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This Coffee Company’s Been Spying on Customers With Its App, According to the Canadian Government

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By Dell Cameron

“You can’t spy on your customers just because it fits in your marketing strategy,” British Columbia’s privacy commissioner said of Tim Hortons.

Canadian regulators on Wednesday found that Tim Hortons—a popular fast-food chain owned by the same multinational company as Burger King—changed its mobile app in 2019 to track and collect sensitive location data on its customers.

An investigation led by Canada’s privacy commissioner found that, indeed, with the help of a U.S.-based company called Radar, Tim Hortons was able to collect data on its customers’ locations “as often as every few minutes.”

Regulators found the collection, described as “continual and vast,” ultimately served no legitimate purpose, and was “not proportional to the benefits Tim Hortons may have hoped to gain from better targeted promotion of its coffee and other products.”

“Tim Hortons clearly crossed the line by amassing a huge amount of highly sensitive information about its customers. Following people’s movements every few minutes of every day was clearly an inappropriate form of surveillance,” Privacy Commissioner of Canada Daniel Therrien said.

The government investigation into the company began in 2020 after a journalist at the Financial Post claimed the Tim Hortons app had recorded his GPS coordinates over 2,700 times in five months. The tracking occurred even when the app was not in use, the journalist, James McLeod, said.

Among many other locations, the app tracked McLeod each time he visited his parent’s farm in rural Ontario, while he was boarded a flight in Toronto and when he checked in to a Winnipeg hotel for a cousin’s wedding. “It bothered me,” McLeod wrote. “How many more times had Tim Hortons checked in on me? Was my coffee-ordering app tracking all my movements?”

In a statement, Tim Hortons underscored that the privacy commissioners’ report does not recommend any changes to its current app. After the Financial Post’s story, the company “proactively removed the geolocation technology,” it said.

“The very limited use of this data was on an aggregated, de-identified basis to study trends in our business—and the results did not contain personal information from any guests,” the company said.

“This investigation sends a strong message to organizations that you can’t spy on your customers just because it fits in your marketing strategy,” said Michael McEvoy, British Columbia’s information and privacy commissioner. “Not only is this kind of collection of information a violation of the law, it is a complete breach of customers’ trust.”

Phone makers have taken recent strides to stop unscrupulous app developers from farming location data. In April 2021, Apple introduced an update that gave users the option of preventing apps from tracking their locations and sharing that information with third parties.

Roughly two-thirds of iPhone users opted out of tracking when presented with the option, according to an October report by the analytics firm AppsFlyer.

Feature Image Credit: Tim Horton cafe in Manhattan.Photo: Spencer Platt / Staff (Getty Images)

By Dell Cameron

Sourced from GIZMODO

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How to Bring Authenticity to Your Start-up’s Marketing Strategy

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People are tired of being pushed into something they don’t want.

According to a study by Stackla, 90% of customers place a premium on authenticity when selecting which companies they like and support. But what exactly is authenticity? How can we show our customers that we’re human and relatable and not just a brand with an agenda?

Here are six practical tips on how to bring authenticity into your start-up’s marketing strategy.

What is authenticity in marketing?

Authenticity is having a genuine connection with your target audience. If you’re not authentic, it’s difficult for customers to connect with what you do. People want brands that they can relate to — companies who are just like them, only better at their job or service because of experience and expertise. Authenticity is also about transparency and showing the world who you are and what you believe in. So, think of authenticity as your company’s personality; it should be unique to every brand out there.

How can start-ups bring authenticity to their marketing

Did you know that nearly 90% of all start-ups fail? Start-up marketing is difficult because you are often underfunded, have a limited customer base or are just getting started. As a co-founder and owner of a business, I understand the challenges that you are facing. I’ve failed many times. That’s why I’d like to share some of the marketing strategies that have worked well for me and have helped people connect with us on an emotional level every day.

1. Know your target audience

You need to know who your target audience is and what their needs and interests are before you can create a message for them or speak about them on social media channels like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The more you know, the better your marketing will be.

It’s your job to create an emotional connection between your brands and customers, and authenticity is key here too. Once you understand your target audience and their needs, you can speak to them more effectively on the proper social media channels.

2. Be genuine in your marketing messages

Knowing your target audience does not mean you should be overly promotional. You can still show people who you are as a brand and what makes your company unique while also being more realistic about your company’s benefits. Establishing authenticity in marketing means not trying to be something you’re not. People will see right through anything that seems fake or disingenuous. If you decide to be honest with people, then put all your cards on the table. Don’t try to market your start-up as something it’s not.

