Marketing

May 3 2021

The Power of User Generated Content (UGC)

Phoenixx Content Marketing, Digital Marketing, Digital Marketing Trends, Marketing, Social Media digital marketing, Digital Marketing Strategy, Digital Marketing Tips, EGC, Employee Generated Content, social media, Social Media Tips, UGC, User Generated Content 0

2020 was the year of pandemic and it is not a surprise that it left businesses with tight marketing budget. Many businesses struggled with content creation too because due to lockdown creative companies were not able to create professional contents for their clients. Thus, businesses were forced to refrain their online marketing.

As a result, savvy marketers turned into user generated content (UGC) and employee-generated content (EGC). This not only fixed their problem of content creation, but also nurture their audience better.

Why is UGC so Powerful?

It is quick, cheap, easy to create, and authentic.

UGC’s popularity was on the rise before the pandemic, but the Covid outbreak and the lockdown accelerated it.

As brands were unable to create high-quality content, they shifted to UGC instead because it was less expensive, quick, and easy to create.

Authenticity has become more important than ever for customers.

According to TINT’s recent survey, an overwhelming of 93% of marketers agreed that customers trust more on content created by customers than created by brands. (TINT, 2021)

The same survey revealed that 75% of marketers knew that adding UGC to their marketing makes their brand content more authentic. (TINT, 2021)

UGC Best Practices

One of Stackla’s surveys revealed that content created by consumers had impact on 60% (and 70% of Millennials) of surveyed consumers’ purchase decisions. (P., Cassidy, 2017)

According to the same survey an overwhelming 90% of Millennials said authenticity is important when choosing brands to support.

UGC opportunities are endless. There are many ways to creatively use it for business purposes. Here are some ideas.

Partner with Nano and Micro Influencers

Nano-influencers:

Follower base between 1k – 10k

They are often expert of a particular field

They have stable and loyal follower base and high engagement rate

Micro-influencers:

Follower base between 10k and 50k

Their authenticity is high

(Influencer Marketing Hub, 2020)

Partnem with nano and micro influencers

Image Source: Pixabay

Nano and micro influencers have seen increased popularity in the recent times. Although, these influencers have less followers, their follower base is more stable and loyal. Micro and nano influencers show the highest engagement rate (7%) among all of the other influencer types. (A., Hutchinson, 2021)

(Learn more about the ins and outs of influencer marketing)

Micro and nano influencers are often expert in a particular field that make them trustworthy in the eye of their followers. They have very close relationship with their followers. These influencers are actively participating in conversations, replying to DMs and sharing honest personal reviews and recommendations to cultivate their relationships with their audience. (Influencer Marketing Hub, 2020)

To simply put: people trust people.

We have a natural desire for human connection. This desire has strengthened during the months of isolation. As a result, authentic contents have become more important than ever.

Although, lockdown has been eased and we are now allowed to socialise again, authenticity will continue trending.

Influencer Partnerships

Looking for long-term relationships with influencers instead of ‘one-off’ projects is a hot trend in 2021.

Why?

Because brands realised it takes time to generate sales. Even influencers with the highest engagement rate need time to achieve the goals set. (Influencer Marketing Hub, 2021)

Plus, ongoing partnership increases reach and loyalty.

Embrace Diversity

Celebrating diversity is a great tactic when it comes to UGC. Make your content more relatable to wider range of audience by encouraging diverse range of voices. This allows you to reach a wide range of audience while making your brand more accessible. (N., Canning, 2021)

Employees as Influencers

Who knows better a company than its employees?

Employee-based content is another result of the demand of authenticity. Customers love to go behind the scenes of brands to see what’s going on there. And who could show the most reliable picture of how it is like working for a particular brand than its employees.

Social Media Today’s survey found that contents shared by employees received 8x more engagement than contents shared by brands. (P., Dunay, 2014)

Posts shared by employees receive 21% more likes than a branded social media ad. (Edelman Trust Barometer, 2016)

Image Source: @ladiesandgentlemenbar

Employees not only humanise the brand, but also help push, amplify, and accelerate brand content while bypassing ad-blockers and ever-changing algorithms that prevent organic brand content from reaching a wider audience.

Brands have started leveraging this by launching their employee advocacy programs.

Employee advocacy is not a one-way street though. Make sure you offer attractive rewards in return of their efforts. – warns Dustin Hawley from Viral Nation. (D., Hawley, n/a)

Determine the Purpose of UGCs

UGCs should deliver value to customers. It means, they should always serve a purpose to be effective. That purpose can be a demonstration on how to use a product, give inspiration or honest review of a product to help others making decision.

For example, Maxwell’s Bar & Grill created an Instagram highlight, called ‘Guests’ where they highlight memorable customer experiences shared by their guests.

Image Source: @maxwellscoventgarden

Collab with Other Brands

As a business, you want to stand out of the crowd by doing something different and original.

Why not collab with another brand and create something standout both of you can benefit from?

Cahoots London and Patty & Bun came up with a successful collaboration during the pandemic.

While their venues were closed during lockdown, they created a limited-edition DIY ‘High Spirit Kit Box’ together for home delivery. The box offered pe-packed signature cocktails for two from Cahoots and all the ingredients for 2 Patty & Bun signature burgers to be made at home.

Image Source: @cahootslondon @pattyandbun

Be Authentic

Authenticity is key.

Stackla’s survey revealed that consumers 2.4x more likely to say UGC as authentic. (Stackla, 2019)

According to the same survey authenticity is important to 90% of surveyed consumers when it comes to deciding which brand they support.

Contents that feel too filmy or artificial will not get the desired engagement rate. That’s why brands should choose influencers carefully to make sure honest reviews and opinions will be shared about the brands’ products or services.

Brands should aim to create deeper relationship with their influencers, so the influencers can create valuable contents that better resonate with their audience.

Instead of sharing standard posts, encourage your influencers or fans to share honest reviews about your products or services, organise Q&As or how-to videos. (Influencer Marketing Hub, 2021)

Build Community

UGC is not just about spreading the world of your brand, but also a great opportunity to build community. Being part of a community, your audience feel they are part of something great and something bigger than just a repost. – explains Nikki Canning in one of Later’s blog. (N., Canning, 2021)

How to build community?

You can easily start building your community by using hashtags. Just think about Apple’s ‘Shot on iPhone’ campaign. iPhone users were asked to take photos with their phones and use #ShotoniPhone hashtag for a chance to be featured on billboards in cities such as London or New York. Millions of participated in the contest.

Image Source: @apple

UGC Should Educate, Entertain or Inform Your Audience

The top reasons why people visit social media are:

Stay updated with news and events
Find entertaining content
Research and find products

(Statista, 2020)

It means, not all UGC have to be product-related. Make sure you encourage your fans and influencers to share informative, memorable, sharable, or even funny content related to your brand.

The Churchill Bar & Terrace loves re-sharing posts of their customers having fun, just like this one. As we can see, this post has nothing to do with The Churchill’s Bar’s menu or the products they sell.

Image Source: @thechurchillbar

Two Rules to Keep in Mind Before Sharing UGC

Make sure you ask permission

Send a friendly message to the creator in which you tell them how much you love the content they have created and ask them if they would be happy if you share that content on your platform.

This step is often missed, however not everyone is happy to be featured on brands social media channels.

Credit the source

Make sure you always credit the original source of the content regardless which social media channel it is.

