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Tips to Develop Marketing Strategy Using Micro-influencers

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The concept micro-influencer marketing which has recently joined the social media scene, has the same concept as of influencer marketing, but on a smaller scale. This involves developing relationships with influential personalities to promote your brand to the influencer’s audience. But approaching just any influencer won’t drive sales — that requires a strategy.

For many businesses, especially small and medium-sized ones, influencer marketing seems challenging because of the high costs involved. However, this is not the only way you can market your brand. If you can’t afford the thousands of dollars charged for a single Instagram post, you can always count on micro-influencers.

Just as the name suggests, they are influencers with a smaller audience base that range between 1000-100,000 followers on their social media profiles. The number of followers shouldn’t matter compared to what these types of influencers have to offer. Their small followers make it possible for them to engage with them directly unlike influencers with a large following.

How can you develop your marketing strategy using micro-influencers? Here are 5 tips to get you started.

1. Turn micro-influential fans to brand advocates

Influencers who already love your brand are the best type to select. If you are developing a marketing strategy and want to reap the benefits of micro-influencers, look no further than that everyday consumer who has at least 1000 followers.

It will be very easy to convince such a fan to be your brand advocate. Offering them a discount or a free product can be enough to convince them to represent your brand on social platforms. The best part is that micro influential fans are more relatable to customers than celebrities and influencers with millions of followers.

Recommended: 6 Secrets to Getting a Social Influencer’s Attention

You can get started on this by monitoring your brand mentions on social media. There are many tools that you can use for social listening. You will be surprised at the long list of influential fans who are always talking about you. Use them to promote your brand among their hyper-engaged audiences.

Alternatively, you can turn that consumer who regularly interacts with your business on social media to be your brand advocate as they do on Glossier.

2. Tap into storytelling

If you have reached this far with your social media marketing strategy, probably you have come to the realization that using still photos of your product is not getting you the traffic you want to get. Instead, have your micro-influencers tell the story.

Storytelling is a powerful tool that makes potential customers associate your business with something they can relate. It taps into emotions, thus encouraging potential customers to take action. Use the superpower of stories.

Encourage your micro-influencers to tell flesh and unique stories about your brand in their own voice. Let them share their own experiences or personal stories as a testimony that relates to your brand. Such narratives resonate well with your target audience since they are relatable. Make the stories believable to gain more attention and credibility.

3. Set up a long-term campaign

In marketing campaigns, one is never enough. If your goal is to promote your brand, a one-off influencer campaign is not enough to gain your brand awareness you need. Unless you are promoting the launch of a new product, you will need to be consistent with your campaigns. Ensure the influencer posts regularly in the appropriate times and at reasonable intervals.

Hire micro-influencers on a long-term basis. When the influencer talks about your product for a long period, your target audience absorbs more information about the brand from them. It will sink in their mind better and promote brand recall as well as recognition.

Give the micro-influencers a long term contract. If it expires, renew it again for as long as they are interested. A study by Experticity found out that 82% of customers are more likely to follow recommendations made by a micro-Influencer.

4. Have your micro-influencers’ content reviewed and optimized

The effectiveness of an influencer’s content comes from how original, authentic, and natural it is. That is how they manage to get a large following on their social media profiles. Content is the king. As a brand, you have a responsibility to ensure the content posted by your micro-influencers aligns with your marketing goals and values.

With this, your brand becomes visible on other online sites that you might have never gotten an audience. You can join forces with the micro-influencers by reviewing their content before they post.

Promote such content by sharing it on your online platforms. The influencer should also return the favor by promoting your content in their profiles. However, this should be done in a smart way to avoid losing the authenticity of your micro-influencers‘ content.

5. Measure the effectiveness of the micro-influencers in real-time

Don’t use micro-Influencers in your marketing strategy with no purpose. Like any other marketing strategy, you should measure their performance using the key metrics.

You will get to know where your micro-influencers campaign strategy is working and where to put more effort. There are various tools you can use to get real-time analysis of engagement and click-through rates. You will in return increase your ROI.

