience ad

Figure 9 Pritt is currently running an instant experience campaign on Facebook. The campaign is a toy ice cream tutorial and is targeting kids in lockdown. When taping on the ad it opens full screen and guides through the ice cream making process step-by-step. (Facebook, 2020)

 

Facebook Instant experience ad

Figure 10 The advert shows how to make toy ice cream in three easy steps. We can see the process by swiping through the images. (Facebook, 2020)

 

Facebook Instant experience

Figure 11 Each image is scrollable. When we scroll down it reveals what we will need to make our toy ice creams. At the bottom of each page brand logo appears. (Facebook, 2020)

 

How can you target audiences when creating a Facebook advertisement?

 

We can target audience by:

  • Location
  • Demographic (age, gender, education, language etc.)
  • Interest and hobbies
  • Behaviour
  • Connections

(Facebook, n/a)

We can target audience:

  • Using custom audience list we simply upload to Facebook Ads Manager
  • Target those people who have already visited our website. We can do so by adding Facebook Pixel code to our website. This allows us to create a custom audience and target them with Facebook ads

(Facebook, n/a)

  • Facebook SDK (Software Development Kit) on our mobile app. This allows us to track and measure actions users take on the app (Facebook, n/a)

 

Location Targeting

Target audience - location

Figure 10 This screenshot showcases location targeting on Facebook Ads Manager. We can either choose previously created custom audience or set location by continent, country or city. We can include and exclude people and/or location. On the right-hand-side we can see how many people we will reach and how many page likes we can expect with our current settings.

 

Demographic Targeting & Connections

Target audience - demographic

Figure 11 Demographic targeting means, we can segment audience by age, gender, language and include or exclude people by specific criteria. For example, exclude people who have already liked our Facebook page or those who used our mobile app. Or we can include people who have connected with our page or events before and exclude those who have not. (Facebook, n/a)

 

Lookalike audience

Figure 12 We can also create “lookalike audience.” Lookalike audience is similar to our best existing audience and are likely to be interested in our products or services. We can create lookalike audience by simply clicking “lookalike audience” and then choosing an existing audience group. (Facebook, n/a)

 

Interests, Hobbies and Behaviour

Interests and behaviour

Figure 13 We can further narrow our audience group by adding education or relationship status, interests, hobbies or specific behaviour such as Facebook page admins.

 

Explain the key elements that make up a great Facebook advertisement

 

Have a goal in mind

 

Make sure we have a clear goal in mind before start making a Facebook campaign. Determining our goals has an influence on everything that comes after. Without crystal clear goals our adverts will not succeed. (French, J., 2018) Our goals should be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely). For example, reaching 100 newsletter sign-ups within 1 month.

 

Target the right audience

 

Clearly defining our audience is the very first thing we should do. After segmenting our audience by location, age and gender, we should use further segmentation in order to be able to create personalised and relevant adverts to each audience group. (Owen-Jackson, C., n/a)

 

Know what to say

 

Use key message in the first line of the copy. People tend to scan advert texts rather than read it, so it is important to grab their attention immediately. Keep the message clear, short and compelling. (Lyfe Marketing, 2019)

 

Use quality images

 

Image is just as important as text. The image or video should be high quality, compelling and should be a visual representation to the ad copy. (Lyfe Marketing, 2019)

 

Refresh creative

 

To prevent campaign fatigue, creatives should be refreshed regularly (in one or two weeks). This is because most Facebook users log in on daily basis. (Perrin, A. & Anderson, M., 2018)

 

Include CTA Button

 

Include CTA (call-to-action) button that let people know what you want them to do. CTA button should be clear and easy to understand. For example, Shop Now, Learn More, Order Now etc. (Lyfe Marketing, 2019)

 

A/B Split Testing

 

Run two similar ad campaigns to see which performs better. Test two different images with the same text or vice versa. We can also test two different CTA buttons or the same ad on two different audience groups. (Facebook, n/a)

 

Boost the Best Posts

 

If an organic post is successful and reach a good level of engagement, we might want to consider boosting it to reach an even wider audience and achieve greater level or conversion.

 

 

REFERENCES

 

Text

 

Facebook (n/a) “About location targeting” [Online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/business/help/202297959811696?id=176276233019487&helpref=related&amp%3Bref=related [Accessed 25 April 2020]

 

Facebook (n/a) “About Lookalike Audiences” [Online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/business/help/164749007013531?id=401668390442328&recommended_by=572787736078838 [Accessed 26 April 2020]

 

Facebook (n/a) “About video ads” [Online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/business/help/1381779698788633?id=603833089963720&locale=en_GB [Accessed 23 April 2020]

 

Facebook (n/a) “Best practices for mobile video” [Online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/business/help/144240239372256?id=603833089963720&locale=en_GB [Accessed 23 April 2020]

 

Facebook (n/a) “Create lightweight, affordable video ads from images that you already have.” [Online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/business/ads/slideshow-ad-format# [Accessed 24 April 2020]

 

Facebook (n/a) “Extend your reach and find more customers with Messenger ads.” [Online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/business/ads/messenger-ads# [Accessed 23 April 2020]

 

Facebook (n/a) “Facebook Instant Experiences. Create a beautiful, full-screen destination for your ads.” [Online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/business/ads/instant-experiences-ad-destination# [Accessed 24 April 2020]

 

Facebook (n/a) “Get more space to drive action.” [Online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/business/ads/carousel-ad-format# [Accessed 23 April 2020]

 

Facebook (n/a) “Help your ads find the people who will love your business.” [Online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/business/ads/ad-targeting [Accessed 25 April 2020]

 

Facebook (n/a) “Help: Choosing the right advertising objective” [Online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/business/help/1438417719786914?id=802745156580214 [Accessed 22 April 2020]

 

Facebook (n/a) “Implement the SDK” [Online] Available at: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/app-ads/sdk-setup [Accessed 25 April 2020]

 

Facebook (n/a) “Let people play your game before they install the app.” [Online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/business/ads/playable-ad-format# [Accessed 24 April 2020]

 

Facebook (n/a) “Make it easy for people to browse your products.” [Online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/business/ads/collection-ad-format# [Accessed 24 April 2020]

 

Facebook (n/a) “Success” [Online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/business/success/rareform [Accessed 23 April 2020]

 

Facebook (n/a) “Tell your story with immersive ads that meet people where they are.” [Online] available at: https://www.facebook.com/business/ads/stories-ad-format# [Accessed 23 April 2020]