Image Source: @theknotchurros

Creative UGC Campaign Ideas You Can Integrate Into Your Marketing Strategy Right Now

As we saw it, UGC is a powerful, easy, and budget-friendly way to promote your business. Whether you want to promote a new product launch, brand awareness or customer appreciation campaign, incorporating UGC into your digital marketing strategy can help you drive success.

Here are some UGC campaign ideas you can implement into your digital marketing strategy straight away.

UGC Focused Contests

The best way to encourage your audience to share your content is to host a contest.

Create branded hashtags and ask your audience to use them when submitting to the contest.

Offerpop survey revealed that only 32% customers take part of a contest for the price to win. Instead, they participate (60%) because they want to be featured on the brand’s channel. (Offerpop, 2016)

Plus, using branded hashtags helps your brand create a library of great contents, so you always have relevant materials to share. (C., Newberry, 2019)

Cahoots London created different hashtags for their experiences and then encouraged their audience to hashtag the experience they would like to win. This contest ran on Facebook and Instagram and received thousands of submissions.

Image Source: @cahootslondon

Share Product Reviews

From Trustpilot to Google to Facebook, there are tons of platforms on the Internet to share reviews of a business, products, services, and experiences.

Why not share some of those reviews on your social channels?

The trick is, do not share the positive ones only.

If you received a negative review from a customer but you professionally and successfully solved their issue, showed empathy and care; let your audience see it.

Sharing those success stories not only show authenticity, but you can showcase your unbeatable customer service too. This helps build trust.

Social Channel Takeover

Social media takeover means that you temporary grant your social media posting privileges to someone you trust. – explains Hootsuite in one of their articles. (K., Sehl, 2019)

You can partner with a trusted influencer, expert, or professional to run your Instagram Stories, host your Facebook Lives, or manage your tweets on Twitter for a day or more.

Social takeover has several benefits.

Your followers can see your brand, products, or services from a new perspective
It can increase your brand exposure
You can gain more followers
It can attract more audience to your online events/lives

(K., Sehl, 2019)

Image Source: @gorillashrimp

Use Branded Templates

Randomly and instantly reposting stories is not the best idea, as they can mess your scheduled stories.

Instead, identify different themes and cluster UGCs around those themes. Use your branded templates and organise story series.

In this way, you can remain organised with your posts, keep your branded look on social media while keeping your posts and stories consistent.

Elan Café London use different shades of pink as a background to customise and cluster UGC contents.

Image Source: @elan_cafe

Retarget Interested Audience with Advert

As UGC is more trusted than business generated content, it is a good idea to retarget your audience with ads. (N., Canning, 2021)

What is more, take one step further and use UGC-based images or videos in your ad.

Ask permission before you use any of your fans’ content. If they are happy with their photos or videos to be used in your social ad, give it a go.

Do not forget to reward your fan you borrowed the visuals from. Offer discount, send a gif card, or offer a complementary piece of cake and coffee if you are running a café shop or a restaurant. They will love it. Plus, it will generate more UGC content, improve loyalty, and build trust.

Measure Your Success

Similarly to any other efforts on social media, make sure you measure the success of UGCs.

Which content received the most engagement? What type of post was that? Which posts showed the least engagement rate? Why? Which branded hashtag of yours received a lot of clicks and shares?

Learn from your metrics and learn how you can better serve your audience. In this way, you can improve your UGC strategy to create even more successful campaigns, while saving time and energy. (N., Canning, 2021)

REFERENCES

A., Hutchinson (2021) Social Media Today “Nano Influencers: Who Are They and How to Work With Them [Infographic]” [Online] Available at: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/nano-influencers-who-are-they-and-how-to-work-with-them-infographic/595048/?fbclid=IwAR2fA7xYB0bmWw9X4gSCaZ0GLUi2RYlQCKJ-eHgnM9NKVd3Hd4reKGQSM7g [Accessed 26 April 2021]

C., Newberry (2019) Hootsuite “A Marketer’s Guide to Using User-Generated Content on Social Media” [Online] Available at: https://blog.hootsuite.com/user-generated-content-ugc/ [Accessed 1 May 2021]

D., Hawley (n/a) Viral Nation “Why Are Brands Helping Their Employees Become Influencers?” [Online] Available at: https://www.viralnation.com/blog/why-are-brands-helping-their-employees-become-influencers/ [Accessed 30 April 2021]

Edelman Trust Barometer (2016) “2016 Edelman TRUST BAROMETER” [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kfw759dqUkY&t=87s [Accessed 28 April 2021]

Influencer Marketing Hub (2020) “12 Types of Influencers You Can Use to Improve Your Marketing” [Online] Available at: https://influencermarketinghub.com/types-of-influencers/ [Accessed 26 April 2021]

Influencer Marketing Hub (2021) “13 Influencer Marketing Trends to Watch in 2021” [Online] Available at: https://influencermarketinghub.com/influencer-marketing-trends/ [Accessed 28 April 2021]

J., Goldman (2021) “(More) digital trends for 2021: Influencer- and user-generated content” [Online] Available at: https://www.emarketer.com/content/more-digital-trends-2021-influencer-user-generated-content [Accessed 26 April 2021]

K., Sehl (2019) Hootsuite “How to Run a Smart Social Media Takeover” [Online] Available at: https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-takeovers/ [Accessed 1 May 2021]

N., Canning (2021) Later “Ultimate Guide to User-Generated Content” [Online] Available at: https://later.com/blog/user-generated-content/#best [Accessed 28 April 2021]

Offerpop (2016) “Offerpop Survey Identifies Gaps between How Consumers and Marketers Think about User-Generated Content” [Online] Available at: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160503005382/en/Offerpop-Survey-Identifies-Gaps-Consumers-Marketers-User-Generated [Accessed 1 May 2021]

P., Cassidy (2017) Stackla “Why UGC Is The Key To Authenticity & Consumer Influence” [Online] Available at: https://stackla.com/resources/blog/why-ugc-is-key-to-authenticity-consumer-influence/ [Accessed 30 April 2021]

P., Dunay (2014) Social Media Today “From Employee to Advocate: Mobilize Your Team to Share Your Brand Content” [Online] Available at: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/employee-advocate-mobilize-your-team-share-your-brand-content [Accessed 28 April 2021]

Stackla (2019) “Stackla Survey Reveals Disconnect Between the Content Consumers Want & What Marketers Deliver” [Online] Available at: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190220005302/en/Stackla-Survey-Reveals-Disconnect-Content-Consumers-Marketers [Accessed 30 April 2021]

Statista (2020) “Most Popular Reasons for Internet Users Worldwide to Use Social Media as of 3^rd Quarter 2020” [Online] Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/715449/social-media-usage-reasons-worldwide/ [Accessed 30 April 2021]

TINT (2021) “State of User-Generated Content 2021 Report” [Online] Available at: https://www.go.tintup.com/state-of-ugc-report-2021 [Accessed 26 April 2021]

October 1 2020

Shoppable Posts on Social Media

Phoenixx Branding/Personal Branding, Content Marketing, Digital Marketing Trends, Marketing, Social Media digital marketing, Facebook, Facebook Ads, Instagram, Instagram Posts, Pinterest, Shoppable Posts, social media, Social Media trends 0

Those old days are long gone when we used social media only to find and follow our schoolmates, old friends and colleagues. A lot has changes since brands and businesses have discovered social media platforms and started reaching us with their posts and adverts.

By the 21st century, the borders between browsing and buying have been blended. Today we don’t just see brands’ ads, but we actually buy those products directly from social media.

(Cover image: 3D graphics image by Quince Creative)

What is Social Shopping?