Bottom line:

If you are still not utilizing influencer marketing due to the thousands of dollars you will need to invest, you are losing out on a lot. Micro-Influencers are out there promoting your competitors’ brands effectively and at very friendly rates.

With the above useful tips, you will get ahead of the game and reap the benefits of using micro-influencers. You will enjoy watching your brands’ engagement rates and conversations skyrocket. What are you waiting for? Start using micro-influencers for your marketing strategy today!

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Kevin Whalez is a marketing specialist, business consultant, and psychologist, who investigates how to make people and organizations more effective. He is passionate about leveraging the right strategic partnerships and scaling your online influence. He is a regular contributor to PotencyUP website, as well as to various marketing and business related resources.

Sourced from The Next Scoop

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Marketers Must Reshape How They Build Trust And Loyalty For Their Brands

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By Benjamin Herrmann

Customer trust and brand loyalty are inextricably linked, essential to long-term business success, and tougher than ever to gain and retain. With all the breaches, hacks, and misuses of customer data in recent years, customer trust is low. And with the proliferation of digital channels making upstart competitors a mere millisecond-click away, loyalty is precarious, as well.

This reality, along with digital channels becoming the norm in buying from and interacting with both B2C and B2B customers, means that it’s mission critical to reshape the way you’re building customer trust. In the digital landscape, brands need to focus on tapping into the right customer data in a way that is mindful and doesn’t cross boundaries of privacy, while also prioritizing transparency and individualized support tailored to each customer.

Here are three best practices you can use in your marketing strategies to build customer trust and lasting loyalty in the digital age.

1. Respect privacy and avoid “creepiness” when personalizing experiences

“Customers are done with creepy; don’t be creepy,” Alex Atzberger, president of SAP customer experience, said at the 2018 SAPPHIRE NOW conference. “Without consent, don’t personalize.” He couldn’t have been more right.

Personalization plays a major role in thoughtfully engaging customers, but when it isn’t handled with care, brands can lose favor with customers who suspect their privacy isn’t being prioritized. New laws around data governance, such as GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act, help give customers an extra layer of security, but the responsibility still lies with brands to create personalized experiences without being creepy or crossing any lines with the consumer.

The challenge is that we have access to more data than ever, especially customer data around specific behaviors and preferences. It’s natural as a brand to want to make use of any and all data you can access to create a better user experience, but respecting customer privacy must be the top priority. Plus, the better results will come from identifying and acting on the right data, rather than trying to make everything you can get your hands on into something actionable.

Mastering personalization is about showing each individual customer that you’re committed to and respect the relationship they have with your brand.

2. Maintain transparency and keep it consistent across your organization

Transparency should span across every aspect of business, but when it comes to building digital trust with your customers, price transparency is always an important practice. It supports a connected customer experience, adding long-term value by giving your customers the ability to explore pricing options before making purchasing decisions. Be upfront about costs throughout the buyer journey (e.g., taxes, service fees), so customers aren’t seeing them only at the end when it’s time to make a purchase. This way your customers can understand exactly what they’ll be buying and for how much before heading into the final transaction.

Giving your customers trial periods with products also plays an important role in transparency. Many consumer products are set up in this way, from cars to clothing to even food – these items are set out in a way that lets customers view them and try them before they buy. Apply the same principle to B2B products, such as software.

When implementing digital purchasing options into your customer journey, always include trial options. Your customers can use this opportunity to properly evaluate whether or not a product meets the challenges or needs they are seeking to address without needing to make a purchase first. They can then make better, more confident purchasing decisions, which also supports long-lasting trust in your brand.

3. Be helpful along the entire customer journey

Support – especially with digital sales that lacks face-to-face interaction with a sales or service representative – should always be ready and available before, during, and after purchases are made. Customer service takes many shapes: sometimes it’s in-person, other times it’s over the phone or via online chat, and sometimes it’s simply in the background, providing support without the customer realizing it’s there.

B2C companies already focus on support as part of the entire customer journey and experience, infusing the same customer support systems they have in person into their digital platforms. This is a model that B2B companies can use for digital sales and e-commerce, as well. In fact, B2B brands should be held to a higher standard in supplying customer support from a digital perspective, as these customers are used to the high-touch services of a vendor’s field sales team.

