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The 8 Most Popular Types of Digital Marketing

July 21, 2021 No Comments

Traditionally, brands advertised in the mediums of the day, namely print (newspapers and magazines), television and radio. While those mediums are still used today, the digital marketplace has opened up a multitude of new digital marketing opportunities, including:

Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Social Media Marketing
Content Marketing
Email Marketing
Influencer Marketing
Mobile Marketing
Viral Marketing

In this article we are going to take a close look at the 8 most popular digital marketing mediums, and tell you how they can be used to your advantage.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC)

Pay-per-click (PPC) is a digital advertising model that is used to drive traffic to websites. An advertiser typically pays a search engine (Google Ads, Amazon Advertising, or Microsoft Advertising) when the ad is clicked. You have likely seen PPC in action when you search for something on Google.

In the image above you can see the first two results of a search for “CRM platform” are ads. In fact, the first four results are PPC ads.

Brands bid on a chosen keyword or search phrase, which then puts the ad into one of four ad spaces offered by Google, for example. The cost per click (CPC) is based on the quality score of the site and the competition of the chosen keyword. Brands typically use the tools provided by Google Ads to determine their keywords and the CPC.

Nate Tsang, founder and CEO at WallStreetZen, a stock market analysis service provider, said that pay-per-click marketing can be a very powerful digital marketing strategy when it is done by those who truly understand the practice. “You should only do this strategy if you are familiar with it or hire someone who is an expert in this field. Doing it on your own without the proper knowledge can be a waste of money,” said Tsang. “I have seen many brands waste thousands on pay-per-click campaigns because they are leading them to the wrong webpage or not being specific on what the visitor must do on the page. A successful PPC campaign must have a great and straightforward landing page so you can convert your visitors and not waste your budget.”

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the art, as it were, of optimizing a website so that when a potential customer searches via Google, or to a lesser degree, Bing or other search engines, the web page will show up at the top of the search engine results pages (SERP). If a brand sells monitor speakers for recording artists, and they have a local store in Cleveland, Ohio, then SEO could be used to bring the website up in the listings by using appropriate keywords throughout the website, in the titles of the pages, in the meta keyword and description tags, and in the various headers throughout the page or site.

This is not to say that the site or page should be keyword spammed, that is, stuffed with keywords without relevant content. Content is still king, and long gone are the days when black hat SEO tactics can be effectively used. Tactics today should include backlinks to the site from all of the brand’s social media presences, and web pages should include relevant content. Content can be created about the topic, as in our example, a page that discusses the various types of monitor speakers and their use, with links to the various monitor speakers the brand sells scattered throughout the page (this is Content Marketing, which we will also discuss). Keyword and Description meta tags are still used, but content relevance is more important today. Also, especially for localized businesses, having a Google business page, which puts a brand on Google Maps, as well as a Yelp business page, will help to pull a brand up to the top of the listings.

Below the PPC ads are the organic (non-paid) results, which also include the “People also ask” section, which features pages in which a specific question is answered by the content of the page (search engine gold — this tactic is heavily used by SEO marketers).

A screenshot of the people always ask section of Google Search — PHOTO: CMSWire

Often, SEO is done through a third-party company that specializes in SEO, rather than an in-house SEO team or the marketing department. SEO used to be fairly simple, but continual changes in Google’s algorithms have made it more of a precise practice that involves specialization.

Ian Sells is founder and CEO of RebateKey, an online rebate provider, and like many marketers we spoke with, SEO is at the top of his list, because if customers cannot find your website, no business can occur. With so many websites out there on every possible topic, it’s challenging to get on top of the search engine results pages. “Being on top of SERPs, that is, being on page one, gives you a lot more traffic since your site gets seen by more eyes. The advantage of this is, while it takes a lot more effort initially, once your site gains the momentum, you don’t have to spend so much on it, unlike in ads where you have to continuously spend,” explained Sells.

Social Media Marketing

As one would imagine, social media marketing is when brands use their social presences, such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Twitter, among others, to target their customers. This is accomplished through targeted marketing ad campaigns, “like” campaigns, and posts offering special offers and discounts. Detailed demographic information about gender, ages, locations, times on the site, and more can be used to target specific demographics and groups of people.

“This is actually very powerful since a lot of people are on social media. We’re actually revamping our Instagram strategies as well as our Facebook strategies because we’re seeing the potential of the traffic they bring to our site,” said Sells. “The disadvantage of social media marketing is, sometimes, the engagement stays there. That’s totally useless, if your conversions happen on your site. So you have to make the effort to bring the traffic from your social media handles to your site.”

Content Marketing

We briefly discussed content marketing in the SEO section of this article, when we spoke about creating pages that do not directly sell products or services, but provide information and details about specific subjects that are related to the products or services a brand sells. By providing relevant content that appeals to a brand’s target audience, brands can attract customers to their website, and this content also helps improve SEO for the website.

“Content marketing is broad. In our case, we use several kinds of videos on YouTube, primarily informative ones,” said Sells. “These are helpful to increase awareness about your brand and help people who are interested to get to know your brand, product, or service even more. Sometimes, just a little explanation is enough to convince people to try your service.”