Social shopping enables shopping products via social media. (Carmicheal, K., 2020) This can be done via online shop integrated in a social media platform or an interactive shoppable post.

Shoppable content enables the opportunity for users to purchase a product without leaving the social media app.

Shoppable posts are great way for businesses to promote their brand, boost their sales by reaching customers with products on social feed otherwise they would not search for or promote their new catalogue.

According to Instagram’s research in 2019, 1 billion users use Instagram every month and 90% of Instagram users follow a business on Instagram. (Instagram, 2019)

According to Statista, in the second quarter of 2020 Facebook has had more than 2.7 billion users per month, making it the third most visited website in the world. (Statista, 2020) 74% of higher income earners’ preferred social media platform is Facebook, and 15% of users shop on Facebook. (eMarketer, 2019)

It has never been a better time to start selling on social media.

Instagram

If you’re thinking about starting shoppable posts, Instagram is the perfect place especially if you have a catalogue of products to showcase to your audience.

Why?

81% of Instagram users said that Instagram helped them researching products and services. (Instagram Business, 2019)

Instagram can interact with shoppable posts in newsfeed, Stories and Discover page. Discover page is Instagram’s own page dedicated to find new brands. (Carmicheal, K., 2020)

On Instagram, shoppable posts are marked by a shopping bag icon on the bottom left corner.

By clicking the shopping bag, it reveals the prize of one or more products on the photo.

How to Create Shoppable Post on Instagram

To be able to create shoppable posts on Instagram, your Instagram profile has to meet some criteria:

Instagram shoppable posts can be created if your profile is from the following countries: United States, Canada, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, or Australia
You must have an Instagram as well as a Facebook Business account
You must sell physical goods that comply Instagram’s Merchant Agreement and Commerce Policies
Your Facebook Business account must be connected to Facebook Catalogue. This can be created either on Facebook Business Manager or through Shopify or BigCommerce

Once you’re done with these and eligible to all criteria, all you have to do is to add your Instagram to Shopify or BigCommerce store (no additional cost here) and wait to be approved. Once your Instagram has been approved, you can enable Shopping under business setting on your Instagram app. Voila! You can start selling on Instagram.

Alternatively…

Alternatively, you can use a feature such as Linkin.bio. Linkin.bio is an online tool that allows you to link your Instagram post to a specific product page, website or blog post. It is an easy way to drive traffic from your Instagram to your web shop or any other ecommerce platform and generate sales.

Some Great Examples of Shoppable Instagram Posts

Braun

This is actually a sponsored video post. When we click on the ‘Learn More’ button, a number of shoppable items appear in a grid fashion. You can configure this setting when you are building your post in Instagram Business. Braun linked to this post to Amazon.

Rituals Cosmetics

In this post Ritual Cosmetics shows how their products fit to their target audience’s everyday lives. Although, the products are not in the focal point of the post, they fit perfectly into the scene. Notice how the colours of blue and white support brand awareness.

Warner Bros. Studio

Warner Bros. Studio showcases an average situation during a studio tour: a visitor is enjoying the interactive exhibition while wearing a shoppable product to represent her favourite house in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Warner Bros. Studio went even further. In the post they encourage their visitors to share their own photos taken on the tour while wearing something that represents their favourite houses and use their hashtag #WBTourLondon.

Happy Socks

Happy Socks sells quirky themed socks. Their shoppable post showcases the product in a colourful quirky environment that represents the brand. They are using emojis and playful band voice to reach their target audience – in this case kids and parents.

The post is advertising Disney Mickey Mouse themed socks. Notice, how all the board games on table fit into the theme of the ad: all of them have Mickey Mouse pattern.

Peggy Porschen

Peggy Porschen greets Autumn with a stylish shoppable post, showcasing their new cupcake menu. The pink and delicate pastel colours perfectly represent the brand and target their audience while representing the new season.

Facebook

Unlike Instagram, if you want to create a shoppable post on Facebook, you have to create a sponsored campaign. To be able to do so, must have a Facebook Business account. There are a variety of shoppable posts you can choose from: carousel, image, video, collection, Story or slideshow ad.

Examples of Shoppable Content on Facebook

Dior

Carousel ad allows the business to add different images with different product details, links and CTA (Call-To-Action) button. This makes it easy for customers to reach the business’ website and make a purchase.

This carousel shoppable post from Dior is perfect to showcase a catalogue of products.

Miu Miu

Miu Miu’s collection ad starts with a compelling video and when we click on the video a collection of shoppable products appear under it in a grid fashion.

Fever

Apart from purchasing products, we can even book tickets for events via Facebook sponsored posts such as this one from Fever. Fever is an online ticketing tool. It helps people find events wherever they are and sell tickets for them.

This sponsored shoppable ad is advertising an immersive Doctor Who experience in London. Fever is using a compelling image portraying London in the background and the iconic Doctor Who telephone box. There are playful emojis in the ad, indicating that the target audience is a younger group of people, and the ad emphasises that the experience is available limited time only and tickets selling fast.

BFI IMAX

BFI IMAX is advertising their cinema experience in a Story ad. They are using a compelling graphic image illustrating the unique immersive IMAX cinema experience visitors can enjoy. By clicking ‘See More’ button, the ad navigates us to BFI IMAX website where we can book tickets to movies.

In 2019 almost 50% of users used Pinterest for finding or shopping products. (Lipsman, A., 2019) This indicates that Pinterest is the best platform a business can chose to sell their products generate leads and build brand awareness.

On Pinterest, users can easily find shoppable products. All ‘Products Pins’ are collected on the business’ main page, under ‘Shop’, as seen below.

Image source

To create shoppable posts on Pinterest, all you need is a business account and to join Pinterest’s Verified Merchant Programme. It is free to join and lets you enable shopping directly from your Pinterest page. Once you have been approved, you will receive a badge to appear on your page showing that ‘This Retailer Meets Pinterest’s Merchant Guidelines’.

How Get the Most Out of Product Pins:

Use high quality photos and implement the Pinterest ‘Save’ button to allow your followers to save your pin on their boards
Use descriptive copy. Indicate as much of product details as you can. For example, available sizes & colours and fabric the product is made from
Do not just post a product, create a compelling story around it
Use Pinterest analytics to learn how your pins are performing and to learn more about your customers’ behaviour
Use promoted pins to boost customer engagement and sales

(Macarthy, A., 2017)

Conclusion

Social media users are not just mindless scrollers. They are constantly looking for inspiration and ideas. Traditional digital marketing efforts are no longer sufficient to gain customers’ attention. To stand out from the crowd, businesses need to follow the current trends and lift them into their digital marketing strategy.