 

Facebook (n/a) “The dos and don’ts of using split test with Facebook ads” [Online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/business/learn/lessons/overview-of-facebook-ad-split-testing?ref=search_new_0 [Accessed 27 April 2020]

 

Facebook (n/a) “When are photo ads your best option?” [Online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/business/ads/photo-ad-format?ref=ads_guide {Accessed 23 April 2020]

 

French, J. (26th July 2018) Social Media Week “5 Must-Have Elements For Any Successful Facebook Ad Campaign” [Online] Available at: https://socialmediaweek.org/blog/2018/07/5-must-have-elements-for-any-successful-facebook-ad-campaign/ [Accessed 26 April]

 

Lyfe Marketing (2019) “10 Essentials to Running Successful Facebook Ads” [Online] Available at: https://www.lyfemarketing.com/blog/successful-facebook-ads/ [Accessed 26 April 2020]

 

Newberry, C. (2019) Hootsuite “Social Media Advertising 101: How to Get the Most Out of Your Ad Budget” [Online] Available at: https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-advertising/#facebook [Accessed 23 April 2020]

 

Owen-Jackson, C. (n/a) Catalyst “5 Essential Elements of Any Facebook Advertising Strategy” [Online] Available at: https://bozzimedia.com/5-essential-elements-facebook-advertising-strategy/ [Accessed 26 April 2020]

 

Perrin, A. & Anderson, M. (2018) Pew Research “Share of U.S. adults using social media, including Facebook, is mostly unchanged since 2018” [Online] Available at: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/04/10/share-of-u-s-adults-using-social-media-including-facebook-is-mostly-unchanged-since-2018/ [Accessed 26 April 2020]

 

Image Sources

 

https://www.facebook.com/blinkcatfood/

https://www.facebook.com/Brain-Test-115091246603991/

https://www.facebook.com/MiuMiu/

https://www.facebook.com/OREOUK/

https://www.facebook.com/pretamanger/

https://www.facebook.com/prittworld/

https://www.facebook.com/thekoinclub/

https://www.facebook.com/UrbanAdventurerLDN/

https://www.facebook.com/ZipcarUK/

Social Media Advertising

About Social Media Advertising

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Among digital marketing essentials, such as SEO, email marketing, PPC (pay-per-click) advertising and content marketing, social media “perceived as the best marketing tool to advertise as it is cost effective, time efficient and it directly appeals the people present in any specific community.” (Tribulant, 2018)

Digital Era

A recent research by Hootsuite shows that the average time spent on the Internet using any device was almost 7 hrs per day in 2019. (Hootsuite, 2019)

Average time spent on the Internet daily

Figure 1 This screenshot showcases how drastically Internet usage has grown over the years from 2014 to 2019. The average time people spend on the Internet is around 7 hrs in the previous year. While in 2014 Internet users spent 6 hours 22 minutes per day, by 2019 this increased by 23 minutes. (Hootsuite, 2019)

 

In 2019 people (16-64-years) spent 2 and a half hours using social media platform daily. (Hootsuite, 2019)

Evolution in daily time spent on soc media

Figure 2 Time spent on social media platforms is growing each year. While in 2014 the average amount of time spent on social media was 1 hour 44 minutes, by 2019 this number almost doubled. (Hootsuite, 2019)

 

Consumers of all age group, location and interest spend a great amount of time using social media every day. Having a strong social media presence is essential for any organisations in the digital era we are living in. Using social media platforms organisations can reach potential customers as well as nurture existing customers. Advertising on social media is time and cost effective as well as perfect to acquire new customers. (Tribulant, 2018)

The Most Popular Social Media Platforms

 

Pew Research and Hootsuite agree that Facebook and YouTube are the two most popular social media platforms, followed by Instagram and Twitter and other platforms such as Snapchat and LinkedIn.

Pew Research - most used soc media platforms jpg

Figure 3 Pew Research from 2019 shows that Facebook is far the most popular social media platform among Americans. (Pew Research, 2019)

 

The worlds most used soc media platforms

Figure 4 Hootsuite recent research found that Facebook is the most popular social media platform in the world. (Hootsuite, 2019)

 

How to Use Social Media for Advertising

According to Forbes Magazine: a well-executed social campaign can a be powerful addition to the overall digital marketing arsenal. (Robinson, R., 2019)

Social media is where consumers spend their time, seek information before purchasing a product and consume online content. Thanks to smart social media ad algorithms, businesses

can segment and target their customer base according to age, gender, location, interest etc. Micro targeting is another great way to reach a specific group of people.

Advantages of using paid social media as part of the marketing strategy

1. Extended Reach

To ensure we are targeting the right audience, paid social ads allows us to reach a chosen audience. We can segment audience by age, gender, location, interest, martial status etc. and then we can tailor our message to fit to our audience group.  (Dobson, C., 2019)

2.Micro Targeting

Sometimes a business wants to target a small specific group on social media. If this is the case, social media platforms, such as Facebook gives the opportunity to do so.

When using micro targeting (or detailed targeting) we can add criteria such as “include people” or “exclude people.” For example, if we want to generate leads on our Facebook page but want to reach only those people who have not liked our Facebook page yet and exclude those who have already liked it.

We can further narrow our audience by using “and” or “or” when specifying our target group.

An example target group can be the following:

  • working professionals
  • like movies
  • frequent travellers

Our specifications could be as follows: 1. working professionals who like movies OR frequent travellers. 2. Working professionals who like movies AND frequent travellers.

In the second case we further narrowed our target audience as we are targeting those working professionals who fulfil both criteria: like movies and frequent travellers. If one of the criteria is not fulfilled – for example, like movies but not frequent travellers – they are not part of our target audience. (Facebook, n/a)

3. Beat Competitors

Being active on social media can help a business to stay up to date with current trends and  better understand their target audience as well as their competitors. Understanding competitors and monitoring their behaviour on social media can help a business to beat their competitors and find those gaps their competitors might miss. (Tribulant, 2018)

Being in the front line and knowing what a business’ target audience is talking about give a chance the business to deliver key messages to the right audience at the right time, influence what happens and effectively manage brand reputation. (Gurd, J., 2019)

4. Increase Sales

Social media advertising allows potential customers to learn more about a business and their products and services. Understanding the target audience behaviour and preferences allow a business to create creative contents fit to their target audience, generate leads and convert them into paying customers. (Tribulant, 2018)

Sources of new brand discovery

Figure 5 According to Hootsuite 27% of global Internet users discover new brands on social media by social media ads while 23% by recommendations or comments on social media.

