tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71064265187958088742024-02-17T00:48:44.140-08:0050 WEEKS OF MARKETING - BYB MarketingBecome a better marketer! Learn how to attract more customers.
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Daniel Hopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16097570896266702933noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7106426518795808874.post-20891450783607007312021-04-10T14:57:00.001-07:002021-04-10T14:57:32.489-07:00How to Manage Customer Relationships with CRM<section class="section section--body" name="49c8"><div class="section-divider"></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="93d9"><img alt="What is CRM?" height="427" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/720/1*LLQrekx_UoXzxOmNhblMYg.jpeg" title="What is CRM?" width="640" /></h3><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>It‘s cheaper to retain customers than it is to attract new ones. It pays to look after them.</b></span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b41a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Wouldn’t it be great to have a tool to help us track our interactions with customers to understand their needs better?</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5633"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And manage ongoing relationships with our customers as well as customer leads.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b670"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It is cheaper to retain customers than it is to attract and convert new ones.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0c2f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Meaning we’re more profitable!</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e09d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This blog explores Customer Relationship Management — explaining how it works and its benefits of using CRM.</span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="7283"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What is Customer Relationship Management?</span></h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="d501"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Customer relationship management (CRM) is a strategic business approach to managing interactions with existing and potential customers.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="250b"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Grounded in the <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/75494/the-profitability-of-customer-loyalty" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/75494/the-profitability-of-customer-loyalty" rel="noopener" target="_blank">foundations of relationship marketing</a>, CRM is often used to describe technology-based systems that manage customer information and solutions.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--pullquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="a84e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Relationship marketing theory provides the foundations of CRM, which is “the process of acquiring, retaining, and partnering with selective customers to create superior value for the company and the customer.” (Parvatiyar & Sheth, 2001)</span></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p" name="2708"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The focus is on customer retention through streamlined processes and staying connected to customers to improve the relationship. Firms manage and analyse their interactions with their past, current and potential customers.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3062"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Firms can use numerous customer communication channels to compile data, including a company’s website, telephone, email, live chat, and social media.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fab0"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The ultimate goal of CRM is to increase sales.</span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="cbd4"><div class="section-divider"></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="5552"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></h3><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="5552"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A Brief History of CRM</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="bf9a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Customer relationship management dates to the 1970s. Initially, businesses used surveys to evaluate customer satisfaction. As computer technology developed, companies used spreadsheets to categorise and analyse data and create lists of customers, which became the basis for database marketing.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ac06"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In the 90s, CRM evolved as more large tech companies such as Oracle got involved and created customer software solutions, including sales force automation and customer service.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5346"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">With the advances in the internet, the early 2000s saw CRM migrate into cloud technology, meaning users could access it online from any computer.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b400"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Being online also removes the burden of installing and updating software, keeping IT costs lower and being extremely flexible for businesses to upgrade as they grow.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b737"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Industry-specific software or full-customised CRM was also replacing standardised CRM options to meet businesses' needs further. Industry data suggest Worldwide spending on CRM will exceed USD 110 Billion by 2027.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--pullquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="2983"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Uncertain markets and dwindling brand loyalty are critical factors which are leading service-based firms to adopt CRM as a business strategy.” (Dewnarain, Ramkissoon, & Mavondo, 2019)</span></blockquote></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="0385"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Benefits of CRM</span></h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="7cc9"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A customer-centric <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/111057/how-to-choose-the-right-marketing-strategy-for-your-business" target="_blank">marketing strategy</a> allows firms to create and maintain relationships with their target market. CRM is a vehicle for this.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b0ec"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">With rising customer acquisition costs and increasingly price-sensitive customers (They do not like to pay more), creating long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships is key to increased customer retention.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="561a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The better we are at providing solutions to customers, the higher chance they will remain loyal, <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.co.nz/blog/post/75494/the-profitability-of-customer-loyalty" target="_blank">increasing their lifetime value to a firm</a>.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="422a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">CRM is a comprehensive approach to providing customer solutions.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="000f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Information kept and organised about leads and customers, as well as every interaction that takes place. If customers regularly interact with multiple people on your team, it allows everyone in a firm to keep track of conversations.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--pullquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="9ff1"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Organisations today must focus on delivering the highest value to customers through better communication, faster delivery, and personalized products and services.” (Chen & Popovich, 2003)</span></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p" name="7aef"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Some of the direct benefits to businesses of using a CRM are:</span></p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="9818"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Increased ability to target profitable customers.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="fc1d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Enhanced salesforce effectiveness and efficiency.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="ba82"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.co.nz/blog/post/83521/sales-versus-marketing-different-roles-but-same-goal" target="_blank">The marketing and sales teams</a> function together more cohesively.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="be60"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We have improved customer service effectiveness and efficiency.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="8136"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Products/services customised to individual customer needs and preferences.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="bcfe"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Communication channels integrated into a single platform.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="a3d0"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Increased responsiveness to changing customer needs.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="122c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Improved data to more precisely <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.co.nz/blog/post/70179/segmenting-your-target-market" target="_blank">segment customers</a> based on their characteristics/needs.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="e759"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Individualised marketing based on customer behaviours.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="7918"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Increased opportunities to cross-sell and up-sell customers.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="7918"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It's a key component of a <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.co.nz/blog/post/67806/the-marketing-and-sales-funnel-explained-marketing-strategy-for-businesses" target="_blank">sales funnel</a>.</span></li></ul></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="85ac"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="7c47"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Functions of CRM</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="5cb8"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The underlying function of CRM is to build customer relationships and to manage these as they mature through distinct stages. Firms keep a database of customer information to understand better those customers and better meet their needs.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2deb"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The firm helps them analyse their customer data to identify sales opportunities and manage customised marketing campaigns from a central location.</span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="226f"><div class="section-divider"></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></h3><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Integration</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="c916"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">For large organisations, one of the most significant benefits of CRM is that everybody has access to the data, making it easier to collaborate across teams and the entire customer lifecycle.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c961"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/83521/sales-versus-marketing-different-roles-but-same-goal" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/83521/sales-versus-marketing-different-roles-but-same-goal" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Sales, marketing, and customer support become integrated</a> and automated.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8247"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Every detail about individual customers is kept, such as who they are and how their interaction with the firm.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d2a0"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Knowing these details helps everyone do their job better as it provides context about customer’s needs and situation, so one staff member can pick up the conversation where the last one left off.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f6db"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Firms can manage inquiries across channels without losing track of conversations.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--pullquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="9a21"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“To some, it meant direct mail, a loyalty card scheme, or a database, whereas others envisioned it as a help desk or a call centre.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="graf graf--pullquote" name="e3b9"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Some said that it was about populating a data warehouse or undertaking data mining; others considered CRM an e-commerce solution, such as the use of a personalization engine on the Internet.” (Payne & Frow, 2005)</span></blockquote></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="bfe4"><div class="section-divider"></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="488f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></h4><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Marketing</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="fe73"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">CRM allows for marketing automation to make it more effective and efficient.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b381"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Firms can set up repetitive marketing tasks such as social media posts or <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.co.nz/blog/post/144400/a-guide-to-email-marketing" target="_blank">email marketing</a> to be sent to groups of customers at various times, with different messages, based on customer segments'<a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/70179/segmenting-your-target-market" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/70179/segmenting-your-target-market" rel="noopener" target="_blank"> individual needs and behaviours</a>.</span></p><img alt="Using email for CRM" height="427" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/720/1*oSlZ3WLbSQ9R6I2grolKbw.jpeg" title="Using email for CRM" width="640" /><p class="graf graf--p" name="9126"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Marketing aims to put the right message in front of the right people at the right time. CRM systems also monitor how customers preferred communication method.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b273"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Daily emails? Weekly emails? Monthly phone calls?</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b273"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="63b5"><div class="section-divider"></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Sales</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="3347"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Automation of the salesforce is another crucial function of CRM. Wherever a customer is in the sales cycle (buyer decision process), firms customise their communication for their situation (assuming we know enough about them).</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1074"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">CRM tracks a customer’s history with the company to know as much about them and tailor their communication.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2273"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It is critical to categorise recent sales leads accurately, as special sales promotions with different offers can be targeted at diverse groups of customers to fit their needs best.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3037"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Firms can focus and prioritise the right leads that are likely to be the best opportunities to close profitable deals. Firms do not want to waste time and resources on prospects who will never become profitable customers or clients.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c84b"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Sales reps can work more efficiently, and sales forecasting becomes more accurate.</span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="9307"><div class="section-divider"></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></h3><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Customer Support</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="ff02"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Another benefit of CRM is that customers are served better on a day to day process.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="86e3"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Direct customer service technologies mean that support becomes more personalised and automated, and customers supported through multiple channels.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7031"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">CRM keeps a record of every customer interaction, the extra insight into customers helping business be more constructive with improving their <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/105923/customer-service-why-it-matters-and-10-key-skills" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/105923/customer-service-why-it-matters-and-10-key-skills" rel="noopener" target="_blank">customer service experience</a> and providing better solutions.</span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="ddaa"><div class="section-divider"></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></h3><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Data Analysis</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="ca47"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Another valuable function of CRM is the ability to analyse customer data collected through multiple digital sources.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e092"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Data mining helps businesses to learn more about their target customers.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="af4e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We can find out where our sales come from, what characteristics our customers have, the best way to communicate with them, and how to best cater to their needs.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="770e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Through analysing our data, we can find patterns in consumer behaviour that informs our decision-making. Identify any potential issues, as well as what is going well.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1eec"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.marketingevolution.com/marketing-essentials/marketing-analytics" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Analytics</a> provides all sorts of customer information, such as their past sales and how they reacted to previous marketing efforts. If we find out that certain customer groups are not purchasing, we can change our offer.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6925"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It can be a trial and error process better to understand their buying behaviour and spending habits over time.</span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="c513"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Final Words</span></h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="8efd"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In summary, a value proposition is the summary statement of why a customer would choose a company’s product or service. It frames how they uniquely provide value to customers.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d466"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This article has discussed the importance of creating a value proposition and the steps a business can take to create its own and differentiate itself from competitors.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="422d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Thank you for reading.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0315"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you enjoyed the content, you might be interested in this article on enhancing customer loyalty.