Customers today are savvy about advertising and do not like ads being pushy. By using shoppable posts businesses can create story around their products while keeping the post naturally fit to the news feed. Shoppable posts increase loyalty because they create a direct line to the business by minimising the barriers between customers and purchasing. (Dod, R., 2018)

References

Carmicheal, K. (2020) Hubspot “10 Examples of Creative Shoppable Posts on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook” [Online] Available at: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/examples-of-shoppable-content [Accessed 25 Sept 2020]

Dod, R. (2018) Visiture “5 Reasons Your eCommerce Brand Should Consider Shoppable Instagram Posts” [Online] Available at: https://www.visiture.com/blog/5-reasons-your-ecommerce-brand-should-consider-shoppable-instagram-posts/ [Accessed 1 October 2020]

eMarketer (2019) “Social Media Activities Performed by US Social Media Users, by Platform, February 2019” [Online] Available at: https://www.emarketer.com/chart/226979/social-media-activities-performed-by-us-social-media-users-by-platform-feb-2019-of-respondents [Accessed 25 Sept 2020]

Instagram (2019) Instagram Business [Online] Available at: https://business.instagram.com/?utm_id=403967777216&utm_medium=paid&utm_source=google&utm_term=Marketing_hubspot_EN&utm_campaign=Marketing_MQLs_EN_AdWords_EMEA_UKI_Brand-HubSpot_e_c_856706782_403967777216&hsa_tgt=kwd-298569398281&hsa_grp=45114446858&hsa_src=g&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_mt=e&hsa_ver=3&hsa_ad=403967777216&hsa_acc=2734776884&hsa_kw=hubspot&hsa_cam=856706782&gclid=Cj0KCQjws536BRDTARIsANeUZ5_5u-n7gzfwWUR8VTs3YgURN1dJty2MIe8Dy_BzcP011ikHFOHyRc4aAhGSEALw_wcB&hubs_signup-url=www.hubspot.com%2Fproducts%2Fget-started-f049&hubs_signup-cta=null [Accessed 25 Sept 2020]

Instagram Business (2019) “How to sell your products on Instagram” [Online] Available at: https://business.instagram.com/blog/how-to-sell-your-products-on-instagram/ [Accessed 25 Sept 2020]

Lipsman, A. (2019) eMarketer “Pinterest Is the Talk of ShopTalk as It Eyes IPO” [Online] Available at: https://www.emarketer.com/content/pinterest-is-the-talk-of-shoptalk-as-it-eyes-ipo [Accessed 30 Sept 2020]

Macarthy, A. (2017) Social Media Today “How to Setup Buyable Pins to Sell Products Direct on Pinterest” [Online] Available at: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/social-business/how-setup-buyable-pins-sell-products-direct-pinterest [Accessed 30 Sept 2020]

Statista (2020) “Number of monthly active Facebook users worldwide as of 2nd quarter 2020 (in millions)” [Online] Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/264810/number-of-monthly-active-facebook-users-worldwide/ [Accessed 25 Sept 2020]

August 17 2020

Emerging Digital Marketing Trends

Phoenixx Digital Marketing, Digital Marketing Trends, Marketing, Social Media Digital Marketing Trends, Emerging Digital Marketing Trends, Ephemeral Content, Interactive Content, Micro Influencers, Nano Influencers, social media, User Generated Content, Vocie Search 0

We all know that digital marketing is an ever-changing world. Techniques and strategies worked 1-2 years ago may not work anymore. Trends are constantly and rapidly changing and new technological features emerge.

In this blog post I discuss emerging digital marketing trends to keep an eye on.

Ephemeral Content

Figure 1 Instagram Story Templates

Ephemeral content keeps gaining popularity. Most of the biggest social media platforms offer the opportunity for their users to share contents that disappear after a short time, typically after 24 hours.

Facebook or Instagram stories are perfect example of this. Users can share attention-grabbing videos or photos, and boost them with funny animations, hashtags, location tags, stickers and other elements.

Different types of story templates available for different messages, for example, to encourage followers to ask questions, to start a timer that counts down till a big announcement or a new product launch, poll, quotes and rankings and so on.

Figure 2 This diagram showcases how the popularity of Instagram stories have been emerging over the years. While in 2016 the number of daily active Instagram story users were 100 million, by 2019 this number reached the 500 million. This trend shows no sign of slowing down, creating huge opportunities for businesses of any size. (Statista, 2020)

“Stories feel real, immediate and intensely personal.” – says Hootsuite in their recent report on social media trends. (Hootsuite, 2019)

As a result of the ephemeral content popularity, 64% of marketers have already implemented ephemeral content into their digital marketing strategy or planning to do so. (Hootsuite, 2019)

Figure 3 This figure showcases the daily active users of social media stories. (Hootsuite, 2019)

Interactive Content

Figure 4 @wbtourlondon created a poll on Facebook. The poll received more than 18k votes, 161 comments and more than 500 shares within one day.

As consumers are overwhelmed with contents, they are hungry for personalisation, interaction and control over the contents they are being bombarded with. (Nestor, G., 2020)

Passive contents are no longer that effective as they were a couple of years ago.

Interactive contents, such as polls, VR content, interactive maps or contests have been gaining popularity these days.

Interactive contents stand out because they satisfy consumers’ increased demand for interaction and control. Thus, interactive contents deliver better conversation rates than passive contents. (Nestor, G., 2020)

Micro and Nano Influencers

Micro and nano influencers have been top tier over the past 12 months, according to a recent report by Influencer Intelligence. (Influencer Intelligence, 2020)

Who are micro and nano influencers?

Micro influencer: 10,000-100,000 followers

Nano influencer: 10,000 followers or less

(Bella, F., 2020)

Figure 5 @UrbanAdventurerLDN is a nano influencer on Facebook with over 1,000 follower base.

Micro and nano influencers have smaller but extremely loyal and highly engaged follower base. They have relevant and, more importantly, specific audience companies can benefit from. This is because it is more likely for a company to generate leads and conversions compared to macro or mega influencers whose audience is not that specific. (Bella, F., 2020)

Influencer Intelligence Report shows that 76% of surveyed businesses have already been working with nano influencers and 43% are planning to start doing so in the next 12 months. (Influencer Intelligence, 2020)

Benefits of working with micro and nano influencers:

Have very high engagement rate
Lower cost of working with micro and nano influencers allows smaller businesses and start-ups to benefit from influencer marketing
Thanks to the more intimate relationship between influencer and followers, product or service recommendations will be well received
Higher conversion rate, thanks to the higher trust rate. Nano influencers’ recommendations are like peer-to-peer referring, thus gain more trust from followers

(Bella, F., 2020)

How to find micro and nano influencers best suit for your company’s needs?

There are several online tools out there to choose from. Many of which have free version to start with and different budget plans to suit different needs.

Find the best FREE influencer marketing tools by clicking here.

Voice Search

Figure 6 One of the most popular voice search device is, Alexa by Amazon. (Image source: unsplash)

SEO is constantly changing, and, as a digital marketer, we need to be updated with the hottest trends and the latest developments.

According to OC& C Strategy Consultants’ survey, by 2022 almost half of the UK households will own a smart speaker. (OC&C, 2018) This will revolutionize consumers’ shopping habits.

Voice transactions through smart speakers in the UK is expected to be around 3.5bn by 2022. (OC&C, 2018)

Features like Google, Alexa, Siri or Cortana are already useful for digital marketing, and will soon be essential.

But what is the difference in performing search on Google or using a voice-powered search device?

When using Alexa, for example, we use long phrases and sentences to search, while using Google, we use words or short sentences. For example, if we want to know the time in Los Angeles, our search will be like this: ‘What’s the time in Los Angeles?’ The same search on Google, would look like this: ‘time Los Angeles’.

As a result, when we write content for our website, we will need to be mindful of this by incorporating long-tail keywords.

Social Media Customer Service & Chat Bots

Figure 7 Chat bots provide instant help for customers and available 24/7.

Social media platforms are no longer for just sharing funny videos and holiday pics that we like and share. Customers have started using social media platforms to connect with businesses to find instant help for their problems and answers to their questions. Partly because they did not find answer to their question on the business’ website, partly because they need instant help and found customer service slow or ineffective.

Businesses have become more and more aware of the importance of providing customer service on their social media platforms. And this is where chat bots come.