Product research on soc media jpg

Figure 6 Global Web Index research shows that more than half of social media users have used social media to search products. (Beer, C., 2018)

Digital advertising market value growth Statista jpg

Figure 7 Statista’s recent research shows the average ad spending per internet user of the selected market (market segment, region) for each year. We can see that social media advertising is the second most popular digital advertising method after search advertising and predicted to continue growing. (Statista, 2020)

 5. Reaching Potential Customers at the Right Time

A well-timed post or advert on social media can generate more clicks, likes, comments and shares. Social media ads can help businesses to reach their target audience at the right time. In 2019 Hootsuite published their research results on what is the best time to post on different social media platforms. (Tien, S. and Aynsley, M., 2019)

Best time to post on Facebook jpg

Figure 8 Knowing the best day and time to post on Facebook and other social media channels gives businesses the opportunity to reach their target audience at the right time at the right place. For example, according to Hootsuite, the best days to post on Facebook for B2C brands are Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday around 12pm. (Tien, S. and Aynsley, M., 2019)

 

6. Increase Brand Awareness and Trust

Social media ads and boosts are excellent way to increase brand awareness and trust. Utilizing eye-catchy image or video along with short compelling text can help a business to boost engagement and keep the business’ products or services in mind. (Dobson, C., 2019)

A business can build trust if collaborating with influencers. Researches show that almost half of social media users depend on influencer recommendations and 40% of them have purchased something after seeing it on social media. (Digital Marketing Institute, n/a)

7. Customised Budget

Most of the social media platforms allow businesses PPC (pay-per-click) campaigns which means the business only pays when a user does a required action, for example, clicked the link in the ad or liked the social media page. This is a cost-effective way to promote a business if it has a well-targeted audience. (Dobson, C., 2019)

 

 

 

REFERENCES

Beer, C. (2018) Global Web Index “Social Browsers Engage with Brands” [Online] Available at: https://blog.globalwebindex.com/chart-of-the-day/social-browsers-brand/ [Accessed 22 April 2020]

 

Digital Marketing Institute (n/a) “20 Influencer Marketing Statistics that Will Surprise You” [Online] Available at: https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/en-gb/blog/20-influencer-marketing-statistics-that-will-surprise-you [Accessed 22 April 2020]

 

Dobson, C. (2019) Marketing Bitz “Why Should Paid Social Media Play a Role in Your Digital Marketing Strategy?” [Online] Available at: https://marketingbitz.com/why-should-paid-social-media-play-a-role-in-your-digital-marketing-strategy/ [Accessed 21 April 2020]

 

Facebook (n/a) “Best Practices for Detailed Targeting” [Online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/business/help/905095143159925?id=176276233019487&locale=en_GB [Accessed 21 April 2020]

 

Gurd, J. (2019) Smart Insight “6 reasons why you need a social media strategy” [Online] Available at: https://www.smartinsights.com/social-media-marketing/social-media-strategy/social-media-strategy-planning-essentials-6-reasons-need-social-media-strategy/ [Accessed 22 April 2020]

 

Hootsuite (2019) “Digital 2020 Global Digital Overview (January 2020)” [Online] Available at: https://www.slideshare.net/DataReportal/digital-2020-global-digital-overview-january-2020-v01-226017535 [Accessed 18 April 2020]

 

Pew Research (2019) “Social Media Fact Sheet” [Online] Available at: https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media/#who-uses-social-media [Accessed 20 April 2020]

 

Robinson. R. (2019) Forbes “How To Use Social Media To Supercharge Your Inbound Marketing Strategy” [Online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanrobinson/2019/09/18/social-media-marketing-strategy/#684fdd281ff3 [Accessed 20 April 2020]

 

Statista (2020) “Digital Advertising – Worldwide” [Online] Available at: https://www.statista.com/outlook/216/100/digital-advertising/worldwide#market-arpu [Accessed 21 April 2020]

 

Tien, S. and Aynsley, M. (2019) Hootsuite “The Best Time to Post on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn” [Online] Available at: https://blog.hootsuite.com/best-time-to-post-on-facebook-twitter-instagram/ [Accessed 22 April 2020]

 

Tribulant (2018) “The Role of Social Media in Your Digital Marketing Strategy” [Online] Available at: https://tribulant.com/blog/wordpress/role-social-media-digital-marketing-strategy/ [Accessed 18 April 2020]

e-mail marketing

Email Marketing Best Practices

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Email marketing is still the most effective way to reach audience. It is about delivering valuable content to the right person to the right time. In the digital era, however, people are bombarded emails every day and it is challenging for marketers to stand out.

Below are the 5 best practices of email marketing:

  1. Responsive Design

Taking the fact into account that in 2018 50% of emails were opened on mobile device (Campaign Monitor, 2019), it is critical for marketers to understand the importance of responsive email design. According to Adobe Consumer Email Survey 2018, smartphone is the most commonly used device for checking emails. While in 2017 81% of the participants opened their emails on their smartphone, in 2018 this rate was 85%. (Adobe, 2018)

It is also critical for marketers to understand the different age groups of their subscribers. The younger the audience the more likely they use smartphone to check their emails.

Responsive email design

Figure 1: A great example of optimised email. The content is clear, concise and easy to read on the go. CTA (Call-to-action) buttons are big enough on all device to easily be clicked on. Social media share buttons available at the bottom of the email. (Pinterest, 2019)

  1. Segmentation

No matter what a business is selling, it is vital for the business to know their audience, their interests and needs. “Personalization will only work if you’re creating the right message for the right customer.” (Harbin, L., 2019) Segmenting customer base by age, gender, location, interest, purchase history etc. and sending personalised emails to them can make significant impact on the success of an email campaign.

Basic segmentation such as age, gender and location are not enough, however. To increase click through rate, businesses need to learn as much as they can about their audience, for example: what device they primary use, which part of the day they check their emails, previous purchases (if applicable) and so on.

How to get to know more about the audience?

 

  • Ask about preferences in your welcome email
  • Have subscribers complete a user profile
  • Send a new email to existing subscribers asking them to update their preferences
  • Segment based on previous purchases

(Thomsen, R.B., 2019)

 

Asking more information from email subscribers

Figure 2: Campaign Monitor gives us a perfect example (even if a bit lengthy) of how to ask more information from email subscribers about their preferences. (Thomsen, R.B., 2019)

Email asking to fill in a survey

Figure 3: As a subscriber, I have recently received this email from Change Checker, asking me to fill in a short survey about my preferences, so they can provide me better service and more relevant email content. The email is clear and concise. There is a clear CTA button followed by an additional CTA: a linked text.