Brad Touesnard, founder and CEO of SpinupWP, a cloud-based server control panel designed for WordPress and he can attest that the right content can be a gamechanger. “We are in the server industry and our most popular blog post compares five of the top server providers. Our experts ran tests on each provider and we shared our results in our blog post. The blog post generated a lot of interest from industry professionals who were eager to see our data,” Touesnard said. “Currently this blog post generates 23.4% of the total search engine traffic to our site and ranks on the first place of Google’s search results for its primary keyword.”

Email Marketing

While many marketers might believe that email is a dying marketing channel, the opposite is true — email marketing is still one of the most effective channels a brand can use. This really shouldn’t be surprising, given the number of email users worldwide. According to a report from Statista, in 2020, approximately 306 billion emails were sent and received each day, with 3.9 billion people using email every day. That’s half the global population! Marketers should take note that according to the DMA Marketer Email Tracker, for every dollar that’s spent on email marketing, the average expected ROI is $42.

Unlike other marketing channels, marketing emails are only sent to those customers who have given permission for the brand to do so — which means they are actually interested in what brands are offering, unlike ads on social media where they do not have a choice but to see ads.

Typically, marketers use email marketing software which allows them to automate the process, send personalized emails, and often includes performance optimization and analytics functionality. By tracking key performance metrics, brands are able to determine which email marketing campaigns are effective, and which ones are not.

Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is still relatively new, and relies on people who have gained a following on social media either for being entertaining, informative, or being an expert in their field. Influencers typically promote themselves through blogs, videos, and social media posts. Brands look for influencers that are connected to their customers in some way. Perhaps the influencer has a cooking show on YouTube, such as Sam the Cooking Guy. Not only does he sell his own line of cooking utensils and books, but he is sponsored by Catalina Offshore Products and Lars Remodeling and Design. In the case of Sam the Cooking Guy, these two brands recognized that Sam, who has 2.93 million YouTube subscribers, reaches many people who are likely to be interested in their products or services.

“Majority of the videos we have on YouTube by other people are not sponsored. A lot of sellers and buyers really enjoy our products. And to be honest, this is really more powerful than paid ones. People trust other people’s reviews. Videos from influencers or at least people with a following are also helpful. If influencers say your product or service is cool, people who are following them are more likely to try your product primarily because the influencer said so,” explained Sells.

Dave Herman, president of EZ Surety Bonds, told CMSWire that thanks to the constantly changing digital landscape, there are many different types of digital marketing to take advantage of, but not all of them are appropriate or effective for every business. “Influencer marketing is becoming increasingly popular these days as more and more people gain fame and recognition on social media platforms. This is why a lot of businesses are taking advantage of it. While it really helped many brands grow, not every business can get the growth they need from this type of marketing. It is also not as easy as most people think it is. You need to research the right influencer that will represent your brand and ensure that they get the engagement you need to market your products or services.”

Mobile Marketing

It makes sense for marketers to focus on mobile marketing, given the vast number of mobile users. A report on mobile usage from Statista indicated that in the third quarter of 2020, mobile devices accounted for 50.81% of global website traffic. With those kinds of statistics, it’s pretty obvious that mobile marketing can be used to reach millions of customers.

Seth Lytton is chief operating officer at The Detroit Bureau, an automotive industry news publication, thinks mobile is a big opportunity for marketers. “Millions use their phones every hour. Mobile marketing gives you access to millions at once, and many customers have their phones with them at multiple times during the day. You can accurately determine your audience with mobile marketing,” said Lytton.

That said, as Lytton explained, brands must be careful not to overuse mobile marketing, at the risk of losing their customers completely. “On the other hand, many find ads annoying on their phones,” said Lytton. “Some people go out of their way to avoid some advertisements by using ad blockers, and more still get so annoyed with advertisements that they may blacklist the company entirely.”

Viral Marketing

Viral marketing typically relies on social media networks, but unlike social media marketing, the marketing is done by customers themselves, as they spread information on various social media networks about a product, service, or brand with other people. Marketing is thought to be “viral” when it reaches the point where it’s being shared by the general public, not just the brand’s target audience.

An example of viral marketing is memes, which may include funny text written above an image. Crazy Nate created a meme that features the character Nemo swimming in the ocean, next to a box of McDonald’s fries, with the words “Watching Finding Nemo; Why I Want McDonalds” superimposed on the image. McDonalds obviously had no part in the creation of this meme, but one can be fairly certain that they definitely do not mind that it went viral.

Brands such as Wendy’s, Dennies, and McDonalds will often create funny, light-hearted videos, Tweets, or memes themselves, and post them on social media such as Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and other sites. They will then be shared by people who found them to be humorous, and those they shared them with will also share them with others, causing the video or meme to go viral. Here is an example of a Tweet from Wendy’s roasting McDonalds:

Keep in mind that viral marketing is never a certainty — one cannot force something to go viral. Either it goes viral, or it doesn’t. Whatever the case, social listening should be used to monitor mentions of the brand on social media.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, there are many digital marketing strategies that are available to market a brand. Brands are able to take advantage of their social media presences, and use influencers to spread their message, or they can use the more traditional email marketing and content marketing techniques. PPC and SEO are still extremely useful marketing strategies, and mobile marketing has never played as large a role as it does today. Using a combination of these strategies, digital marketers are able to promote a brand’s products and services, and turn leads into customers.