3. Be consistent with messaging across social media channels

It’s no secret that social media has changed the way that brands communicate with customers. Social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok are potent tools that can help you build relationships with people interested in your start-up’s product or services. Your brand messaging must be consistent across all these channels. You need to be consistent with your words, images and tone of voice if you want your target audience to trust what you’re saying. Why should, for example, potential consumers believe you if you send conflicting messages on social media?

Don’t forget to keep in mind that social media is a two-way street. Start-ups need to be engaging and respond quickly when people ask questions or have concerns about their product or service — this also helps build trust. It’s best to create one voice for your brand across all your social media channels. It will help you communicate with people more personally, and this is what authenticity is about: being real.

4. Give people something to talk about

Don’t just sell people your product or service. You need to give them a reason why they should buy from you. If someone isn’t interested in what you have to offer, there’s no point in pursuing the relationship. Give potential customers something that will make them want to work with you instead of against you.

5. Create an authentic voice for your brand

If you’re looking to create a brand that people will love, your voice must be authentic. Without an authentic voice, your customers may not get the experience they expect and could have negative feelings about your company. Don’t expect to win customer loyalty or get people excited about your product if you don’t sound like yourself. It’s not just what you say that matters. It’s also how you say it. Having an authentic voice for your brand means letting go of the idea that marketing is all science and no artistry. You need to put creativity into everything that comes out of your business, from product development to marketing and sales.

6. Use metrics and data analysis to improve your marketing

Just because you’re authentic doesn’t mean that your marketing will be successful every time. Even if you put a lot of effort into it, everything can still fall flat on its face. Remember that marketing is half art and half science. You need to put creativity into everything you do and keep in mind that metrics and data analysis are essential for adding substance to those creative decisions. What works today might not work next month or even tomorrow, so don’t get too attached to a single marketing strategy.

Take advantage of cutting-edge marketing tools such as social media advertising, influencer marketing and even email campaigns to get your startup’s name out into the world. Keep track of everything you do to improve it over time.

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Sourced from Entrepreneur Europe

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How to Bring Authenticity to Your Startup’s Marketing Strategy

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People are tired of being pushed into something they don’t want.

According to a study by Stackla, 90% of customers place a premium on authenticity when selecting which companies they like and support. But what exactly is authenticity? How can we show our customers that we’re human and relatable and not just a brand with an agenda?

Here are six practical tips on how to bring authenticity into your startup’s marketing strategy.

What is authenticity in marketing?

Authenticity is having a genuine connection with your target audience. If you’re not authentic, it’s difficult for customers to connect with what you do. People want brands that they can relate to — companies who are just like them, only better at their job or service because of experience and expertise. Authenticity is also about transparency and showing the world who you are and what you believe in. So, think of authenticity as your company’s personality; it should be unique to every brand out there.

How can startups bring authenticity to their marketing

Did you know that nearly 90% of all startups fail? Startup marketing is difficult because you are often underfunded, have a limited customer base or are just getting started. As a co-founder and owner of a business, I understand the challenges that you are facing. I’ve failed many times. That’s why I’d like to share some of the marketing strategies that have worked well for me and have helped people connect with us on an emotional level every day.

1. Know your target audience

You need to know who your target audience is and what their needs and interests are before you can create a message for them or speak about them on social media channels like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The more you know, the better your marketing will be.

It’s your job to create an emotional connection between your brands and customers, and authenticity is key here too. Once you understand your target audience and their needs, you can speak to them more effectively on the proper social media channels.

2. Be genuine in your marketing messages

Knowing your target audience does not mean you should be overly promotional. You can still show people who you are as a brand and what makes your company unique while also being more realistic about your company’s benefits. Establishing authenticity in marketing means not trying to be something you’re not. People will see right through anything that seems fake or disingenuous. If you decide to be honest with people, then put all your cards on the table. Don’t try to market your startup as something it’s not.

3. Be consistent with messaging across social media channels

It’s no secret that social media has changed the way that brands communicate with customers. Social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok are potent tools that can help you build relationships with people interested in your startup’s product or services. Your brand messaging must be consistent across all these channels. You need to be consistent with your words, images and tone of voice if you want your target audience to trust what you’re saying. Why should, for example, potential consumers believe you if you send conflicting messages on social media?

Don’t forget to keep in mind that social media is a two-way street. Startups need to be engaging and respond quickly when people ask questions or have concerns about their product or service — this also helps build trust. It’s best to create one voice for your brand across all your social media channels. It will help you communicate with people more personally, and this is what authenticity is about: being real.

4. Give people something to talk about

Don’t just sell people your product or service. You need to give them a reason why they should buy from you. If someone isn’t interested in what you have to offer, there’s no point in pursuing the relationship. Give potential customers something that will make them want to work with you instead of against you.