  1. Unique Subject Line

Subject lines are the first thing recipients see when checking their inboxes. If written well, subject line encourages recipients to open the email and engage; if not, recipients might simply ignore the message or even worse: mark it as spam or unsubscribe from the email list.

To make our email stand out, we should use an impactful and informative subject line that tell the recipient immediately what the email is about and what it is offering. According to Neil Patel, subject lines should:

  1. Generate curiosity (for example: 5 Things You Never Knew About Bali)
  2. Communicate Urgency (for example: Last Chance to Secure the SOLD OUT Military 50p Coin Set)
  3. Include Free Offers (for example: Order Above £20 and Enjoy FREE Delivery)

Note: some words such as “save”, “buy”, “make money” or “earn” in email subject lines can easily mark the email as SPAM and direct the email straight the recipient’s SPAM folder. Find the most common email SPAM words to avoid on HubSpot’s website. (Rubin, K., 2017)

  1. Personalised (for example: Happy Birthday Eva! Claim Your FREE Birthday Bubbles)
  2. Highlight Recent New Topic (for example: Celebrate the Chinese New Year of The Pig with These Coins)
  3. Communicate Social Proof of Concept (for example: Join the More Than 5000 Subscribers and Enjoy Unlimited Next Day Delivery)
  4. Tell a Story (for example: How I Survived 1 Year Without Mobile Phone)
  5. Campaign Retargeting (for example: You Left Something in Your Shopping Cart. Enter Code 123 and Enjoy Free Shipping)
  6. Announcements and Events (for example: The Most Anticipated Event in the Summer 2019! Order You Tickets Online and Save 10%)
  7. Authority and Expertise (for example: Secrets About Blog Writing)

(Neil Patel, n/a)

 

Email services such as Gmail show the first line of the email right next to the subject line allowing recipients to learn immediately what the email is about and decide if they want to open it or not. Therefore, it is wise to include what the email offers in the very first line. 

  1. Actual Person as a Sender

HubSpot researches show that emails sent by an actual person generate more open rate than emails sent by company name. (Georgieva, M., 2019) Avoid send emails from no-repy@phoenixxmarketing.com or info@phoenixxmarketing.com email addresses or using only the company name as sender. Instead, use real person’s name and email address from the marketing team. For example: Eva Paroczai, eva.paroczai@phoenixxmarketing.com.

HubSpot have found that that best practice is to use both the company name and a real person’s name and email address in the email for higher open and click through rate. (Georgieva, M., 2019) For example: Eva Paroczai, Phoenixx Marketing, eva.paroczai@phoenixxmarketing.com.

 

Sender of the email matters

Figure 4: HubSpot’s survey showed that “Control” generated a 0.73% CTR, while “Treatment” generated 0.96% CTR. It means: including both the sender’s name and the company name in the email generate more CTR than including the company name only and send the email from a general email address (for example: info@phoenixxmarketing.com). (Georgieva, M., 2019)

Email

Figure 5: Transport of London’s weekly newsletter contains the Managing Director’s name and signature.

  1. Use Images and Visuals

Use images and visuals and minimise text to make the email easily digestible for recipients. Many people check their email on the go, therefore it is important for the email to be concise and easily scannable. It is important for recipients to immediately understand what the email is about and what it is offering.

Another important thing a marketer should take into an account when designing an email campaign, is the download speed.

  • Make sure the images are all compressed to minimal size because if an email downloads too slow, recipients might skip it.
  • Use image alt texts: some email services do not download images as default to increase speed. It is important for the recipient to understand what the image is about even if it is not downloaded.
  • Do not use videos in the email as it slows down the speed of the download. Instead, link the video from the company’s website or YouTube channel and navigate the recipients to that page.

The importance of alt text

Figure 6: HubSpot shows a brilliant example of image alt texts in emails in one of their articles. (Kolowich, L., 2019) BuzzFeed is masterfully playing with image alt texts in this email. The email grabs attention even if the images are not downloaded thanks to the funny compelling image alt texts.

The importance of image alt text

Figure 7: Here is the same email from Buzzfeed with the images downloaded.

 

3 Email Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

  1. Never Buy Email Lists

It might be tempting, especially for new businesses, to buy email lists but, in fact it is the worst thing a business could do when starting its email campaign. Building the business’s own list takes time and effort but cold contacting with people who never showed interest in the products or services a business offers end up with slow or even dead ROI. (Das, S., 2018)

Having an own email list means the subscribers have already shown interest in the business’s products or services and have given their consent to receive emails from the business.

On the other hand, if a business have their own email list they know their audiences’ needs and interests and able to segment them to serve their specific needs and interests.

 

  1. Do Not Send Out Emails Not Optimised for Mobile Devices

Nowadays many people check their emails on their smartphone on the go. Therefore, it is crucial for an email to be well optimised for mobile devices and be easily scannable. If the email is not optimised, recipients have to pinch and zoom to set the optimal size and be able to read the content and see the pictures.

Optimise emails for mobile devices

Figure 8: This picture showcases the difference between mobile-optimised email and non-mobile-optimised email.

The left picture showcases how an email content looks when it is NOT optimised for mobile devices: the image is too big, and recipients cannot read the content without pinching and zooming it. CTA button is not visible at all.

The picture in the right showcases how an email looks when it is optimised for mobile devices: the picture is in optimal size, and the content is easily readable. CTA is clearly visible and easy for recipients to click on it. (Kolowich, L., 2019)

  1. Do Not Send Out Your Email Without Testing Them

Testing is a vital part of email campaigns. Once an email campaign is ready, resist the urge to send it out immediately. Make sure to double check it for grammatical errors and misspelling as sometimes even the smallest mistakes can have significant impact on the effectiveness of the email campaign.

If the email is free from grammatical errors and misspelling, send test emails to co-workers and ask them to check it and give you some feedback in terms of the typos and the layout.

(Mail Chimp, n/a)

Make sure to test the email on different devices (laptop, smartphone, tablet etc.) and open it using different browsers as the same email can look differently when opened in different browsers. Most of the email service websites provide tools to see how your campaign looks in different devices.