Feature Image Credit: Adobe

By Scott Clark,

Sourced from CMS WiRE

In News

Top 5 Benefits of Influencer Marketing for B2B Brands

June 25, 2021 No Comments

By Lee Odden

Despite that 96% of marketers engaging influencers for marketing deem their programs successful, there are still a very large number of B2B companies evaluating where influencer engagement fits in their marketing mix.

After spending the last 8 plus years working on developing influencer marketing strategies, creating pilot projects, implementing campaigns and running ongoing influencer programs for brands that range from 3M to Dell to LinkedIn, here are some of the top benefits B2B companies of all sizes are realizing through their influencer marketing efforts.

Before I get to the list, I think it’s important to mention that benefits realized are directly connected to goals imagined. That may seem obvious but the application of influence to marketing is viewed in many different ways and therefore, the outcomes can be just as different.

For example, a pilot is often meant to be a proof of concept and sparks connections with influencers.

An integrated influencer content marketing campaign that runs over several months and across channels produces a lot of useful content and helps identify which influencers are effective.

An Always-On approach over time develops a rich source of content and relationships with influencers which can accelerate the quality and promotion of the content by influencers as well as organic advocacy.

So the benefits B2B brands can realize from incorporating influence into their marketing mix really depends on the approach. Here’s a list of 5 of the most common and impactful benefits of working with external and internal influencers at B2B companies:

1. Influencers add credibility and authenticity to brand content

Properly identifying the topics that matter to customers that the brand needs to be more influential about leads to finding people who already have the desired influence. Collaborating with experts that are respected authorities on the topics of influence produces content, communications and often advocacy that is believable, is empathetic to the concerns and goals of real customers and is trusted by the audience the brand is trying to reach.

2. Influencers partnered with executives build brand thought leadership

Connecting external influencers with internal executives to collaborate on content, video conversations, virtual events and similar exchanges of ideas can validate key leadership messages of the brand. Whether it’s running a webinar discussing the findings of the brand’s most recent research or whitepaper to conducting a series of livestream video or podcast interviews between key executives and external influencers, connecting trusted industry voices with brand messaging can drive credibility, differentiation and leadership.

3. Influencers can co-create better content experiences for customers

According to research in the State of B2B Influencer Marketing Report, 74% of B2B marketers believe that collaborating on content with influencers helps improve the experience for prospects and customers.

An increasing number of professional influencers in the B2B world bring both expertise as well as media creation savvy. That means the ability to produce video content, podcast content or graphical and text content that is in tune with customer expectations for more experiential content that the brand might not have the resources to produce.

Alternatively, even if the B2B brand has the resources to create great video, audio, graphical and text content, adding influencer contributions “optimizes” for credibility and authenticity, which is a better experience than brand content simply pontificating its importance.

4. Influencers accelerate content production, promotion and impact

When effectively designed and planned, an influencer engagement effort can create a community of influence that the brand can tap for a variety of content creation efforts. Imagine having a group of 10, 25 or as in the case of LinkedIn or Adobe, 60-75 industry experts on-tap to engage on content projects?

Developing a community of influencers means creating genuine relationships between the brand and influencers based on mutual benefit and shared values. Not only does an engaged community of influencers help create content, but they are invested in the success of content distribution and impact because it benefits their own interests and that of their audience.

The reputation influencers develop on the topics of influence means trust when it matters most – making decisions about which B2B solutions to consider, evaluate and purchase.

5. Influencer collaborations can help optimize brand content for search

There is a compelling connection between the topics and keywords that people search on when looking for solutions and the topics around which industry experts are influential.

Optimizing content with keywords is at the core of improving the findability of brand content on search engines. Including influencers on those same topics in the content is a way of optimizing for credibility. What good is being found in search if people don’t trust what they find?

Going a bit deeper into the influence and SEO connection, marketers could consider whether the influencers they are working with are recognized as entities within Google search results. When those same influencers contribute to content published by the brand, their identity imparts credibility and relevance for search.

Another consideration is to evaluate the SEO effectiveness of where influencers publish – their own blog, contributed articles or columns with industry publications and elsewhere online. What is the Domain Authority of where the influencer publishes and do the links they include in their content carry weight? Does the influencer’s content “rank” on search engines for the topics the brand wants to be more influential about? Is the influencer creating the kind of content that ranks? Video, audio, images, text, scholarly articles, books, etc.

The SEO value of working with an influencer is not universally true across topics, but with some due diligence and research, some very valuable opportunities could be uncovered and relationships built to help brand content become findable and credible at the very moment customers are looking.

Of course this is not a comprehensive list of benefits for B2B brand to work with influencers, but it is a compelling list. While many B2B marketers may skim the surface of what’s possible from working with influencers, those who can look a little deeper can find tremendous upside and value that not only accelerates the impact and effectiveness of marketing for short term campaigns, but for longer term brand and thought leadership perception in the industry.