5. Create an authentic voice for your brand

If you’re looking to create a brand that people will love, your voice must be authentic. Without an authentic voice, your customers may not get the experience they expect and could have negative feelings about your company. Don’t expect to win customer loyalty or get people excited about your product if you don’t sound like yourself. It’s not just what you say that matters. It’s also how you say it. Having an authentic voice for your brand means letting go of the idea that marketing is all science and no artistry. You need to put creativity into everything that comes out of your business, from product development to marketing and sales.

6. Use metrics and data analysis to improve your marketing

Just because you’re authentic doesn’t mean that your marketing will be successful every time. Even if you put a lot of effort into it, everything can still fall flat on its face. Remember that marketing is half art and half science. You need to put creativity into everything you do and keep in mind that metrics and data analysis are essential for adding substance to those creative decisions. What works today might not work next month or even tomorrow, so don’t get too attached to a single marketing strategy.

Take advantage of cutting-edge marketing tools such as social media advertising, influencer marketing and even email campaigns to get your startup’s name out into the world. Keep track of everything you do to improve it over time.

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Sourced from Entrepreneur Europe

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5 Reasons Why Landing Pages Are a Must-Have Element of Any Marketing Strategy

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By Peter Roesler

I have designed, published, and tested thousands of landing pages through my years in marketing. All this time, work, and effort resulted in discovering the main reasons why you should have landing pages for your business’s site. If you aren’t using landing pages, now is a good time to change that. Here’s why:

Increase Conversions

Quality landing pages result in more conversions. Whether it is newsletter subscriptions, sign-ups, downloads, lead generation, or something else, when you use landing pages, you experience higher conversion rates than sites that don’t.

Remember, having a landing page doesn’t guarantee a higher conversion rate. Instead, landing pages provide you with the tools to improve conversion rates as time passes.

Reduced Cost Per Acquisition

Cost per acquisition (CPA) is the total cost of acquiring a new customer. While there’s no universal set number to acquiring a customer, I’ve found that it’s much less when you have landing pages in place.

Landing pages increase conversions and help produce a higher return on investment (ROI). I’ve also found that landing pages also increase your Google pay-per-click (PPC) Quality Scores. This results in a lower cost per click, which reduces the cost per conversion and eventually a lower CPA.

Showcase and Optimize Your Offers

Every offer needs a home and landing pages provide this home. Depending on your marketing strategy, you may have several offers to showcase, including referral programs, promotions, white papers, resource guides, on-demand webinars, and more.

The information you collect and share on the landing page varies based on the type of offer you’re looking to highlight the most. Because of this, you need flexibility for changing form fields, editing layouts, and optimizing the design and copy– a standard, set template doesn’t work. Your offers also need an easy, shareable link that are easily found on your landing page.

Scale Your Marketing

With landing pages, you scale your marketing without scaling your resources, money, or time. In the past, building landing pages took a lot of time and money. However, this isn’t the case today. It’s easy, fast, and affordable to create and publish new offers and pages on your website. This makes it possible to increase your marketing efforts without spending too much time or effort.

Test and Validate New Ideas

You have the option to spend resources, money, and time to build an entire website for something new you offer and then wait and see if anyone likes it. Another smarter option is to use a landing page to validate the audience’s response and collect feedback on an idea to see if spending more money on it is a smart idea.

When it comes to creating a marketing strategy today, implementing landing pages is a must. These offer you a chance to increase conversions, reach more customers, and quickly add new offers to your site.

Feature Image Credit: Getty Images

By Peter Roesler

Sourced from Inc.

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7 Easy Ways to Improve Your B2B Marketing Strategies

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By Debraj Chatterjee

B2B is an acronym for business to business. Therefore, b2b marketing is where you focus on marketing your product to other businesses rather than individuals. Take the example of a company that sells office chairs on wholesale.

Although such a company can sell to individuals, their primary customers will be other companies seeking office chairs. Therefore, when the office chair company reaches out to the other company about their chairs, we call b2b marketing.

Why is B2B Marketing Important?

You might not have decided about whether to consider b2b marketing. While it is essential to stick to what you know for marketing, any business reluctant to embrace change will probably not last that long.

That alone won’t convince most people to give b2b marketing a chance. Here’s what will.

  • It Will Help Market Complex Products

There’s no better way to market complex products than b2b marketing. Most b2b products are usually complex and will therefore require different marketing strategies rather than the usual. That’s where b2b marketing comes in.

