As you wave goodbye to another year, and January is hitting you right in the planner, your marketing mind is thinking, ok, what is 2023 for my brand? What can I do this year to take my brand further? How can I make a larger impact? How can the brand break through the clutter and demonstrate it’s our year.

First, you start with Data. If you find the time to invest in collecting the right data, and ensure you then in turn take the time to analyze it properly, you’ll find the data as your gold. It’s the ammunition you need to find what is working, and what you need to do more of.

For example for most brands the bread and butter is google analytics, crm, search and social analytics (in addition to any larger media program learnings).

Here are some of the main areas to ensure you’re looking at the right data (no matter the brand):

WEB, SEO and PAID SEARCH:

– Time on Site
– Referral Traffic
– Content engaged with
– Bounce Rate
– Keyword and campaign performance

These are helpful to see how your overall campaigns and content are performing, which channels are bringing in the most traffic, what people are searching for in regards to your brand, and in turn what times/days your brand receives the most traffic.

CRM:

– open rates
– click through rates
– a/b test on subject lines, imagery, topics

It’s best to find your category for benchmarks so you can see if your rates are below or above average and go from there.

ORGANIC AND PAID SOCIAL:

– Which channels are working from a spend perspective
– Engagement Rate for content
– Best and Worst performing posts (content types per channel)
– Day/time
– Cost per View, Click, etc

Each channel will be a little different, but it’s good to look at each separately for social, but also together to see which channels are best for your investment, especially when boosting posts.

With these mandatories, you can see what is working best for your brand across channels. The best part is you’ll probably seen some synergies across these channels, too. For example a certain type of content may resonate well with your consumers no matter where they are. In turn, some types of content may work better on certain channels.

It’s good to evaluate the above every 3 months, and then every 1-2 months thereafter to ensure you’re getting a full yet also recent picture of your brand. In addition, a year over year view is good to see where your efforts and spend is most wisely used for yearly planning.

In turn, after you’ve looked at your data, you want to make sure you move on it (with quality and effort, not just speed). Your audience isn’t waiting around for your content – they’re also looking at your competitors. Based on on your buyer personas, you’ll want to practice what’s working well and optimize accordingly (derivative content, etc).

Another thing to consider as we go into the new year, is the things that matter to consumers. Consumers are searching on their mobile for things that matter to them at that very moment. In moments like this, it is more likely about being both mobile and local. Ensure your product/brand is accessible on a local basis. For example if you have key markets, ensure your product is available to your consumers in their region and in their language, too. Whether it’s through a third party or your own site, be sure your consumer feels comfortable with the information, and also finds it convenient. So convenient that they can access through your website in seconds of finding a piece of content that resonates with them.

Lastly, don’t forget to be nimble. Be ready to change your tactics, and try new ones. The brands who fall behind are the ones who are unwilling to change and try. Ensure your success by being the ones who do.

Image source: pixabay

NFTs – also known as non-fungible tokens – are defined by Invetopedia as “cryptographic assets on a blockchain with unique identification codes and metadata that distinguish them from each other.”

Tons of B2C brands are taking advantage including Starbucks, fashion brands, bands for concerts, and more. So why bother caring in the B2B world?

Recently I wrote about the metaverse and how NFTs are utilized and what came to mind most when it comes to brands and this new tool in marketing is events. The metaverse is one location, but in real life events or brand events such as live streams can utilize NFTs as well.

B2B Brands can utilize NFTs with potentially the following:

• Event admission with NFT
• Event bonus content
• Brand loyalty created through NFT in wallet
• Brand ambassadorship through specific NFT in wallet
• Utilizing the cool factor of the popular types of NFTs
• Partnerships with other brands who are already in the space vs starting from scratch
• Partnering with creators who have made an impact vs creating your own

It’s not about you in the space, it’s about the person who carries the NFT in their wallet, and what it means to them. What feeling will it evoke? What type of attention will that carry? Will it provide some sort of special place in the crypto space for them? Will it give them loyalty points? Will they get special access to things or events or products/services?

Lots of things to consider here, but the main point is – what is the value YOUR brand is providing.

As brand/agency marketers we sometimes focus too much on what the business needs are and what we need to market, sometimes we forget, or let slide the fact that the customer/consumer/client and what they need/want is a key part of what is being marketed. Payroll administration services for small businesses cater specifically to their resource-saving needs. All organizations need to save costs, and that’s especially true for small businesses, the decision to outsource.