Even though your customers want quicker, more seamless online options, you shouldn’t let service levels drop because the customer is no longer working with someone directly. Your customers will still expect your guidance and support throughout their digital journey, through the transaction process and beyond. It’s important to show your customers your commitment to their experience along this path, allowing trust to take shape as you do this.

Customer trust is gained – and kept – by aligning goals. Your customer’s goal is to solve a problem, improve a process, transform their business, etc., and your top goal should always be to support customers along their path to achieving their goals. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution to building trust, especially in digital interactions, but incorporating these best practices into your overall marketing strategy is a great starting point.

By Benjamin Herrmann

Connect with Benjamin Herrmann at @bherrmann81 and on LinkedIn.

As head of digital commerce for SAP, Benjamin Herrmann is responsible for developing the digital direct sales channel at SAP across products, professional services, and education. Dedicated to helping customers become best-run businesses, Herrmann has established himself as a leader in B2B digital business models. Prior to his current role, Herrmann was senior director of strategy for SAP Portfolio & Pricing, where he ran board-level change programs. He also worked as an enterprise business architect and lead business architect in the Business Transformation Office for PricewaterhouseCoopers, and served as a lecturer on Information Systems at the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management.

Sourced from D!gitalist

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Five Mistakes You Are Making When Creating Video Content

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Your video content proves your work dynamically, hence it should be a priority to make sure it’s well produced and adds to your marketing strategy.

Producing engaging video content for your business can widen your customer and audience reach. If done right, it serves as an effective marketing tool to enhance your brand’s market presence. Your video content proves your work dynamically, hence it should be a priority to make sure it’s well produced and adds to your marketing strategy. Here are five mistakes that companies often make when they go about creating video content:

1. Producing poor quality video The days of relying on your phone and producing a shaky poor quality video in the name of “authenticity” are gone. The audience now expects a more polished viewing experience. Don’t forget that your video content is an extension of your brand. Produce a poor quality video, and the audience will start to believe you are promoting a poor quality service or product. Perception is reality.

2. Ignoring the importance of sound Audio comprises 50% of your viewing experience. Poor audio can result in your audience giving up on watching the video all together. Make sure to pay attention if filming in public areas. Can an alternate location be used? Is it time to invest in a microphone to ensure smooth sound? The answer is, probably, yes!

3. Over-selling Companies need to remember that viewers tune into video content online to be informed or entertained, not to be sold to. Companies that force their brand and product throughout their video content are unlikely to see the ROI that they need. The most googled terms are “how to” and “how do I,” which means your video content will have the highest engagement if it is answering a question and providing knowledge, as opposed to directly promoting your services.

4. Expecting too much from one video This is when you believe you’ve produced one great video, and you don’t understand why sales haven’t flooded in. Like with most things, this takes time, and video content needs a consistent strategy. It can take 2-3 months to start to see an uptake in your video content. The more visible you are, coupled with the more knowledge you share, will ensure that when clients are ready to pay for your service, since you are at the forefront of their mind.

5. Talking about everything you do in one long video Your video content should never feel like a shopping list. This is not an opportunity to talk about everything you do in one video. A better strategy would be to create shorter 30 second to one-minute videos, each focused on one topic. The average audience online retention is currently at one minute and 40 seconds, and it is consistently getting shorter. That coupled with the optimum durations for different platforms means that in most cases, 30 seconds to one minute and 30 seconds is sufficient to get your message across.

This article was developed in collaboration with Young Arab Leaders (YAL), a pan-Arab, non-profit organization that seeks to promote modern leadership and entrepreneurship among Arab youth, men and women, with a view to improving the socio-economic situation in the Arab world.

As a YAL member, Reim El Houni notes that the caliber of events she has attended with the organization has been unmatched. “They provide exclusive opportunities for members to get up close and personal with some of the UAE’s most influential businesswomen and men, offering insight into industries that you may not normally be exposed to,” El Houni says. “Their events are exclusive and highly curated and are always worth the time investment. Whether it’s their Power Lunches, or their Executive Meetups, you’re guaranteed to walk away with a new perspective and insight into the world of business.”