By Lee Odden

Sourced from TopRank Marketing

In News

9 Digital Marketing Trends for 2021 You Need to Implement Immediately

June 24, 2021 No Comments

Sourced from Every Day She’s Sparkling.

Trying to figure out how to master your digital marketing strategy this year?

Although digital marketing isn’t the only way to promote your business, it is one of the best.

For that very reason, today, we’re looking at 9 digital marketing trends you need to check out to grow your business online.

We’ll also talk about ways you can begin immediately implementing them into your marketing strategy.

What is digital marketing?

Digital marketing is online, internet marketing that is done through digital technology (a.k.a, the internet).

If you have social media accounts, digital products, or even a website , you need to learn digital marketing.

A few examples of digital marketing are:

Internet marketing
Content marketing
Influencer marketing
Social media marketing
Video Marketing like YouTube or TikTok
Omnichannel marketing
Digital advertising like Google Ad and Facebook Ads
Search Engine Optimization
Email Marketing

The Latest in Digital Marketing Trends

As a b2b marketer, I use internet marketing daily to run my business, create an amazing customer experience and build brand awareness.

But, are we really using it to our best benefit?

To effectively use digital marketing, you have to understand what actually does (and doesn’t) work.

You also need to be aware of which digital channels your consumers are active on and how to create a customer journey that will turn your audience into raving fans.

Knowing what strategies to use will give your brand that extra personalization and rapidly grow your “know, like and trust” factor.

Let’s look at the digital marketing trends that you should prioritize in 2021.

Digital Marketing Trend 1: Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization is how Google decides if it should show your post, site, or product on the 1st (or 100th) page of search results.

In terms of marketing effort, SEO is a long-term strategy that can bring your target audience to you if you do it right.

SEO is listed as the first trend for 2021 because most marketing experts agree that it is truly the most important aspect of your business, in terms of online presence.

Since the goal should be to always rank on page 1 of Google, you have to focus on effective SEO.

Local SEO optimization is especially important if you have a brick-and-mortar storefront in a particular location so that people find the resources they are looking for in their area..

To do this, you need to learn about keyword research, backlinks, and post layouts.

There are many different search engine optimization courses, but here are a few of my favourites:

SEO: The Complete Guide for Beginners
Debbie Gartner’s SEO books for beginners

Digital Marketing Trend 2: Video Content

If you haven’t yet noticed, all social media platforms are beginning to emphasize the importance of video content.

Youtube used to be one of the only video platforms online. Now, there are Instagram reels, Facebook Lives and so much more.

Although each algorithm is different, there is one specific similarity for growth: video content.

Since our social life has been fully online for the last year, social media has decided that people want face-to-face content.

LIVE videos (where you are interacting with your audience in real-time), are a great option if you have time to do them.

But, if you only have a few minutes here and there, make quick video content for reels or TikTok .

Digital Marketing Trend 3: Instagram

Instagram is going to be just as popular (if not more) in 2021 as it was in 2020 as a social media channel. It’s been said that it will surpass Facebook for the number of users this year alone.

That being said, use it to build your business.

But, you have to know the algorithm to boost your engagement which will increase your audience.

Even though this social media platform began with only pictures, you can now post videos, reels, boomerangs, or even go live. To get the most traction, try to utilize all of these features.

How to use Instagram for Content Marketing

Create reels. Instagram uses reels to compete with TikTok. Therefore, this content is currently prioritized more than pictures.o compete with TikTok. Therefore, this content is currently prioritized more than pictures.

Post consistently. Whether you post daily, every couple of days, or weekly, post at the same times. Instagram favours consistent accounts.
Add content to your stories as frequently as you can. Aim for a minimum of 10 story posts per day.
Engage with other accounts in your niche. You can like, comment, save, and follow similar accounts to show up on more feeds.
Use all of the features Instagram has to offer. (This means stories, feed posts, reels, and live videos.)

If you want to learn more about increasing your Instagram following , check out this article.

Digital Marketing Trend 4: TikTok

TikTok is another good way to begin digital marketing.

The latest trend on video is TikTok where users can create short video clips with voice-overs and other fun and interactive content.

This app is known for its ability to allow anyone (regardless of account size) to go viral.

Although you can have a personal account, it is better to stay with a niche topic so that your audience knows the type of content they’ll be getting.

How to use TikTok for digital marketing:

Post a few times a day if you are able to. If not, try to at least post once a day.
Try to stay on the app for a minimum of an hour a day.

Digital Marketing Trend 5: Clubhouse

Clubhouse is a new app that was just released at the end of 2020.

The reason Clubhouse is a hit is because it is a completely auditory platform and is essentially built 100% off interactive content.

You can join groups to sit in on talks or even join conversations yourself. If you are a b2b company, you’ll find lots of inspiration and connections in the platform.

But, as of right now, you have to be invited to join it. This is due to the app being so new, they don’t want it to crash due to having too many users.

Once you do join, though, you get one link to send to a friend to allow them to join.

Once the owners have the app fully setup, they have said they will be opening it up to everyone without needing an invite.

How to use Clubhouse for digital marketing:

If you aren’t yet a member, you can still go ahead and secure your user name. That way, your account name is set in stone.
Once you join, optimize your bio to let your followers know what your niche is.
Join in on discussions that fit your brand.

LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW TO GET ON CLUBHOUSE HERE

digital marketing trends for 2021 — Digital Marketing Trends for 2021

Digital Marketing Trend 6: Testimonials and Reviews

Get as many testimonials and/or reviews as you can for your products.

Whether you sell courses, e-books, or even physical products, make sure you get feedback.

Not only will this help you improve your products, but you’ll always have good feedback to show potential customers.

How to get testimonials to improve digital marketing:

If you haven’t launched your product yet, you can ask a few people to check it out for free in exchange for a review.
Add an incentive for your customer to leave you a testimonial or review. This can be a discount code, affiliate link, or even a free product.

Digital Marketing Trend 7: Conversational Chatbots

Conversational chatbots are created through machine learning software that creates automated responses on your social media accounts or websites to your customers.

Since we are in an ‘I want it and I want it now’ world, getting an immediate response is a win for your customers.

But, we can’t always be online, right?

That’s why chatbots are a huge hit. You can set up an automated virtual reality response to answer or ask a common question, give your office hours, or even send you an email.

Some programs even allow marketing automation that act as mini funnels taking your audience through an entire customer journey.

How to use conversational chatbots for digital marketing:

Add automated responses to your Facebook page messages and Instagram messages.
Add a conversational chatbot to your websites. This way, if a potential customer has a question, they can get an immediate answer rather than have to wait on you to respond. Oftentimes, waiting for a response can cause you to lose a sale.

Digital Marketing Trend 8: Shareable Content

One of the best ways to get higher engagement (and more traction) on social media, your websites, and your products is to make sure your content is shareable.

Now, this doesn’t mean that the content is technologically shareable. This means that the content itself needs to make the consumers want to share it with their friends, family, and followers.

How to make a shareable content marketing strategy:

Answer questions that are widely asked in your niche. That way, if one person finds it useful, they’re inclined to share it with others.
Make funny content. We all like to laugh, right? Finding ways to add humour in your niche can gain you a lot of engagement.
Use interactive content that your audience can easily participate in. Think: THIS or THAT type questions.

Digital Marketing Trend 9: Branding

Branding is one of the most important aspects of having any business in reaching our target audience.

With digital marketing being a (primarily) visual way to market, make sure you have a clear brand for your audience.

Branding includes your business layout, products, niche, and even your pictures.

How to optimize your brand for digital marketing:

Use a consistent editing style on your platforms.
Create products that fit your niche.
Style all of your social media accounts the same way. (Meaning, use the same filters and colours throughout each account.)

You want your audience to see your products, logo, or pictures and immediately know they’re yours.

Make 2021 Your Year through Digital Marketing Trends

Being a digital marketer doesn’t have to be hard. You also don’t have to follow all the trends at one time.

I recommend picking one digital trend and trying to perfect your usage of it. Then, once you think you have a great grasp of those, try to add another one.

If you utilize these trends correctly, 2021 is bound to be your year!

Digital Marketing Trend Strategies FAQ:

Q: Can I make money with digital marketing?

You can definitely make money with digital marketing. You can promote other people’s products or even make money off of your own products.

Q: Will these digital marketing trends ever change?

As all trends change regularly, digital marketing trends will also change. This is why it is vital to master SEO. But, all 13 of the trends previously listed are great ways to start adding digital marketing into your business.

By Sasha Lassey

Hi, I’m Sasha, an Online Blog and Business Marketing Strategy Coach for Women Entrepreneurs. I have a passion for helping women entrepreneurs achieve maximum success by showing them how to grow their side-hustles online and make more money. I’ve been running businesses and growing teams for more than ten years and I know how hard it can be to learn how to scale your business from beginner to the next level. I’d love to work with you and show you how you can make more money with time-tested online business strategies!

Sourced from Every Day She’s Sparkling

In News

Winning The Social Commerce Game In 2021: How Social Media Creators Monetize Their Fame

May 5, 2021 No Comments

By Dennis Doerfl

As the co-founder of an influencer marketing technology company and the commercial director of a merchandise shop solution, I’ve had a front-row seat for the rise of social commerce. Influencers are using merchandise to boost their brands not only for income but also to forge deeper connections with their followers. Some key players in the e-commerce space have taken notice, giving rise to SaaS companies and print-on-demand services integrating with social media giants.

In 2021, look for influencer culture to inspire more powerful social media retail integrations with almost limitless earning power for creators and the platforms that serve them.

Despite the challenges of the last year, I’ve seen three changes in the industry that I know will benefit influencers and creators in 2021. E-commerce professionals, social media agencies and influencer marketing agencies should pay attention.

1. Increasing use of e-commerce and the rise of selling via social media have produced creator commerce.

Last year was difficult for retail, but worldwide e-commerce sales grew by 27.6%. Within that rise, social commerce grew as well, and apparel and accessories remain the largest category. The global licensed merchandise market is expected to reach $338.7 billion by 2027, with a compound annual growth rate of 2.2%.

At the same time, e-commerce platforms have upped their game. Powerful and easy-to-use print-on-demand shop systems now integrate with social media platforms. Spreadshop is one such POD system, but others include Spring, Bonfire and Printful. Influencers have long been able to open an e-commerce shop, but these developments give them the advantage of immediacy, which allows them to deliver both engaging content and buying options in the very same moment.