Figure 8 According to Smart Insights’ survey, 37% of consumers used social media to complain about a product or service or ask question and expected to get response under 30 minutes. 57% of consumers said, falling to meet these expectations, they have stopped doing business with the brand due to poor customer service. (Smart Insights, 2018)

Chat bots are designed to hold live chat with customers and answer their queries promptly. Chat bots can deliver 24/7 cost effective customer service. (Nestor, G., 2020)

On the top of that, chat bots help gaining valuable information about customer behaviour that can be analysed to improve personalisation, and help creating more effective precisely targeted campaigns in the future.

Video Marketing

Figure 9 Video marketing has seen growing popularity. @UrbanAdventurerLDN

Videos are the future of social media trends. Weather it is a short video on Instagram story or TiKTok or a longer video on YouTube, people love watching videos and this content type has started dominating social media. (Influencer Marketing Hub, 2020)

According to Cisco’s recent study, more than 80% of online content will be video content by 2022. (Cisco, 2020)

According to Wyzwol’s recent research, 88% of marketers plan to include YouTube in their video marketing strategy in 2020. 76% of marketers plan to include Facebook and 65% Instagram. (Wyzowl, 2020)

Before start creating video content for your website or social media, make a research on what resonate your target audience the most and study what video content have gone viral recently. If you don’t know where to start, Buzzsumo, Instagram’s ‘Explore’ tab or Facebook ‘Pages to Watch’ could help you.

Live Streaming

Live videos have become extremely popular after pandemic outbreak as businesses needed to keep their customers somehow after the shutdown.

Live webinars, product demo, explainer, viral entertaining videos and video series were made to keep customers’ attention during lockdown.

Users can join and get engaged during the show, ask questions and get real-time answers. In addition, live videos are often prioritized by social media algorithms as they are real-time. (Financial Online, 2020)

360-Degree Videos

98% of consumers say 360-degree videos are more exciting compared to traditional videos. More than 40% of consumers said, they liked when a business leveraged 360-degree videos or VR videos because these videos allowed them to “try” the product before buying it. (Covarrubias, C., 2017)

Shoppable Videos

Shoppable videos accelerate the buying journey. These videos allow viewers to simply click on the product they like on the video and the link automatically redirects the viewers to the online store.

Often the video contains a ‘shop now’ button. When the viewer clicks on it, the available shapes, sizes or colours appear and then the viewer is redirected to the website to complete the purchase.

Social media platforms have recognised how powerful it can be to blend social with ecommerce. Just think about Facebook Shops or shoppable post on Instagram. They can enable customers to discover products otherwise they might not search for, through social contents. This trend particularly strengthened during pandemic, when consumers were forced to stay home and shop from home. As a result, the weekly online transactions in the UK saw a 200% increase from March to May 2020. This trend then continued in June and July. (Statista, 2020)

Figure 10 Weekly online orders have grown dramatically in the UK this year. (Statista, 2020)

AR & VR Technologies

Figure 11 Augmented Reality (AR) allows customers to try before buy experience, provide further information and assistance and create a buzz around the brand. (Smart Insight, 2020) (Photo: unsplash)

Using Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies have seen increasing popularity. Google Expeditions mobile app, for example, takes customers to virtual journey to iconic landmarks such as the Mount Everest. Littlstar offers a full library of 360-degree videos. Using their own VR headsets, customers can watch content from Netflix, Hulu or YouTube. (Nicol, W. & Revilla, A., 2020)

Personalisation

Businesses may not be able to personalise their social media platforms or websites to all of their customer segments, but they can customise their social media ads. Social media platforms provide micro targeting with the ability to target audience so precisely like never before.

Algorithms now reached the level where they can recognise the product type a customer clicks on and show similar products with similar price range from different brands. The more you click on, the better the algorithm understands your preferences. As a result, ads will soon be personalised and tailored to your taste.

Amazon and Instagram are masters of this.

User Generated Contents

Figure 12 More and more businesses with physical shops create ‘selfie corners’ and encourage their customers to take selfies, share them on social media and tag the business. (Photo: EL&N Café St Pancras, photo taken by me)

User generated content is not new. However, more popular than ever. Why? Because it’s free.

Many businesses encourage their customers to create content with their products or services and tag them for the chance to be featured on their official social media platforms.

More and more businesses that have physical shops create ‘selfie corners’ and encourage their customers to take selfies and share them on social media. Many businesses create specific hashtags to be used.

Social Media Communities

Social media communities are groups created by brands for their customers to share their experiences, start conversations and ask questions. Brands often share special offers in these ‘secret’ groups as well as listen their customers’ pain points and provide help or forward their specific queries to the appropriate department of the business.

‘Secret’ groups provide the feeling of being privileged by the members. New products launch, giveaways and limited timed special offers are often shared with the members of the groups. In return, the businesses get customer feedback, valuable insight and strengthen brand loyalty. (Influencer Marketing Hub, 2020)

Gamification

Spin the wheel, find the differences or scan the website for Easter eggs and get rewarded.

Gamification is another emerging digital marketing trend that incorporates game features into website or social media posts.

Playing games is addictive and fun. Gamification can increase loyalty, brand awareness and sales. In addition, by fun games businesses can pull customers back to their websites and get customers more engaged in the business’s products or services. (Lara, C., 2020)

Conclusion

Keeping abreast of the latest digital marketing trends help your business to stay ahead of your competitors. Digital marketing is ever-changing and it’s more important than ever to be on the top of the latest trends and developments.

REFERENCES

Bella, F. (2020) Icon Square “A Guide to Social Media Influencers: Mega, Macro, Micro, and Nano” [Online] Available at: https://blog.iconosquare.com/guide-to-social-media-influencers/ [Accessed 14 August 2020]

Cisco (2020) “Cisco Annual Internet Report (2018–2023) White Paper” [Online] Available at: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/collateral/executive-perspectives/annual-internet-report/white-paper-c11-741490.html [Accessed 14 August 2020]

Covarrubias, C. (2017) ADVRTAS “360 Ads Are Better! (Part 1)” [Online] Available at: https://advrtas.com/360-video-ads-better/ [Accessed 15 August 2020]

Financial Online (2020) “13 Video Marketing Trends for 2020/2021: Latest Forecasts You Should Be Thinking About” [Online] Available at: https://financesonline.com/video-marketing-trends/ [Accessed 15 August 2020]

Hootsuite (2019) “Social Media Trends 2019” [Online] Available at: https://hootsuite.com/pages/social-media-trends-report-2019 [Accessed 14 August 2020]

Influencer Intelligence (2020) “The State of the Influencer 2020” [Online] Available at: https://www.influencerintelligence.com/insights/TTg/The-Rise-of-Nano-Influencers [Accessed 14 August 2020]

Influencer Marketing Hub (2020) “Social Media Trends for 2020 and Beyond” [Online] available at: https://influencermarketinghub.com/social-media-trends/ [Accessed 14 August 2020]

Lara, C. (2020) Thee Digital “Top Digital Marketing Trends for 2020 and 2021” [Online] Available at: https://www.theedigital.com/blog/digital-marketing-trends [Accessed 15 August 2020]

Nestor, G. (2020) Finances Online “11 Inbound Marketing Trends for 2020/2021: Top Forecasts & A Look Into What’s Next Ahead” [Online] Available at: https://financesonline.com/inbound-marketing-trends/ [Accessed 14 August 2020]

Nicol, W. & Revilla, A. (2020) Digital Trends “The best VR apps for 2020” [Online] Available at: https://www.digitaltrends.com/virtual-reality/best-virtual-reality-apps/ [Accessed 15 August 2020]