What it’s not about:

- using the cheapest paid marketing: this is just inefficient spend

- trying to get content out fast: this is not thinking strategically but instead tactically

- creating a bunch of content to serve up: it’s not about quantity, it’s quality (we know this)

- being everywhere at once with the same message: tailoring content to audience and platform is important. The same content format and message will not resonate everywhere.

- just doing what has worked in the past: yes it may have worked in the past, but trends, behaviors, and platforms change.

What matters more in today’s digital marketing world:

- Where the consumer is, and why they’re there: this allows you to tailor the content and message appropriately and/or be there or not be there based on the consumers reason for being there (i.e. does it work for your brand)

- Nowadays, hiring the best digital marketing agency has become crucial for businesses to connect with customers and promote brands and products. Since most buyers have smartphones, they prefer online purchases, and digital marketing has the solutions for customers, over at https://www.socialboosting.com/buy-tiktok-likes/ are great at promoting any type of business. It helps both the business and the customers; businesses can display their products to attract buyers, while the customers easily find the products for which they are looking and those are the advantages of digital marketing for business.

- Understand who your consumer is and what their behaviors are: understand your audience before creating your content. They may prefer a type of format over another.

- Think from their perspective: would you want to be marketed this why?

- Understanding where you are marketing: The platforms and channels change constantly, you need to understand the changes and what that means for how your content is displayed, engaged with, consumed, etc.

- Measure, Measure, and oh, yeah, Measure: You need to understand what is working for your client/audience today, not just yesterday. Things change, and so does your audience. Be ready to pivot, optimize, and rejigger your content and digital strategy based on your learnings.

Until next time, keep a pulse on your consumer.

“Digital, Digital, get down”… (quoting N*sync for a hot second), and chill out. We’ve all felt it, the digital fatigue that has run its course through our fingertips on the keyboard, our fake webex backgrounds, zoom filters, and hangouts. After one video meeting to another, it gets a little tiring. You’re literally drained. And you didn’t even have to commute!

So what do brands do, when their target audience is tired of being online?

We have to get creative. We have to remind our audience why they love our brand. And speak to them in a way that shows “you – the brand” care and understand. Reach out to them in a way which is not intrusive, yet fun, helpful, educational, and/or just plain awesome.

Your brand really, really….really has to push out content that matters, and is quality. Just putting out content for contents sake, has never worked, and definitely will not right now.

There’s a lot of chaos and commotion in the digital media air, and your brand can only push through it if your content stands out. Here are a few ways:

1. Entertain: This is the most fun, yet hardest way. Your brand should still be authentic to itself, but consider humor, where possible to lighten the mood. If your brand doesn’t do humor, consider partnering with someone who can help in the entertainment side, to push your brand into new audiences, and impress your current one. For example, use an influencer, musician, comedian, actor, instagram star, etc – who has a way of compelling an audience to “stop, and listen”. It makes them stop in their feed. Aesthetic also matters, so ensure the look and feel is quality, and authentic to your brand’s look and feel, too. One brand that has stood out to me lately is Bala (Bala bangles for exercise), because they’ve put on a nostalgia, throwback, aesthetic to their ads that definitely stopped me in my tracks and in my feed. I mean check out their insta here.

2. Be Helpful: Provide tips and tricks that help your audience whether in a particular area, or in their overall wellness. For example, during the pandemic, a lot of people have been coping with stress, food delivery services, health, wellness, and more. If your brand can help relieve a pain point, or has a product/service that specifically can cater to an area of help, point it out deliberately. Let your people know! Let them know you’re here and ready to give them what they need, at their finger-tips. For instance, getting their food already prepared for the week, a discount on their favorite delivery service, hair and nail essentials that can be done at home, how to make fun cocktails to entertain their friends in a safe environment, and/or how to take learn X hobby online with friends. Make your value known, and make it known easily.

3. Educate: Similar, to being helpful, it’s good to make it known to your audience what you have to offer. Especially if you’re a B2B brand, perhaps offer live classes, demos, webinars, or on demand versions of what your audience can learn from in order to apply to their business, fast and efficiently. Don’t make them jump through hoops to learn what you can offer, and how it can help them – bring it to them on a silver platter. Make it shiny and exciting that this education is ripe for their picking. Make it available easily, often, and when and where they want it. Trust me, they’ll be back for more if it truly helps them.