References

 

Adobe (2018) ‘2018 Adobe Consumer Email Survey’ [Online] Available at: https://www.slideshare.net/adobe/2018-adobe-consumer-email-survey?qid=fb898b8e-6761-422a-bfa9-41e55cc84771&v=&b=&from_search=2 [Accessed 02 August 2019]

 

Campaign Monitor (2019) ‘Email Trends Report: Mobile vs. Desktop’ [Online] Available at:

https://www.campaignmonitor.com/resources/guides/email-marketing-trends/#one [Accessed 02 August 2019]

 

Das, S. (2018) Digital Doughnut ‘10 Essential Email Marketing Best Practices You Need to Know’ [Online] Available at: https://www.digitaldoughnut.com/articles/2018/january/10-essential-email-marketing-best-practices-yo-(1) [Accessed 04 August 2019]

 

Georgieva, M. 2019) HubSpot ‘A/B Testing in Action: 3 Real-Life Marketing Experiments’ [Online] Available at: https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/31634/A-B-Testing-in-Action-3-Real-Life-Marketing-Experiments.aspx [Accessed 04 August 2019]

 

Harbin, L. (2019) Campaign Monitor ‘How to Create Successful Email Marketing Campaigns in 2019’ [Online] Available at: https://www.campaignmonitor.com/blog/email-marketing/2019/01/how-to-create-successful-email-marketing-campaigns-in-2019/ [Accessed 03 August 2019]

 

Kolowich, L. (2019) HubSpot ‘19 Examples of Brilliant Email Marketing Campaigns’ [Online] Available at: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/email-marketing-examples-list [Accessed 04 August 2019]

 

Kolowich, L. (2019) HubSpot ‘23 Simple Email Marketing Tips to Improve Your Open and Clickthrough Rates’ [Online] Available at: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/make-emails-more-clickable-list [Accessed 04 August 2019]

 

Mail Chimp (n/a) ‘Email Marketing Guide for Successful Campaigns’ [Online] Available at: https://mailchimp.com/resources/email-marketing-field-guide/ [Accessed 04 August 2019]

 

Neil Patel (n/a) ‘10 Types of Email Subject Lines That Always Produce Clicks’ [Online] Available at: https://neilpatel.com/blog/clickable-email-subject-line-types/ [Accessed 04 August 2019]

 

Pinterest (2019) Econsultancy.com A great example of optimised email [Online] Available at: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/564427765770363843/ [Accessed 04 August 2019]

 

Rubin, K. HubSpot (2017) ‘The Ultimate List of Email SPAM Trigger Words’ [Online] Available at: https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/30684/the-ultimate-list-of-email-spam-trigger-words.aspx [Accessed 04 August 2019]

 

Thomsen, R. B. 92019) Campaign Monitor ‘Improve Your Email Campaigns with These 8 Best Practices’ [Online] Available at: https://www.campaignmonitor.com/blog/email-marketing/2019/01/improve-your-email-campaigns-with-8-best-practices/ [Accessed 04 August 2019]

personal branding

Personal Branding

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The Importance of Personal Branding

Personal branding is different to corporate branding: corporate branding focuses on a product or service whereas personal branding’s focus is on the person. “The unique combination of skills and experiences that make you you.” (Brand Yourself, n/a) In the digital era we are living today, anything can be a brand, even a person. What is more, today the question is not whether you have a personal brand or not. The question is if you want to cultivate it in order to be being perceived as an expert in one field, or two.

When creating our personal brand, we have to think about ourselves as a business. In this case, the business is us. When we think of a brand, we have feelings towards it, either good or bad. When we hear a name, we may have a feeling, too. – explains Gary Vaynerchuk, the well-known public speaker and author. (Vaynerchuk, G., 2019)

In the modern digital world audience has tired and overwhelmed with the constant stream of adverts coming from businesses and corporations trying to sell products and services. Today, audience do not trust corporations anymore. “Personal branding allows you to establish a reputation and an identity while still maintaining a personal level of trust and interaction, usually through social media.” (DeMers, J., 2014) Nowadays, regardless of our age, profession or any other status, someone is screening us online: (Brand Yourself, n/a) our name are googled when applying to a collage, hiring managers search for us on social media before inviting us for an interview and what they find about us they can have massive influence on their final decision.

 

How to Use Social Media for Personal Branding

The very first step of personal branding should be identifying and embracing ourselves. – as Tran Tai, the youngest ‘Forbes Under 30’ says in one of his presentations. (Tran, T. 2017) To start, think about the following questions:

  1. Who you are?
  2. What makes you unique?
  3. What can you offer other people to help?

 

The next step is to define your skills and your target audience. For example, if you are a job seeker, you want to be recognised by HR managers, decision makers and influencers who can help you to reach your goals. (Arruda, W., 2019) After all of these steps, it’s time to define your message and goals and how you want to reach them. Define your unique voice, signature image and colour and build a recognisable standard for your readers. (DeMers, J., 2014)

It is not necessary to be present on all of the social media channels (the more the better, however), on those you have chosen, however, you have to be consistent, stay active and tailor your posts to each channel.

What do all of these mean?

Be consistent:

  • Use the same name, profile picture, colour and design in all of the social media channels.
  • Clear all old irrelevant posts and pictures that are not relevant any more to what you represent (this is very important as some of those content may even cause harm to your reputation).
  • Fully fill out your profile, include relevant keywords and hashtags.

(Brand Yourself, n/a)

 

Stay active:

  • Produce valuable and relevant content and feed your social media channels regularly. Make sure your posts are diverse, interesting and useful to your audience. (text, podcast, video, infographic etc.).
  • It’s a good idea to a use a single content in a multiply way. Gary Vaynerchuk gives us some great examples: if you have a great video content, you can upload it to Facebook and LinkedIn. You can chop that same video to shorter videos to use them on Twitter and Instagram. You can also select a couple of powerful quotes and create pictures. You can write down the content of the video and publish it as a blog post. You can create an eye-catchy and informative infographic that summarise the whole topic. You can transform your video (or part of it) into a podcast. (Vaynerchuk, G., 2019)
  • Search for relevant groups and be an active member.
  • Be approachable and communicate with your audience: ask questions, generate conversations and answer questions and queries coming from your audience.