OC&C (2018) “Voice shopping in the UK to be worth £3.5bn by 2022” [Online] Available at: https://www.occstrategy.com/pl/about-occ/news-and-media/article/id/1938/2018/02/voice-shopping-in-the-uk-to-be-worth-35bn-by-2022 [Accessed 14 August 2020]

Smart Insight (2020) “5 ways to use Augmented Reality in your marketing strategy” [Online] Available at: https://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-platforms/augmented-reality/5-ways-to-use-augmented-reality-in-your-marketing-strategy/ [Accessed 15 August 2020]

Smart Insights (2018) “Customers expect brand responses on social within 30 minutes” [Online] Available at: https://www.smartinsights.com/customer-relationship-management/customer-service-and-support/customers-expect-brand-responses-social-within-30-minutes/ [Accessed 14 August]

Statista (2020) “Number of daily active Instagram Stories users from October 2016 to January 2019” [Online] Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/730315/instagram-stories-dau/ [Accessed 14 August 2020]

Statista (2020) “Year-on-year growth in weekly online orders in home and leisure retail during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the United Kingdom (UK) from January to June 2020” [Online] Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1109425/online-orders-home-retail-y-o-y-trends-during-coronavirus-in-the-uk/ [Accessed 15 August 2020]

Wyzowl (2020) “Video Marketing Statistics 2020” [Online] Available at: https://www.wyzowl.com/video-marketing-statistics-2020/ [Accessed 15 August 2020]

July 27 2020

Capability Audit & SWOT Analysis

Phoenixx Digital Marketing, Marketing Capability Audit, content marketing, digital marketing, email marketing, Marketing Strategy, social media, SWOT Analysis 0

A Brief Introductory Overview

Chosen Organisation: Inception Group Limited

When the company were set up: 2009 (Craft, 2020)

Main products/services: Inception Group is an entrepreneurial company that owns and runs 6 unique brands and 12 different locations of bars, restaurants and clubs all over in London. (LinkedIn, 2020)

Restaurants, clubs and bars: Cahoots, Barts, Mr Fogg’s, Maggie’s Club, Bunga Bunga

Locations: 1 office in London and several other bars and restaurants around London. (Craft, 2020)

Size of workforce: 201-500 employees (LinkedIn, 2020)

Customer base: Millennials, both locals and tourists who are seeking unique experience, Instagrammable places and new drinks, often alcohol free or low alcohol. (Russon, M-A. & Gelbart, H., 2018)

Competitors: Other themed cocktail bars in London, for example, The Cauldron and ABQ London (Russon, M-A. & Gelbart, H., 2018)

Annual revenue: £20.8m (Craft, 2020)

Unique Selling Point: Unique interior design, experiential activities, immersive experiences, unique drink menu (Stone, S., 2020)

Capability Audit

1= non-existent, 2= weak, 3= mid, 4= strong, 5= very strong

Area of Digital Marketing	Score	Note
MANAGEMENT AND DIGITAL MARKETING TEAM
Management team support digital marketing	5	Digital media platforms are vital for the business, according to management. They invest a lot particularly in social media and have a strong in-house team. (Arsenaualt, B., 2019)
Organisation has digital marketing team in place	5
Competence in digital marketing planning	5
Digital marketing team is appropriately skilled	5
WEBSITES UNDER INCEPTION GROUP
Websites are effective and support digital marketing strategies	5	Easy to use, interactive, fast and responsive
Websites are SEO optimised and rank well	2	There is no optimal keyword density. Keywords are not distributed well across the important HTML tags. (Based on Woorank, SEOptimiser and SEO Site Checkup)
Content marketing is used well	5	Engaging video contents and “explore” buttons provided to discover the different venues virtually.
Websites have responsive design to improve UX (User Experience)	5
Website is easy to navigate and helps achieving digital marketing objectives	5
Website attracts high volume of leads (Lead generation)	4	Average website traffic is 4K/month (Craft, 2020)
Use inbound marketing best practices	4	Well-crafted engaging content but SEO needs improvement.
Leads are effectively converted to sales	5	Venues are usually fully booked in advance.


SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media is used to engage audience effectively	5	Organisation actively uses the core social media channels: Facebook, Instagram &Twitter
Effectively generating leads using social media content calendar	5	Have large follower base. On average, more than 1,000 likes or views on each post. Post regularly.
Social media best practices are used	5	Award winning campaigns in 2019 and best social media presence award 2020. (Inception Group, 2020) (Restaurant Innovator, 2020)
Use trending topics, hashtags etc. to boost engagement	5
EMAIL MARKETING
Email marketing is used to communicate with audience	2	Only 3 of the 6 websites have newsletter subscriptions.
MOBILE MARKETING
Mobile marketing is used effectively. E.g. mobile app	1
DATA COLLECTION & ANALYTICS
Data is effectively captured, processed and accessible	5	Use of different analytic tools, including Google Analytics, Google Adverts Tracking, Google Conversion Tracking, Google Search Console, LinkedIn Insight. (Woorank, 2020)
Analytics: decision/actions are driven by data and insight	5	Data is considered to be the most important way to make strategic decisions, according to Emine Mehmet, Senior Group Digital Marketing Manager. (Stone, S., 2020)
COST CONTROL
Costs are controlled and generate strong ROI (Return On Investment)	5	(Craft, 2020)
RELIANCE ON AGENCIES
Organisation works close with agencies to achieve digital marketing goals	5	Organisation relies on different agencies and freelancers to create animation, motion, Instagram stickers, maps and menus for their bars and restaurants. For example, patchpo.com

REFERENCES

Arsenault, B. (2019) “Charlie Gilkes Explains How To Run A Successful Bar In London” [Online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bridgetarsenault/2019/01/15/charlie-gilkes-explains-how-to-run-a-successful-bar-in-london/#3d7efb604ce2 [Accessed 20 May 2020]

Craft (2020) Inception Group [Online] Available at: https://craft.co/inception-group [Accessed 19 May 2020]

Inception Group (2020) “News” [Online] Available at: https://inception-group.com/news/ [Accessed 19 May 2020]

LinkedIn (2020) Inception Group, London [Online] Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/inception-group-london/about/ [Accessed 19 May 2020]

Restaurant Innovator (2020) Award Winners [Online] Available at: https://www.restaurantinnovator.com/events/awards/award-winners/inception-group [Accessed 20 May 2020]

Russon, M-A. & Gelbart, H. (2018) BBC News “Are themed bars and pubs the future?” [Online] Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45642270 [Accessed 19 May 2020]

Stone, S. (2020) Morning Advertiser “A-Z of on-trade marketing” [Online] Available at: https://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Article/2020/01/17/A-Z-of-on-trade-marketing [Accessed 20 May 2020]

Stone, S. (2020) Morning Advertiser “’Time capsule’ concepts can help bring the pub into the 21st century” [Online] Available at: https://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Article/2019/11/11/Big-Interview-Charlie-Gilkes-co-founder-Inception-Group [Accessed 19 May 2020]

Woorank (2020) Website Review – Inception Group [Online] Available at: https://www.woorank.com/en/www/inception-group.com [Accessed 21 May 2020]

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

Established company with good reputation

Inception Group was established in 2009 and has constantly expanding since then. Their venues gained reputation due to their Unique Selling Proposition: unique atmosphere (for example, 1940s themed underground bar, Around the World in Eighty Days novel inspired bars), immersive experiences and wide selection of food and drink.