  • It is a Way to Adjust to New Marketing Strategies

B2b marketing is a different type of marketing when compared to the usual marketing. Therefore, it will enable you to adjust to the changing demands in the market and thus boost sales.

  • It Will Reach a Wider Audience

B2b marketing uses different marketing techniques to introduce the product to the market. Content creation and social media as some of those techniques. That ensures a business reaches a broader audience.
Easy Ways to Improve Your B2B Marketing Strategy

1. Consider Using Live Videos

According to Livestream, only 20% of people would prefer to read about a product via blogs or other written text. The rest would prefer if they could see the videos instead. If you know anything about marketing trends is that you need to follow the majority.

That isn’t surprising since videos are excellent at conveying emotions than written text. Don’t get us wrong; many people prefer to read social media posts on their phones. But information from videos will be better received by your audience.
So, you’ll want videos and especially live videos to be part of your b2b marketing strategy.

2. Grow Buyer Personas

This is an essential step for any marketing strategy and not just a b2b strategy. It is wise to look into your buyer’s personalities and know what product will appeal to them. The best way to grow buyer personas is to thoroughly research the customers’ needs to understand them so you can offer better solutions.

Buyer personas will enable you to connect with them more personally since you will know them better. Therefore, buyer personas will be an excellent way for you to improve your b2b marketing strategies.

3. Consider Content Marketing

Content marketing is an excellent way to tell potential customers about your products. But it has a catch. It would help if you focused more on speaking about your products and how they will solve people’s problems than about yourself.

Blogging is a powerful marketing tool if you adopt it. A potential customer could only be a Google search away. But that will only be possible if you’re willing to improve your b2b marketing strategy with content marketing.

That’s why it could be critical to you building a successful business, thanks to excellent marketing.

4. Collect Feedback

not having a way to get customer feedback is akin to pulling yourself down. You will be going in blind as far as your client’s needs are concerned. Collecting feedback will enable you to create a better relationship with existing customers.

Most relationship experts will tell you that good communication is vital if you want to create meaningful relationships. But what can you use to collect feedback from your customers?

You could start by having a feedback form on your website for buyers to fill in after getting their product or service. Qualaroo is a tool that will enable you to carry out surveys on your website and get their feedback.

5. Create a Brand Story

Ultimately, human beings will often associate more with brands that can trigger their emotions. Customers need to know that they can trust your brand to deliver. Gaining customer trust is easier said than done for businesses. However, creating a brand story will enable you to tug on people’s heartstrings and allow them to relate better to you.

A brand story will enable you to connect with people in b2b businesses on a personal level and thus drive sales for you. A brand story allows people to see the human face behind your products and relate easily to your company.

If your market is predominantly millennial or modern generations, you will need a brand story more than you think. Millennial’s and later generations have seen so many different marketing strategies and yearn for something fresh
A brand story will be perfect in sparking their interest.

6. Influencer Marketing

Ever considered influencers in your marketing strategy? If not, then you need to reconsider that. Influencers are online personalities with a large following. They can convince their many followers to follow or buy a certain product,
Even if you are selling to businesses, you will need to show that most people prefer your products. So, influencers are one way to improve your strategy and have your marketing reach a wider audience.

7. Customer Testimonials

Research shows that people are more likely to purchase something when they hear other people speak positively about it. Although a b2b business aims to make its products more visible to other companies, you first need to connect with the people running those businesses.

Therefore, having customer testimonials on your website will enable you to convert potential clients into loyal customers. It’s that simple. People want to associate with things that delight and impress other people.

Final Thoughts

A competent b2b marketing strategy could be the difference between growing to be among the richest Indian companies or a lowly player in the financial market. The amount of business you do will significantly depend on your marketing strategy, and these tips we have shared will help you massively improve it.

By Debraj Chatterjee

Debraj is a Founder of Cryptonidea, Coinvouge, CryptonBinary blog Services and oversees strategic, operational, and invest Peng aspects of the company’s wide-ranging digital content & digital revenue activities.

Sourced from readwrite

 

 

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Why An Omnichannel Marketing Strategy Should Be Your Top Priority

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By Bernard May

Every department (or agency) that specializes in a particular marketing channel understandably wants to claim success no matter the brand, audience or industry. Social media managers, Google Ads experts, SEO savants and others all have a stake in their particular strategy being labelled the silver bullet that is driving profitability for the organization or client.

The good part? Every department cares, has drive and wants to be the best. The bad part? From what I’ve seen, this ambition is often misdirected as individuals seek success for their own department rather than the overall success of a multichannel campaign.

Now, this is rarely the fault of individual marketing departments; rather, it’s due to the ways in which we have trained our teams to measure success as individuals rather than as a unit.