</span></p></div></div></section><div class="blogger-post-footer">BYB Marketing - https://brandyourselfbetter.com/</div>Daniel Hopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16097570896266702933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7106426518795808874.post-60563928778316783682021-03-15T21:11:00.001-07:002021-03-19T19:10:07.317-07:00How to Use Instagram for Marketing in 2021<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img alt="How to Use Instagram for Marketing in 2021" height="360" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1080/1*4vJyGZBXB0QMk0dlNdDXFw.png" title="How to Use Instagram for Marketing in 2021" width="640" /></span></p><section class="section section--body" name="0695"><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p class="graf graf--p" name="8c43"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Instagram is a hugely popular app for using for sharing photos and video media.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2303"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Instagram was one of the top 5 most downloaded app with over a billion active users in 2020.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2d65"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The app is immensely popular with Millenials and Gen Z, around 63% of Instagram users are between the ages of 18 and 34.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="284a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If the age of your target customers is under 35, you need to be marketing on Instagram.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1c5d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Don’t know where to start? Read on — I’ve got you covered.</span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="0d03"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What is Instagram?</span></h1><p class="graf graf--p" name="b65b"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Since its launch in 2010; <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Insta,</em></strong> as its users lovingly refer to it, has become one of the most popular social media platforms of a generation. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3243"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://www.instagram.com/about/us/#:~:text=Mike%20Krieger%20(Co%2Dfounder),2018%20to%20explore%20new%20projects." href="https://www.instagram.com/about/us/#:~:text=Mike%20Krieger%20%28Co%2Dfounder%29,2018%20to%20explore%20new%20projects." rel="noopener" target="_blank">Mike Krieger</a> created Instagram to allow users to edit and share pictures and videos from their mobile devices.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0ec5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">With this emphasis on visual sharing, the platform works similarly to other social networks like Facebook or Twitter. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3fda"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Users create a profile and have a news feed made up of content from accounts they follow and their interaction to scroll through. Users interact with other users by commenting, liking, tagging and private messaging.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="5154"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“What is this trendy thing called Instagram that all the cool kids seem to be into? It’s been around for a few years, quietly picking up traction mostly thanks to everybody’s new obsession with mobile photography…” (Moreau, 2018)</span></blockquote><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The popularity of Instagram</span></h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="f2c3"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Instagram is most popular amongst users aged <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/248769/age-distribution-of-worldwide-instagram-users/" href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/248769/age-distribution-of-worldwide-instagram-users/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">18–34 years</a>. It is the <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/chart/how-often-americans-are-using-social-media/" href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/chart/how-often-americans-are-using-social-media/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">second most accessed network</a> behind Facebook.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="945f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Instagram has over one billion active monthly users,<a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://instafamous.pro/blog/mind-blowing-instagram-stats/" href="https://instafamous.pro/blog/mind-blowing-instagram-stats/" rel="noopener" target="_blank"> more than 60 million photos</a> posted each day, 1.6 billion daily “likes” given, and 500 million Instagram Stories posted.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ed20"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Users browse for an average of 53 minutes per day, and around <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://sproutsocial.com/insights/instagram-stats/" href="https://sproutsocial.com/insights/instagram-stats/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">60%</a> of active users visit the site daily, a further 21% weekly.</span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="91aa"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Instagram as a Marketing Tool</span></h1><p class="graf graf--p" name="db68"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Instagram helps businesses to enhance their visual storytelling rather than just presenting textual information. With the number of active users and the ability to create and share different content types, Instagram can be a great marketing tool for the right businesses.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a1b9"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">According to Social Sprout, the top three industries working with Instagram influencers are luxury brands, sports clothing, and beauty brands.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="cad7"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://business.instagram.com/blog/thank-you-and-happy-birthday-instagram/" href="https://business.instagram.com/blog/thank-you-and-happy-birthday-instagram/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">90%</a> of Instagram users follow at least one business, and there are over <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://business.instagram.com/blog/25-million-businesses/" href="https://business.instagram.com/blog/25-million-businesses/" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">25 million business profiles</strong></a> on Instagram. <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/business/news/insights/how-instagram-boosts-brands-and-drives-sales" href="https://www.facebook.com/business/news/insights/how-instagram-boosts-brands-and-drives-sales" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">83% of users</strong></a> have purchased brands exposed to via Instagram. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6998"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">So, there is plenty of potentials, but you will need to optimise your profile and have a strategy to stand out amongst the crowd.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="e565"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Different social media platforms have become a natural part of companies’ marketing strategies, particularly in small and medium-sized enterprises.” (Virtanen, Björk, & Sjöström, 2017)</span></blockquote></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="561a"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Setting up and Optimising Your Instagram Profile</span></h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="f64b"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">As your name, enter your business name, so you are recognisable — the same with your username, which is a name unique to your profile. Your profile tag we be @username, and your URL is <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">www.instagram.com/username</em>.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="52a4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Users can search for your name and username, so again, pick a username that is recognisable and easy to find. If another profile already has your business name, make sure your business name is in your username. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3ba7"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Both these names can be up to 30 characters long.</span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img alt="Instagram pages" height="360" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/720/1*jb39mxDrXvegh4hsT_5KWQ.jpeg" title="Instagram pages" width="640" /></span><p class="graf graf--p" name="fffd"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Your Instagram bio description needs to make a great first impression, and you must do this in 150 characters. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9b3c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Therefore, it needs to be a concise summary of who you are and how you add value to incentive followers, with a hint of personality.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1b2a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Instagram bios are not searchable, so do not worry about cramming keywords in there.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="190a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Your Instagram profile photo should be your logo. or another familiar image. The recommended size is 1350 x 1080px.</span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="891c"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="700b"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Business Account</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="7d85"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There are two choices for creating your account: logging into your Facebook account or signing up via phone or email. A business account should sign up with a business email, so your Instagram profile is not linked to your personal Facebook account.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f709"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A business account is a must, as they have access to several functions unavailable to a personal account, including:</span></p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="78d5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Instagram Insights to analyse how you are performing.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="54a1"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Instagram ads to promote and reach a larger targeted audience.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="53a2"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Instagram Shopping to showcase products and services.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="5e6e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Contact information for people to call or email you.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="f323"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A call-to-action button on your profile, such as order food or book now.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="ba9a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A Category that tells people what industry you are in or the purpose of your profile.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="becd"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">URL linking to your website or other external sites that of your choice.</span></li></ul></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="2e0a"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Instagram Settings</span></h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="eea9"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Via the three stacked lines in the upper right-hand corner of your profile, click on settings down the bottom<em class="markup--em markup--p-em">.</em></span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0ac1"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There is a lot of settings here, too many to talk about them all. This section is where your privacy, security, notifications, and ads settings are. Via settings, you can manage things on your account,, such as your Stories and who can see them and reply. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0423"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You can also restrict individual accounts (if you have trolls) from commenting and hide comments with certain words.</span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Privacy</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="1d80"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">On Instagram, you can follow people and they can follow you — you don’t mutually connect like on Facebook. Like Twitter, you can follow someone even if they do not follow you and vice versa.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d084"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Users can even put their accounts on private, so they can choose who sees their content. This setting makes it popular with teenagers who often have a private account separate from family.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e0ff"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A business account should be public and all the content public, or why bother!</span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Instagram Story Highlights</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="895d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Instagram Stories can be saved and featured past their 24-hour limit on a profile, in the small circles under an Instagram bio. Think of it as an extension of your bio and an opportunity to showcase your best stories and products, services, promotions. Save stories that have performed exceptionally well will give your brand a great impression to anyone visiting your profile.</span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img alt="Marketing your business on instagram" height="480" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/720/1*nHIIZO-EPfYMAhzugmv82Q.jpeg" title="Marketing your business on instagram" width="640" /></span><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">How Instagram works</span></h1><p class="graf graf--p" name="c0ba"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There are multiple functions to create and consume content on Instagram, so here is how it works.</span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Home Feed</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="dcee"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Instagram feed is where you see content posted from the accounts you follow. This feature is available from the toolbar with the home icon. Users can scroll through content from profiles they follow, like or comment on content, and also see content users they follow have engaged with. The algorithm decides what content is shown and is relevant based on your activity. Refresh the feed to show different content.</span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Explore</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="431b"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Explore page real-time content curation. Appearing on the same page as the search function, content a person sees is chosen based on their interaction and interests. When users engage, you are more likely to show up on their follower’s explore page.</span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Instagram Stories</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="b654"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Separate from regular Feed, coming in a “slideshow” format. Stories appear in a small area above the Feed. Stories disappear after 24 hours but can be saved to your profile, as mentioned above.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e30f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Viewable on your profile if someone clicks on your profile photo or in the Feed over followers. You can use Hashtags and geotagging (location) to increase your audience potential.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1004"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Many more extensive profiles often post numerous a day, and they are usually less polished than a post. Often spur of the moment or behind-the-scenes.</span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Instagram Reels</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="344c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There is a new tab on the toolbar called Reels. Reels are multi-cut videos that are essentially Instagram’s answer to TikTok. Fifteen seconds long, users create Reels from the Instagram app camera. There is a catalogue of music, sound effects and user-generated Reels media available to create a video.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9a67"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Brands can use Reels to create engaging content.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="e189"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Social media marketing is particularly powerful in supporting new product launches.” (Virtanen, Björk, & Sjöström, 2017)</span></blockquote><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Instagram Shopping</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="eed9"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Instagram allows business profiles to create an online store on Instagram. Shopping now has its tab on the toolbar, and users can view an individual brand’s shop from a button on their profile.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7b63"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Via the Shop tab on the Explore page, users can search for products or see products from brands they already interact with on Instagram. One hundred thirty million Instagram users tap on shopping posts every month.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3652"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Businesses can tag products in posts, Stories, and on IGTV. Then, by turning on Auto-highlighting in settings, all posts with product tags are saved to your profile’s Stories Highlights, so they are viewable on your face.</span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">IGTV</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="d865"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">IGTV is a long-form, vertical video format. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a4e9"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">IGTV allows Instagram users to create channels to upload videos between 15 seconds and 10 minutes long. There is a standalone app, but users can also find IGTV content on Instagram through previews in Feed, the IGTV channel in Explore, and creators’ profiles.</span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img alt="Instagram TV" height="414" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/720/1*n_lbMysG3ruBx_dN0S4bLQ.jpeg" title="Instagram TV" width="640" /></span><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Instagram Strategy</span></h1><p class="graf graf--p" name="da78"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Now we know about some of the features of Instagram. It is time to think about your business strategy to harness some of this platform’s power.</span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Define Your Goals and Your Audience</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="a7a4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Think about what you are trying to achieve on Instagram. It is likely to be one or more of the goals below.</span></p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="667e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Create an online presence for your business or brands.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="93d1"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Increase brand awareness.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="a2f1"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Get new leads.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="d0eb"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Establish your brand as an industry leader.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="8006"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Sell products directly from the app.</span></li></ul><p class="graf graf--p" name="f475"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Define your target market to help you create content that this audience would be interested in.</span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Best Time to Post and How Often?</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="80ac"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Try to post when your audience is most active. The best time to post is when followers are on Instagram, between 8:00 am and 9:00 am (when people are getting ready for work etc.), or midday until 2 pm.