To learn more about YAL and be a part of its network, check out yaleaders.org. 

Feature Image Credit: Shutterstock 

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CEO, Ti22 Films, dubai ON demand, Fusion Digital Content

Sourced from Entrepreneur Middle East

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How Marketing Strategy Can Impact Recruitment

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By Paul Talbot

Marketing strategy doesn’t just lay out processes to create new customers and retain existing ones. Directly or indirectly, it can position the organization in the minds of current and future employees.

I asked corporate culture consultant Josh Levine, cofounder of CULTURE LABx, to lend his perspective to the ways that marketing strategy can impact employee recruitment and retention.

Paul Talbot: How is marketing strategy changing and why?

Josh Levine: The most important shift that leading companies are making is away from ‘what you’ll get’ and toward ‘the journey you’ll join.’ Sure, salary is important, and perks are nice, but people get excited about a big problem they get to help solve.

To get attention in a noisy marketplace, leaders need to define and communicate a compelling purpose – why they are in business beyond making money.

Talbot: When you look at a marketing strategy, what do you like to see?

Levine: A highly differentiated employer value proposition. Without that, it doesn’t matter how clever your social media campaign is.

Every potential candidate wants to know why they should join your company over another. If it comes down to merely salary and benefits, you’ve already lost – even if they accept the offer, they are unlikely to stay longer than the nationwide average of 18-24 months.

Talbot: Marketing strategy, brand strategy, media strategy, campaign strategy…we have all these strategies that can easily exist independent of one another, or at least lack desirable synergies. How should the organization pull them together and manage them effectively?

Levine: Communication strategies like these are only as good as the story they are built to tell. The problem is that most organizations don’t take the time or have the internal alignment to start at the beginning.

Each team is given a task ‘get clicks,’ ‘break through the noise,’ or ‘drive ROI.’ But what message are we trying to tell? Sure, we want to make sure everyone knows we are a great place to work, but what is unique about us? Which leads me right back to purpose.

Talbot: Just about every marketing strategy attempts to shed light on the target customer. Where does this task fall short, and how can it be improved to more helpfully illuminate the target?

Levine: We just finished a project with a client challenging exactly this question.

It’s surprising, but most traditional target customer profiles still boil down to who they are today. HR leaders and recruiters need to think about the person over time. Where are they in their career arc, how do they see themselves growing, and what will they need to get there?

Talbot: Any other insights you’d like to share?

Levine: Businesses are beginning to accept that to survive, they need to recruit ‘unconventional’ talent from anywhere they can; it’s the new reality of a market with record low unemployment and skyrocketing costs of salaries of people living in the urban core.

We are going to see extreme distributed work forces, and leaders need to be ready to market to these untapped pools of talent. And don’t forget your current employees – after all, it’s much cheaper to keep an employee then find a new one.

Feature Image Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

By Paul Talbot

Minus strategy marketing staggers. I am a somewhat reformed ex-media business executive, with tours of duty at AOL, CBS Radio, and Nationwide Communications. I’m a fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald, the Boston Red Sox, the Principality of Liechtenstein, fried clams, fog, and prices that end in the number 7. Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website.

Sourced from Forbes

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6 foolproof content creation tips to boost your marketing strategy

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By Dave Brown

Buzzwords like ‘content marketing’, ‘content creation strategy’, and ‘content is king’ mean a lot more to businesses today than they did a few years ago.

In the modern, fast-paced, and highly competitive corporate stratosphere, content marketing has become more than just a technique to gain a competitive edge – it’s become a necessity.

Loading video

Today, if you want to gain leads and see those leads converting into

Today, if you want to gain leads and see those leads converting into customers, build a relationship with your audience, and present a consistently good image of your business, you need to put in place the bricks of a strong content marketing strategy.   

With all ventures aiming for the coveted prize, the competition in content marketing is harder now than ever. The only way to stay ahead of the competition is by giving content marketing the attention it deserves and by ensuring that your content remains unparalleled in all aspects.

So how can you leverage your content to tap into authentic growth?    