It’s time we all understand how to attribute marketing success as a collective, strategic front rather than assuming that the last touch solely defines the success of a campaign.

The Data Points To Omnichannel

Data shows that consumers visit more than two websites (on average) before settling on a purchase decision, and at the same time, nearly 90% of e-commerce shopping carts were left abandoned in March 2020.

This indicates that when it comes to e-commerce shopping, consumers are certainly doing their research and are willing to walk away from a purchase should they find a better option. It’s crucial for businesses, brands and marketers alike to see that consumer behaviour does not exist in a vacuum and that omnichannel strategies are a very real remedy.

Common Attribution Mistakes

Let’s take a look at some very common situations in which the reality of multiple touchpoints (along the customer journey) can lead to attributing success to the wrong places.

Situation 1: A customer sees your product in their social media feed and clicks on your ad but then decides to leave the platform and visit your site directly. After seeing your “On-Site Only” monthly promotion, the customer purchases a couple of products. You deserve a high-five. Attributed success: Organic SEO team. Actual success: Social media, SEO and web development teams.

Situation 2: A customer finds your business with a Google search, visits your site, looks at your latest products and leaves without a purchase. Later that day, a Facebook ad featuring these latest products from your site graces their news feed. The customer is intrigued by the 15% off social commerce offer and makes a purchase. Congratulations. You are a rock star. Attributed success: Social media team. Actual success: SEO, social media, social ads and graphics teams.

Situation 3: The customer sees an Instagram ad, visits your website, adds products to their cart, gets distracted and abandons their order. One week and three “You have items in your shopping cart!” emails later, the customer returns and completes their purchase. Whew — you had to work for that one. Attributed success: The marketing automation team. Actual success: SEO, social media, social ads, graphics and marketing automation teams.

In each of these common examples, there is an unconscious omnichannel mindset that customers have adopted and take part in regularly. Therefore, it should be a priority for your business to not only recognize but also leverage this to the customers’ (and your) advantage.

Leaving A Trail Of Bread Crumbs

Expanding your marketing (and attribution) strategy from single channels to omnichannel is akin to leaving a trail of “branded bread crumbs” to attract, nurture and ultimately convert customers. Here are just a few ways you can connect the dots and get your omnichannel machine moving:

• Facebook and Instagram: If you don’t have the Facebook pixel installed on your site (and you are running social media ads), you’re missing out on a huge opportunity. The pixel gives you the ammunition to retarget those non-converting website visitors with more personalized campaigns so you can bring them back. As these remarketing campaigns are only triggered by (shown to) those who have already been to your website, you not only know the multiple points of attribution, but you can also see what group of customers (and ad groups) is converting at a higher level.

• Google Ads: The remarketing/retargeting trend certainly did not originate with Facebook. As with Facebook, though, you can use this strategy to target your customers “beyond the click,” for example, via their Google news feed (Discovery ads), YouTube, display, dynamic remarketing ads or even just your website. Again, these segmented, remarketing-specific ad sets will be triggered by the placement of your Google Ads pixel — so you know where they found you first and what brought them back.

• Marketing automation and email marketing: This is an oldie but a goodie. Using supplemental nurturing emails as part of your various ad campaigns can bring that warmer traffic back — to either fuel their interest or even close the sale altogether — via automation. Seeing as you can provide specific messaging, templates and calls to action across your different campaigns, your marketing automation platform will show you which audiences, campaign types and emails are driving the highest returns.

Tracking And Attributing Success

The single biggest hurdle when it comes to applying (and benefiting from) omnichannel strategies is tracking success and attribution. This means that you need to track every campaign, ad variation, website, landing page and clickable link.

Set up goals in Google Analytics; create custom tracking links for emails; and ensure that primary, retargeting and nurturing campaigns (of all types) are separated and easily searchable should you need to dig up granular results.

If you can’t track it, you cannot accurately attribute success to it.

When channels start to multiply, make sure that your cross-channel marketing teams increase communication to keep everyone on the same page. SEO teams need to meet with Google Ads teams, who need to talk to the email marketing team, etc. Effective omnichannel strategies cannot function without communicating the big picture.

Going omnichannel won’t happen overnight and can include far more than the tactics I provided above, but the sooner you begin, the faster your business can reap the benefits.

Feature Image Credit: getty

By Bernard May

Bernard May is the CEO of National Positions, a 5-time Inc. 500 company, award-winning marketing agency and Google Premier Partner. Read Bernard May’s full executive profile here.

Sourced from Forbes

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How to Design a Data-Driven Marketing Strategy

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Do you need a better strategy? Wondering how to use data to gauge when to start, stop, or scale your marketing efforts?