Cahoots bar has won the “Best New Pub/Bar Site’ in the Casual Dining Awards 2020” (Sumeray, L., 2020)

“I think our unique selling points have helped us stand out and develop strong original brands. People now trust that they are going to have a good time when they book in to an Inception venue.” – co-founder Charlie Gilkes said in an interview to Forbes magazine in 2019. (Arsenault, B., 2019)

Excellent locations within the city of London

Most of their bars, restaurants and clubs are in frequented spots in London, such as Mayfair, Covent Garden or Soho. Others, despite of their less frequented locations are likewise popular because they are so called “hidden gems”.

Skilled staff

Marketing staff are highly skilled. The proof of this are the award-winning digital marketing campaigns in the recent years. For example, they won “The Best Social Media Presence of the Year in 2020” (Sumeray, L., 2020).

All of Inception Group restaurant, bars and clubs have large active follower base being nurtured with quality contents, many of which went viral. “Creating new content is key to keep follower engaged…we increasingly use more video content.” – said Emine Mehmet, Senior Group Digital Marketing Manager at Inception Group in a recent interview to Morning Advertiser. (Stone, S., 2020) They are following the latest trends, for example, all of their websites now have video content to engage site visitors from the very first click.

Large social media follower base

All of their bars, restaurants and clubs have large follower base on social media. For example, Mr Fogg’s have more than 79K followers on Instagram and Cahoots has more than 37K followers on Facebook. This is an active relevant and engaged follower base who share, comment and like posts regularly.

Powerful digital marketing

Inception Group’s marketing team has created a good number of powerful award-winning digital marketing campaigns, such as “The Best Social Media Presence of the Year in 2020” (Sumeray, L., 2020), “Best Digital Campaign’ and ‘Best Use of Video’ at Restaurant Marketer & Innovator Awards 2020” (Sumeray, L., 2020), “The Best Launch Campaign of the Year” in 2019 when they advertised the “best job in the world”. This campaign received over 10,000 applicants, appeared in Sky News and even led the famous actor Ryan Reynolds wanting to apply for the job (Christofi, E., 2019) In 2017 Mr Fogg’s bar had a viral campaign: they sent a cocktail to the space and back to Earth (Ellis, D., 2017). The cocktail is now exhibited in Mr Fogg’s Society of Exploration.

Leveraging professional agencies

Inception Group is working with professional agencies such as SevenRooms. SevenRooms renewed the reservation and guest management system of Inception Group’s individual restaurants and bars. As a result, online bookings increased by 20%. (SevenRooms, n/a)

Propeller is an agency, specialised for digital marketing strategies for restaurants and bars. They have created a multi-level booking flow on Inception Group’s websites. (Propeller, 2020)

Patchpo is a freelancer graphic motion designer and illustrator that have created animations, videos, stickers and other visuals for Inception Group’s several bars and restaurants, such as Mr Fogg’s, Cahoots and Bunga Bunga. (Patchpo, 2020)

Weaknesses

Lack of mobile marketing

Inception Group is not leveraging mobile marketing at the moment. They are not running SMS campaigns, neither they have mobile app to be downloaded by their customers or in-app adverts to increase brand awareness.

All of their websites have responsive design, allowing easy booking for their customers. Inception Group is currently missing mobile marketing opportunities.

Weak email marketing

Only two of Inception Group’s six websites offer newsletter subscription for customers. Inception Group is missing the benefit of collecting relevant information about their customers, for example, email addresses, phone numbers (could be used for SMS marketing, for example sending out exclusive SMS vouchers), full names and other relevant data to expand their database and use it for further advertising their venues, increasing brand awareness and returning customer base.

Weak website SEO

Having checked Inception Group’s different websites for relevant keywords (I used Woorank, SEOptimiser and SEO Site Checkup) I found that the was no optimal keyword density on any of their websites. Main keywords are not distributed well across the important HTML tags.

As a result, websites did not appear on the first page of Google unless exact keywords used, for example, “mr fogg” for Mr Fogg’s bar website or “underground bar” for Cahoots bar which is an 1940s inspired bar operating in a refurbished underground station.

Inception Group should improve their website SEO to have a good ranking on Google and other search engines and perform better than their competitors. Content should be focused around particular keywords and ideally these keywords should be used in titles and header tags.

Not leveraging emerging social media platforms

Inception Group’s bars, restaurants and clubs are present and active on the three core social platforms: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Based on their follower base and post responses: likes, comment and shares, their performance on Instagram is outstanding. Instagram is followed by Facebook and Twitter.

However, Inception Group are not or barely leveraging emerging social media platforms. For example, TikTok is currently the trendiest new social media platform, not being recognised by companies yet. This could give exceptional opportunity for Inception Group to take advantage of the new field, but they are not present on TikTok yet.

According to Emine Mehmet, Inception Group’s Senior Group Digital Marketing Manager, this is because “TikTok hasn’t really reached the pub or bar sector yet. The app is overwhelming favoured by young people, the majority being Generation Z (born between mid-to-late 1990s and early 2010s)…but if the average age continuous to creep up, we can imagine it becoming a key marketing platform for us in the near future.” (Stone, S., 2020)

Opportunities

Leveraging emerging social media platforms

As we can see it above, emerging social media platforms like TikTok include huge opportunity for Inception Group. It is also true, however, that businesses should find and use the most relevant platforms where their target audience is. The majority of TikTok users, for example, are from Generation Z, which means they are in their early 20s. The minimum age of entry to most bars and restaurant owned by Inception Group is 21. However, at Mr Fogg’s, for example, young guests are welcomed by 5pm.

To sum up, Inception Group could start leveraging new social media platforms with younger users like TikTok and be in the frontline to turn them to one of their key digital marketing platforms. Inception Group is aware of this opportunity, however, not taking advantage of it yet.

Start mobile marketing

Inception Group is currently missing benefiting from mobile marketing. Their websites have responsive design making them easy to use and easy to book a table. They are not leveraging, however, any other type of mobile marketing that could be beneficial for the business. For example, SMS marketing using What’s Up or a downloadable mobile app.

Improve email marketing

Email marketing is currently weak: only two out of six the websites give the opportunity for user to subscribe for newsletter. This narrows the opportunity for customers to receive news and exclusive offers from their favourite restaurant or bar via email.

Starting using email marketing on all websites could significantly improve booking rate, brand awareness and loyalty.

Improve website SEO

It is vital for a business to be easily found on the Internet. Inception Group’s bars, restaurants and clubs should SEO optimise their websites by using more SEO-friendly content and relevant keywords.

Press/media coverage of the company

Positive media review can help optimise customer experience and leave a positive online footprint. This can be achieved by encouraging customers to leave review on online platforms, such as social media, Trip Advisor etc., giving interviews to prestigious magazines, supporting local events or charity and so on.

Positive reviews can increase sales, expand conversations about the business and make the company more trustworthy. (Willas, S., 2020)

Emerging needs for the company’s services

According to Alice Wilson, reservations and membership director of Inception Group, there is an emerging need for unique and tailored experience which is especially true for hospitality

industry. (Heath, S., 2019) Co-founder Charlie Gilkes also predicts personalisation as emerging trend within the industry. (Arsenault, B., 2019)

Leveraging AI & Augmented Reality (AR)

Co-founder Charlie Gilkes predicts that robotics and AI will see further growth in venues in general by either having an entertaining role – such as the Mechanical Mixologist machine at Mr Fogg’s Society of Exploration – or practical role – such as cashless paying.

Market research to better understand customer needs

Customer needs are ever-changing. Conducting market research regularly is vital for a business to better understand their customers and their needs. Regular market research allows the company to react quickly and efficiently for changing needs and circumstances and outrun their competitors.

