editor, Author at Mediastreet

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Reaching Gen Z & Millennials: Different Social Platforms Call for Different Content Every Time

October 6, 2023 No Comments

There are 8 billion people in this world. And of them, 60 percent, or 4.88 billion, are active social media users. In the U.S., that number jumps to 74 percent. This poses a great opportunity for brands to connect with consumers. However, there is a bushel of social media platforms. And the users differ for each platform based on age as well as the content they want to see. That’s especially true for Gen Z and millennials. For marketers, knowing the difference can make all the difference in connecting and capitalizing on social platforms.

YPulse data shows Gen Z and millennials are active on an average of six different social media platforms. And they’re going to each platform for different content.

“For brands, this means that content can’t be one size fits all,” states the YPulse Insights article. “They’ve got to pay attention to exactly what purpose each one serves for young audiences.”

Fully 81 percent of young consumers don’t want to see the same kind of content on every platform, according to the YPulse research. The firm also found 65 percent of young users don’t like when social media platforms create new features that replicate other social media sites—meaning, they want different content on each.

For example, in a YPulse survey of 13 to 39 year olds, users went to TikTok for memes and viral content (66 percent), content from online influencers (58 percent), random people they don’t know (57 percent), celebrities (49 percent), and their friends (46 percent). But when the same generations go to Instagram, they mostly seek content from their friends (66 percent), followed by celebrities (63 percent), online influencers (55 percent), brands/products (52 percent), and memes/viral content (51 percent).

The most popular social media platform for clothing ideas among Gen Z consumers is Instagram (74 percent), according to a 2023 Cotton Incorporated Lifestyle Monitor™ Survey. That’s followed by TikTok (71 percent), Pinterest (52 percent), YouTube (36 percent), Snapchat (18 percent), Facebook (13 percent), X—formerly Twitter (13 percent), and Tumblr (2 percent).

Among consumers ages 25 to 34, the top platform is also Instagram (78 percent), according to the Monitor™ research. That’s also followed by TikTok (57 percent), Facebook (51 percent), YouTube (43 percent), Pinterest (38 percent), X (22 percent), Snapchat (19 percent), and Tumblr (5 percent).

Simon Kemp, founder of Kepios, a strategy consultancy, and DataReportal, an online reference library, says social media user numbers continue to grow. He says his firm’s latest research shows social media adoption accelerated +1.5 percent over the past three months. Total social media adoption increased 3.7 percent since July 2022.

“This figure marks another momentous milestone along our journey towards universal connectivity,” Kemp said in a recent video when the company presented its quarterly digital report.

In the last quarter, DataReportal’s research shows females ages 16 to 24 spent the most time on social media, at 3 hours and 10 minutes per day. That was followed by females ages 25 to 34, spending 2 hours and 49 minutes per day on social platforms. Males ages 16 to 24 were next, at 2 hours and 35 minutes, followed by males ages 25 to 34 at two hours and 32 minutes. By comparison, men and women ages 55 to 64 average 1 hour and 40 minutes on social platforms per day.

That time spent on these platforms can translate into sales for apparel brands, especially among younger consumers. One-fifth (20 percent) of shoppers ages 13 to 24 say they have purchased a product directly from a social media post by clicking a link or image, according to 2020 Monitor™ research. The number increases to 23 percent among millennials.

Two-fifths (40 percent) of young consumers (ages 13-24) add that they’re likely to buy a product directly from a social media platform, according to the 2020 Monitor™ research.

Perhaps that’s why Pinterest is so popular with the younger set. YPulse research shows young consumers like that Pinterest offers in-post shopping where both creators and brands can tag the items they show, allowing users to purchase directly from the post. Gen Z and millennials put Pinterest in the number one spot for the kind of content they want from brands, including product recommendations that are linked within aesthetically pleasing pictures.

YPulse research shows the other top platforms Gen Z and millennials turn to for content from brands are Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. Where Instagram is concerned, 52 percent of young consumers say they want to see brands and products in the app. They like that social shopping also doesn’t waste their time or divide their attention by bringing them to another site. Also, these shoppers want to see niche or personalized content on Instagram, versus viral posts.

When it comes to advertising, young consumers are most open to watching it on YouTube (63 percent), followed by Instagram and Facebook, according to YPulse’s Social and Mobile Marketing Preferences report. And they’re open to content from online influencers on every platform except Facebook and Snapchat—two platforms where they prioritize posts from family and friends. Whether it’s a major celebrity or micro influencer, more than half of all young people (54 percent) say they have purchased something after it was touted by an online celeb on social media.

Social media holds the top spot for young shoppers when it comes to a source of clothing ideas. Over two-fifths of all Gen Z shoppers (43 percent) and 37 percent of millennials say they turn to social platforms for clothing inspo, according to 2023 Monitor™ research. That compares to 23 percent for Gen X and 7 percent for boomers. Celebrities also hold more sway with younger consumers. Among Gen Z, 17 percent look to celebs as a source of clothing ideas, as do 17 percent of millennials. That contrasts with 10 percent for Gen X and just 4 percent for boomers.

Brands should keep in mind the U.S. Chamber of Commerce says the influencer marketing industry is expected to grow to $21.1 billion in 2023, citing data from The Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report.

Finally, YPulse says Gen Z and millennial consumers love viral content, which explains why TikTok is so popular with these cohorts.

“Lucky for brands, this kind of content is easy to get in on if done right—and is yet another way to blend ad and brand content into their feeds,” YPulse states in its Insights article. Since 49 percent of TikTok users want to see humour from brands, funny content is one way to connect with them. “But even if a brand doesn’t think humour is part of their identity, there’s viral potential for everything—wholesome, lifestyle, DIY, you name it—and as long as it’s entertaining and personal, young consumers will be interested.”

The Cotton Incorporated Lifestyle Monitor™ Survey is an ongoing research program that measures consumer attitudes and behaviours relating to apparel, shopping, fashion, sustainability, and more.

For more information about the Lifestyle Monitor™ Survey, please visit https://lifestylemonitor.cottoninc.com.

Feature Image Credit: Getty

By Catherine Salfino

Sourced from Sourcing Journal

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Free Followers are Your Ticket to Social Media Fame (Here’s How to Get More)

October 6, 2023 No Comments

By Jeff Bullas

In the ever-evolving landscape of social media, free followers play a crucial role in determining your online presence and influence.

Try these social media tools:

UseViral can enhance your social media presence by increasing your followers, likes, reach, views, engagement and more.
InVideo generates fast videos with an AI talking avatar presenter, no video production needed. Customize using pre-sets or your own style.