 

Tailor your posts to each channel:

  • Define your objectives and goals and create contents in line with them while stay relevant to the social media channels. For example, if you are a job seeker, focus on developing your LinkedIn profile first. If you want to sell your artwork, Pinterest and Instagram are the best to choose.
  • Keep in mind that each social media channel has different features. It means, for example you should post at least two times a day on Twitter, once a day on Facebook and LinkedIn, four-five times a day on Snapchat etc. Twitter allows you to share short texts and videos, on Snapchat contents remain visible only for 24 hours, Facebook is suitable for longer content forms etc.
  • Using hashtags on Twitter and Instagram is a great way to help your posts reach large audience. Hashtags on Facebook, however, will not work the same way.

 

Good Examples of Using Social Media for Personal Branding

When the interviewer asked Francisco Crespo, SVP and chief growth officer of Coca-Cola Company on their marketing strategy, Francisco Crespo’s answer was the following: “There are three dimensions in this process. It starts with understanding consumer needs. What problem are they trying to solve? What outcome are they expecting? What are their key occasions, contexts and rituals? Then we must establish what we call our Brand Edge, which is finding the reasons our brand solves consumer needs better.” (Talbot, P., 2019)

Gary Vaynerchuk says: “The best companies in the world don’t sell. They brand. They focus on branding. I do the same.” (Vaynerchuk, G., 2019) Coca-Cola for example do not want to convert you a buyer. Instead, Coca-Cola create a picture of the Coca-Cola experience, which means togetherness, happiness and precious moments in life we experience together. “There is no reason to do anything other than act like a media company in today’s digital age. Instead of selling constantly like businesses used to, you can create helpful, educational, entertaining content and use it to get sales long term. And the amazing thing is, the content you create doesn’t even have to be related to what you’re selling.” – Gary Vaynerchuk continues. (Vaynerchuk, G., 2019)

Figure 1: The Coca-Cola experience of togetherness showcased in ‘Coca-Cola & the Premier League’ campaign video. (YouTube, 2019)

 

“Branding today is about people creating and sharing human experiences. The future of branding is personal, the future of branding is now.” (Waller, T., 2019)

In the following section, I am introducing three good examples of personal branding. I have chosen three different people from three completely different sectors:

  1. Pink – singer, songwriter, actress
  2. Neil Patel – author, web influencer, entrepreneur
  3. Bear Grylls – survival instructor, businessman, adventurer

 

Pink – singer, songwriter, actress

Figure 2: Pink is an extravagant singer, songwriter and actress and this is exactly what her Facebook page shows us: the banner image showcases her new album with a blend of vivid red, pink and orange colours. Her profile picture represents her unique style, dynamic performances and fearlessness. (Facebook, 2019)

Figure 3: On her Facebook page, Pink has an exhausting ‘about’ section, containing the URLs of her other social media channels, her newest albums and their availabilities as well as a long bibliography with quotes and interview fragments. (Facebook, 2019)

Figure 4: Pink regularly shares and updates upcoming events on her Facebook page. (Facebook, 2019)

Figure 5: Pink uses the same profile picture on each of her social media channels making her channels unmissable. (Instagram, 2019)

Figure 6: Instead of sharing the same contents on all of her social media channels, Pink takes the different features of the channels into account, for example short compelling texts on Twitter and eye-catchy photos and short videos on Instagram. (Instagram, 2019)

Figure 7: Emojis and short texts being shared along with compelling contents on Pink’s Twitter page. Pink often retweet and share other users’ posts on her own timeline. (Twitter, 2019)

Figure 8: The profile picture and banner picture make Pink’s YouTube channel unmissbale for users and fans. (YouTube, 2019)

 

Neil Patel – author, web influencer, entrepreneur

 

Figure 9: Neil Patel’s Twitter page is unmissable by it’s orange colour and the well-known profile picture and the orange banner image. (Twitter, 2019)

Figure 10: Visitors find regular, diverse and helpful contents on Neil Patel’s Twitter page. In this screenshot we can see a podcast and a blog post. (Twitter, 2019)

Figure 11: The orange profile picture and banner image appear on Neil’s LinkedIn page along with an informative yet concise summary of his career. Neil’s email address is available at the end of the summary section. (LinkedIn, 2019)

Figure 12: This screenshot showcases a variety of powerful quotes, images and micro videos on Neil Patel’s Instagram page. Orange colour appears in Neil’s every single Intagram post as a trademark. (Instagram, 2019)

Figure 13: Again, the unmissable orange banner image and profile picture on Neil Patel’s YouTube channel. (YouTube, 2019)

Figure 14: We have seen that Neil Patel uses orange tone on not only his banner images, but also in individual Instagram posts. Here we can see the same pattern: all of the videos appear with an unmissable orange background. (YouTube, 2019)

 

Bear Grylls – survival instructor, businessman, adventurer

 

Figure 15: Bear Grylls uses the same banner image on his social media pages: a photo collage with the title ‘The Adventurers’, his official logo and a hashtag #theadventurers. (Facebook, 2019)

Figure 16: The ‘about’ section is fully completed, including awards, website address and Tumblr page address – however, his Tumblr page was last updated two years ago. (Facebook, 2019)

Figure 17: The same banner image apperas on Bear Grylls’ Twitter page as on his Facebook page. The adventurer’s profile photo is, although not the exact same, but very similar to his Facebook profile picture. (Twitter, 2019)

Figure 18: Bear Grylls shares compelling, useful and wide variety of contents on his Twitter page twice a day. (Twitter, 2019)

Figure 19: Wide variety of regular compelling content can be found on Bear Grylls’ Instagram page: videos, images, series of images and quotes. (Instagram, 2019)

 

References

Text

Arruda, W. (2019) “Personal Branding Rocket Fuel for Junior Employees” [Online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamarruda/2019/05/30/personal-branding-rocket-fuel-for-junior-employees/#6db1e3252195 [Accessed 31 May 2019]

Brand Yourself (n/a) “The Definitive Guide to Personal Branding” [Online] Available at: https://brandyourself.com/definitive-guide-to-personal-branding [Accessed 31 May 2019]

DeMers, J. (2014) “5 Steps to Building a Personal Brand (and Why You Need One)” [Online] Available at: https://www.inc.com/jayson-demers/5-steps-to-building-a-personal-brand-and-why-you-need-one.html [Accessed 31 May 2019]

Talbot, P. (2019) “Inside Coca-Cola’s Marketing Strategy” [Online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultalbot/2019/04/26/inside-coca-colas-marketing-strategy/#4865f2731280 [Accessed 03 June 2019]

Tran, T. (2017) YouYube “Designing a purposeful personal brand from zero to infinity | Tai Tran | TEDxBerkeley” [Online]

Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Alqt7pIbp_o [Accessed 31 May 2019]

Vaynerchuk, G. (2019) “9 Strategies for Personal Branding Online in 2019” [Online] Available at: https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com/5-strategies-for-personal-branding-online/ [Accessed 31 May 2019]

Waller, T. (2018) YouTube “The Future of Branding is Personal | Talaya Waller | TEDxPSU” [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEHL8eLJCkc [Accessed 03 June 2019)

Figures

Figure 1 – Coca-Cola (2019) YouTube “Where Everyone Plays | Coca-Cola & the Premier League” [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_XBxcIoZy0 [Accessed 03 June 2019]

Figure 2 – Facebook (2019) Pink’s Facebook Main Page [Online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/pink/ [Accessed 01 June 2019]

Figure 3 – Facebook (2019) Pink’s Facebook ‘About’ Section [Online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/pg/pink/about/ [Accessed 01 June 2019]

Figure 4 – Facebook (2019) Pink’s Facebook ‘Upcoming Events’ Section [Online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/pg/pink/events/ [Accessed 01 June 2019]

Figure 5 – Instagram (2019) Pink’s Instagram Page [Online] Available at: https://www.instagram.com/pink/?fbclid=IwAR10ZejriwuxNb0q5u09QU2Iobdg1J2qkESF8oSSgp8URiv2vSpK_e38arU [Accessed 01 June 2019]

Figure 6 – Instagram (2019) Pink’s Instagram Page [Online] Available at: https://www.instagram.com/pink/?fbclid=IwAR10ZejriwuxNb0q5u09QU2Iobdg1J2qkESF8oSSgp8URiv2vSpK_e38arU [Accessed 01 June 2019]

Figure 7 – Twitter (2019) Pink’s Twitter Page [Online] Available at: https://twitter.com/pink?fbclid=IwAR27N-3-eOS_EPDZfuA_KYHJemdbWObFexr23oIbS83TzINthrW9D40wvSU [Accessed 01 June 2019]

Figure 8 – YouTube (2019) Pink’s YouTube Channel [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE5yTn9ljzSnC_oMp9Jnckg [Accessed 01 June 2019]

Figure 9 – Twitter (2019) Neil Patel’s Twitter Page [Online] Available at: https://twitter.com/neilpatel [Accessed 01 June 2019]

Figure 10 – Twitter (2019) Neil Patel’s Twitter Page [Online] Available at: https://twitter.com/neilpatel [Accessed 01 June 2019]

Figure 11 – LinkedIn (2019) Neil Patel’s LinkedIn Profile [Online] Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilkpatel [Accessed 01 June 2019]

Figure 12 – Instagram (2019) Neil Patel’s Instagram Profile [Online] Available at: https://www.instagram.com/neilpatel/ [Accessed 01 June 2019]

Figure 13 – YouTube (2019) Neil Patel’s YouTube Channel [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/user/neilvkpatel/featured [Accessed 01 June 2019]

Figure 14 – YouTube (2019) Neil Patel’s YouTube Channel [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/user/neilvkpatel/featured [Accessed 01 June 2019]

Figure 15 – Facebook (2019) Bear Grylls’ Facebook Main Page [Online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/RealBearGrylls/ [Accessed 01 June 2019]

Figure 16 – Facebook (2019) Bear Grylls’ Facebook ‘About’ Section [Online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/pg/RealBearGrylls/about/?ref=page_internal [Accessed 01 June 2019]

Figure 17 – Twitter (2019) Bear Grylls’ Twitter Page [Online] Available at: https://twitter.com/BearGrylls [Accessed 01 June 2019]

Figure 18 – Twitter (2019) Bear Grylls’ Twitter Page  [Online] Available at: https://twitter.com/BearGrylls [Accessed 01 June 2019]

Figure 19 – Instagram (2019) Bear Grylls’ Instagram Page [Online] Available at: https://www.instagram.com/beargrylls/ [Accessed 01 June 2019]

pexelscom3 resized

An Overview of One Element of Apple’s Extended Marketing Mix – Promotion

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According to Forbes, Apple was the world’s first most valuable brand in 2018. (Forbes, 2018) Apple uses both inbound (such as blogs, videos and social media channels) and outbound (such as TV advertisements, magazine advertisements, billboards and posters) marketing technics to promote and introduce their products. Apple offers a wide variety of innovative hardware and software products to their customers. Apple products are easily recognisable by their simple minimalist design and packaging as well as by the clear brand logo.

Apple and Social Media

Due to their wide range of products, Apple’s targeted market is diverse: different genders, ages, incomes and locations. As a result, Apple needs to utilise a wide range of different channels to reach their audience and stay relevant to them. Although, traditional marketing channels are taking a very important part of Apple’s marketing strategy, the role of inbound marketing channels is getting more and more important in the digital era. Compared to their competitors, Apple joined to social media platforms relatively late, nowadays, however, they rely on them heavily. For example, Apple are running several separate Twitter accounts to support different services: Apple Support, Apple News, Apple Music and working with social media influencers as well. Today Apple’s Twitter account has 2.68 million followers (Twitter, 2019), 13.8 million followers on Instagram (Instagram, 2019) and 8.4 million subscribers on their YouTube channel (YouTube, 2019).

Apple and Influencers

In 2017 Apple started to partner with trusted YouTube influencers to promote the brand and introduce their new products. (Everett, T. 2017) One of Apple’s key YouTube influences, for example, is iJustine (iJustine, 2019) whose YouTube channel has 5.7 million followers. She is creating short videos about unboxing and trying out the latest gadgets such as mobile phones, iPads, cameras and more while sharing her personal experiences.

According to Neil Patel ‘Apple relies most on two completely different strategies: product placement (especially with celebrities and in popular shows) and the buzz created by positive reviews in the media.’ (Patel, N. 2019) It means, instead of spending money for PPC on Facebook or Google, Apple’s aim is to approach positive reviews on the media. Today, Apple are working with trusted influences and celebrities on all of their social media channels such as Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. We can easily search for, compare and even analyse Apple influences by using online tools such as klear.com or followerwonk.com.

Apple and Celebrities

Popular celebrities often appear in Apple’s commercials. For example, Paul McCartney, Serena Williams and Oprah Winfrey appear in Apple’s video, entitled ‘Behind the Mac’ launched on YouTube in October 2018. (Apple (United Kingdom), 2018)

‘Shot on iPhone’ Campaign

One of Apple’s most successful campaign from the recent years was the ‘Shot on iPhone’ challenge. The aim of this campaign was to showcase the quality of the iPhone cameras by encouraging iPhone users to use #ShotOniPhone hashtag for a chance for being selected and featured on Apple’s social media channels as well as on giant billboards in the streets.