Threats

Emerging competitors

Emerging needs for the company’s services carries in itself the threat of emerging competitors that might outperform Inception Group and its bars, restaurant and clubs.

Competitors take or upskill Inception Group’s skilled staff

Competitors might be able to take Inception Group’s skilled staff by offering better salary and benefit package. Competitors could also upskill Inception Group’s staff by investing heavily in trainings.

Negative press/media coverage

Negative press/media coverage as well as negative social media reviews can cause damage in the company’s reputation. Negative media can lead to dramatic backdrop in sales and booking and give the opportunity to competitors to outperform the company.

Changing customer needs/preferences

Dramatic changes in customer preferences could have negative effect on the business.

STRENGTHS	WEAKNESSES
Established company with good reputation Excellent locations within the city of London Skilled staff Large social media follower base Powerful digital marketing Leveraging professional agencies	Lack of mobile marketing Weak email marketing Weak website SEO Not leveraging emerging social media platforms, e.g. TikTok
OPPORTUNITIES	THREATS
Leveraging emerging social media platforms Start mobile marketing Improve email marketing Improve website SEO Press/media coverage of the company Emerging need for the company’s services Leveraging AI & Augmented Reality technology Market research to understand customer needs in a more sophisticated way	Emerging competitors Competitors take or upskill staff Negative press/media coverage Changing customer needs/preferences

REFERENCES

Christofi, E. (2019) Inception Group “Inception Group wins Launch Campaign of the Year in Restaurant Marketer & Innovator Awards” [Online] Available at: https://inception-group.com/inception-group-wins-launch-campaign-of-the-year-in-restaurant-marketer-innovator-awards/ [Accessed 23 May 2020]

Ellis, D. (2017) Evening Standard “First cocktail in space coming to Mayfair bar Mr Fogg’s” [Online] Available at: https://www.standard.co.uk/go/london/bars/first-cocktail-in-space-coming-to-mayfair-bar-mr-foggs-a3438986.html [Accessed 23 May 2020]

Heath, S. (2019) Market Scale “Restaurant Industry” [Online] Available at: https://marketscale.com/industries/promoted-content/software-individualizing-online-booking/ [Accessed 26 May 2020]

Patchpo (2020) Works [Online] Available at: https://patchpo.com/ [Accessed 25 May 2020]

Propeller (2020) “Digital Strategy for Restaurants” [Online] Available at: https://www.propeller.co.uk/restaurants [Accessed 25 May 2020]

SevenRooms (n/a) “How Inception Group Increased Online Bookings By 20% Across 9 Venues” [Online] Available at: https://sevenrooms.com/en/case-studies/inception-group/ [Accessed 25 May 2020]

Stone, S. (2020) Morning Advertiser “A-Z of on-trade marketing” [Online] Available at: https://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Article/2020/01/17/A-Z-of-on-trade-marketing [Accessed 20 May 2020]

Sumeray, L. (2020) Inception Group “Cahoots Ticket Hall & Control Room WINS ‘Best New Pub/Bar Site’ in the Casual Dining Awards 2020!” [Online] Available at: https://inception-group.com/cahoots-ticket-hall-control-room-wins-best-new-pub-bar-site-in-the-casual-dining-awards-2020/ [Accessed 23 May 2020]

Sumeray, L. (2020) Inception Group “Inception Group WINS ‘Best Digital Campaign’ and ‘Best Use of Video’ at Restaurant Marketer & Innovator Awards 2020!” [Online] Available at: https://inception-group.com/inception-group-wins-best-digital-campaign-and-best-use-of-video-at-restaurant-marketer-innovator-awards-2020/ [Accessed 23 May 2020]

Sumeray, L. (2020) Inception Group “Inception Group WINS ‘Best Social Media Presence of the Year’ in the Class Bar Awards 2020!” [Online] Available at: https://inception-group.com/inception-group-wins-best-social-media-presence-of-the-year-in-the-class-bar-awards-2020/ [Accessed 23 May 2020]

Willas, S. (2020) Mention “7 Reasons Online Reviews are Essential for Your Brand” [Online] Available at: https://mention.com/en/blog/online-reviews/ [Accessed 26 May 2020]

April 27 2020

Facebook Advertising Best Practices

Phoenixx Digital Marketing, Marketing, Social Media Facebook, facebook Advets, Social Media Ads, Social Media Marketing 0

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

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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

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

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)

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

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/

April 22 2020

About Social Media Advertising

Phoenixx Digital Marketing, Marketing, Social Media Soc Media, Soc Media Ads, social media, Social Media Advertising, Social Media Advertising Trends 0

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)

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)

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.

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

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)

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.

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)

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)

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]

August 8 2019

Email Marketing Best Practices

Phoenixx Digital Marketing, Email Marketing, Marketing email, email marketing, personalisation, segmentation 2

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:

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.

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)

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)

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)

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.

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:

Generate curiosity (for example: 5 Things You Never Knew About Bali)
Communicate Urgency (for example: Last Chance to Secure the SOLD OUT Military 50p Coin Set)
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)

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

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.

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)

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

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.

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.

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

3 Email Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

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.

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.

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)

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]

June 9 2019

Personal Branding

Phoenixx Branding/Personal Branding, Digital Marketing, Marketing Bear Grylls, Neil Patel, Pink, social media 0

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:

Who you are?
What makes you unique?
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:

Pink – singer, songwriter, actress
Neil Patel – author, web influencer, entrepreneur
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]

June 3 2019

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

Phoenixx Marketing Apple, marketing, promotion 0

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 22^nd January 2019 and ended on 7^th 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]

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Marketing

Why is UGC so Powerful?

UGC Best Practices

Partner with Nano and Micro Influencers

Influencer Partnerships

Embrace Diversity

Employees as Influencers

Determine the Purpose of UGCs

Collab with Other Brands

Be Authentic

Build Community

UGC Should Educate, Entertain or Inform Your Audience

Two Rules to Keep in Mind Before Sharing UGC

Creative UGC Campaign Ideas You Can Integrate Into Your Marketing Strategy Right Now

UGC Focused Contests

Share Product Reviews

Social Channel Takeover

Use Branded Templates

Retarget Interested Audience with Advert

Measure Your Success

What is Social Shopping?

Instagram

How to Create Shoppable Post on Instagram

Alternatively…

Some Great Examples of Shoppable Instagram Posts

Facebook

Examples of Shoppable Content on Facebook

Pinterest

Conclusion

References

Ephemeral Content

Interactive Content

Micro and Nano Influencers

Voice Search

Social Media Customer Service & Chat Bots

Video Marketing

Live Streaming

360-Degree Videos

Shoppable Videos

AR & VR Technologies

Personalisation

User Generated Contents

Social Media Communities

Gamification

Conclusion

A Brief Introductory Overview

Capability Audit

Area of Digital Marketing

Score

Note

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

Weaknesses

Opportunities

Threats

What key objectives can be satisfied with Facebook advertising?

1. Awareness

2. Consideration

3. Conversion

What are the main advertising formats available?

1. Image Ad

2. Video Ad

3. Stories Ad

4. Messenger Ad

5. Carousel Ad

6. Slideshow Ad

7. Collection Ad

8. Playables

9. Instant Experience Ad

How can you target audiences when creating a Facebook advertisement?

Location Targeting

Demographic Targeting & Connections

Interests, Hobbies and Behaviour

Explain the key elements that make up a great Facebook advertisement

Have a goal in mind

Target the right audience

Know what to say

Use quality images

Refresh creative

Include CTA Button