The concept of gaining followers has transformed from being a mere vanity metric to a powerful tool for personal branding, business growth, and content dissemination.

In this article, we will explore the dynamics of acquiring free followers across various platforms and how it can significantly impact your social media journey.

Additionally, we will provide you with insights that will lead you to our comprehensive guides on gaining free followers on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.

The new currency: Social media followers

In a world where digital interactions have become increasingly dominant, social media platforms have become virtual stages for individuals and businesses to showcase their stories, products, and ideas.

The number of followers you have often equates to your potential reach and impact. With each follower, your content gains a wider audience, increasing the likelihood of engagement, shares, and conversions.

As a result, the quest for followers has become more than just a pursuit of popularity; it’s a strategic move to leverage the power of social media to your advantage.

Free followers: More than just a number

While buying followers might seem like a shortcut, organic followers are the true driving force behind meaningful engagement.

Free followers represent individuals who are genuinely interested in your content, increasing the chances of interactions that matter.

These interactions can range from comments and likes to shares and direct messages, fostering a sense of community around your profile. The real value of free followers lies in their potential to become advocates for your brand, ultimately contributing to sustainable growth.

Unlocking Twitter‘s Potential: A Guide to Free Followers

Twitter, with its real-time conversations and concise messaging, offers immense opportunities to connect with a global audience.

Our detailed guide on gaining free Twitter followers will delve into strategies such as crafting compelling tweets, utilizing hashtags effectively, and engaging with trending topics.

By following these techniques, you can organically grow your Twitter following and maximize your reach within the platform.

The Instagram Edge: Mastering Free Follower Growth

Visual storytelling finds its zenith on Instagram, making it a platform of choice for creators, businesses, and influencers.

Our dedicated article on securing free Instagram followers will walk you through tactics like optimizing your profile, creating captivating content, and engaging authentically with your audience.

These methods are designed to not only attract followers but to foster a community that resonates with your brand’s narrative.

TikTok Triumph: Your Path to Free Followers

TikTok’s explosive rise has introduced a new era of short-form video content. To help you harness its potential, our comprehensive manual on obtaining free TikTok followers will provide insights into leveraging trending challenges, perfecting your video style, and capitalizing on the platform’s algorithm.

By embracing these strategies, you can stand out in the TikTok crowd and gather followers who resonate with your creative expression.

The Twitch Advantage: Unlocking Organic Follower Surge

Twitch stands as the ultimate realm for interactive live streaming, drawing in gamers, content creators, and communities alike.

In our comprehensive guide to gaining free Twitch followers, we delve into strategies that encompass refining your channel presentation, crafting compelling broadcasts, and establishing genuine connections with viewers. These approaches aim not only to amass followers but also to cultivate a loyal community that aligns seamlessly with your streaming persona. Just as Instagram thrives on visual storytelling, Twitch thrives on immersive live experiences, making it a prime platform for those seeking to expand their influence through genuine engagement.

Final thoughts

The era of free followers has transformed the way we view social media engagement.

As you embark on your journey to gain free followers on platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, remember that these individuals aren’t just numbers; they’re the key to unlocking your digital influence.

By implementing the strategies outlined in our guides, you’ll not only expand your follower count but also cultivate a thriving community around your online presence.

So, whether you’re a business aiming for brand awareness or an individual sharing your passion, the power of free followers is your gateway to social media success.

By Jeff Bullas

He is the owner of jeffbullas.com. Forbes calls him a top influencer of Chief Marketing Officers and the world’s top social marketing talent. Entrepreneur lists him among 50 online marketing influencers to watch. Inc.com has him on the list of 20 digital marketing experts to follow on Twitter. Oanalytica named him #1 Global Content Marketing Influencer. BizHUMM ranks him as the world’s #1 business blogger. Learn More

Sourced from jeffbullas.com

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If Social Media Didn’t Exist, How Would You Share Your Photography?

October 5, 2023 No Comments

By Simon King

Social media is an incredible tool for propagating ideas, allowing the potential for mass outreach to anyone with an Internet connection and something to say.

People without a background in advertising or public relations can go viral simply by making the right meme-worthy content and sharing it at the right time, in the right place, without a real penalty for getting it wrong, leading some to treat posting to social media as almost a one-armed bandit, with the built-in reward mechanisms seeming just as addictive for some.

However, it is only really across the last decade or so that this status quo has been balanced, and within that span, the “town square” for photography content has shifted constantly. Flickr, Facebook Groups, Twitter, Reddit, 500px, Instagram, and various other forums and sites that have popped up, claimed to be the next big thing, then vanished without a trace.

Communities have usually migrated towards whoever is offering the most eyes on posts with low barriers to entry, and potential to gather new members. Some remain in the abandoned ruins of groups that have long since moved on, while others try and co-opt sites that aren’t really intended for sharing high-quality imagery (media) and are more concentrated on networking and communication (social).

A Shifting Social Media Landscape

The current landscape of social media seems to be undergoing some pretty significant changes, away from still images (which occupy a tiny fraction of attention as you scroll past) towards video content (spend longer with each morsel of content, including branded deliveries), which means still photography has been cut loose to an extent.

Combine these strategic and deliberate medium-based changes with other decisions, like fundamentally altering the ways communities behave on Reddit, or profile “hierarchies” on Twitter, and the result is a bit of a mess. It is not easy to find firm and confident footing on a path towards a photography-centric space, the digital Promised Land that ticks all boxes of image quality and audience quality.

It’s easy to be blinded by the potential a digital space seems to offer; global reach, unlimited customer base, acclaim, and recognition. But achieving these relies on standing out from the noise because you’re effectively competing for attention against every single other person who is trying to do the same thing as you, and everyone else who is trying to do something different than you.

No one is going to “solve” the algorithm any more than they will solve a roulette wheel. These social media platforms are not “your platform”, they belong to someone else. If tomorrow a company decides to remove all instances of the letter “A,” they will be entirely able to do so. They choose what they want their platform to be a reflection of.

If you have the option to buy an advertising spot and actively market your photographs that way, then people will certainly see the advert – it won’t be “organic reach” or free-range audience, or whatever else people call posting and hoping, but at the same time how many of these people who see the work will actually convert into an audience member, let alone a paying customer?

The Challenge of Getting Seen

When was the last time you bought a print or a book from a photographer you’d never heard of just because you saw their sponsored post on social media? If you haven’t, then why would you expect someone else to purchase your product when you promote it in a way that you haven’t personally responded to?