Influencers now have an alternative to just ads and brand collaborations. Promoting their own merchandise has become a way for them to diversify revenue streams and grow their brands. Audiences look for entertainment and then buy into their brands.

2. Influencers are becoming skilled at social commerce tactics to monetize their fame and content.

To their followers, influencers are like trusted friends whose opinions are sought and emulated. As Nielsen’s research points out, we are more likely to buy from people we know and trust. Influencers come together on social platforms like Clubhouse and Facebook; they share tips and tricks on how to gain followers and connect with fans. I’ve seen top creators often note that producing niche content and staying authentic is the foundation of the influencer-follower relationship.

Monetizing content through merchandise is funding creators and deepening the connection with their followers. I expect this to continue through 2021 with three merchandise trends:

• Personalization/everybody merchandise. What do you want to wear today? A brand, a business or a cause? Personalization means we can wear our allegiances in a size, colour and style to suit us. Creators can leverage this trend to increase brand awareness.

• Instant moment merchandise. With POD, new designs are available for purchase as soon as they are uploaded by creators. POD can move almost at the speed of a meme, quickly delivering on-trend items to customers’ doorsteps and making moment merchandise possible.

• Campaign merchandise. In the U.S., many politicians blur the line between political figure and social media icon. Campaign merchandise sales help candidates raise funds. It’s quite the statement to wear a political slogan, but it’s also an opportunity to publicly support a chosen candidate.

3. POD shop solutions have integrated with social channels to enable frictionless buying for the customer and full-service fulfilment for the shop owner.

The need for POD merchandise solutions is growing rapidly. Great new platforms are also pushing into the space, and the global POD software market size is expected to reach $10.8 billion by 2026, up from almost $1.9 billion in 2020.

To support growth, creator commerce solutions will have to deliver high-quality sales platforms and integrate new technologies. One of the most recent developments is the connection between influencer videos and merchandise. As Philip Rooke, CEO of Spread Group (Spreadshop’s parent company), recently wrote for InternetRetailing, “The potential success of video plus commerce is the combination of technology and the customer desire coming together at the same time. … Entertainment and frictionless commerce are going to be the big trend of retail in 2021.”

Platforms can stay ahead of the game by understanding what influencers and creators value. From our own research and observation, I know that the following five platform features are key:

• Social selling integrations.

• Highly customizable products.

• Premium-quality items.

• Zero cash out of pocket required.

• Full-service e-commerce.

Final Thoughts

From my vantage point, creators will continue to promote their personal brands using merchandise in 2021. To be proactive as an e-commerce professional, engage with influencers directly and address their needs.

As the decade progresses, we may see influencers and creators aim not just for the magic 1 million followers mark but also for comparable commission. Follower millionaires could start to become T-shirt millionaires as they monetize their fame. SaaS companies, social media agencies and influencer marketers that harness this trend will likely have an advantage in the highly competitive online retail space.

Make sure you exercise caution, however. Merchandise companies that fail to integrate with content delivery platforms are at great risk for obsolescence. All-in-one solutions allow simultaneous content distribution, merchandise solutions and persona monetization. As influencers seek to simplify processes, stand-alone solutions that serve limited needs may not survive.

From followers to merchandise, I see influencers making a big play in the social commerce game to truly monetize their fame. Will your brand be a part of it?

Feature Image Credit: getty

By Dennis Doerfl

Dennis Doerfl, a former Groupon and Accenture executive, is Co-Founder of Fourstarzz Media and Commercial Director at Spreadshop. Read Dennis Doerfl’s full executive profile.

Sourced from Forbes

In News

B2B Influencer Marketing Strategy: 5 Questions to Ask First

March 26, 2021 No Comments

By Lee Odden

It’s no mystery that we’re big fans of influencer marketing where B2B brands engage with industry experts and key opinion leaders to drive conversations, consideration and conversions.

Marketing leaders at B2B companies large and small are realizing how much influence can play a role in virtually every customer communication. As 2021 picks up steam, the practice of influencer marketing presents unique opportunities to optimize digitally transformed B2B marketing.

That said, while the role of influence can be universally present in content and communications, the approach that will work for any given B2B brand is by no means cookie cutter. Influencer engagement is not simply an advertising buy or some kind of programmatic marketing tactic. It’s simultaneously dynamic and open to certain kinds of optimization and scale through process, operations and expertise.

Before embarking on a pilot, campaigns or an evolved always-on influencer program, it’s important for B2B marketers to answer a few key questions to make sure the rationale is sound, the approach has merit and the expectations line up with resources and goals.

At TopRank Marketing we’ve helped numerous B2B brands run their very first influencer marketing pilot projects and campaigns. Our work with B2B brands like LinkedIn, SAP and Dell over the past 9 years has taught us that there are many key questions to be answered in order to ensure

Influencer marketing makes sense for a particular B2B brand
That a specific approach matches goals, resources and expectations
The tactics of identifying and engaging influencers are appropriate to content formats, channels and audience
The program reaches expected KPIs and drives value both for the business and influencers
Early efforts set the stage for future success

To help B2B brands thinking about launching an influencer marketing initiative, here are 5 of the most important questions to answer:

1. What is a B2B influencer for our brand? Our customers?

Success with B2B influence means avoiding falling into the popularity trap and thinking that all influencers must have a massive following.