In this article, you’ll discover why data is important, what data to look at, and how to use data to inform your strategy.

Why Data Is Crucial to Your Marketing Strategy

It’s important to understand that data is for everyone, whether you’re a new business owner or have been in business for a long time and already know your ideal customer very well. Without data, as you’re building your strategy, you’re flying blind with little more than a feeling and some hope that you’re right.

We tend to develop our strategies focusing on things we like, things we’ve been told, and ideas that we see others finding success in, and put blinders on to whether these things are actually working. Are your time, money, and effort being returned to you in the form of conversions moving toward your goal?

Data removes those blinders.

Additionally, data makes it easier to connect each of your efforts to dollars. Whether you’re a marketer or business owner running all of your own marketing, understanding exactly how each point within your marketing strategy connects to that revenue helps identify the value of that point in the big picture. This is one of the ways in which data becomes so powerful in the realm of social media marketing because it lets you see exactly where you’re leaking money.

Pro Tip: As a best practice, you should start collecting the data even before you need it. If you’re starting a brand-new business and you don’t need the data right away, track it anyway. Because once you need the data, you need the data. As with anything else, data takes a while to collect, and Google Analytics doesn’t work retroactively. So while you may not look at the data right away, having it collected as early in the business as possible will only help you in the long run.

Click HERE to read the remainder of the article.

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Sourced from Social Media Examiner

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How to Harness the Power of Thought-Leadership Marketing

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Positioning yourself as an expert is an effective way to level up your marketing strategy.

If you were to ask any seasoned thought leader who has an established track record, he or she will more than likely tell you that marketing is not easy. For the most part, it’s a gamble, as you never know exactly how your content will be received. It’s not a simple matter of filming a piece of content, plastering it with flashy jingles and edits and posting it on social media in hopes it will land with the majority and convert into sales. If it were that easy, everyone would be doing it.

Marketing can be challenging because there are no clear-cut rules about what works best anymore. Thought-leadership marketing, however, remains one of the most effective methods personal brands can utilize to establish their authority and position themselves as experts in their fields — when done correctly. The marketing challenge is then to devise a scalable thought-leadership strategy to productize this knowledge, then monetize it with customers and prospects.

What is thought-leadership marketing?

Thought leadership is a complex, multifaceted position that requires a precise mix of both relating skills and marketing skills. A thought leader is well versed in expressing ideas and opinions that demonstrate expertise and authority, ultimately positioning himself or herself as a leader in his or her industry. Thought leaders have the ability to influence other people, especially in business, and have immense power in changing a single narrative — because their audience trusts them.

There have been many notable thought leaders throughout history such as Elon Musk, Martin Luther King Jr., Dalai Lama and Steve Jobs. Tony Robbins is a public figure who modernized thought leadership and made it popular among today’s entrepreneurs, many of whom run coaching programs, offer educational courses and teach others how to create a life of purpose, fulfilment and freedom.

Why is thought-leadership marketing essential?

In this digital age where competition is fierce, especially among those who are the face of their brands, if you want to improve sales effectiveness and differentiate your brand, a thought-leadership strategy is critical. People want to know, like and trust you before they want to buy from you.

Thought leadership also inspires authenticity, which buyers crave in the modern world where everything seems like a sales gimmick or ad. Thought-leadership marketing is essential because your audience will be paying more attention, take you more seriously, see more value in your offers, and ultimately, it will allow you to become a catalyst for growth.

How to effectively utilize thought-leadership marketing

Establishing your brand as a subject-matter expert gives you exposure and authority, and it shows where you are knowledgeable. My own media platform, Ohwabisabi, features the stories and messages of conscious thought leaders in long-form content format, most of which is written by those who wish to establish credibility as thought leaders through writing and sharing their own unique perspectives. With ever-changing narratives in any field, this is why I also choose to use a range of platforms to share and express my views and messages in areas I am passionate in — and it’s why I started Ohwabisabi this time a year ago.

Having your message or story shared on any kind of media platform establishes expertise because it is written by a third party, endorsing you and what you stand for. When you’ve been featured, you’ll gain your audience’s trust.

Create engaging content

As content continues to reign as king, clever leaders develop thought-leadership strategies to position themselves as valuable to their target audiences. This content can come from research papers, blog posts, books and ebooks, videos and webinars.

Some thought leaders write blog posts regularly that provide value to their readers. Some create visual content on social media around trending topics relevant to their industries. Video and webinars that answer the questions most important to your audience with credible information are also an essential part of thought-leadership marketing.