Some creators, instead of paying to have their work shown to people in the form of an advert, will “buy followers” which inflate the number shown on their profile, as well as view and like counts, sometimes even comments. But you can’t really pay someone to be your customer, for that you need advertising or an equivalent form of marketing. This undermines the accuracy of the assessment of actual popularity, which means potential clients or brands looking for a legitimate audience to harness are dissuaded from using follower counts and other numbers games for a real sense of legitimacy.

Despite all of the shortcomings, that underlying sense of potential remains for the digital space: if I’m not there, where will I be? If I don’t share my message where everyone else seems to be shouting, how will I get heard (even if no one is hearing what anyone else is saying anyway)?

What are the non-digital spaces that don’t cost money to access? What is the equivalent of a work re-sharing hub, boosting their own audience using that very audiences content? Who are the gatekeepers, and what are they gatekeeping if not just an audience you may not have reached yet?

Outside of the digital-but-not-social media options, like blogging or YouTube (which are increasingly populated by social-media-like tools), how does your physical real day-to-day existence differ from the way you behave on social media? How often do you speak to someone you’ve never met or seen before, make a new connection? How often do you involve yourself with your local community, in whatever form that may be? Would these interactions still be focused on photography? Are you showing them your photographs within moments of getting their attention?

Without the boundaries of a digital frame restricting you to one method of interaction, what new potential opens up to you? Without those digital tools would you even call yourself a photographer as an initial introductory label?

With these as a starting point, the real question becomes obvious. Is your goal only to have your work seen? Remembered? Purchased? Is social media really the best path to achieving any of these?

What’s the last image you’ve only seen on social media that you really remember?

What’s the last one you bought?

Image credits: Photographs by Simon King

By Simon King

About the author: Simon King is a London-based photographer and photojournalist, currently working on a number of long-term documentary and street photography projects. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. You can follow his work through his documentary collective, The New Exit Photography Group, and on Instagram.

Sourced from PetaPixel

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3 Ways Ecommerce Brands Can Use AI for Personalization

October 5, 2023 No Comments

By Shane O’Neill

How AI is revolutionizing ecommerce, from personalized ads to dynamic pricing and enhanced customer support.

The Gist

AI powerhouse. AI for personalization enhances individualized ecommerce experiences.
Tech advantage. Machine learning dynamically adapts prices, boosting consumer appeal.
Customer support. AI-enabled chatbots provide personalized, emotionally intelligent assistance.

Attention ecommerce brands: The days of blanketing consumers with vaguely relevant ads are over.

Seven out of 10 consumers now expect brands to personalize ads and product recommendations, and 76% get frustrated when this doesn’t happen, according to McKinsey research.

In response, nine out of 10 businesses, including Coca-Cola, Netflix and Sephora, are investing in the practice of using artificial intelligence (AI) for personalization to give consumers a one-to-one experience, or something close to it.

In a nutshell, personalization in ecommerce uses data to show customers products and deals tailored just for them. Instead of asking shoppers to sift through a list of products, personalization uses a customer’s purchase history and browsing behaviour with the brand to suggest the most likely item that person would buy.

To return the favour, 78% of consumers are likely to make repeat purchases from companies that personalize, according to the same McKinsey report mentioned above.

Yet personalization will only boost customer satisfaction, brand loyalty and sales if it’s executed precisely. And to do that requires culling insights from droves of customer data that humans simply cannot process and analyse manually.

And this is where artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP) come into play for ecommerce brands.

AI for Personalization in Ecommerce

Personalization in ecommerce is still possible without AI, but it relies on grouping customers into “personas” based on shared demographics or interests. While this is an adequate approach, today’s consumer can sniff out when they’re being marketed to as a persona rather than an individual.

AI-based personalization is much more specific, using advanced algorithms to scan volumes of customer data and deliver information to you based on your own specific behaviour.

“AI’s ability to process data in real-time and adapt on the fly to create personalized experiences is a key advantage for ecommerce brands,” said Kristin Smith, managing director and retail commerce lead at Deloitte Digital. “It also helps that AI isn’t prone to human mistakes and can work 24/7.”

With advanced personalization now expected by the majority of consumers, ecommerce brands have a variety of ways to utilize AI to deliver tailored shopping experiences. Here are three of them.

1. Product Recommendations for the Individual

One of the clearest examples of using AI for personalization are the tailored product recommendations we see in emails or when logging on to our favourite ecommerce brand’s web site.

Here, complex machine learning algorithms mine your previous purchases, cart adds, product reviews, and product interactions, and generate personalized product recommendations in real time.

This customer data becomes the basis for training an algorithm that continues to learn and improve on the accuracy of recommendations as it receives new data.

Example to Emulate: Netflix

Netflix is a recommendation trailblazer. The streaming giant’s recommendation engine, called NRE (Netflix Recommendation Engine), uses algorithms to analyse data from each member’s viewing history and generates hyper personalized movie and TV show recommendations.

2. Automated Dynamic Pricing

Constantly adjusting product prices is a necessary but time-consuming task. By incorporating machine learning into pricing, ecommerce brands can automatically adjust prices in real time based on their own manufacturing costs, competitor’s prices, market demand and seasonality.

AI-based dynamic pricing benefits consumers by:

Monitoring the competition and adjusting prices to ensure customers get a fair price.
Offering real-time personalized discounts based on a customer’s behavior. For instance, if a person continually shows interest in a product, a dynamic pricing algorithm could entice that person with a time-limited discount.

Example to Emulate: Amazon

Amazon is the king of AI-based dynamic pricing. The ecommerce giant uses machine learning to update the prices of millions of products several times every day. Its repricing algorithm factors in product demand, stock availability and customer behavior. This allows Amazon to consistently offer the most competitive prices.

3. Personalized Customer Support via AI-Powered Chatbots

Using NLP and sentiment analysis, today’s chatbots understand not just text but also the emotion behind customer support requests.

When you combine sentiment, access to customer data and speedy responses, it’s easy to see why chatbots are now a personalization tool. Today’s chatbots can greet customers by name, recommend products and discounts based on purchase and browsing data, and even help customers complete online purchases.

Example to Emulate: Sephora

Most ecommerce chatbots can handle rudimentary customer inquiries, but the more innovative chatbots also serve as shopping assistants.

Cosmetics retailer Sephora is a prime example. Sephora’s website chatbot answers questions about returns and exchanges. But it’s also a virtual assistant that asks customers questions about their skin tone and makeup preferences and then gives tailored recommendations.