An influencer in the B2B world is someone that has domain expertise, is recognized by peers for that expertise, creates content or communicates about that expertise, and has attracted the attention and trust of a network.

B2B influencers are also often called subject matter experts, key opinion leaders, or simply experts about a certain topic. This differs than in B2C where popularity and being able to publish influencer-created content on their own channels to a large audience reigns supreme. B2C influencers are most often very self aware of their actual or aspirational influence and bring content creation, personality, persuasion and publishing skills to the situation.

For B2B influencers, the idea of being an “influencer” may not be a priority, so B2B brands need to find ways to activate and engage them in ways that might be new to the influencer. Fortunately, there are best practices around how to nurture both external and internal subject matter experts to collaborate with marketing in ways that can drive authentic conversations amongst a desirable audience.

There are several key characteristics to look for in a B2B influencer: Proficiency, Popularity, Personality, Publisher, Promoter. For a deeper dive into what top B2B influencers look and sound like, check out Season 3 of Break Free B2B in progress.

Understanding that everyone has some degree of influence is as important for a new influencer marketing effort as is understanding that B2B brands need to be clear about what topics they want to be influential about. Finding B2B influencers for a specific brand means identifying the topics that matter to customers in the context of the B2B brand’s marketing narrative. Topics of importance to customers relative to the B2B brand’s key messages, products and solutions helps us understand whether a particular influencer has the attention and ability to influence their network. We do that by using software that helps evaluate a given influencer’s audience for topical relevance, resonance and reach.

There are different types of influencers to engage according to the type of influencer marketing project being implemented. Some programs might call for celebrity level “brandividuals“, others might focus more on those with industry analyst level expertise, or niche influencers that have deep product expertise and specific media creation skills that align with the content preferences of a B2B brand’s audience. At the same time, some influencers might already be fans of your B2B brand and others might be strong advocates of ideas that align with your brand but not be advocates yet.

The opportunity in identifying what a B2B influencer looks like for your brand starts with understanding the topics of influence that matter to your customers and that are most relevant to your solutions. That topic understanding can be extended to the creation of an ideal influencer profile and the matching of influencer types to the expectations and experiences created for customers.

To answer, “Where can I find B2B influencers?” marketers need to look beyond their own opinions and experiences and towards data. Influencers that create evidence of their expertise through digital content can be identified with influencer marketing software or social media software. However, keep in mind that many B2B influencers do not focus solely on social media to proclaim their expertise and more in-depth research into industry associations, special interest groups, events, publications, email newsletters and emerging formats like Clubhouse should be conducted.

2. What can we expect to achieve working with influencers?

Virtually all B2B brand communications with customers is a consideration for including 3rd party expertise for credibility and help with distribution.

Fundamentally, influencers can create value for B2B brands in a few different ways:

Add credibility to brand content
Help brand content reach new audiences through promotion
Provide B2B brands with advisory services
Perform as a brand advocate through ongoing content engagement
Help create content for thought leadership and demand gen purposes
Add signals of credibility to content for SEO
Facilitate content distribution and brand social network growth
Provide expertise for earned media, events and marketing content

In our research as reported in the State of B2B Influencer Marketing Report, we found that the measurable benefits for B2B brands to work with influencers included:

What’s important for B2B marketers to understand when it comes to what’s possible with influencers is that we’re talking about partnering with people, not simply using them to some brand end. Rather than thinking of influencers only as a means to an end or a tool for content creation and distribution, it is more valuable for all when B2B brands think of influencers as partners they can work with to achieve mutual goals. That partnership can turn to authentic and enthusiastic brand advocacy more quickly than a transactional approach.

For more specific ideas, check out this list of 25 B2B influencer marketing campaign and engagement ideas.

3. What are some good influencer engagement models?

Many early stage influencer programs start with micro-activations as part of a nurturing effort to develop relationships between brand and influencer. In many cases, an agency is tasked with creating these connections because they have unique expertise at influencer outreach and/or may already have the desired influencers in the agency network.

The right engagement model really depends on the approach.

For a pilot influencer content marketing campaign designed to create a business case for potential expansion of an influencer marketing program that has some lead time, it might be best to develop quick rapport with influencers by recognizing their expertise publicly. Then follow up and invite them to collaborate on small asks with great exposure. Through these early micro-activations, the right influencers can be sorted for a larger contribution to the pilot content project. See this case study on how LinkedIn has taken a relationship building approach to their always-on influence program working with sales and marketing influencers.

Alternatively, if there is not much lead time for organic relationship building with a pilot, then professional influencers can be engaged for their services to contribute to the pilot. The cost and perceived authenticity of content disclaimed as sponsored may be worth it to get a pilot out quickly. Or some combination of organic relationship building and paid influencer engagement might be most appropriate.

Understanding the right engagement model can be helped in part by reviewing solid B2B influencer marketing examples and case studies to understand what goes into successful B2B influencer marketing campaigns.