In basic marketing, we learn that “everyone” is not a target audience. If your messaging to your audience is too broad, your message won’t land effectively. So, rather than defining your audience as “everyone” and spending substantial time and money getting your content in front of “everyone,” focus on those who love what you do, who you are and what you have to say. They’re the ones who will become strong, loyal advocates for your brand.

Related: Connecting With Your Target Audience Through Video

Establishing your organization as an industry thought leader is about building trust, credibility and authority, boosting the public perception of your brand in a positive way. These days, consumers use digital and social media for a large majority of the purchasing process, so how you position yourself in the digital space remains crucial.

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Founder at Ohwabisabi Media

Sourced from Entrepreneur Europe

 

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Why Content Marketing Should Be the Foundation of Your Marketing Strategy

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BY HILLEL FULD

Not a single day goes by without my speaking to an early-stage entrepreneur who wants to discuss marketing and how to get quick results. So let’s just get this out of the way from the beginning: Marketing takes time.

There are some tactics you can use that will generate a return on investment (ROI) in the relatively short term, but achieving real long-lasting results takes time. Put simply, anything you achieve in the short term will go down as fast as it went up. You want to play the long game. This is true even if you’re tempted to try some things that are less organic but might look good on the surface, such as buying likes or followers. Don’t do that.

Instead, here are five reasons you should start generating content on your own company blog as soon as you can:

Search engine optimization (SEO) is very much a thing

I know that social media gets all the hype nowadays and no one is talking about search anymore, but they’re wrong not to. A quick glance at the numbers will show you that search drives just as much traffic as social does, at least for the time being.

Once you’re sold on the importance of search, now the question is how to leverage it. I am obviously oversimplifying here, but the more incoming links to your site, the better. How do you get people to link to you? Well, some SEO experts would tell you to buy links. I say listen to Google and produce good content people want to talk about and link to.

Getting social on social media

Let’s break down what social media means. The “media” part is obvious, but what about the “social” part? Are you engaging with people like you do offline or are you using Twitter as a glorified RSS feed or sales platform?

I once heard a speech from the guy who invented the “Like” button at Facebook. He explained that he wanted to give people the ability to express appreciation for someone else’s content. What did it do? We ruined it by begging for likes.

How about instead of asking me to follow you, giving me a reason to click “Like” or “Follow”? What’s the best reason to get someone to do that? Fill your feed with quality content, yours or someone else’s, and that’s how you increase your numbers across social media.

Public relations is not the same as content marketing

Let’s clear one thing up: When you or someone on your team writes an article about the industry on the company blog, that’s called content marketing. When a journalist writes about the company, that’s called public relations (PR).

So why does content help with PR? When you pitch a journalist, the first thing he or she is going to do is Google your name or the company’s name. When there is no footprint on the internet, that raises a red flag.

However, when he or she encounters all of your content, all of a sudden you are now a colleague, and not just a company pitching that journalist. Just like he or she produces content, you produce content.

Content changes the whole dynamic between you and journalists.

Your user acquisition can be much more frictionless

Whether you are running ads or acquiring users in another way, content makes the whole process that much easier.

It’s fairly straightforward. If I come across an ad for a company I’ve never heard of, I might click, I might not, but even if I do, it’s a very cold click, and converting me will be quite the challenge.

If, however, I see that ad and think to myself, “Oh, I know that company. I read their blog, listen to their podcast, or follow them on Twitter,” the chances of engaging me are significantly higher. Simply put, content elevates your brand.

Business development with a stranger is not as fun as with someone who trusts you

Finally, last but not least, content marketing helps with business development. Imagine going out to dinner with a potential customer and the person sits across from you with a look on his face that says, “What are you selling this time?”

Now contrast that with the look on his face that says, “I am loving your content. You clearly know your stuff, and I want to work with professionals. So how do we get started?”

That right there is the difference between cold business development and warm business development. That’s the difference between a company that produces valuable industry content and a company that only focuses on promoting itself.

So, the bottom line, in case it wasn’t clear? Stop reading this and start producing content of your own.

Feature Image Credit: Getty Images

BY HILLEL FULD

TECH MARKETER AND STARTUP ADVISER@HILZFULD

Sourced from Inc.

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Social Media Seems Like the ‘Holy Grail,’ But This Marketing Strategy Is Even More Important

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By Laura Perkes

The often overlooked tactic enhances reach, raises brand awareness and drives new customers and clients to your business

Picture the scene: It’s 2021, and the enormity and popularity of digital marketing is providing entrepreneurs with a plethora of opportunities and the ability to tap into an audience of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of potential customers, all at the push of a button.