The Big AI Personalization Challenge: Relevant Data

The benefits of using AI for personalization are clear, but the success of your strategy hinges on your data.

Kristin Smith of Deloitte recommends that ecommerce brands ask themselves the following questions regarding customer data:

What is the quality and source of the data your brand is trying to use?
Does the brand have permission to collect and use the data they have?
How actionable and granular is the data?

“Many organizations have customer data only at a high level,” Smith said. “But high-level, demographic data does not always translate to actionable insights for personalization.”

In addition to having the skilled staff in place to implement and maintain AI tools, the entire marketing and data team should always ensure that the data the AI algorithms are using is unbiased and specific enough to actually help the customer connect with your brand and buy from you consistently.

“There will be a rabbit hole of ideas for data points AI can collect for personalization,” said Derric Haynie, head of demand generation at Pipe17 and co-founder of Ecommerce Tech.

“Maybe you’re going to test new products based on previous purchase history. Or test personalized emails based on when customers last visited the site. There’s a lot to personalize, and the nature of personalization is recognizing each person has a different customer journey, and catering to it.”

Feature Image Credit: Blue Planet Studio

By Shane O’Neill

Shane O’Neill is an award-winning journalist and content marketer with more than 20 years of experience covering digital transformation, content marketing, social media marketing, artificial intelligence, and ecommerce. His work has been recognized nationally, earning an ASBPE Award for Blogging and a Min Editorial & Design Award for Best Online Article. Shane’s experience as both a B2B journalist at CIO.com and InformationWeek and as a content marketing director at tech startups gives him a unique insider/outsider perspective on tech innovation. Connect with Shane O’Neill: https://twitter.com/smoneill

Sourced from CMSWIRE

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How To Leverage An Omnichannel Marketing Strategy To Reach Your Audience Wherever They Are

October 4, 2023 No Comments

By John Hall

The data shows that omnichannel marketing strategies have power. When implemented successfully, they increase ad-driven store visits by 80%. With consumers relying more on their mobile devices and expecting tailored, seamless experiences from brands, failing to embrace omnichannel marketing seems like a wrong turn. Omnichannel strategies can boost sales, personalize the customer experience and increase retention rates.

Another positive is that using multiple channels to deliver individualized messages lets you reach audience members wherever they are. Whether they’re using their smartphone in your store, opening their inbox or browsing social media, your messages get seen. And ultimately, they bring your audience closer to making a purchase. But omnichannel marketing involves more than simply blasting your content onto every available platform. Here’s how to do it with thought and effectively increase your reach.

Amplify Your Content

Amplifying your content doesn’t mean simply making more of it. That strategy could backfire if you’re not talking about what’s relevant to your audience. Sometimes less is more when you can use what you already have in different ways.

Repurposing your content is something Casted, an amplified marketing platform that a company I advise works with, recommends for reaching customers more effectively. Think about the channels your ideal buyer uses and modify your content to fit each channel’s mould. Amplifying your content library can also include returning to topics you’ve talked about before. If something resonates strongly with your audience, they’re probably hungry for more. You just have to dig deeper, expand and adapt.

Say you have a high-performing blog post. It brings people to your website and pads your lead-gen results. But search engines aren’t the only place your audience hangs out. You can take the same post and turn it into a video on TikTok, a social snippet on Instagram or an infographic on LinkedIn. If there’s potential, you might turn the topic into a series by involving more than one subject matter expert.

The key is to extend your efforts beyond a single format or channel. That said, you’ll need to be strategic about it. Look at where your audience is, what formats they respond to best and what topics draw them in.

Walk In Your Target Consumer’s Shoes

Before someone buys something, they’ve likely seen multiple ads and pieces of content about it. They’ve also probably interacted with your brand in person and online through different channels. Marketing touchpoints are no longer limited to one or two. Today’s consumers are bombarded with online posts, emails and mobile app notifications on top of traditional ads.

The mobile channel alone drove 41.8% of retail e-commerce sales in 2022. While this figure is impressive, you’ve got to determine how channels like mobile apply to your audience members. Pretend you’re one of them, searching for information on the problem your product or service solves. What channels does your audience interact with, what touchpoints do they see and how effective are they?

Walking through your ideal shopper’s journey is one way to identify what touchpoints are missing from your strategy. Say you’re an online bank, such as SoFi, that offers loans, savings accounts and investment products. Perhaps your website analytics show visitors are spending more time exploring content about high-yield savings and investments. It may be the time to target these consumers with personalized touchpoints like emails.

Collecting visitors’ data through short surveys and email signup forms allows you to customize your messages, better matching their interests and behaviours. For instance, you could offer a higher interest rate if they open a savings account through your app. You could also extend a bonus for opening investment accounts with a minimum balance. Either way, you’re leveraging data to appeal to your audience’s preferences through their favourite channels.

Analyse Feedback to Optimize Performance

You won’t know what parts of your omnichannel marketing strategy are working if you don’t analyse the data. More importantly, you won’t know what you should tweak so they can work. Stats you’ll want to look at include conversion and retention rates. But customer satisfaction, general brand sentiment and customer lifetime value are additional data points to consider.

For example, a video with low conversion rates may present several opportunities. Maybe the format or length isn’t appropriate for your goal. Perhaps you want to educate your audience to convince them your brand offers the best solution. You might test the same content as a webinar and a how-to series. You can optimize your strategy to increase conversion rates by seeing which format performs better.

Likewise, you can look at your overall approach’s impact on customer lifetime value. What role do different touchpoints play in incremental sales if you’re a mass-market retailer like Target? Maybe app notifications about sales and gift card incentives are more effective than direct mail. They’re immediate, using past browsing and purchase history to deliver individualized savings. However, customer sentiments from surveys reveal that too many notifications turn shoppers off.

Combining your data sources, you might find two app notifications a week is the sweet spot. With this frequency, you can positively impact customer lifetime value and brand sentiment. You’ll be reaching your audience how—and how often—they prefer.

Achieving Omnichannel Marketing Reach

Omnichannel marketing strategies often have the same effect that multiple product displays in a store do. No matter where consumers turn, you’re constantly reminding them of your brand’s existence and the value it can offer. With well-thought-out and refined approaches, omnichannel marketing can help extend your reach to those ready, willing and able to buy.

Feature Image Credit: getty

By John Hall

John Hall is a top motivational speaker and the co-founder of Calendar, a scheduling and time management app. He’s also an adviser for the growth marketing agency Relevance, a company that helps brands differentiate themselves and lead their industry online.You can book him as a keynote speaker here.