Let’s dive in to explore a few sure-fire content creation tips and tricks you need to follow.

Stimulate curiosity in the audience

Perhaps the best tip for lead conversions is to combine top-quality content with a premium offer or a bonus that aligns with the topic.

Successful businesses with top-notch content marketing strategy use downloadable checklists and guides, exclusive videos, and detailed analysis reports to push their audience to subscribe to their emails or newsletter. You can use one of two ways to achieve this objective – hire in-house writers or consider a content writing service.

But wait, there’s more!

Ah, caught you!

You can clearly see how powerful this curiosity-piquing trick can be for your content creation strategy.

Well, there’s actually one more crucial point. Make sure that you offer some serious value to your audience before asking them for a favor. Otherwise, you’ll lose their trust!

The safest way to go about this is by splitting your piece of information into half and sharing the first half only, asking the audience to subscribe or click on a link to get access to the remaining half.       

Serialize your content

Lengthy, expansive, and never-ending content isn’t just challenging for you to create but is also hard for your audience to digest.

While it’s true that lengthier pieces of content tend to garner more interest of the audience, there are ways to make them more comprehensible and easily digestible for the readers without compromising on their value.

One such trick is to distribute your content into serials. This will additionally allow you to integrate call-to-actions and other conversion points within the content.

To begin with, consider choosing an engaging topic that meets the interest criteria of your target audience, and break it up into a series of content. You may make the most of this technique by offering the serialized content to your email subscribers only.

Do you know what’s the best part of content serialization is? You don’t need to come up with heaps of content in one go – you’ll have at least a week before the next piece of content has to go!

Repackage your content

Immaculate content creation is that which involves thinking outside the box.

One of the biggest reasons why many businesses fall short on the content marketing front is that they see a piece of content as just that. Your content can offer a myriad of opportunities only if you’re smart enough to realize it.

You can repurpose and recycle your ideas to create fresh, valuable, and interesting content each time in so many ways. To put this point across effectively, I’ll present you with some examples:

  • To promote an eBook, you may recreate one of its chapters into a blog post and utilize the but-wait-there’s-more technique
  • You may use your package quotes as tweets
  • You may create a series of blog posts using the content of a webinar

No matter how you decide to recycle your content, just make sure that it doesn’t lose its value and isn’t straightaway plagiarized.  

Go over the top

Hundreds and thousands of people create and publish content but not every piece is of a great standard. In fact, most of it is of bad quality. And you can use this to your advantage. Should you ask how, you must have seen how something that’s of superior quality stands out from the crowd instantly.

Your content should be able to do the same!

Sounds like a great idea, right?

But how does one produce content that surpasses every other piece on the internet?

Here’s a rule of thumb to follow: find content that is worthy to be linked, come up with something better and unique, and present it to the right audience.

Although this type of content involves hard-core research and requires a lot of time, effort, and dedication, it’ll help you yield amazing results for much longer.

Make summary posts of big content pieces

Want to set your existing content up for some brownie points?

Consider making a list of the things that your audience will learn from a longer piece of content and use it to create a summary post for a multi-distribution platform, such as LinkedIn. Content, video, and amount of users are a few reasons why LinkedIn is on the rise. Get in early to take full advantage of this platform.

The digestible shorter piece should offer valuable insights into your main longer post. You’ll be surprised how this simple trick will boost traffic rate for you!

Use your predictive eye

Another way to create quality content is by predicting which topics will be popular amongst and well-received by the audience.

This doesn’t mean you’ll have to sit in front of a crystal ball and try to look into the future but by simply being aware of what your competitors are doing that seems to work wonders for them.

Again, you shouldn’t be aiming to copy exactly what they’re doing rather just to use it to your own advantage.

Look for topics and types of content that have done well in the past for similar businesses in the industry, keep track of the keywords that are working best for your competitors, and use learned knowledge to create kick-ass content for your own business.

If you’re ready to step in the corporate stratosphere, make sure that you create your content with the audience and your company’s growth in mind. The key is to deliver content that provides value to your audience while generating value and saving investment for your business at the same time.