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d69b"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Sunday is the worst day to post content, and Monday and Thursday the best days. Schedule your posts to go live during these periods with tools like <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="http://signup.hootsuite.com/na-eng-instagram/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=selfserve-bau-na-en--us-pua-google_search_nonbranded_bmm-&utm_term=%2Binstagram%20%2Bschedule&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvcWWsJTM2QIV12x-Ch1iIAn_EAAYASAAEgKY-_D_BwE" href="http://signup.hootsuite.com/na-eng-instagram/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=selfserve-bau-na-en--us-pua-google_search_nonbranded_bmm-&utm_term=%2Binstagram%20%2Bschedule&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvcWWsJTM2QIV12x-Ch1iIAn_EAAYASAAEgKY-_D_BwE" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Hootsuite</a> or <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://sproutsocial.com/lps/instagram-posting-demo/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=US_GS_ENG_NB_Instagram_Publishing&utm_content=Instagram_Posting_SKAG&utm_term=instagram%20posting&creative=252512049311&AdExtension=&Location=9030664&Matchtype=p&Device=c&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvcWWsJTM2QIV12x-Ch1iIAn_EAAYAyAAEgJV1PD_BwE" href="https://sproutsocial.com/lps/instagram-posting-demo/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=US_GS_ENG_NB_Instagram_Publishing&utm_content=Instagram_Posting_SKAG&utm_term=instagram%20posting&creative=252512049311&AdExtension=&Location=9030664&Matchtype=p&Device=c&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvcWWsJTM2QIV12x-Ch1iIAn_EAAYAyAAEgJV1PD_BwE" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Sprout Social</a>.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3fa3"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Post consistently to stay in the Feed of followers regularly, but do not over-post. One to two posts per day maximum, so you do not overwhelm and annoy followers.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="164c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If all they see is your brand on their news feed, they might unfollow you.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="4354"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“The most efficient practice in generating followers for a company’s Instagram account is following other users — in this case, potential customers. This action-reaction pattern can be called “follow for follow”, describing the practice of following to be followed back.” (Virtanen, Björk, & Sjöström, 2017)</span></blockquote><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Engage with People and Content</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="afe7"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you want engagement on Instagram, you must engage yourself,, how the algorithm works on many social media networks.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="65f8"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Respond to comments on your content. It also pays to seek out popular accounts in your industry, follow them, and like and comment on their posts.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="559e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Virtanen, Björk, and Sjöström (2017) found a positive relationship between following other accounts and receiving likes on your content. It works as a bit of giving and take.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3280"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">After you follow an account and interact with their content, you naturally draw attention to your account. That user then receives a notification when you engage, prompting them to check out your account and start following you.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2715"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If somebody tags you in their Story or post, make sure to give them a thumbs up or respond. Better yet, reshare their Story to your own.</span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Use Stories</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="ef95"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Stories are a vital part of an Instagram marketing strategy. Business post <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://business.instagram.com/a/stories" href="https://business.instagram.com/a/stories" rel="noopener" target="_blank">a third</a> of the most-viewed Stories on Instagram. Therefore, it does not matter if you are a friend or brand — if you post interesting content, people engage.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="754d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Have a message in mind with your stories; try not to post meaningless random content unless you want that associated with your brand.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a035"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Experiment with different types of content to see what engages their audience best. Types of content available for stores are:</span></p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="6482"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">photos</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="cb77"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">short video</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="a17f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">rewind video</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="05cd"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">live video</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="3800"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">boomerangs (images that play on a loop)</span></li></ul><p class="graf graf--p" name="5e3f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Use tools like <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://www.canva.com/" href="https://www.canva.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Canva</a> and <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://invideo.io/" href="https://invideo.io/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">InVideo</a> to edit images and videos to make them branded and stand out. Other functions include tagging other accounts, adding a location GIF, music, poll, a countdown sticker to a product launch or special event, and let people ask questions.</span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img alt="Kylie Jenner Instagram" height="360" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/720/1*pBdp_E_dUKtyXMROVqZHhA.png" title="Kylie Jenner Instagram" width="640" /></span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Use Influencers for Wider Reach</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="d94d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A popular marketing tactic on Instagram is to use the fame of a celebrity or well-known public figure to promote your brand. This benefits a brand by exposure to the large audience of the influencer.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="40aa"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://civicscience.com/nearly-half-of-daily-instagram-users-have-made-a-purchase-based-on-an-influencer/" href="https://civicscience.com/nearly-half-of-daily-instagram-users-have-made-a-purchase-based-on-an-influencer/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">CivicScience</a> found nearly half of daily Instagram users made a purchase based on an influencer recommendation. Followers trust the advice of influencers.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="48a5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The influencer’s audience must be relevant to your brand. Otherwise, the audience is useless if they are not interested in your product or service.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b132"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A common influencer tactic is an <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://blog.hootsuite.com/instagram-takeover/" href="https://blog.hootsuite.com/instagram-takeover/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Instagram takeover,</a> where an influencer temporarily takes over the account to create and share content and engage will followers.</span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="6ca2"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Content Tips for Posts</span></h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="9620"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">To upload content to Instagram, you must use the mobile app. A post on the Instagram feed can be a single photo, multiple photos, or a video. This section will discuss those individually, along with types of posts.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d901"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">To make your content easier to find, add a geotag. Geotagging is adding a location, which gives users another way to find your content, leading to higher engagement.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="29b5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Try and make the look of your content consistent across your posts; this will make your content more recognisable to followers quickly scrolling through their feed.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f70d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Brands should create content to showcase their brand by educating or entertain their audience.</span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Content Ideas</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="6865"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Stuck for ideas of what to post content about? You cannot go wrong using one of these approaches for a post idea that should engage your audience.</span></p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="cf04"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Behind-the-Scenes</strong> posts give a snapshot of your workday — your office, storefront, or manufacturing process, for example, providing followers with a glimpse into the business.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="49b2"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Relationship Posts</strong> show the people you deal with and can be shown off through photos of you out for coffee at a meeting, for example. People love humanised content, and it is easy to relate to. You cannot go wrong with smiling faces!</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="7f8e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Educational/Instructional</strong> <strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Posts</strong> teach the audience how to do or make something or explores a topic. If it is in your expertise, this will be engaging and build credibility.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="5f65"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Product teasers</strong> allow you to talk about your product and increase excitement in a less obvious way. Do not try too hard to sell that will turn away followers.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="beb4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Motivational posts</strong> work well on Instagram. Overlays a simple visual/photo with an uplifting quote. The caption can tell a story about the quote. Reinforce your brand values.</span></li></ul><p class="graf graf--p" name="1186"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Using User-generated content </strong>—Reposting the content that your audience shares your brand is a great way to regularly post, without always creating the content yourself.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2ec6"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">One way to source user-generated content is by holding a competition that uses a branded hashtag. Users create content about brand, using your unique hashtag. You can also tag the users who created the content you share, which helps build a closer relationship with your audience through a close-knit <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/51030/how-brands-can-create-their-own-communities" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/51030/how-brands-can-create-their-own-communities" rel="noopener" target="_blank">community.</a></span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img alt="Taking a photo of a meal for instagram" height="427" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/720/1*GY4RIbXFBr8iIc-moluVAw.jpeg" title="Taking a photo of a meal for instagram" width="640" /><br /></span><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Photo or Video?</span></h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="51fd"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Instagram users can share two types of content: photo and video.</span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Photos</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="4aec"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Instagram was created for photos, and there is a lot you can do.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7aa5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Firstly, leaving negative (empty) space around the image’s subject will draw attention to the desired focus. Try to shoot photos from a different perspective to give them personality and use natural light when possible. Always keep your content on-brand, no matter how random or cool you think something is personally.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fdab"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">No amount of editing can fix photos if they have lousy composition or lighting.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="19dd"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Users can edit photos from within the app, but all the world editing will not fix bad images. Instagram allows you to edit and adjust the brightness, contrast, warmth, saturation, highlights, shadows, vignette, tilt-shift and sharpness.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5385"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Instagram also has up to 23 filters that change the look and feel of images in an instant. However, be careful not to over-edit photos. It starts to look a bit of plastic when audiences want authenticity.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="36ee"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The recommendation for image size is 1080 x 1080px for square image and 1080 x 566px for landscape.</span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img alt="Selfie stick used for filming" height="426" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/720/1*A3kTZ1bQikKrriq9xZuTlQ.jpeg" title="Selfie stick used for filming" width="640" /></span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Videos</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="e99a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Although photos are the most popular form of content, there is also a lot of video content on Instagram. Videos must be less than a minute in length, but you can use ITV to go longer.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="354c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Users can trim videos within the Instagram app. Still, it pays to use a video editor such as <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/splice-video-editor-movie-maker-by-gopro/id409838725?mt=8" href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/splice-video-editor-movie-maker-by-gopro/id409838725?mt=8" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Splice</strong></a> that allows you to cut together multiple clips and add transitions, titles, and music.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5838"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Show some personality in your videos and showcase your brand’s benefits to your target audience.</span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Go live</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="0272"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Share content with your audience in real-time by broadcasting live video, allowing you to connect with fans personally.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1916"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Live video ideas include:</span></p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="84f5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Collaborate with an industry expert or influencer using the “Add a Guest” option to go live together.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="d266"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Offer a live behind-the-scenes look at an event.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="aaac"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Share a tutorial.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="0808"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Host a Q&A.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="3d26"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Talk to a client or customer.</span></li></ul></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="4766"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Writing your post caption/copy</span></h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="6510"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Try to post entertaining and engaging captions. Be witty, or funny, or intelligent; it all depends on your brand and your audience. What will resonate with them?</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1d8e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Posts can have up to 2,200 characters long, which is quite considerable compared to 1200 on LinkedIn or 280 on Twitter.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4e9d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Therefore, posts can range from one sentence to detailed storytelling.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="eb8b"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Using bullet points or emojis in the same way as bullet points can make the text easier to consume. Helpful, as people tend to scan captions rather than read them thoroughly.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3ea4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Try to get all the essential information into those first two lines as users must click to read the rest. You need to hook them.</span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--h4-strong"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Hashtags</span></strong></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="365f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Hashtags are keywords/phrases spelled without spaces, prefaced with a Hash (#) sign. Using hashtags will increase your visibility and discoverability, and hashtags aggregate posts from various users with public profiles into a single feed.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ed4a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Hashtags should be relevant to your audience and specific to your niche.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="59df"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You can use up to 30 hashtags in an Instagram post. But probably do not want to do that. Hashtags should be natural in your caption. Aim to use two to nine hashtags per post.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5965"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Avoid making your captions hard to read and looking spammy.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="536d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Create a personalised branded hashtag to interact with your audience with user-generated content and make content featuring your brand easier to find by clicking on that hashtag.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d922"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It helps you quickly find user images of your brand that you might want to share. User content always seems authentic to help add credibility.</span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img alt="instagram ads" height="360" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/720/1*J6u6M97zdG1DVYL_4rW2TQ.jpeg" title="instagram ads" width="640" /></span><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Instagram Ads</span></h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="e965"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Using ads helps businesses get their content in front of a larger audience of people who fit their target market but do not follow the page. Use content for ads that will be engaging and appealing to your target audience. Do not be pushy with sales tactics in your ads.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e782"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://business.instagram.com/advertising/" href="https://business.instagram.com/advertising/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Instagram ads</a> are created through <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://business.facebook.com/" href="https://business.facebook.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Facebook’s Business Suite</a> (Facebook owns Instagram). To post to Instagram, under placements, select Instagram.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2099"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You can turn existing posts into sponsored ads, called boosting content, or create a new ad.