Sourced from Forbes

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Why Are People Influenced by Ads?

October 4, 2023 No Comments

By Michael Laitman

We are influenced by ads because companies study what we would like and create ads that pinpoint our desires, whetting our appetites with the use of various deception and concealment techniques.

For instance, if we have an initial desire for an iPhone, then advertisers show us that it is exactly what we need and want, and that we should think about it and look into it.

They then feed us with advertisements that show successful men and beautiful women holding iPhones, triggering our desires for social acceptance and respect, and we then start feeling as if we want one too.

In other words, advertising influences us by psychologically manipulating us to not just want the advertised product, but to want the enhanced feelings and perceptions of ourselves that the advertising implants into us. In the case of the iPhone, we then not only want the iPhone, we want to view ourselves as successful, beautiful, lucky and well-dressed, and that we are among others who are also like that.

We are made of desires. Our individual desires that we all have, regardless of our participation in society, are those for food, sex and family. Beyond our individual desires, we have social desires that come from our participation with others: desires for money, respect, fame, control and knowledge. And beyond our social desires, we have a spiritual desire that makes us question the meaning and purpose of our lives.

We have the natural capability to fulfil ourselves at the levels of our individual and social desires without the need for advertising. Yet advertisers create certain forms and images of how to fulfil such desires for various segments of society. They research us and sell us products that we do not need.

If the products were essential, they would require no advertising. For instance, do we need to advertise bread to people enduring a famine?

There was no advertising where I grew up in the Soviet Union because there was nothing on the store shelves. Nobody was struggling to buy anything there at those times. However, at the same time, there was plenty of advertising in America because it was a place that hosted an overproduction of goods, and the goal of the ads was to make people buy.

In our times, however, the spiritual desire is surfacing in more and more people, demanding answers to life’s most fundamental existential questions: What is the meaning of life? Who are we? Where are we from? Where are we now? Where are we headed? What is reality? Also, why is there so much suffering in the world?

The answers to these questions cannot be packaged to us as products that we can buy on impulse, and which require advertisers to deceive us in order for us to want to buy them. Instead, these questions’ answers require educational wisdom and a method that can guide us with principles and advice on how to apply ourselves at the level of thought, desire and action, and in connection with other people, in order to advance us to a higher level of consciousness.

Therefore, as our needs shift to requiring deeper fulfilment of our spiritual desire, people’s demands also gradually move away from the levels that advertising acts on. Today, we increasingly need wisdom, a method, principles and advice in order to navigate ourselves in an era where the new spiritual desire will continue emerging in more and more people.

By Michael Laitman

Michael Laitman is a PhD in Philosophy and Kabbalah. MSc in Medical Bio-Cybernetics. Founder and president of Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Education & Research Institute. Author of over 40 books on spiritual, social and global transformation. His new book, The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism, is available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Jewish-Choice-Anti-Semitism-Historical-anti-Semitism/dp/1671872207/

Sourced from The Times of Israel

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After the year’s biggest PR storm, here’s what brands can learn from Bud Light

October 3, 2023 No Comments

By Andrew McLean

Chances are, your brand hasn’t had as difficult a year as Bud Light. After finding itself at the centre of a pointed culture war, here’s what Bulletproof’s strategy chief thinks the brand’s peers can learn.

One of the year’s most surprising developments has been seeing a beer (one described in a user review as “mildly flavoured water with a few bubbles”) thrown into the centre of culture wars and political turmoil.

Yes, this is a Bud Light piece.

Bud Light’s PR nightmare: an explainer and the industry responds

Around any major piece of PR, the question always comes up: “What’s going to be the damage/benefit to my brand?” Well, how long’s a piece of string?

Having had my fair share of ‘brand health at death’s door’ briefs over the years (not my fault, I assure you), I feel vaguely qualified to delve into this subject. Let’s figure out the extent of the problem and what Bud Light should do next.

WWED: what would Einstein do?

“If I had an hour to solve a problem I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions”. So goes the famously misattributed ‘Einstein quote’. Apocryphal yes, but the intention is right: we need to first understand the severity of the issue, before we get to solutions.

A lot has been written about the damage to Bud Light, with estimations of sales dropping by c.25% over certain weeks, and claims that it has lost its top spot in the US beer market to Modelo.

It’s worth thinking about the context the brand found itself in before the storm. VP of marketing Alissa Heinerscheid recently explained her mandate when joining the brand: “This brand is in decline. It’s been in decline for a really long time. And if we do not attract young drinkers to come and drink this brand, there will be no future for Bud Light.”

It’s true; Bud Light’s market share had gone from around 18 to 12% over the last decade. Although it was the market leader, its category position was in turmoil. But how was that translating to a proxy for future growth: brand consideration?

Brand consideration: lovers and haters

According to YouGov data, Brand consideration among Americans who are Bud Light regulars was close to flat over the last year, but began to decline (around 6%) at the start of 2023, aligned to sliding market share.

Surprisingly, there’s nothing in brand consideration to give the impression that Bud Light was mid-scandal; consideration rose in points over the last couple of months. It seems that there remains a loyal core.

The data for people who didn’t buy Bud Light anyway is only marginally worse. Given it’s the market leader (still) in America, there aren’t a lot of haters; the change since the start of the year is, in real terms, only about a 13% decline (from 1.33 to 1.13).

But “people who didn’t buy Bud Light anyway will consider Bud Light a tiny bit less” won’t sell too many newspapers or stoke the fires of a boycott. For any brand, there are ‘loyals’ and there will be people who simply dislike it. But most users are the moving masses: those who flit about the category, whose patronage rests on a whim. Remember: according to Byron Sharp’s How Brands Grow, c.50% of Coca-Cola customers buy just one or two cans a year.

The moving masses

Looking at Bud Light brand consideration for total US beer drinkers, overall, should elicit a ‘holy shit’. From a YouGov consideration figure of 25% at the start of the year to, now, around 15%: a decline of around 40%.

Brand consideration has nearly halved in a couple of months.

The brand is suffering the consequences with buyers who may not necessarily share the views of the boycotters but who most definitely overhear the vitriol, and are being put off.

How brands grow (back)

The people who pick up a couple of cans every now and again are the ones who decide brand growth because they (not your loyalists or haters) represent the majority. Therein lies the importance of branding: having a concrete answer to what you stand for that extends beyond your loyalists and doesn’t consider your haters.

So the next time you’re thinking of unintentionally inserting your brand into a political fracturing without a strategy to dictate your response: don’t do it.