With these content creation tips in mind, there’s no reason why your work won’t stand out from the crowd.

By Dave Brown

Sourced from TNW

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The Forbidden Truth Regarding Marketing Consultant Revealed by an Expert

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By [email protected]

Marketing consultant must be in a position to take care of any issues or problems that may come up during your advertising campaign quickly and efficiently.

Marketing consultant must be in a position to take care of any issues or problems that may come up during your advertising campaign quickly and efficiently. You want to discuss with a professional marketing and advertising consultant who can help you find your own strengths and weaknesses and help you position yourself in the industry. An excellent marketing and advertising consultant must be a specialist in many different advertising and marketing practices and strategies. An advertising consultant is a person who truly understands that marketing is vital to business success and penetration. He is the person who can helps a company decide how to best engage existing clients. A growth promoting consultant may be a great idea for your company.

Online marketing is a multifaceted game and societal media is part of the entire game. The Marketing Process An advertising consultant will use a step-by-step procedure to help create a productive advertising plan. Plenty of search engine marketing requires the utilization of relevant keyword phrases as well as the usage of relevant backlinks.

To get the most out of your associations with copywriters and consultants, you want to understand what they both do best-and when you require each. You should first assess the consultant’s experience so as to guarantee superior support. Now, an individual cannot just assume he or she is able to turn into a Multi Level Marketing consultant. It is essential that as a Multi Level Marketing specialist, you will have the ability to advise people or other network companies on how they’ll have the ability to meet success and how much time it will take.

Marketing consultants provide valuable insight into your company. Moreover, your advertising consultant personally designs an approach to fix your problems. An advertising consultant looks at the present business model and after that, using analytical tools, considers the industry potential and develops a strategy to attain larger goals. He can help your business create marketing plans and marketing strategies. Business advertising consultants are usually talented enough to think of a business plan which will attract attention and will guarantee potential clients. They can be a great service to your business. When hiring business advertising consultants, make sure to assess your candidates thoroughly to make sure you’re choosing the very best person for the job.

In the event the consultant isn’t asking questions, there is an enormous chance he isn’t understanding your problem. He will also discuss how your marketing ideas will affect your business and which parts of the plan you should fine-tune. So before you employ any sort of SEO consultant ask for a completely free site audit. A search engine optimization consultant will look after the entire course of action. If you’re going to employ a professional search engine optimisation consultant, make sure you check his credentials carefully. The very good search engine marketing consultants will also let you know what you have to ask a search engine optimization company so you will not to be fooled into paying too much. Timing A superior local search engine optimisation consultant will always complete his job punctually and won’t extend the time limits to provide you your preferred service.

Sourced from Thrive Global

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The Forbidden Truth Regarding Marketing Consultant Revealed by an Expert

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Sourced from Thrive Global

Marketing consultant must be in a position to take care of any issues or problems that may come up during your advertising campaign quickly and efficiently.

Marketing consultant must be in a position to take care of any issues or problems that may come up during your advertising campaign quickly and efficiently. You want to discuss with a professional marketing and advertising consultant who can help you find your own strengths and weaknesses and help you position yourself in the industry. An excellent marketing and advertising consultant must be a specialist in many different advertising and marketing practices and strategies. An advertising consultant is a person who truly understands that marketing is vital to business success and penetration. He is the person who can helps a company decide how to best engage existing clients. A growth promoting consultant may be a great idea for your company.

Online marketing is a multifaceted game and societal media is part of the entire game. The Marketing Process An advertising consultant will use a step-by-step procedure to help create a productive advertising plan. Plenty of search engine marketing requires the utilization of relevant keyword phrases as well as the usage of relevant backlinks.

To get the most out of your associations with copywriters and consultants, you want to understand what they both do best-and when you require each. You should first assess the consultant’s experience so as to guarantee superior support. Now, an individual cannot just assume he or she is able to turn into a Multi Level Marketing consultant. It is essential that as a Multi Level Marketing specialist, you will have the ability to advise people or other network companies on how they’ll have the ability to meet success and how much time it will take.