Also, it’s important to understand that working with influencers for an industrial or manufacturing business might be a bit different than how influencer marketing for tech companies might work. The topics of interest to customers and of most relevance to influencers and the brand will help identify the right influencer program approach, influencer identification and engagement.

Many pilots lead to sequences of campaigns which may engage the same influencers or different influencers each time. Lack of engagement in between campaigns will make securing influencers more difficult. B2B brands that are more mature in their influencer marketing efforts engage in always-on influencer programs. In fact, the State of B2B Influencer Marketing Report found that 12X more B2B marketers using an always-on approach were very successful with their influencer marketing compared to those marketers that implementing periodic campaigns.

Working with a small group of influencers can be a great place to start, but that small group should be backed by a much larger list of researched candidate influencers. As relationships develop through the course of different collaborations, B2B marketers will refine and find the right influencers. A VIP group of influencers might be created as Adobe has with its 60+ Adobe Insiders being activated at individual, small group or large group levels depending on the situation.

4. How does “dark influence” fit in our mix?

Understanding the channels where customers are spending time discovering, consuming and engaging with content is central to identifying sources of influence. But not all B2B influencers are social media rockstars. To understand where and how the right experts are influential to the customers of a B2B brand, thoughtful research must be conducted to identify customer preferences for content and people that they trust, subscribe to and are influenced by.

In some cases, the social media connection to B2B influence is indirect. While many business people are doing business during their 9-5, increasing numbers of business people are following industry experts on social channels. They access those channels before and after work as well as periodically during the day.

For those influencers and customers that are not engaging via social media, content discovery, consumption and engagement preferences research will reveal the email newsletters, publications, associations, events, groups and even search terms they use to connect. These non-social media channels are opportunities for influence as well. B2B marketers need to do the research to map these sources of engagement and identify influencers that might be good partners for those channels.

Another consideration is the role that LinkedIn plays in terms of influencer performance tracking. Since the vast majority of LinkedIn is not public nor do they provide easy access via API, the social data cannot be crawled in the way that Twitter, some Facebook content and other social networks are. Influencer engagement on LinkedIn may require use of tools made available from LinkedIn like Sales Navigator. Here are some ideas on how to engage influencers on the LinkedIn platform.

Working within the world of dark social for influencer marketing means connecting with influencers that use these channels and engaging them on collaborations where they exert influence.

5. What are the most important operational considerations for a B2B influencer marketing program?

For large enterprise organizations, there is often a debate about how much influencer marketing should be centralized in the organization vs. with business units, divisions and regions. When influencer marketing is new to an organization, there is centralization and programs are dictated as such. Some influencers may be universally relevant across and organization but within each market where a B2B brand operates, there will likely be more niche influencers specific to those markets.

How an influencer marketing program is defined will often include both the universal truths that are relevant for the brand overall and specific programs with unique goals, topics and measures of success.

Some of the most important operational considerations for an influencer marketing program include:

What department owns influencer marketing?
What processes will be used to to perform the functions of influencer marketing to ensure consistency and quality?
What software will be used to identify, engage, communicate with and measure influencers?
What budgets, staffing and external resources will be needed short and long term?

Beyond measures of success, software and ownership with the B2B brand of an influencer program is how to work with a specialist B2B influencer marketing agency to help develop strategy and planning, influencer identification and recruitment, collaboration and creation of influencer / brand content assets. In the State of B2B Influencer Marketing Report that surveyed hundreds of B2B marketers, the top tasks handled by agencies included:

Identifying influencers 79%
Managing influencer relationships 76%
Developing the strategy 71%
Measuring effectiveness 66%
Integrating with other marketing efforts 63%
Implementing campaigns 60%
Managing influencer marketing technology 44%

While there are many B2B marketing resources out there to help brands with everything from research and strategy to planning, implementation and measurement, there are simply not that many B2B influencer marketing agencies that have:

Established influencer marketing strategy frameworks based on years of experience
Extensive relationships with a network of B2B influencers in various verticals
Tried and true tactics for accelerating B2B brand and influencer relationships
Content creation and repurposing capabilities that are unique to influencer collaborations
Influencer marketing measurement and reporting expertise
Savvy on how to maintain ongoing influencer relationships in between campaigns

The good news is that the number of B2B influencer marketing agencies with legitimate skills and experience is growing as awareness grows around the role of influence across the entire customer lifecycle for business customers.

There are certainly more questions than these to be considered as well as variations on the questions that have been listed in order for B2B marketers to gain confidence that their particular approach to an influencer marketing effort creates the expected value for all involved. In many cases, marketing missteps can be avoided by ensuring the fundamentals are solid and that’s what this list of questions is meant to do – cover the bases that are essential for a thoughtful, meaningful and productive influencer marketing effort.

Influencer marketing is a relationship focused business and that means it’s dynamic and there are no silver bullet answers.

Remember, influencer marketing is a relationship focused business and that means it’s dynamic and there are no silver bullet answers. B2B brands that stumble blindly into an influencer engagement effort may experience disappointing results without the “been there, done that” and “we do this every. single. day.” type of expertise that is rare, but available through specialist agencies and consultants.