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="bc70"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Ad types include:</span></p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="45b4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Single Image</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="e66e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Video Ads</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="3fe2"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Story Ads</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="f73c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Carousel/Dynamic Ads</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="cae5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Stories Canvas</span></li></ul><p class="graf graf--p" name="7002"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Instagram ads can target users based on characteristics such as:</span></p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="ffe3"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Location</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="9081"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Demographics</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="43c6"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Interests</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="9625"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Behaviours</span></li></ul><p class="graf graf--p" name="c833"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Custom audiences from databases of existing relationships can be uploaded and use to create lookalike audiences. These lookalike audiences are chosen based on similarities they have with people on your database — for example, similar behaviour and interests.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0139"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When setting up your ads, they need an objective. This objective could be:</span></p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="9001"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Brand Awareness</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="45b5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Reach</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="3e82"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Traffic</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="8e6e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">App Installs</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="1e3a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Engagement</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="a811"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Video Views</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="fae2"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Conversions</span></li></ul><p class="graf graf--p" name="b4b1"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Ads are set up with a start and finish date and a lifetime budget, meaning you can control how much you spend on ads.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="866d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">To maximize ad delivery, <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/business/help/430958953753149" href="https://www.facebook.com/business/help/430958953753149" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Instagram recommends</strong></a> using images that are at 600 x 600px for square format ads, 600 x 315px for landscape ads, and 600 x 750px for vertical ads.</span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img alt="Instagram Analytics" height="427" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/720/1*x8aKPqPGj3iBeJxMz471mQ.jpeg" title="Instagram Analytics" width="640" /></span><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Instagram Analytics</span></h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="1514"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You can analyse how your efforts on Instagram are working through Insights. Staying on top of analytics allows you to optimise and hopefully improve your Instagram performance. Learn what works and what is not.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0370"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Key metrics to keep an eye on follower are impressions, follower growth rate, average engagement rate (likes and comments), and your URL click-through rate.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6e69"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A better understanding of your audience, such as their demographics like age, gender, location, anmost active times,ctive; gives you objective knowledge of tailoring content to their preference.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4052"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/business/tools/ads-manager" href="https://www.facebook.com/business/tools/ads-manager" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Facebook’s Ad Manager</a> also allows you to check how your advertising is doing, which will improve your content and audience targeting.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e628"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Trial and error will help you fine-tune. If an audience is not responding as much as you would like, tweak it and the content — change the copy or use a different image/video.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8987"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Check out what your competitors are posting with a competitive analysis. Using the search function, use keywords related to your industry to find similar accounts. Stalking other users will give you great ideas on what type of content to create yourself.</span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="6c26"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Summary</span></h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="4a36"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And there you have it — a guide to marketing on Instagram in 2021.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a508"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The article first explored the benefits of using Instagram to market a business, set up a business account, and optimise it.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6292"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We then learnt how the platform works and the different content types that can be shared on the platform.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9765"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Finally, I discussed strategies that businesses can use on Instagram to get the most out of the platform, such as tips about ideas for content, using paid ads on the platform and understanding the analytics.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="df0c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Thanks for reading.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9e4d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I hope you enjoyed the content.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fe79"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Dan</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fe79"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This content was originally posted on the <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/278559/a-guide-to-instagram-marketing-in-2021" rel="" target="_blank">BYB Marketing Blog</a></span></p></div></div></section><div class="blogger-post-footer">BYB Marketing - https://brandyourselfbetter.com/</div>Daniel Hopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16097570896266702933noreply@blogger.com0Hamilton, New Zealand-37.7825893 175.2527624-66.092825184802422 140.09650971779098 -9.4723534151975777 -149.590984917791tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7106426518795808874.post-57290410650819367672021-03-07T19:47:00.002-08:002021-03-10T13:15:51.230-08:0012 Ways to Use Direct Marketing<section class="section section--body" name="1592"><div class="section-divider"><img alt="What is Direct Marketing?" height="360" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/720/1*vgzv9LvPZMQHKoUz_omk-A.png" title="What is Direct Marketing?" width="640" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p class="graf graf--p" name="1374">Mass marketing is inefficient and expensive. Would it not be great if you could cut out the middleman and advertise to customers direct? The good news is, you can!</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e7fc">Direct marketing uses advertising tactics such as email marketing, mail drops and paid ads online to reach customers with targeted marketing messages.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9bd4">This article explores direct marketing, explaining how it works and the different direct marketing tactics that businesses can use to reach customers.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="e111"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“Retailers use direct marketing as one marketing communication tool in their overall communication portfolio to reach existing customers. (Uematsu, & Mishra, 2011)</em></blockquote></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="81f1"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="343" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IL7tSslUe1c" width="536" youtube-src-id="IL7tSslUe1c"></iframe></div><h1 style="text-align: left;">What is direct marketing?</h1><p class="graf graf--p" name="6031">There are two main advertising variants to a <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/111057/how-to-choose-the-right-marketing-strategy-for-your-business/" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/111057/how-to-choose-the-right-marketing-strategy-for-your-business/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">marketing strategy</a> — mass marketing and direct marketing.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f2bd">Mass <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/45161/the-evolution-of-the-marketing-mix/" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/45161/the-evolution-of-the-marketing-mix/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">marketing</a> uses mass media such as television, radio, and newspapers to broadcast messages to random publics.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6c92">Direct Marketing is advertising that seeks to achieve a specific action from a selected target audience of the most likely buyers.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ff63">The use of direct marketing has grown considerably in the digital era, as the cost of collecting and storing customer data has reduced. An increase in distribution channels’ available online provides direct access to the customer.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="da59">As the name implies, communication and/or distribution is direct with the consumer, bypassing a third party such as the mass media.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="95f1"> Types of direct marketing include:</p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="3de8">Email marketing</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="c9d3">Direct mail</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="8d8f">Fliers</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="c204">Brochures</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="fdd5">Couponing</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="18b3">Catalogue distribution</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="c3c2">Postcards</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="5888">Promotional letters</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="eff1">Loyalty cards</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="ab98">Insert media</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="2f65">Couponing</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="a206">Door-to-door sales</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="3ab2">Telemarketing phone calls</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="46e8">Text messaging</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="bbe4">Messenger</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="7bf0">Websites</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="30ed">Social media</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="2887">Targeted online ads</li></ul><p class="graf graf--p" name="68bc">There is some disagreement about whether some forms of promotion are direct marketing.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6d50">Some marketers consider television infomercials, newspapers and magazine advertisements, and outdoor advertising direct marketing. But only if it has a direct response aspect, such as a toll-free number.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="69f9">However, these marketing methods are not as targeted as most direct marketing forms, so I do not include them here.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a1bf">Most of these direct marketing methods are explained later in the document.</p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="15a0"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h1 style="text-align: left;">The objectives of direct marketing</h1><p class="graf graf--p" name="642d">Direct marketing campaigns aim to persuade consumers to action, providing tangible and measurable results, such as purchases, signups, or requests for more information.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3b35">While other advertising methods such as content marketing aims to educate prospects rather than sell, direct marketing intends to encourage a specific action.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="dc39">Some of the reasons for using direct marketing are:</p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="f120">Improve sales of specific products</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="2cf9">Clear discontinued stock</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="ae93">Increase customer retention and loyalty</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="994b">Follow up on promotional offers.</li></ul></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="602c"><div class="section-divider"></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h3 style="text-align: left;">A call to action</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="9065">Direct marketing commonly uses incentive-based information where it offers consumers a benefit to act on. Called a call to action (CTA), they depend on your industry and the target consumers.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="25dc">Examples of CTAs are:</p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="e96d">Click the link</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="10b7">Visit our website or store</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="6cb6">Call us to get more info on our products or services</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="0b4a">Subscribe with your email address</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="b113">Purchase here</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="4122">Register your interest</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="35f1">Limited-time coupon</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="0974">Sign up now</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="b9d2">Invitation-only event</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="185b">Discounted membership</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="a826">Make a booking</li></ul></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="09a2"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><br /></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><img alt="Using direct marketing - analytics" height="480" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/720/1*fofHCEViQkk0j6F3xP9ZXg.jpeg" title="Using direct marketing - analytics" width="640" /></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h1 style="text-align: left;">The benefits of using direct marketing</h1>There are several benefits to businesses using direct marketing. I will talk about some of those now.<br /><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">Marketing is measurable</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="f354">The first significant benefit of direct marketing is clearly measurable results.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5fe8">Direct marketing is more straightforward to measure than many other types of advertising. With a process called data mining, firms can use analytics to improve their results.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="bc08">Online, firms use pixels to measure campaign results, such as identifying who has clicked on an advert or used a unique discount code.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8005">Physical mail drops are harder to measure. Still, any noticeable increases in sales of items over the campaigns can be attributed to the advertising. </p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4184">The most important deliverable is whether there is an overall return on investment for the campaign.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="542f">As well as measuring the effectiveness of your marketing, you can test new markets and trial new products or services.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="a085"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“Successful direct marketing initiatives require firms to predict the behaviour of specific individuals.” (Allenby, Leone & Jen, 1999)</em></blockquote><h3 style="text-align: left;">Marketing becomes optimised</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="834b">By monitoring and analysing their processes, firms can improve future campaigns’ success by tweaking their strategy.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="86c8">Firms can use small direct marketing campaigns to test marketing effectiveness, such as test A / B tests. They can try different variants of the ad's components, such as subject title, images, call to actions, or even when they send out a campaign.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="aaf2">New products can even be tested on small market segments before mass marketing to evaluate customers desire for those products and services.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="1c5e"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“Instead of promoting to customers indiscriminatively, direct marketing studies customers’ characteristics and needs, and selects certain customers as the target for promotion.” (Ling & Li, 1998)</em></blockquote><h3 style="text-align: left;">Marketing is targeted</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="6fd5">Indirect marketing uses marketing techniques broadcasted to random audiences. Direct marketing, on the other hand, focuses on targeted lists of prospective customers.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9b61"><a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/103125/targeting-how-to-make-marketing-more-efficient-and-effective/" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/103125/targeting-how-to-make-marketing-more-efficient-and-effective/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Marketing targets the most likely prospects</a>, which improves the response rate. For example, for a supermarket sending out the weekly specials, this will be location-based. It makes sense to focus marketing efforts on the people most likely to give results, right?</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f67b">Direct marketing becomes more profitable the more targeted it becomes. You do not want to waste money marketing to people who will not be customers. Your marketing becomes junk mail or spam to these people.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5343">To create targeted audiences requires database segmentation. <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/70179/segmenting-your-target-market" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/70179/segmenting-your-target-market" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Segmentation</a> is the process of dividing the customer base into small groups with some common characteristics. </p><p class="graf graf--p" name="af26">People are grouped based on their criteria such as age, income, location, gender, occupation, interests and buying patterns.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Marketing is personalised</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="2e82">Because firms target marketing to a specific audience, marketing is also personalised to those customer segment’s needs.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f65a">Firms use information about their audience, such as age, income, and consumer behaviour, to create tailored marketing content. We want the audience to react, so firms must customise their message to increases their chances of resonating with the specific audience.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">High conversion rate</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="5201">Because direct marketing usually involves research to identify and focus on the customers most likely to purchase, it has a higher conversion rate than other marketing forms.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="67e2">Furthermore, email marketing tactics are only contacting previous customers or people who have opted to receive advertising.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0992">The audience already has a real interest in the firm and is more likely to convert again.