Marketing consultants provide valuable insight into your company. Moreover, your advertising consultant personally designs an approach to fix your problems. An advertising consultant looks at the present business model and after that, using analytical tools, considers the industry potential and develops a strategy to attain larger goals. He can help your business create marketing plans and marketing strategies. Business advertising consultants are usually talented enough to think of a business plan which will attract attention and will guarantee potential clients. They can be a great service to your business. When hiring business advertising consultants, make sure to assess your candidates thoroughly to make sure you’re choosing the very best person for the job.

In the event the consultant isn’t asking questions, there is an enormous chance he isn’t understanding your problem. He will also discuss how your marketing ideas will affect your business and which parts of the plan you should fine-tune. So before you employ any sort of SEO consultant ask for a completely free site audit. A search engine optimization consultant will look after the entire course of action. If you’re going to employ a professional search engine optimisation consultant, make sure you check his credentials carefully. The very good search engine marketing consultants will also let you know what you have to ask a search engine optimization company so you will not to be fooled into paying too much. Timing A superior local search engine optimisation consultant will always complete his job punctually and won’t extend the time limits to provide you your preferred service.

By [email protected]

Sourced from Thrive Global

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Marketing Strategy: Are You Spending Wisely and Making the Right Moves?

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By Vanessa Walker

Rapidly evolving consumer trends are making beverage industry marketers evaluate whether their strategies are in sync with what’s motivating consumers. All industries face the challenge of change, so consider these three questions as you assess your marketing strategy.

1. How’s your social life?
It’s common sense for brands to have a social media strategy, but can you afford to leave that social interaction to chance?

Most brands have become quite good at engaging influencers to build loyalty, especially through the use of social media influencers. An influencer, by definition, is someone who lives on social media and has a particular expertise or personifies a specific lifestyle such as fitness, beauty, or parenting, and has amassed a multitude of followers or fans. They may wield great influence; however they are not a magic pill.

Many marketers today quickly offer to pay for a post, however if the over-posed selfie with the branded product is a one-time shot, Millennial consumers will view this as an unauthentic endorsement, and the money spent will be a waste, even possibly damage the brand’s reputation through over commercialization. If an influencer doesn’t already use your brand, or live the brand’s lifestyle authentically, move on, as this swipe right generation will not be impressed.

2. Are you leaving everyone else on the sidelines and only focusing on Millennials?
If you’re not sure how to reach Millennials, go to Instagram or Snapchat and search your friend’s kids’ pages.

Marketing to Millennials is the hot topic, but what about Gen Xers, born between the late 60’s and late ‘70’s? What about the better-than-ever generation between X and Boomers, who are getting younger every decade, or so it seems. Those two groups have money to spend and social media skills, too.

Gen Xers want to have relationships with their brands, and not just digital ones, either. They grew up watching TV commercials with catchy jingles in the ‘70s and require other forms of communication beyond an Instagram post. Are you still budgeting for and engaging in those activities? While Millennial research shows they would rather spend money on experiences vs. things, they largely live in the digital world. If you want to market a beverage, food or other tangible item which offers varying consumers an experience, get out there and see the people (again). Leave the blogosphere and spend hard marketing dollars on personal connections. Faces sell cases, an old beverage delivery man’s motto, and it works to this day with so many consumers across many verticals.

CELSIUS, a leading fitness drink, is banking on building a brand by association, through Tough Mudder, the 10 mile obstacle course races which combine mud and teamwork. In a quest to market an active lifestyle beverage brand, this platform is a perfect place to interact with consumers who are committed to going outdoors to experience life while trying new things. This community of all ages is strong, and fiercely loyal to the brands which support them. CELSIUS launched a partnership with Tough Mudder in 2018 and is enjoying the benefits of “Tough Mudder Presented by CELSIUS,” which gives the brand a platform to sample consumers of every age group at weekend events nationwide. The branded obstacle courses, dedicated digital content series, and consumer on site interaction, provide CELSIUS with educational opportunities to build awareness, gain trial and build a nationwide community of brand fans. The wide ranging demographics are focused on living fit, active lives—a target rich environment who will taste and experience the brand.