…Or at least, if you’re going to do it, do it with a plan. Don’t try to placate; don’t try and ‘mehhh’ your way out. Don’t spare a thought about the haters or boycotters, they were nothing to your brand anyway; batten down those hatches, weather the storm, hide the fine china and communicate at scale to those moving masses. Hold your ground and tackle the big problem, like the monumental market share decline you’ve had over the last decade. You were heading for a brand catastrophe eventually, but one just found you.

Feature Image Credit: Brian Yurasits via Unsplash

By Andrew McLean

Sourced from The Drum

In News

7 Proven Website Traffic Monetization Strategies You Need To Try

October 3, 2023 No Comments

By Jennifer Leach

We’re talking traffic monetization. Are you running a website and wondering about monetizing traffic? How does it work? Is your website’s traffic able to be monetized? What are the options?

We’re answering all those questions and more in this article.

Discover what traffic monetization is, income potential, requirements, and more.

Learn how advertising campaigns work
Read about how creating valuable content can pay off in dividends
Discover the power and income potential behind paid content, and much more!

Let’s get to it!

How Do Websites Make Money From Traffic?

Websites make money from traffic in a number of ways, from sponsored partnerships to display ads and other ways. Website owners with even minimal amounts of traffic can make a sizable income. This is how website owners can be rewarded for their valuable content and traffic.

This food blogger makes six figures from her website, monetizing it from sources like ad networks and partnerships. Kate Doubler earns $40,000/month from her health website.

In this article, we’re covering 7 proven ways to convert your website traffic to income:

Ad network
Affiliate marketing
Sponsored partnerships
Selling products
Selling services
Lead generation
Memberships

Let’s start!

7 Proven Traffic Monetization Strategies to Try

From selling ad space to doing sponsored posts, we’re going to cover 7 monetization methods to use to generate revenue for your site.

1. Ad Network

The ad network is a middleman between you, the publisher, and the advertiser. Advertisers pay ad networks to show their company to a larger audience. Publishers work with ad networks to monetize their traffic.

After meeting the requirements to join the ad network, display advertising will be placed on your website you will make money passively.

Jon Dykstra earns $100K/month from his websites, in part from display advertising and working with the ad network, Mediavine
$13,000/month from this website, with about half coming from display ads.

What Ad Networks Monetize Websites?

There are many ad networks for bloggers you can work with:

Google Adsense
Ezoic
Mediavine
Adthrive (now Raptive)

Want to learn more about ad networks? Here are 13 of the best ad networks for bloggers to enjoy passive income.

How to Join Ad Networks

Each ad network may have requirements for publishers to join. This can include traffic volume, website quality, content guidelines, and more.

First, identify an ad network you want to join.

Next, apply to join the ad network. Your website will be reviewed by the ad network. This can be instant or manually reviewed. Once your website is approved, you’ll be able to have ads placed on your site.

With some networks, like Google Adsense, you can choose an ad format and create and place the display ads where you want:

Sidebar
In content
Native ads

Other networks, like Mediavine, will manage the ad creation/placement process for you, making the process mostly hands-off.

After ads are placed on the site, you just want to continue to comply with the network’s policies and continue creating great, high-quality content.

Pros and Cons of Advertising Networks

What’s good, and what should you watch out for with advertising networks?

Pros

Passive income
Easy to set up

Cons

Stringent requirements to join
Too many ads can be off-putting to your audience

With no traffic requirements, Ezoic is an easy choice for bloggers looking to make money from their sites from the start. It’s trusted by 10,000+ publishers, so why not join them?

2. Affiliate Marketing

traffic monetization using affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing works when publishers join affiliate programs and refer products to their audience. When web visitors click the affiliate link and take action (like making a purchase), the affiliate (the publisher) earns a commission.

To give you an idea of the income potential and how much affiliate marketers make, here’s what some successful affiliates (and website owners) are making:

$60k/month from multiple websites
Shelley Marmor grew her affiliate income to $52,000/year

How Can Websites Use Affiliate Marketing For Traffic Monetization?

First, join an affiliate program. Identify products that would be beneficial for your audience. Join affiliate programs for those products and then refer the products to your audience using affiliate links.

You can also join an affiliate network which is a collection of affiliate programs in various niches.

Examples of affiliate networks include:

Shareasale
Maxbounty
Impact Radius

Take a look at our pick of the best affiliate programs.

How to Start With Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing has a low barrier to entry. Publishers of virtually any size can usually join most affiliate programs, whether you receive 1,000 visits or 100,000 visits a month.

If you’re looking to turn on traffic monetization for your website right now, affiliate marketing is the best way to start making money fast with your traffic.

Note: Some affiliate programs do have traffic requirements and other criteria.

Pros and Cons of Affiliate Marketing

Pros

Beginner-friendly way to make money with your website
Easy to start
Good for publishers at all levels
Lucrative

Cons

Earnings can be heavily driven by traffic levels

Check out the Affiliate Lab training course by Matt Diggity to learn all about affiliate marketing and ways to maximize your earnings potential using this method.

3. Sponsored Partnerships

Monetize your traffic with sponsored partnerships when you collaborate with a brand that pays you to share them with your audience.

For example, if you’re a food blog, a tomato sauce company might pay you to make a recipe with their sauce, sharing it with your audience in a blog post.

Sponsored partnerships can be very lucrative.

Top publishers earn up to $50,000 to $100,000+ per month from sponsorships alone!

How to Start With Sponsored Partnerships

Like with affiliate marketing, sponsored partnerships can work for web publishers of various sizes. There usually aren’t any hard and fast requirements as exist with ad networks.

There are three ways to find sponsored partnerships:

Join sponsored post networks
Reach out to companies
Have companies contact you

First, you can join sponsored post networks. These companies are intermediaries between publishers and advertisers. They connect the two together to work in a sponsored partnership.

Examples include Aspire, Izea, and TapInfluence.

Next, you can be proactive and contact companies. Find companies you want to partner with and email them. This is your opportunity to cold pitch your idea. You may or may not get a partnership here, but the more companies you pitch, the more potential opportunities are available.

Lastly, companies can contact you. For this to work, you want to make sure you have your contact information prominently displayed on your website, social media, and other places your business is published online so it’s easy for advertisers to reach out to you.

Pros and Cons of Sponsored Partnerships

Pros

Lucrative
A fun, creative way to work with your favourite companies

Cons

Unstable income

Check out our article on how to get sponsors for your blog to learn more.

4. Selling Products

Using your website as a place to advertise, share, and sell products is an excellent way to monetize your traffic.