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote" name="1dc2"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">Direct marketing strategies allow producers to receive a better price by selling products directly to consumers (Uematsu & Mishra, 2011)</em></blockquote><h3 style="text-align: left;">Low-cost</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="6489">Direct marketing can be a small fraction of mass marketing cost because it eliminates the need for a middleman, such as an advertising agency. Moreover, because the audience chosen for a campaign is small and targeted, this also reduces the cost. Direct marketing can be done on a tight budget and still achieve results.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Enhanced customer loyalty</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="3f4d">Direct mail is an excellent tool for <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/75494/the-profitability-of-customer-loyalty/" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/75494/the-profitability-of-customer-loyalty/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">building and maintaining relationships with customers</a> and prospects because it is personalised.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3e3e">Firms can combine direct marketing with customer loyalty tactics to increase the bond further. Examples of loyalty strategies include special discount offers, sending birthday messages and invites to ‘exclusive’ sales events.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2d84">Direct mail can be successful in re-establishing relationships with former customers who have not consumed it for a while.</p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="6bd7"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h1 style="text-align: left;">Direct marketing strategy</h1><p class="graf graf--p" name="87d9">As a marketing strategy, firms such as banks, insurance companies, and the retail industry increasingly use direct marketing. It can be a very aggressive form of marketing, so firms must carefully plan and implement it.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ae6e">As the target audience should be people who have expressed interest or are likely to be interested in what you have to say, you need to develop contact lists. Having a robust database of customers and potential customers is key to the success of direct marketing.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="57b6"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“In direct marketing, this knowledge is a description of likely buyers or responders, and is useful in obtaining higher profit than mass marketing.” (Ling & Li, 1998)</em></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p" name="f4d7">It is vital to maintain an organised database and customer records. Data mining can provide an effective tool for direct marketing, discovering useful information about customers to be used in campaigns.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4c08">Campaigns are personalised to these audiences to capture their attention with relevant offers.</p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="c03b"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h1 style="text-align: left;">Direct marketing methods</h1><p class="graf graf--p" name="d2df">There are several marketing methods firms can use to reach their customers. Many were named above. This section will outline some of the popular forms.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Loyalty cards</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="51af">It entails giving loyal customers membership cards. Customers can then use these cards to access price discounts, free trials, and other offers. Combine your direct marketing methods with your loyalty program.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="be9c"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“Retailer direct marketing typically includes coupons or promotions bundled together with an advertising message.” (Lund & Marinova, 2014)</em></blockquote><h3 style="text-align: left;">Couponing</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="88da">The use of discounts through advertising media is called couponing, which can be an excellent way to elicit a response from targeted customers. Firms can send coupons by mail for customers to take in-store to receive a discount or a digital version.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="804c">Coupons are downloaded and printed or shown on the customer’s mobile phone. Firms can distribute digital coupons via company websites, social media, texts, or email.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="804c"><img alt="Couponing - direct marketing" class="graf-image" data-height="681" data-image-id="1*NzD0XuGxrTlXnFzJ9fs3kQ.jpeg" data-width="1024" height="425" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/720/1*NzD0XuGxrTlXnFzJ9fs3kQ.jpeg" title="Couponing - direct marketing" width="640" /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Insert media</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="95ff">Delivering advertising inserted into shared media is called insert media. Often a one-page ad is inserted into other physical communication media, such as catalogues, newspapers, or magazines.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6b80">For this strategy to work effectively, it needs to be targeting the right audience. For example, an automotive store would not want their insert media inside women’s gossip magazines. The target audience should align.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Direct mail</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="7699">Direct mail uses the mailbox of potential customers to deliver advertising materials. Campaigns often focus on people in a specific geographic area or customers on a marketing list.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3133">There are several different types of direct mail. Types of direct mail are <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">circulars, leaflets, or flyers</strong> distributed to everyone in the advertiser area.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ff51">This method can work well for local businesses whose products or services appeal to a broad audience. It is common with financial services, consumer goods and travel and tourism industries.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="753a"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Catalogues</strong>, on the other hand, are usually only sent to consumers with a previous interest.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1911">As well as letterbox drops could be handouts to people in the city or shopping malls. Postcards and envelope mailers also standard direct mail methods.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Telemarketing</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="37a7">Contacting potential customers over the phone is called telemarketing. Most consumers are not very appreciative of this approach, and in the age of <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/233417/digital-marketing-strategy-12-ways-to-market-your-business-online" target="_blank">digital marketing</a>, it has become outdated. Telemarketing should focus on people with a higher probability of getting converted into actual sales to be effective,</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="71e6">Telemarketing can be a successful method for following up on other direct marketing campaigns. Leads are more qualified, and the call is not cold.</p><figure class="graf graf--figure" name="d1cd"></figure><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="d8da"><img alt="Junk mail — direct mail" class="graf-image" data-height="560" data-image-id="1*Gvrle04fcQfPxqkiCiVu3g.jpeg" data-width="979" height="365" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/720/1*Gvrle04fcQfPxqkiCiVu3g.jpeg" style="font-weight: 400;" title="Junk mail — direct mail" width="640" /></h4><h3 style="text-align: left;">Door-to-Door</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="370c">One of the more well-known and traditional direct selling methods, door-to-door, has a salesperson go out and knock on the door of homes. It can be a very laborious and frustrating job, with people not home or answering the door rudely when they see the salesperson.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="cc36">It is common for real estate salespeople to find a property to list to satisfy buyers looking in a particular geographic area. Telecommunications and utility companies often employ a salesforce to use this method as one-on-one communication can be highly persuasive.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="30c4"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Door hangers</strong> are another form of door-to-door, which is a more passive form. Salespeople hang fliers over the door, and no actual interaction takes place.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Mobile marketing</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="153d">Sending promotional material to users via their mobile devices is mobile marketing. It is a very low-cost way to reach the target audience. A targeted method as firms creates the database with customers and other interested people.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="eeb5">Firms send messages via text, including information about sales, links to website specials, appointments or information about the order status.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Messenger marketing</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="9ea0">Creating a chatbot for websites or social media messaging apps helps brands automate answering customer questions with relevant answers. Commonly chatbots are designed to reach out to people browsing the page automatically and can even collect orders.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Email marketing</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="3aeb">As one of the most widely used direct-marketing methods, <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/144400/a-guide-to-email-marketing/" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/144400/a-guide-to-email-marketing/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">email marketing </a>is a simple, cost-effective, and measurable way of reaching customers.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0df9">Email marketing is easy and inexpensive to design, test, and send an email message. Businesses use content marketing to provide useful information to consumers to encourage them to join the mailing list.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3bc7">Firms send emails regularly to generate new customers or give special offers to existing customers.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Online Ads</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="1587"><a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/192047/how-to-optimise-your-pay-per-click-advertising/" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/192047/how-to-optimise-your-pay-per-click-advertising/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Pay per click (PPC) ads</a> can be a beneficial form of direct marketing. There are three main types of PPC ads.</p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="d01b">Display Ads appear on the Web next to similar content direct mail.</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="cd82">Search engines show ads next to organic (non-paid) search results based on search terms.</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="08da">Social media ads also use a PPC format; the users see the ads based on the advertiser's characteristics.</li></ul><div><img alt="Social media as a direct marketing tool" class="graf-image" data-height="853" data-image-id="1*rJAKObhSWB2prq4JR3fL1g.jpeg" data-width="1280" height="426" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/720/1*rJAKObhSWB2prq4JR3fL1g.jpeg" title="Social media as a direct marketing tool" width="640" /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Social Media</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="a323">Direct marketing on social media creates content for platforms such as <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/214991/a-guide-to-facebook-marketing-for-2021" target="_blank">Facebook</a> or <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/278559/a-guide-to-instagram-marketing-in-2021" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, communicating directly to which customers can respond.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7c85">Much of the <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/53808/ten-ways-your-business-can-create-marketing-content-to-reach-more-customers/" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/53808/ten-ways-your-business-can-create-marketing-content-to-reach-more-customers/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">content created for social media</a> is about building trust and showcasing the brand rather than selling.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e4b5">Only around 1 or 2 posts out of every ten on social media should be sales focused.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Website</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="a6fe">Having a website is an integral part of direct marketing online. Many websites are also online store, so firms use many other marketing methods in conjunction with their website to increase their traffic. These methods include SEO, PPC ads, Blogging, and lead magnets.</p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="2c32"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="149c">Summary</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="ebed">In sum, the article has explored direct marketing as an advertising tool for businesses. </p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4613">I have discussed some of the benefits of using direct marketing, such as being measurable and targeted.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c994">I define twelve direct marketing methods to give tips on integrating direct marketing into your own marketing strategy. Not every direct marketing method will suit every business. </p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c254">Remember, you need to analyse your situation, look at any data, and rationally decide which approaches will most effectively communicate with your target customers.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e340"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Thank you for reading.</strong></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4e4e">I hope you enjoyed the content.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e273">Dan</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e273">This article was originally posted on the <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/260173/direct-marketing-targeted-and-measurable-advertising" rel="" target="_blank">BYB Marketing Blog</a></p></div></div></section><div class="blogger-post-footer">BYB Marketing - https://brandyourselfbetter.com/</div>Daniel Hopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16097570896266702933noreply@blogger.com0509 Tuhikaramea Road, Temple View, Hamilton 3218, New Zealand-37.8264013 175.2249237-66.136637184802424 140.068671017791 -9.51616541519758 -149.618823617791tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7106426518795808874.post-36181237923599616352021-02-17T00:44:00.002-08:002021-03-19T19:08:53.603-07:00How to Improve Your Copywriting<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKcn5PNa80bO6E42J8591NIm1n1VrbmSNIA1QWU2yg11SkoGnd_ku2TMCaTKMyxoGCfsGlEwcaWyi8gcWtHEnPfIp7pwp-EDmkxi0VG9q2Iw0I7HSms6RQnToMEOgqkRoNsKQMemkW2kY/w640-h428/notebook-with-startup-brand-logo-creative-design-i-PRNBC5S.jpg" /><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div>We learn to write from a very young age. </span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">At school, reading and writing is first skills we learn. It's key to communication and important to everyday life. Social media - reading and writing. It is something we take for granted.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The ability to write well means you have a skill that will always be in demand. Being able to persuade people through writing means you could probably be a top-selling author for some self-help book; </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">OR, you could be a copywriter. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This blog explores copywriting, what it is, and how to write better copy for promotional materials.<br /><blockquote>“Copywriting is the optimum use of language to promote or persuade.” (Albrighton, 2013)</blockquote></span></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What is copywriting?</span></h1><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Copywriting is the act of writing materials to be used for promotional purpose.<br /><br />The text is called copy (hence the name copywriting).<br /><br />The writer must determine the optimum way to communicate with the audience, such as:<br />the length of the copy<br /></span><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="44d4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">structure</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="a0de"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">tone </span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="0d6f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">choice of words</span></li></ul><span style="font-family: helvetica;">As well as being an action or process, copywriting is also the occupation of people who write copy. The Internet has brought new opportunities for copywriters. Copywriters can find work online and collaborate with people from PR, marketing and customer service.<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Copywriting is about creativity. </span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br />Nobody likes to read something boring! You are going to lose the reader's interest and attention, right? That is why a copywriter is also known as a 'creative' in advertising agencies. It is their responsibility to come up with copy or slogans for ad campaigns.<br /><br />A copywriter must be proficient in the language they are writing in. They need to produce high-quality and grammatically correct and error-free content, reflecting the brand's brand's 'voice'.<br /><br /></span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Promotional</span></h3><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Copywriting has promotional intent to impact the perceptions of the reader. The copy has a clear intention, meaning you want your audience to think, feel or act in a certain way after reading or listening to your message.<br /><br />Copy aims to convince the reader to take action, using words to influence an outcome in the real world.<br /><blockquote>“In contrast to ‘pure’ creative writing – writing principally to entertain or provoke thought – copywriting is all about achieving a particular outcome in the real world.” (Albrighton, 2013)</blockquote><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div>Promotion is often of products and services, the brand itself, or but it could also be ideas, opinion and people such as political candidates.<br /><br />Copywriters produce print advertising, website and landing pages, <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/201785/social-selling-how-it-works-and-10-tips-to-optimize-your-strategy">social media content</a>, emails, telephone scripts, radio ads, sales letters, blog posts, case studies and other marketing communications.<br /><br />A sales team contacts customer one at a time; a copywriter uses one piece of content that reaches many potential customers. Hence the importance to get it right!<br /><br />Copywriting is the glue that ties a marketing strategy together.<br /><blockquote>“Whatever medium you end up writing for, you are creating something that takes a brand truth and makes a reader or viewer or passer-by care about it.” (Iezzi, 2010)</blockquote><p> </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Understand what you are selling</h3></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A deep understanding of precisely what you are selling is the starting point for writing excellent copy. If you write copy for a living, knowing the products or services as intimately as the company producing them, can be overlooked. <br /><br />A good copywriter will <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/90754/using-research-to-better-understand-your-target-market">research their topic</a> to identify the most compelling and straightforward sales pitch.<br /><br />Write down everything about your topic from description to features and benefits. You will not use everything, but you may uncover something you haven't thought of yet.<br /><br />Brainstorm the following: <br /></span><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="44d4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">What is the product/service/brand/thing? — </strong>Describe it in simple terms with two to three sentences. This sentence is your elevator pitch — as if you were describing a product to a customer.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="2d1e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">What makes it unique or special?