3. Should you plan your work and work your plan or wing it a bit?
Larger beverage brands have traditionally had a top down approach to marketing, whereas marketing a smaller brand or innovative challenger brand requires listening to consumers first and following with an authentic response to build loyalty—and ultimately sales. Sometimes the best way to market isn’t with a set-in-stone plan telling consumers what to do, but a nimble plan flexing marketing dollars to take advantage of events which appeal to the target audience. The payoff may include viral sharing and earned media, plus a momentum build that creates the perception the brand is “everywhere.” Marketers need to give consumers ways to discover their brand by being present in their social worlds—online and on the ground.

As an example, CELSIUS marketers noticed reality television star Sammi Sweetheart posting her pre-workout routine, which included drinking the brand. With over 2.6 million followers, they reached out to invite her to an iHeart Radio event they were sponsoring in her local area. Interest in Sammi and what she was up to generated a live mention on the Z100 morning show with Elvis Duran, reaching millions of target listeners with an authentic, double endorsement.

What Should You Remember?
Consumers aren’t going to stop preferring experiences over products, which can be a great opportunity. Social media done right is a two-way street that provides relevant content to consumers and invaluable exposure to marketers. Choose your influencers wisely. An engaging individual with a growing social following is far better than someone with a huge following who doesn’t have an authentic brand connection. Keep your eyes and ears open to see what consumers are telling you and what your next move should be.

By Vanessa Walker

Vanessa Walker is executive vice president of marketing and innovation at Celsius Holdings, Inc.

Sourced from Chief Marketer

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3 Reasons Why Your Small Business Needs a Marketing Strategy

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By  Nikki Richard 

Small business owners have a lot on their plates. Believe me, I know . . . I am one, myself!

And because you’re so busy, there are probably days when you get so immersed in daily tasks that you’re not really working seeing a bigger picture. Sound familiar?

Of course, you might just be having an off day . . .

Or maybe your small business isn’t following a plan or aiming for a specific target or goal. Maybe you don’t have a marketing strategy in place, or the one that you do have isn’t being followed.

According to a 2017 report from Smart Insights, 49% of organizations don’t have clearly defined marketing strategies.

That means that approximately half of businesses are marketing in the dark!

A marketing strategy is essential for the health of a small business. Here are three reasons why, if you don’t already one, you need to develop one as soon as possible.

1. Organization

As I alluded to earlier, setting goals and working in sync is vital if you really want to accomplish anything significant. If your small business doesn’t have a marketing strategy, how are you and your team of employees supposed to work as one?

Are you all scattered? Working towards different goals? Just managing tasks as they come?

Remember, marketing is a team sport. A strategy makes your goals clear, and it also provides your team members with a blueprint on how to market your products and services.

2. Productivity

Without a written plan in place, how do you evaluate which of your marketing tools works best for each of your different products, services, and needs?

Have you taken the time to plot your different price points? Have you analyzed customer data to determine how you can best market to your target demographic?

If you don’t currently have a marketing plan, the answer to all of these questions is likely “no” . . .A marketing plan will allow you and your team to manage and maintain all of these elements. You’ll be able to optimize every area of marketing, maximize your return on investment (ROI) for every marketing decision, and increase productivity at every juncture.

3. Growth

And most importantly, a good marketing strategy is critical for your small business’s growth. Without a proper marketing plan, it’s very likely that your business will get caught in a very common vicious cycle. Perhaps you’re familiar with it:

You ramp up your marketing efforts for a few weeks. For the most part, it’s working; and you’re able to bring in more customers, orders, clients, et cetera. Then you switch your focus from marketing to satisfying your new customers. Eventually, those customers leave and you’re back at square one – rushing your next marketing campaign.

Sure, your company can survive this way. But your business won’t grow. Until you learn how to serve your customers and market simultaneously, you’ll just be jogging in place.

A strong marketing strategy, on the other hand, will make it easier for your team to be consistent with your organization’s marketing efforts.

By  Nikki Richard 

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Read more at https://www.business2community.com/small-business/3-reasons-why-your-small-business-needs-a-marketing-strategy-02093827

Sourced from Business 2 Community

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