How does selling products on your website work?

How to Start With Selling Products

First, decide what you’ll be selling. Physical products, digital products, services? Next, consider testing the market to make sure market demand exists for what you’ll be selling. It’d be awful to put all your hard work and effort to testing and developing a product to sell when there’s no market for it.

After confirming market demand, it’s time to source your product. This could be ordering wholesale, handmaking goods, or preparing digital assets.

Next, choose a selling platform. Here are some options:

Connect Woocommerce to your website
Set up a Shopify store
Sell on Etsy
Go with Gumroad, Sendowl, or a similar platform.

Pros and Cons of Selling Products

Pros

Passive income opportunity (for digital products)
Lucrative
Easy for publishers of all sizes to do

Cons

Customer service
Support

I like that selling products has a low barrier to entry. Publishers of all sizes can do this. It’s a way to earn passive income if you’re selling digital products. It can be very lucrative as well.

With all product-based businesses, though, you’ll need customer service and support to deal with customers. That’ll likely be you, which can be painful for some website owners that would prefer this process be hands-off to them. But you can always hire someone to do this for you!

5. Selling Services

Consulting
Coaching
Bookkeeping
Website audits
Web design

Selling services can be extremely lucrative:

Marcus Clarke earns up to $100K/month selling services!

How to Start With Selling Services

The process for selling services is very similar to selling products.

You’ll decide what to sell, identify a need, test the market, and set up your store or webpage for selling services and collecting payment.

Pros and Cons of Selling Services

This is virtually the same as for products.

Pros

Lucrative
Beginner-friendly

Cons

No unlimited income potential usually
Time-intensive

6. Lead Generation

lead generation for traffic monetization

Lead generation is one of the top traffic monetization strategies of marketers worldwide. Did you know that 50% of marketers consider lead generation a top marketing priority? Podcasts, blog posts, and videos are the top content types that generate awareness and demand.

Website owners attract potential leads for the purpose of converting them into paying customers. As a traffic monetization strategy, publishers can sell those leads to companies and make money.

An example of how this might work would be a finance blogger giving away a free budgeting worksheet in exchange for a web visitor’s email address. Then later, selling those leads to a lead aggregator or company.

Lead generation can make millions!

Shane Dutka makes millions from lead generation and affiliate marketing!

You’ll create content to solve your audience’s problem. Then, generate a lead capture form for them to “learn more.” When you capture the email address, you can sell it to companies for a flat fee or commission.

It’s a widely used traffic monetization practice that websites use to make money.

So, using your website is a great option for generating leads for the purpose of traffic monetization.

How to Start With Lead Generation

Here’s a step-by-step outline of how the lead generation process works:

Identify your target audience: Figure out what audience you’re targeting and identify key problems they have that you’ll market to for the purpose of capturing them as a lead. For example, homeowners that need their lawn cut by a lawnmowing service.
Attract potential leads: Create content that aims to solve your audience’s problem. This could be a blog post to help homeowners know what to look for in a lawnmowing service company and what questions to ask them.
Make an offer and use a CTA (call-to-action): Post a CTA form for the reader to learn more. This can be a simple form where the reader shares their email address.
Capture the lead: They will submit their email address in exchange for learning more about getting their lawn cut by a lawnmowing service.
Sell your lead list to clients: After capturing the lead’s email address, you sell it to your client, the lawnmowing service company.

This is how lead generation works, in a nutshell. Lawnmowing is one example of a problem your audience might have. It’ll differ of course, based on your niche.

Pros and Cons of Lead Generation

Pros

An opportunity to relationship-build
Increased sales opportunities
Cost-effective

Cons

Time-intensive
Resource-intensive
Competition

7. Membership Groups

A group is a place where you’ll share content first hand with your audience. They’ll get to mix and mingle with like-minded peers, learn from you, learn from others, ask questions, and be part of a niche community.

Sarah Chant makes $10,000/month from her travel blogs and Facebook group!

How to Start With Membership Groups

I joined a business Facebook group of over 100,000 entrepreneurs. The group creator charged a $99/month fee to advertise to that group, and it really seemed like it was paying off for members.

Imagine spending 100 bucks a month to advertise to 100K targeted people in your niche. It was a steal and an incredibly effective way to promote products!

Pros and Cons of Membership Groups

Pros

Easy to start
Recurring-revenue opportunity
Community-building opportunity

Cons

Lack of engagement is possible
Resource-intensive

Is Your Website Traffic Ready to be Monetized?

The big question is, are you ready to have your traffic monetized? The answer is probably yes. If you’re thinking about monetizing your traffic, you’re probably ready, but just in case, check out our post on optimizing your blog for monetization.

Regardless of where you’re at in your website journey, there are at least 2 or 3 different ways you can make money from your site.

Beginner publishers can take advantage of affiliate marketing or lead generation. Seasoned sites with moderate amounts of traffic can join high-traffic ad networks like Mediavine or Adthrive. There’s really something for everyone.

By Jennifer Leach

Sourced from Niche Pursuits

In News

How to Balance Ecommerce and Brick-and-Mortar Shopping Expectations Through Relationship Marketing

October 2, 2023 No Comments

By Michelena Howl

Here’s how relationship marketing is critical to balancing ecommerce and brick-and-mortar shopping expectations.

When ecommerce activity skyrocketed during the pandemic, many were quick to call it the death of brick-and-mortar retail. But now that the 20%+ growth rates in ecommerce have fallen into single digits, many others are saying it was all just a fad.

The problem with both accounts is that they pit the ecommerce vs. brick-and-mortar as competing formats rather than recognizing their co-existence as concurrent, even complementary, channels.

It’s not about the channel. It’s about the customer.

As more paths to purchase emerge, the customer journey from awareness to sale becomes more complex. Retailers don’t need to pick a winning channel. They need to pick a winning strategy.

Customers don’t want to be forced to choose one over the other. They want more options and less friction. So retailers need a strategy that helps customers shop, buy and receive goods however and whenever they want.

The rise (and plateau?) of ecommerce

When ecommerce first entered the scene, it enjoyed double-digit growth rates for years. It reached a particularly noticeable spike during the pandemic. As pandemic restrictions eased, customers rushed back to stores, and ecommerce growth rates fell back to the levels expected by a more mature industry.

The pandemic disruption of 2020 has now settled to more stable levels, with both ecommerce and retail growth rates forecasted to maintain single-digit levels for the foreseeable future. It’s not a zero-sum game. One is not eating into the other.