</strong> — Communicate your product’s features make it different from the alternatives out there. What does your product offer that others don’t? Your <a class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/98450/positioning-5-strategies-to-stand-out-from-your-competitors" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/98450/positioning-5-strategies-to-stand-out-from-your-competitors" rel="noopener" target="_blank">positioning</a> and <a class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/183445/how-to-create-a-value-proposition-for-your-business" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/183445/how-to-create-a-value-proposition-for-your-business" rel="noopener" target="_blank">unique selling proposition (USP</a>) come in here.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="2732"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">What benefits will appeal most to your audience?</strong> People always want to know what is in it for them. Copywriters must be familiar with the benefits of what they are writing about to their audience. Customers often care more about the usefulness of features rather than the features themselves.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="b528"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Does it alleviate pain?</strong> People typically buy for one of two reasons. Either to increase pleasure or to minimise pain. For some products or services (or politicians), talking about a shared pain and eliminating it by your brand can be more effective than focusing on the pleasure provided. You can test both approaches in the different copy to test what works best.</span></li></ul></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><blockquote>“The copywriter’s goal is to communicate the strengths, advantages or benefits of whatever they are promoting so their audience buys into them – whether literally or metaphorically.” (Albrighton, 2013)</blockquote></span><span><!--more--></span><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Copywriting Strategy</span></h1><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Writing is subjective. That is part of what makes writing so engaging. Give ten people the same topic to write an article about it, and all ten will be different, even with the same brief. <br /><br />Even though excellent writing can be vastly different, writers often use a similar process. Use these tips to help create a more engaging copy.<br /><br /></span><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Capture attention!</span></h2><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The first thing a piece of copy needs to do is capture the attention of the reader. Otherwise, people might only read a couple of sentences and decide it is not worth their time.<br /><br />Good marketing copy uses an idea that is interesting and relevant to the audience. The brand plays a role that engages the readers' attention. This idea needs to be at the start of the copy.<br /><br />Through creating a line between two things, this generates conversation through the tension. Try and create tension, as tension attracts attention. Then, position the brand to provide a solution. This solution should be appealing to the reader if they are a member of the t<a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/103125/targeting-how-to-make-marketing-more-efficient-and-effective">arget audience</a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><blockquote>“At its root, your challenge is to make a connection with a human being.” (Iezzi, 2010)</blockquote></span><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9vI2SiTD9NkoUvutxmAxsT625sOt7Rpg5ktLlFpSJonIyrY3oFlEPETXRtfDRVcOMd8PecW98l9FURw5Hm7iFIYNNiJcFeNpMqL14T-clJUHCrMu6OEoy_oKFoyiP7r5K4BK6E0gQYqM/w640-h426/pexels-andrea-piacquadio-3756345.jpg" /><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><p></p></span><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Connect with the reader</span></h2><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Write about topics that human beings care about. Try to provoke an emotional response. Emotions are not just for novels or TV commercials. Any time we have engaged somebody in reading, we want them to feel something.<br /><br />When writing copy, consider whether what you are creating adds something of value to the reader; whether it is useful, entertaining, humorous or has a 'feel-good' factor.<br /><br />You can position the offer in your copy in different ways to elicit this response.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">For example, by reducing the interest rate on a mortgage, this could create relief as there is more left of money to pay bills or save more for that holiday. Another example is copy focusing on feeling safer and protecting the family by purchasing a car with a higher safety rating.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Storytelling</span></h2><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Storytelling feels real, immediate and personal. Good copy should tell the narrative behind a brand to capture the moments and experiences shared by humans. A human component to a brand increases consumer trust, as it helps the brand seem more relatable.<br /><br />Tell a compelling story while convincing the audience of the need for what you are promoting. Create a distinct beginning, middle and end to your story; so, it is easy to follow, understand, and memorable. Case studies are a form of content typical in B2B, involving very detailed storytelling.<br /><blockquote>“Generally, both pictures and headlines could lead the consumers to read the body copy. In fact, pictures could send a particular message faster than the words do.” (Zulkifly & Firdaus, 2014)</blockquote><br /></span><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Imagery</span></h2><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Often, relevant visual components compliment copy. Just like the headline, the visuals attract the reader to read the rest of the text. There should be synergy between the headline and imagery; the visuals influencing the context and presentation of the content.<br /><br /><br />Examples of visuals are the chosen typography, overall design and contrasting colours, any imagery such as photography, illustration or infographics.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Tone of voice</span></h2><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The tone used by a copywriter dictates the brand's 'personality'. What you say and how you say it. This communication style should be consistent, so every media piece feels like it is coming from a single source. Having a single voice will seem more authentic, which means consumers will find you more trustworthy.<br /><br />It is reassuring when a person says the same things and does the same things consistently – and it is the same with a brand. <br /><br />Assign a few personality traits to your brand, to come out in the copy. However, not too many and keep it simple, being too cute or witty can complicate your message.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Structure</span></h2><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Learning how to structure writing is best done through writing and then more writing. Being a good writer comes from the experience of organising and shaping many different types of material into pieces of content.<br /><br />Some writers use a templated structure to their copy. Others write by first getting their ideas down on 'paper' and then getting a sense for what pattern or format emerges.<br /><br />Most writers do not get it right first, and tinkering with their writing structure is ongoing until completion. As the text evolves, it starts to turn into a tidier format. <br /><br />Do not try to format copy like a traditional document, writing in long paragraphs. Aim for one point per sentence and one theme or idea per section, about 3 or 4 sentences long. They could be even less. Every new idea should be on a separate line. <br /><br />This format is suitable for print and web copy because it's simple and easy for the reader to follow.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span><!--more--></span><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Ways to structure copy</span></h2><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There are many ways to structure a piece of writing. </span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Some popular approaches are:<br /><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Benefits</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Since communicating benefits are at the heart of good copywriting, using them to guide your copy structure should mean your copy will be persuasive. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Promise something of value to the reader. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">How can you meet their needs? </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If your product or service solves a problem, make sure people know it. Structure your writing around this, with each section explaining how you deliver a particular benefit.<br /><blockquote>“Copywriting that focuses on benefits is more persuasive, more compelling and sells better.” (Albrighton, 2013)</blockquote></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Features</b></span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">At times, you might be writing for a technically educated audience, which is when structuring copy to highlight features could be the best approach.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><b>Problem and solution</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">the copy begins by describing a problem that the audience will relate to, before explaining how the business provides a solution (ultimately, most copy should have a component of this format.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><b>Numbered list</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Break down the points you want to make in a numbered format can add a sense of organisation, even if your writing is not that focused. It is a popular way to format writing for blogs; for example, “10 reasons why 50 weeks of marketing is the best way to spend $100.”</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><blockquote>“Although most copywriters will tell you they find writing headlines the hardest part of any job, sometimes they just seem to arrive out of the ether.” (Maslen, 2010) </blockquote></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><br /></b></span></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Headline</b></span></h2><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The headline is a writer's first and most significant chance to attract a captive audience. <br /><br />It is a promise of value and benefit to the reader from reading it. The copywriter must create intrigue to capture attention, generate interest, and encourage readers to read on or buy into the message.<br /><br />Be careful not to give empty promises or use a clickbait title. We want to build rapport with readers to enhance our credibility. Not leave the reader feeling empty-handed.<br /><br />The headline also helps set the tone for the following copy, such as humour, business-like or informative. It establishes the writing piece's theme and positions the subject for the reader, allowing them to decide if it is relevant to keep reading.<br /><br />Headline text should be larger than the body, but more than twice the size and title can seem like its shouting. Likewise, for the same reason, do not use ALL CAPS, making it harder to read quickly. It would be best if you also did not use full stops at the end of your headlines. <br /><br />An absence of a full stop implying the sentence hasn't finished yet, so the reader keeps reading till they find one.<br /><br />Early on in writing, do not worry about perfecting headings. At this point, you put them where they make sense to you at the moment. Headings often are not finished until the copy is ready for publishing.<br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><blockquote>“A piece of copy stands or falls by its headline. The headline is like the doorway into the room you’ve created with the rest of your text. If people don’t walk through the door, they’ll never see what’s inside the room.” (Albrighton, 2013)</blockquote><p> </p></span><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Call to action</span></h2><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Perhaps the second most important piece of information after the headline is the call to action. <br /><br />A call to action is a short piece of text (usually one or two sentences) in any advertisement or marketing communication, encouraging the reader to take a particular course of action. For example, to buy, donate, click here, or contact us.<br /><br />A call to action guides the audience towards a real-world activity, encouraging the audience to move onto the 'doing' phase. We do not want readers to turn the page, or close the tab and check their email as we lose them.<br /><br />The desired customer response for the call to action should be clear, specific and straightforward.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span></span><span><!--more--></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: calc((1.75rem + 4 * ((100vw - 414px)/ 1266)) * var(--kv-ee-global-font-size-factor)); margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In summary, copywriting is </span><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">the act of writing materials to be used for promotional purpose. </span></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: calc((1.75rem + 4 * ((100vw - 414px)/ 1266)) * var(--kv-ee-global-font-size-factor)); margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap; word-break: break-word;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Comprising of components such as the length of the copy, structure and choice of words, the writer determine the optimum way to communicate with the audience.</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: calc((1.75rem + 4 * ((100vw - 414px)/ 1266)) * var(--kv-ee-global-font-size-factor)); margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This article has covered key components to help you improve your copywriting.</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: calc((1.75rem + 4 * ((100vw - 414px)/ 1266)) * var(--kv-ee-global-font-size-factor)); margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><span style="white-space: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Thank you for reading.</span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This content was originally posted on the <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/238757/copywriting-how-to-write-promotional-material" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BYB Marketing Blog</a></span></div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">BYB Marketing - https://brandyourselfbetter.com/</div>Daniel Hopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16097570896266702933noreply@blogger.com0509 Tuhikaramea Road, Temple View, Hamilton 3218, New Zealand-37.8264013 175.2249237-66.136637184802424 140.068671017791 -9.51616541519758 -149.618823617791tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7106426518795808874.post-71845409918225594092021-02-09T19:04:00.001-08:002021-02-09T19:06:38.529-08:00Using Digital Marketing to Reach Your Customers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAKCnbBnkANpIHouxrKAv4R5eXAdeRtuhBdd4wds6anLVg2YZGgSOEuVWa2anS323riWD6k-4hTbD6SJUiKYvgXmAzGD2B7nAFiSuRy5PvXRdVNZxV1zzJKJ4Nc2_YFlnzVAGh32LJ5WY/s2048/domenico-loia-EhTcC9sYXsw-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img alt="Digital marketing strategy" border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAKCnbBnkANpIHouxrKAv4R5eXAdeRtuhBdd4wds6anLVg2YZGgSOEuVWa2anS323riWD6k-4hTbD6SJUiKYvgXmAzGD2B7nAFiSuRy5PvXRdVNZxV1zzJKJ4Nc2_YFlnzVAGh32LJ5WY/w640-h426/domenico-loia-EhTcC9sYXsw-unsplash.jpg" title="Digital marketing strategy" width="640" /></span></a></div><section class="section section--body" name="5a73"><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p class="graf graf--p" name="68c0"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The internet is a massive part of our lives. We use the internet for all sorts of things — to socialise, learn, or entertain us. It is where many of us spend a lot of our time. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8dcb"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Because we are spending so much time online, the internet has become a powerful tool to communicate with customers and potential customers. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d6e5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Promoting our business on the internet is digital marketing, and companies have so many opportunities to put their brands out there to attract customers. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8a0d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Where do we start? </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4780"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Read on to find out more.</span></p><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a name='more'></a></span></span><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What is digital marketing?</span></h1><p class="graf graf--p" name="2b46"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Digital marketing utilises the internet and online-based digital technologies for marketing products, services, and brands. Businesses can connect with their target audience, where they spend a lot of their time — online.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7efb"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Terms such as ‘online marketing’, ‘internet marketing’ or ‘web marketing’ are often used synonymously. However, digital marketing extends to non-internet channels to use numerous digital media to connect with customers. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4406"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Along with the internet, digital marketing includes apps, mobile devices, video games and other digital channels to reach consumers.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2583"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This article will focus on internet-based digital marketing tactics.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="0f3e"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Digital marketing is a blanket term for the targeted, measurable, and interactive marketing of goods or services using digital technologies in order to reach and convert leads into customers and preserve them. The main objective is to promote brands, shape preference and boost sales. “ (Todor, 2016).</span></em></blockquote><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="49e7"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A brief history of digital marketing</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="6f5a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Nowadays, using digital marketing is crucial to almost for any business to compete. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1e7a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But thirty years ago, this was not the case. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="00a5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Now, a vast majority of companies has a website, social media presence or digital ad strategy. Consumers now expect it, often using digital tools such as website and social media to learn about brands’ products or services.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b534"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Technology advances changed how businesses used marketing in the 1990s, with growth in the internet’s popularity. The first banner ad appeared on a website in 1994.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="bac3"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Into the 2000s and 2010s, digital marketing became a part of consumers’ everyday lives as we spend more time online. Advancements in computers with laptops and then mobile devices with the iPhone meant more consumers were using digital devices for research their needs instead of visiting physical shops.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b2e6"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Advancements in <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/201785/social-selling-how-it-works-and-10-tips-to-optimize-your-strategy" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/201785/social-selling-how-it-works-and-10-tips-to-optimize-your-strategy" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Customer Relationship Management (CRM)</a> and the use of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter gave business availability to vast amounts of customer data. They allowed businesses to communicate directly with their target customers.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="d464"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Rapid growth of Web-based platforms that facilitate online social behaviour has significantly modified the nature of human activities, habitats, and interactions.” (Tiago, & Veríssimo, 2014)</span></em></blockquote><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Inbound marketing</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="6ed0"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Digital marketing often uses inbound marketing tactics to attract and engage customers online.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="56f8"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Inbound marketing has a customer-centric approach, using pull tactics to attract <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/103125/targeting-how-to-make-marketing-more-efficient-and-effective" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/103125/targeting-how-to-make-marketing-more-efficient-and-effective" rel="noopener" target="_blank">target customers through stimulating, engaging, and helpful content</a>. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="88ab"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">On the other hand, Outbound marketing uses push tactics to put marketing directly in front of consumers, regardless of whether they find it relevant.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="a804"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Inbound marketing means to promote a business through blogs, podcasts, video, eBooks, eNewsletters, whitepapers, SEO, physical products, social media marketing, and other methods of content marketing which serve to interest customers through the different stages of the purchase funnel.” (Todor, 2016)</span></em></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p" name="d3ba"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">TV adverting or catalogues in your mailbox are examples of push marketing.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b1fa"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A useful tool for inbound marketing is the business website, to benefit from <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/72931/how-keywords-bring-you-customers" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/72931/how-keywords-bring-you-customers" rel="noopener" target="_blank">keywords that potential customers are searching</a>. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b0c7"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Different content is suited to varying stages of the buyer’s journey using the website content. Some buyers are ready to purchase, and some want to learn. Product information will help purchasers prepare to buy, and informative blog posts will be relevant to other customers early in the buying decision-making process.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="3747"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Marketing managers who fail to utilize the importance of the Internet in their business marketing strategy will be at a disadvantage because the Internet is changing the brand, pricing, distribution and promotion strategy.” (Bala, & Verma, 2018)</span></em></blockquote></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="cb0a"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The benefits of digital marketing</span></h1><p class="graf graf--p" name="9796"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There are several benefits to using digital marketing, such as its effectiveness for increasing brand awareness and generating customer leads.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1fa9"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Here are six other benefits to using digital marketing.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="c6e2"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“One of advantages of online marketing is related with its enabling effect especially on small businesses since internet can extend market reach and operational efficiency of small and medium enterprises (SMEs)” (Todor, 2016)</span></em></blockquote><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Accessible</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="8c5f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There are very few barriers to entry for using digital marketing. A computer or mobile phone and an internet connection are all you need to start. Social media accounts are free, websites are low cost, and there are plenty of tools to create marketing content for free little cost.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3531"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">For small businesses, digital marketing allows them to have a voice sometimes larger online than more prominent players in the industry. For example, blogging with high quality and informational content filled with keywords that customers search for, can help you outrank bigger competitors in search results.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="6f4f"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Digital marketing is able to create offers and programs that can be customized or personalized based on the profiles or consumer behaviour and their preferences.” (Todor, 2016)</span></em></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFtr7BppKiNmEyTBBL80vWL-8XKcMpOO-aDEJylMfreRteYJuduBOeY7rOgj4RflHPQVpyGdtoewyUjvBW89KWjir336eVW8U3t4sZhrDo97mUjwtfZPCaCVTp1h8ZOvV_3kCBjyF9CY8/s2048/ricardo-arce-cY_TCKr5bek-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Targeted marketing" border="0" data-original-height="1414" data-original-width="2048" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFtr7BppKiNmEyTBBL80vWL-8XKcMpOO-aDEJylMfreRteYJuduBOeY7rOgj4RflHPQVpyGdtoewyUjvBW89KWjir336eVW8U3t4sZhrDo97mUjwtfZPCaCVTp1h8ZOvV_3kCBjyF9CY8/w640-h442/ricardo-arce-cY_TCKr5bek-unsplash.jpg" title="Targeted marketing" width="640" /></a></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Targeted</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="f04c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Digital marketing has the enormous advantages of being able to <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/70179/segmenting-your-target-market" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/70179/segmenting-your-target-market" rel="noopener" target="_blank">target very large or particular audiences</a>. You could set an ad up to target every user across the planet to see it; or at the other end of the scale, you could have a particular local audience.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="64c7"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">With an advertisement on TV or a billboard, you have limited control over who sees the promotion. This not targeted marketing, meaning many people will see it that are uninterested in your business.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b761"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Create custom audiences of your ideal customers (or, buyer personas), to target them with specific ads across social media platforms, search engine advertising and other ads. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0fd4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Characteristics of customers than can be used to create audiences are age, gender, location, interests, and even some behaviours.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="1b26"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Compared to traditional mass media marketing, digital marketing has much lower cost and in many cases, websites can generate traffic even for free.” (Todor, 2016)</span></em></blockquote><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Cost-effective</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="1118"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Many traditional marketing forms can be quite costly, such as TV or radio ads, billboards, or print advertising. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f49b"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">However, digital marketing can be very cheap in comparison. Some businesses put thousands of dollars a month on Facebook or Google ads. However, for many companies, spending less than $100 a month will still have an excellent online marketing presence.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d140"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Native content on social media is free, blogging is free, and you can do a pretty good job of your SEO for your free, with the right knowledge.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="3aaa"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“One important aspect is the return on investment (ROI) from any digital marketing campaign. To understand what the ROI is, we need to understand what the goals or aims of the company are, what they wish to get from a digital marketing campaign and then measure these goals.” (Todor, 2016)</span></em></blockquote><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Easily measurable</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="9aa9"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A significant benefit of most digital marketing activities measures the ROI (return on investment). Digital technologies such as website and social media analytics make it far easier to collect and analyse data than traditional marketing.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9a2a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Data is available at the click of a button. This data includes the number of people who visited your website, how many pages they visited, how long they spent, and what directed these people to your website.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="835d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Common performance indicators (KPIs) include:</span></p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="9acb"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">General Performance such as traffic, leads, reach.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="292d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Channel Based such as website, blog, social networks, search engines.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="8134"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Source-based performance, such as direct traffic, organic search, PPC, and email.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="aa68"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Campaign-based performance such as lead generation, click-through and conversion rates.</span></li></ul><p class="graf graf--p" name="4548"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Understanding and analysing and understanding these metrics allows a firm to identify trends and patterns in customer behaviours, to learn how customers research and consume brands online.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f6d1"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Your firm can then make more informed decisions about your marketing strategy and Optimise it by prioritising marketing channels that are achieving better results.</span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Adaptable</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="da67"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Many of the marketing materials online can be changed easily, meaning a firm can continuously pivot with its strategy. For example, they can update website content, social media content deleted, or create new Google or Facebook ads.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a121"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You can also control where you choose to spend your money because you can track previous campaigns and analyse what has worked well and what has not.</span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Digital footprint</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="47a6"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Most of your online presence will become permanently available. Potential customers can consume the information over an extended period.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="37e2"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Unlike TV advertising or other marketing forms with a limited timeframe, your social media content and website content will be available until you delete it. Even then, that information may be available elsewhere on other websites.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="29e6"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">With the vast number of social media platforms and other opportunities to share all types of marketing content online, your digital footprint can become very large.</span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="2763"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Digital marketing strategy</span></h1><p class="graf graf--p" name="774e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When it comes to planning your digital marketing strategy, start by identifying and defining your broader business goals. It is essential to have a clear picture of these goals as you create your marketing strategy to support and reach these goals.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9e44"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Use a combination of paid and free digital marketing practices to achieve the best results. A Facebook page is excellent, but to maximise its effectiveness, paid advertising is a must. At the core of your strategy should be creating quality online content to attract and convert customers.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="aaa7"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The next section will explore the following components of digital marketing:</span></p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="51fd"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Website</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="dde1"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Search engine optimisation (SEO)</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="f4a8"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Search engine marketing</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="63e0"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Google My Business</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="c4c4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Content Marketing</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="4ad1"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Social media marketing</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="e07e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Marketing automation</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="1ba7"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Pay Per Click (PPC)</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="fe39"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Affiliate marketing</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="e241"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Email marketing</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="6391"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Online PR</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="3370"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Marketing and sales funnels</span></li></ul><p class="graf graf--p graf--empty" name="1b4f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">1. Website</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="2436"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A company’s website should be a centrepiece for their digital marketing strategy. It is a powerful tool by itself, but the real strength of a website for marketing is using it along with a variety of other digital marketing tools and techniques. Ultimately, we want to drive traffic to our website from other sources. Our website is where we usually convert prospects into customers.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f0af"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The website should represent your brand as best as possible. The look and content should be eye-catching and memorable. The website’s performance is also essential — it should be easy to navigate, fast-loading, mobile-friendly, and easy to use.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="87fb"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Search Engine Optimization or SEO is essentially tweaking your website so that it comes up naturally or organically for search results in Google, Yahoo Bing or any other search engine.” (Bala & Verma, 2018)</span></em></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p graf--empty" name="7ddb"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">2. Search Engine Optimisation</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="7f41"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Instead of paying for advertising to rank in search engine results (SERP), search engine optimisation (SEO) helps you rank higher in the results organically (free). SEO optimises content on your website, including blog articles and infographics.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4303"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A key component of SEO is conducting keyword research to create a list of high-performing keywords relating to your products or services. SEO takes an investment of time and effort instead of direct advertising spend. It can be complicated to do yourself, and some of the practices might need implementation from your website builder.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="57ae"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Types of SEO include</span></p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="4a0a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">On-page SEO is content on the page, such as using keywords.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="31ec"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Off-page SEO is practices such as link building to build your authority.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="7853"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Technical SEO tweaks the back end of your website’s performance, such as increasing your website’s loading speed (Google likes fast websites)</span></li></ul><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="d55d"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“SEM also includes Display Advertising, Search Retargeting & Site Remarketing, Mobile Marketing and Paid Social Advertising.” (Bala, & Verma, 2018)</span></em></blockquote><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixZh_Tv95YebYflNPzKxyrOjNnYJ7xU51UZAL1h130qvzHRH2SV6ar9RVs9L7lSu3adEbKV9qCekVLzpl3rYdfy4HXRP8uA_-KMtjrt8a2iZXaXb7ZbN7kS-_JNOgYfZvsnpjz1CjYcDA/s2048/search-engine-home-page-PDSZKYA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="search engine marketing" border="0" data-original-height="1367" data-original-width="2048" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixZh_Tv95YebYflNPzKxyrOjNnYJ7xU51UZAL1h130qvzHRH2SV6ar9RVs9L7lSu3adEbKV9qCekVLzpl3rYdfy4HXRP8uA_-KMtjrt8a2iZXaXb7ZbN7kS-_JNOgYfZvsnpjz1CjYcDA/w640-h428/search-engine-home-page-PDSZKYA.jpg" title="search engine marketing" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">3. Search Engine Marketing</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="28b2"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Search engine marketing (SEM) drives your website traffic through search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo. The traffic is typically through paid ads, so people also refer to it paid search advertising.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5692"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When a user searches for a topic through a search engine, two sets of results come up. The first set of products are the organic ones, as discussed above in SEO; and the second set of results paid ads. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9d5f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Search engine marketing is a popular strategy as it targets potential customers who are already searching for a product or service like yours.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p graf--empty" name="83c5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">4. Google My Business</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="8781"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/153562/how-to-use-google-my-business-to-attract-more-customers-through-search" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/153562/how-to-use-google-my-business-to-attract-more-customers-through-search" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Google provides a free tool to business owners called My Business</a> to improve their online search presence.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="84cf"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> Once a business creates a Google My Business listing, it generates a Google Maps location which synchronises with Google Search to enhance location-based searchability.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ffb4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Like social media accounts, businesses can add important information, such as their location, contact information, photos, and products/services. Customers can even leave reviews and their photos. Businesses should provide as much information as possible to help their Google ranking for relevant search queries.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="407d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The more Google knows, the easier it is for them to show it to the right people. Therefore, a completed business profile will help with SEO and Google ads can also be set up through the account.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p graf--empty" name="6856"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">5. Content Marketing</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="d706"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Creating and promoting marketing any marketing content online is called content marketing. <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/53808/ten-ways-your-business-can-create-marketing-content-to-reach-more-customers" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/53808/ten-ways-your-business-can-create-marketing-content-to-reach-more-customers" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Content marketing</a> generates brand awareness, increases social media following, increases website traffic, and ultimately generates customer leads.