Keep It Simple

Another effective way Apple take advantage of, is simplification. Rather than using tech jargon or industry terms in their advertisements, website or even in the names of their products (iMac, iWatch, iPad) that can confuse and overwhelm their audience, Apple aspire to keep it simple. Using simple direct language (for example, ‘largest LCD ever on an iPhone’, ‘tap to wake’ function, ‘advanced algorithms to unlock new creative possibilities’ (Apple (United Kingdom) (2019)) in their advertisements and on their website, Apple make their customers feel comfortable by allowing them to scan the product features and easily learn about the benefits of the products. (Patel N., 2019) In this way, Apple’s message is clear and easy to digest. Maybe the best example for this is one of Apple’s latest video about Face ID. The 11-second-long video uses simple old fashioned emojis and a simple, one-sentence message explaining that ‘Face ID doesn’t store a photo of your face on iPhone, only a mathematical representation of it.’ (Apple (United Kingdom) (2019)

To conclude, Apple is using both inbound and outbound marketing channels successfully. Although, Apple joined relatively late to social media channels compared to their competitors, today Apple are utilising those channels very successfully by building community, sharing ‘how to’ videos and other useful contents for their customers and potential customers, collaborating with influencers and launching contests generating thousands of likes, shares and conversations every day.

 

Figure 1 – Apple community platforms are working successfully on Apple’s website. Customers are using these platforms actively to share information and gather useful tips from one another. (Apple, 2019)

Figure 2 – This photo showcases the latest iWatch Nike+, photographed on its own as well as in use, on Apple’s website. The light-coloured Apple iWatch Nike+ is highlighted on the model’s wrist by the dark background and the model’s dark outfit. The model is wearing Nike accessories highlighting the relation between Apple iWatch and Nike. (Apple (United Kingdom) (2019)

Figure 3 – This Apple store is located in Westfield, Stratford City, London. The store represents simple elegance. Apple iconic logo is clearly visible on the store front, which is made of glass, providing a clear view into the store. The interior design is simple wood furniture and displays highlighting the products. (Apple (United Kingdom), 2019)

Figure 4 – Demonstration of Apple’s skimming pricing policy. In September 2018 Apple announced their newest iPhones: iPhone X, iPhone XS and iPhone X Max. (Apple, 2018)

Figure 5 – Well-trained instore customer support team members are easily recognisable by their branded uniform. They provide quality customer service and support on the spot. (Apple, 2019)

Figure 6 – This image showcases the evolution of Apple iPhones over the years from 2007-2018. (iPhone Life, 2018)

Figure 7 – Here we can see an interesting and innovative way of advertising: an online photo contest appears on billboards. This giant billboard is showcasing a photo taken by an Apple customer using their iPhone and using hashtag #PhotosOniPhone. The campaign’s aim was to demonstrate the outstanding quality of iPhones cameras. (Leswing K., 2019) ‘Photos On iPhone’ contest 2019 was announced on 22nd January 2019 and ended on 7th February 2019. The winning shots came from a wide variety of iPhone models, from iPhone 7 to iPhone X and were announced on Apple’s website. (Apple, 2019)

 

REFERENCE LIST

TEXT

Apple (UK) (2019) YouTube ‘iPhone — Face ID — Apple’ [Online] Available at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXiNIunCw88 [Accessed 26 March 2019]

Apple (UK) (2018) YouTube ‘Behind the Mac — Make Something Wonderful — Apple’ [Online], Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EJl1b4fZsA [Accessed 26 March 2019]

Apple (UK) (2019) Introducing iPhone XR [Online] Available at:

https://www.apple.com/uk/iphone-xr/ [Accessed 26 March 2019]

Everett, T. (2017) LinkedIn ‘4 Brands That Are Killing It With Influencer Marketing’ [Online], Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/4-brands-killing-influencer-marketing-tiffany-everett/ [Accessed 26 March 2019]

Forbes (2018) ‘The World’s Most Valuable Brands – 2018 Ranking’ [Online], Available at:

https://www.forbes.com/powerful-brands/list/#tab:rank [Accessed 26 March 2019]

iJustin (2019) YouTube Social media influencer, Apple fan [Online], Available at:

https://www.youtube.com/user/ijustine/videos [Accessed 26 March 2019]

Instagram (2019) Apple [Online], Available at: https://www.instagram.com/apple/ [Accessed 26 March 2019]

Patel, N. (2019) ‘7 Key Strategies That You Must Learn from Apple’s Marketing’ [Online] Available at:

https://neilpatel.com/blog/7-key-strategies-that-you-must-learn-from-apples-marketing/ [Accessed 26 March 2019]

Twitter (2019) Apple [Online], Available at: https://twitter.com/Apple [Accessed 26 March 2019]

YouTube (2019) Apple [Online], Available at: https://www.youtube.com/user/Apple [Accessed 26 March 2019]

 

FIGURES

Figure 1 – Apple (2019) Apple Community platform [Online], Available at: https://discussions.apple.com/community/watch/using_apple_watch [Accessed 25 March 2019]

Figure 2 – Apple (UK) (2019) Apple iWatch Nike+ [Online], Available at: https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/buy-watch/apple-watch-nike [Accessed 25 March 2019]

Figure 3 – Apple (UK) (2019) Apple UK retail store list [Online], Available at: https://www.apple.com/uk/retail/stratfordcity/ [Accessed 24 March 2019]

Figure 4 – Apple (2018) ‘Apple Special Event. September 12, 2018.’ [Online], Available at: https://www.apple.com/apple-events/september-2018/ [Accessed 25 March 2019]

Figure 5 – Apple (2019) Apple support [Online], Available at: https://support.apple.com/repair  [Accessed 25 March 2019]

Figure 6 – iPhone Life (2018) ‘The Evolution of the iPhone: Every Model from 2007–2018’ [Photo], Available at: https://www.iphonelife.com/content/evolution-iphone-every-model-2007-2016 [Accessed 23 March 2019]

Figure 7 – Apple (2019) ‘Apple highlights best photos shot on iPhone around the world’ [Online], Available at: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/02/apple-highlights-best-photos-shot-on-iphone-around-the-world/ [Accessed 25 March 2019]