Retail’s staying power

While many retail stores did shutter both before and during the pandemic. Data from Coresight Research shows that U.S. store closures between September 2021 to 2022 fell 55%. Despite the growth in ecommerce over the past few years, only 20-25% of sales occur online. That means 75% to 80% of sales still take place in a physical store.

The outlook is that while the rate of growth for ecommerce is slowing, it will continue to grow faster than physical. Meanwhile, physical sales will still grow, but at a slower rate than ecommerce.

Clearly physical retail is holding its own just fine. But the role of the brick-and-mortar store is evolving. Retailers are adapting in different ways. Some have converted stores to ecommerce fulfilment centres. Others are opting for showroom-style stores that display physical products, paired with ecommerce sales and delivery. Others are just opening smaller stores. There’s a lot happening.

What consumers want

In our Consumer Trends Index – Retail Forecast, published earlier this year, we found that 51% of consumers are doing more research before buying, and 47% are waiting for items to go on sale. Also, 50% are “showrooming” or browsing in-store before buying online or elsewhere. Over half (52%) made a purchase directly as a result of an email (up 4% on last year), while 55% used their mobiles to research potential purchases.

For these reasons, marketers must do everything they can to be more personally and contextually relevant to a consumer whose behaviour has become quite unpredictable. That means understanding the role of the store in the buyer journey and rethinking the role of messaging, digital media, loyalty, rewards and more in driving traffic as part of an omnichannel customer experience.

Three things marketers can do right now to make that happen are:

Build relationships: The first step is building relationships that matter, from knowing who and what to send, to using multi-variant testing, automation and journeys to get noticed.
Strengthen relationships: Getting noticed is just the first step. Follow with strengthening and deepening the relationships developed, offering multiple channels for sending and actionable data to improve and refine the content that adds value.
Invest in relationships: Finally, keeping customers means investing in them, through preference and zero-party data that continues to deliver personalized content, as well as offers like coupons and rewards that build brand loyalty.

We live in a fluid world. Things change, formats shift, and technology evolves. Trying to predict or control how consumers respond to these changes is a risky way to respond. Far safer, and more productive, is to focus on the things you can control, which is how you collect, store and use customer data.

Some consumers will go all-in on ecommerce. Others will want a traditional retail experience. Still, others will want a mix of both. It’s not on you to choose the one “right” way for all. Instead, simply ask your customers (through constant interaction) what camp they fall into. Then you can communicate the right offers and experiences that align with the format they prefer.

And when those preferences change, which they often do, you’ll be armed with the information necessary to react appropriately. Ecommerce vs. brick-and-mortar isn’t about predictions or picking winners. It’s about data and relationships and removing friction between what customers want and what you can provide.

By Michelena Howl

COO of Marigold

Sourced from Entrepreneur

In News

‘It shouldn’t be a jarring experience’: how to effectively engage audiences across digital channels

October 2, 2023 No Comments

By Laura Blackwell

In a webinar with The Drum, two media moguls unpack the mounting complexities of evolving platforms and break down the challenges of omnichannel marketing to help marketers embrace the eclectic media landscape.

With more platforms and adtech becoming available to marketers, brands are more connected to their target audiences than ever. But while it’s a goldrush of sorts, it is also a minefield.

Everyone talks about omnichannel marketing, but does everyone understand it? In its simplest terms, omnichannel marketing encompasses a brand or company’s presence across multiple channels – from websites to apps, social media to email, and offline channels including retail stories and events.

The good news is that a proliferation of content equals more media opportunity for marketers. But in the present media landscape, there are complexities in its orbit. In a webinar for The Drum, industry experts sought to break down the challenges. Here are some of the key takeaways:

Be subtle

When audiences engage with a brand across multiple channels, it’s vital that their content consumption isn’t a jarring experience. Marketing across platforms must be discreet, says Christa Carone, president at connected media buying platform Infillion.

“I don’t think the audience should notice the magic that is happening within the marketer’s toolkit,” she says. “We should be smart enough to present the creative that is relevant for the platform that the consumer is engaging with. I know what I expect to see on TikTok because I’m already in that content experience, and the point is that audiences shouldn’t know.”

To streamline ads amid the rapidly changing industry, there’s a hunger to test and learn that is needed – Carone calls it “intellectual curiosity”. By testing different variables alongside being vigilant of new technology, you can continue to optimize what’s working, and be more efficient yet discreet in your marketing efforts.

Adopt a holistic view

A multichannel media strategy requires both generalist and specialist points of view; you need those who innately understand omnichannel marketing just as much as you need those who are immersed in the individual channels. This is the stance of Carl Fremont, chief executive officer at brand-led, performance-driven agency Quigley Simpson.

“Ideally, a generalist can still speak to individual channels like search and social influencer marketing,” he says. “But they have a broader view to put this all together.”

Silos won’t work; marketers must look at the entirety of the customer experience (CX) — across multiple channels, which is all the more reason to embrace integration. The new wave of technology is game-changing, allowing marketers to be more accurate and more in touch than ever with their targeting but, as Carone states, “the abundance of opportunity has also created some chaos”.

In Fremont’s view, to better understand the media landscape as it is today, “everyone from the brand side should spend some time on the technology or media publishing side to get a broad purview”.

KPIs first, vision second

In addition to generalists and specialists, Fremont also emphasizes the need for analysts: “I think too often, we just get right into the tactics without spending enough time on the strategy. That’s what we do at Quigley Simpson – and that’s what I would advocate for everybody to do: spend more time on the upfront strategy, on developing the KPIs and understanding how they’re going to be measured.”

Understanding from the beginning, the KPIs of what is going to be evaluated as success – whether sales, brand health, or a combination of the two – needs to be established first-off for the best chance of long-term campaign success. “Thankfully, we’re in a period of time where we can see instantaneous results and performance and be able to take that information and learn and then optimize campaigns going forward,” Fremont adds.

Food for thought

When it comes to the future of the modern media ecosystem, marketers should keep an open mind. The multitude of opportunities and platforms presents untapped potential for brands and marketers, but, as Carone puts it, “it can be a mess”.

We’re reminded that the media through which we consume content is as fickle as the consumers themselves: “Media and marketing professionals need to be really agile. We need to be tolerant and we need to be risk-takers,” says Carone. It comes back down to intellectual curiosity and, while it is indeed a mess, it’s the responsibility of marketers to make the media minefield more cohesive.

For more advice on how marketers can effectively engage audiences across multiple digital channels, tune in to watch the full webinar on-demand here.

Feature Image Credit: Adobe Stock

By Laura Blackwell

Sourced from The Drum