When Facebook first launched back in 2004, it really was the first of its kind. Before that, we had MySpace and a few other platforms I’ve never heard of (Friendster or Hi5, anyone?), but none of them had managed to make the impact that Facebook did, and still does.

Since Facebook, we’ve seen the launch of Instagram in 2010 and TikTok in 2016, plus the addition of Instagram Reels in 2020. Not to mention other platforms such as Snapchat and Clubhouse, all giving us access to a wider audience.

In the past 19 years, we’ve all had the luxury of being able to communicate directly with our fans, customers and potential customers in a way that has never been possible before. But before the advent of social media, businesses and brands were built the “old fashioned” way, using more traditional marketing techniques, such as advertising and face-to-face networking.

Social media seems like the Holy Grail

When the world became more digitized, tools such as online advertising, pay-per-click and email marketing grew in popularity and gave entrepreneurs and brands alike the chance to reach an even wider audience. Data was easier to track and metrics and insights enabled you to calculate your return on investment.

For many entrepreneurs and startup businesses, social media seems like the Holy Grail. Not only do you get to build an audience and interact and engage with your followers, but it’s also completely free at the point of entry. Of course, you can now invest in adverts across all social-media channels, but for someone completely new to the business world, social media is a sensible place to start.

Yet there’s a missing piece of the puzzle here. A modality that’s as old as time, but a powerful force when it comes to sharing messages, raising brand awareness and building on the know-like-trust factor. And that’s public relations.

Everything you say and do is PR

Public relations exists so that you can communicate with your audience. If you Google “public relations,” you will find Wikipedia’s definition: “Public Relations is the practice of deliberately managing the release and spread of information between an individual or organisation and the public, in order to affect the public perception.”

So, essentially, everything you say and do is PR, but the platform in which you share your message changes. The tools you use to share your message changes. But the message remains the same. Your audience, generally, stays the same, yet where they hang out may change, based on the launch of new platforms, or the increased popularity of existing platforms, such as YouTube and podcasts.

YouTube first launched back in 2005 and podcasts launched a year earlier in 2004, yet they’ve only really exploded as a business tool over the past few years, giving entrepreneurs and startups the chance to create easy-to-share and easy-to-digest content that their ideal clients will love — content that can then be repurposed across social-media channels.

Back in 2004, when I first started my career in PR, there were really only three types of media outlets to pitch to: print titles, TV and radio. Online titles were seen as the poor relation to print, so we rarely bothered pitching to them as clients didn’t see the value in them — oh how times have changed!

However, because there was less choice, it made it easier to build relationships with journalists and work on features and content ideas with them. Over time, the media landscape has changed, and online started to make a huge impact and podcasts and YouTube channels became prime real estate.

Now, there is way more choice when it comes to gaining exposure, so while you may not consider social media, YouTube or podcasts your typical media outlets, they’re still consumed by your ideal clients, still covering topics that complement what you do, and they still have a ready-made audience of loyal fans that you could (and should) be tapping into. How? Quite simply, by pitching.

One piece of content can be shared and shared again

The way you’d pitch yourself to a podcast host is the exact same way that you’d pitch yourself to a journalist. That is a PR tactic and a skill that publicists have been honing for decades. Now, one of the utterly brilliant, yet often overlooked, powers of PR is that you can take one piece of content and deliver it to millions of people in one go. No other form of communication enables you to do that.

It may take time to build and execute your PR plan. You may not see anything published or broadcast for three to four months, but when it lands, it’s well worth the wait, as your content has the potential to be seen or heard by hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of potential ideal clients and customers. Just think about the circulation of a print publication, then triple it to get an average reach.

Think about the audience size of a podcast, then think how many extra people you can reach by sharing it across your social-media channels. And then think about how many extra people you will reach when the host shares it across their social-media channels. All of a sudden, one piece of content can be shared and shared again, leaving behind a digital footprint and breadcrumbs that can lead even more people to your business.

This is another reason why PR is such a powerful and influential tool — because what you do now is searchable forever. PR isn’t always easy to measure, which potentially adds to its downfall in the ROI stakes, but it’s still a tactic that should be employed, and a muscle that should be flexed, as part of your communications strategy.

PR is yet another way of transporting your business and your expertise to a wider audience, an audience that has been built up and cultivated for decades, that already knows, likes and trusts the outlet and the content they produce.

So, next time you decide to put all your eggs in one basket and focus all of your attention on one particular marketing tool, or one particular platform, ask if there’s a more efficient, more effective way of sharing your message to drive hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of new customers to your business. The answer, in case you missed it, is PR.

By Laura Perkes

Sourced from Entrepreneur Europe

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