And in the end, remember, sometimes your audience just needs a break, that’s okay too. It’s not the end of a relationship, so remember to give them a ping once in a while to remind them you’re still there, and ready when they are to continue entertaining, helping, and/or educating through your product/service offering.

Today, social media has a significant impact on the global population. You can get your business on social media to improve your marketing practices and enhance your business reach. By then you have to take every user’s query as a priority and respond to them immediately. This will help you build a strong presence on social platforms and build authority.

Until then, zoom out.

image source: pixabay

With the new year half way gone, brands are going through their budgets—and must determine how to spend the remainder based on previous metrics and business needs to ensure they reach their annual digital goals. This includes but is not limited to digital, which entails SEM, Paid Social, Media, CRM, and lead generation.

The last thing any brand wants is to come up short on their budget or on their KPIs.

An important first step is to look back at last year’s and the current year’s analytics, and evaluate what worked based on your brand and segment’s benchmarks, and what makes sense to increase, continue, and kill in regards to strategy and tactics.

According to Forbes, digital is the best way for marketers to truly reach their audience where they already are, and is the most cost-efficient.

Here are five things to consider to increase your digital success:

1) SEO – Review your Google Analytics and Adwords reports to determine the best performing keywords and content, and determine what percentage is coming from SEM vs. SEO.

If your site relies only on paid traffic, your budget will likely end up bleeding dry, unless there is significant investment in SEO capabilities.

Consider the following:

Regular quality content. (And this doesn’t mean quantity!) It means content that a brand’s audience will find valuable. It is content that is distributed in a measured pace so your target audience knows when to expect it.

For example if it’s an article, ensure it’s an article that you can be an authority on, with content your audience will consume thoroughly and hopefully share and/or go on to consume more of in the next installment.

Ensure your content is tagged, and uses proper keywords to compete.

Tag your content in Voice Search, which searchengineland expects to be a major trend in 2018.

Cross-and back-link (where appropriate) to articles with previously well-written content to help direct traffic to your site.

Visit https://victoriousseo.com/services/link-building/ to learn more.

2) Leads – After analyzing where the majority of your leads came from, and the associated spend, determine which lead sources are worth moving forward with.

For most brands, especially B2B, leads are critical to the success of the company. Generating leads enables a brand to nurture potential customers through the sales funnel, and hopefully, convert them into customers and loyal advocates down the road.

What more can brands do?

Facebook is known for cost efficient lead generation, because advertisers are able to specifically target their audience down to interest level, and has reasonably priced lead generation ads.

LinkedIn is another helpful channel, allowing brands to target specific career categories. However, Facebook remains one of the most effective platforms for targeting based on cost.

Bottom line: ensure the tools your brand is using are low CPL and capture quality leads, not just quantity.

3) Engagement –  Analyze the purpose of the engagement tactics your brand utilized last year, and determine if the results made sense for the purpose.

Was it to get clicks, or was it to get shares, or simply to get comments? Each piece of content has a particular purpose.

If you haven’t already, this year you must determine your brand strategy based on intent and purpose in order to measure and analyze accurately.

For example, it’s very difficult to compare the success of a video, which is measured by views, to an article, which is measured by clicks to your site.

In order for your content to be successful, ensure your analytics marketer is comparing apples to apples.

4) Views – As mentioned above, engagement is different and so are views.

Views have different definitions on different channels. Evaluate last year’s numbers based on the channel and their particular benchmarks, rather than the exact amount of views.

Using these insights, your brand can determine which channels are worth continuing with this year, which channels are worth more investment, and potentially, if video works for your brand in the first place.

If video does work for your brand, but not all video, it helps to determine length options (15 vs 30 vs 60), and types of videos (ex. How-to vs. interview).

5) Purchase – Last but definitely not least is purchase. A great example is e-commerce, where your marketing team can see exact calculations to determine which tactics led to the most purchases. Seeking the advice of some marketing experts like Andy Defrancesco would be of great help to your marketing team.

For instance, an alcohol brand selling on a 3^rd party delivery site can attribute their e-mail marketing campaign with the partner to an exact purchase. They can see how many clicks were true attributions, and which marketing tactics did not help at all.

This year, go a bit further and ensure the brand’s tagging and tracking is set for both internally and for partners, so the products and conversions can be measured back to your marketing action based upon the channel used.

Marketing never ends, and neither do the metrics. Is your brand ready?

Originally written for social media club.