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="106a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The content should not try to sell; instead, be entertaining, engaging, and educational content. Businesses try to capture the attention of their target customers. It is often published on the company website, promoting content through social media, email marketing, SEO, and paid ads.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e520"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Types of marketing content include White papers, e-books, case studies, how-to guides, glossaries, industry news, video, images and banners, podcasts, webinars, blogging, online courses, and infographics.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e21b"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Some of the more popular content marketing tools are:</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ad17"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Blogging </strong>generates organic search traffic to your business website by regularly writing articles in your niche with informative content and demonstrating your industry expertise. The copy in your blog should be packed full of relevant keywords for SEO.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="3732"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Blogs as a tool for digital marketing have successfully created an impact for increasing sales revenue, especially for products where customers can read reviews and write comments about personal experiences.” (Bala, & Verma, 2018)</span></em></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p" name="351b"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Whitepapers and eBooks</strong> are long-form content, and similarly to blogging, the content aims to educate readers. They are also a lead-magnets (or gated content), meaning you collect the contact details of those who download it. Typically, at least an email is required so that the marketer can send the consumer the piece of content.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5345"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The idea is that you are generating qualified leads, as the people downloading it are interested in what you have to say, so could be potential customers.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="212d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Infographics</strong> also educate people, but in the form of visual content. Infographics often use charts, images, numbers, and minimal text, to communicate information quickly and clearly and give an easy-to-understand overview of a topic.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8d04"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Video Marketing,</strong> as you would expect, uses video content as a marketing tool. The use of video online is widespread, and YouTube has become the second most popular search engine. People use it to find information about all sorts of things, including product reviews, to inform them during their buying decision process.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7bae"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Many other popular social media platforms encourage video content, such as Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, and even LinkedIn.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p graf--empty" name="b49b"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0RBhzUEsPhyVOfLYmenDZ_rD5CRX1e3nO9sA0ALIcLwZ-To63rr4lAtfaCqiBquGxdKlnNz3VXlIfepSM9bFA7Y6BSANwYa-jSpav4be8RSHdYBM-79-ruQnpRp5I54dUh4V07aUojRg/s2048/william-iven-DfMMzzi3rmg-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="social media marketing" border="0" data-original-height="1360" data-original-width="2048" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0RBhzUEsPhyVOfLYmenDZ_rD5CRX1e3nO9sA0ALIcLwZ-To63rr4lAtfaCqiBquGxdKlnNz3VXlIfepSM9bFA7Y6BSANwYa-jSpav4be8RSHdYBM-79-ruQnpRp5I54dUh4V07aUojRg/w640-h424/william-iven-DfMMzzi3rmg-unsplash.jpg" title="social media marketing" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">6. Social Media Marketing</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="3b8d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Social media marketing’s primary goal is to increase brand awareness and establish trust with the target audience to generate customer leads and direct website traffic.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b97d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Popular social media platforms include:</span></p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="6d45"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">YouTube</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="1814"><a class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/214991/a-guide-to-facebook-marketing-for-2021" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/214991/a-guide-to-facebook-marketing-for-2021" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Facebook</span></a></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="f4a3"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Messenger</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="8f7d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Twitter</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="07a4"><a class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/81273/tips-on-how-to-use-linkedin-to-attract-more-leads" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/81273/tips-on-how-to-use-linkedin-to-attract-more-leads" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">LinkedIn</span></a></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="853c"><a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/278559/a-guide-to-instagram-marketing-in-2021" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Instagram</span></a></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="01c5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Snapchat</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="f73c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Pinterest</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="5629"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">TikTok</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="9698"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Quora</span></li></ul><p class="graf graf--p" name="85f7"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Most social media platforms allow you to run ads on their site, building awareness when you have a small audience and reach.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9b12"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Each social media platform has a point of difference, and its main user-base depends on that.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5480"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/201785/social-selling-how-it-works-and-10-tips-to-optimize-your-strategy" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/201785/social-selling-how-it-works-and-10-tips-to-optimize-your-strategy" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Social selling</a> is the use of social media for sales and marketing. <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/115793/influencer-marketing-in-2020" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/115793/influencer-marketing-in-2020" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Influencer marketing</a> is a popular marketing tool for businesses on social media.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p graf--empty" name="76a9"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">7. Marketing Automation</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="5498"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Software is available such as <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://www.hubspot.com/" href="https://www.hubspot.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">HubSpot</a> and <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://www.marketo.com/" href="https://www.marketo.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Marketo</a> to connect social media channels in one place to schedule and automate content across platforms to streamline the process.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e14f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">However, be careful not to create generic content that you use across every platform. Each network has a unique community and different ‘types’ of content and conversation style that works better.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="20f1"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">These software platforms also automate your basic marketing operations and repetitive tasks such as</span></p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="3a92"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Email newsletters</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="2026"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">CRM</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="bbeb"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Social media post scheduling</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="5787"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Lead-nurturing</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="82b9"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Campaign tracking and reporting</span></li></ul><p class="graf graf--p graf--empty" name="ff33"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">8. Pay Per Click (PPC)</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="0f2e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Marketing that charges a firm for every click on a paid ad is called pay per click (PPC) advertising. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f8bb"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/192047/how-to-optimise-your-pay-per-click-advertising" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/192047/how-to-optimise-your-pay-per-click-advertising" rel="noopener" target="_blank">PPC is the system used in search engine marketing such as Google</a>, advertisers bidding on key search terms used by customers to achieve a top position in search results.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d0fb"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Several social media platforms also use PPC such as YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="23c1"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Keywords in search queries trigger ads on search engines. On social media, ads target segmented audiences based on their demographic characteristics (such as age or gender) or target locations, interests, or behaviours.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1126"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Ads use various display formats — text, image, banner, rich-media, interactive or video ads. Firms customise ads to the targeted audience and their needs/interests/desires. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ad9d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">To blend in with a website’s feel, Marketers can also feature paid ads alongside non-paid content on websites such as blogs or other media.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p graf--empty" name="965a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">9. Affiliate Marketing</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="e871"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Marketers can earn a commission marketing other peoples’ or company’s products online.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8a59"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/149397/what-is-affiliate-marketing-and-how-does-it-work" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/149397/what-is-affiliate-marketing-and-how-does-it-work" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Affiliate marketing</a> uses endorsement to earn promoters (the affiliate) money when internet users act on their marketing through clicks or sales. A common tactic for affiliate marketers is Posting affiliate links to their social media accounts or blog articles.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d5ef"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Often an affiliate marketing network manages the relationship between merchant and affiliate. <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/" href="https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Amazon</a> has one of the largest affiliate networks globally, and the <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/72851?hl=en" href="https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/72851?hl=en" rel="noopener" target="_blank">YouTube Partner Program</a> allows users to host video ads.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="84ad"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Affiliate Marketing is especially useful for start-ups, as it will bring in more traffic to their business through high-traffic sites.” (Bala, & Verma, 2018)</span></em></blockquote><p> </p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">10. Email Marketing</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="cf9a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Using email to promote content, events, and direct people to your website is <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/144400/a-guide-to-email-marketing" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/144400/a-guide-to-email-marketing" rel="noopener" target="_blank">email marketing</a>.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="cf3c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The recipients of the emails should be previous customers and other people on your database who have shown an interest in your brand or what you have to say. Content marketing and sales funnels generate these leads, the objective to nurture them into customers.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="bb5c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">On the other hand, Spam is sending emails to random people who did not permit you to contact them and is illegal.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ff50"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Types of emails include:</span></p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="6649"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Newsletters to inform subscribers of the blog or social media content they might find valuable</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="e357"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Follow-up emails to potential purchasers who left items in their cart without purchasing them</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="2737"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Welcome emails for new subscribers</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="b0c2"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Advertising limited time offers or discounts.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="29fb"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Special promotions to loyalty program members</span></li></ul><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="60fc"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“With effective email marketing software, you can maintain email lists that are segregated based on several factors, including customers likes and dislikes, and spending habits.” (Bala, & Verma, 2018</span></em></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p graf--empty" name="ad9c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">11. Marketing and Sales Funnels</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="8b45"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/67806/the-marketing-and-sales-funnel-explained-marketing-strategy-for-businesses" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/67806/the-marketing-and-sales-funnel-explained-marketing-strategy-for-businesses" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Marketing and sales funnels</a> are a vital tool for a digital marketing strategy.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="59e0"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">An example of a marketing funnel is blog posts generating leads for a free eBook. The eBook might be “10 tips to growing bigger potatoes” and a blog post to direct people to the eBook called “Best time of year to plant potatoes.”</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3abe"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You might post a link on your Facebook and Instagram accounts with a picture of potatoes.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fe57"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Once somebody downloads the eBook, you have their email address, because that was a part of the process to download the eBook.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9fae"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Then, email these people when you have a special deal on your potato seeds.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p graf--empty" name="f003"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">12. Online Public Relations</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="e852"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Like traditional <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/139681/using-public-relations-to-influence-an-audience" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/139681/using-public-relations-to-influence-an-audience" rel="noopener" target="_blank">public relations (PR)</a>, online PR is about securing earned coverage for your brand. It is much more challenging to measure the success of PR than other online marketing methods. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d23c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Still, businesses should not underestimate the lack of analytics for measuring a positive news article’s impact.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c297"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Examples of online PR activities are:</span></p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="9182"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Engaging in negative reviews can help humanise your brand as it shows that you care about their experience.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="066d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Press releases on your website or social media.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="d4f5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Share content about causes that connect people.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="914c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Engage with comments on social media content or your blog.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="065a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Email outreach to reporters and media organisations with pitches for news articles.</span></li></ul></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="79dd"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p class="graf graf--p" name="b29c"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Thank you for reading.</span></strong></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0c59"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I hope you enjoyed the content on digital marketing.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="49a1"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We first explored a brief history and talked about digital marketing's significance for businesses now in 2021.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d89e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I talked about the benefits of using digital tools in a marketing strategy, and then gave 12 examples of different ways to use digital marketing to promote our businesses.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fb3d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Hopefully, if you’re a business owner or budding marketer, there has been some useful information to apply these methods yourself.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1d11"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Dan</span></p><p class="graf graf--p graf--empty" name="2e59"><br /></p><p class="graf graf--p graf--empty" name="2e59">This content was originally posted on the BYB Marketing Blog: <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/233417/digital-marketing-strategy-12-ways-to-market-your-business-online">https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/233417/digital-marketing-strategy-12-ways-to-market-your-business-online</a></p><p class="graf graf--p graf--empty" name="2e59"><br /></p></div></div></section><div class="blogger-post-footer">BYB Marketing - https://brandyourselfbetter.com/</div>Daniel Hopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16097570896266702933noreply@blogger.com0Hamilton, New Zealand-37.7825893 175.2527624-66.092823136178851 140.0965124 -9.4723554638211525 -149.5909876tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7106426518795808874.post-38536744383847214242021-01-25T22:37:00.000-08:002021-01-25T22:37:26.717-08:00 B2B vs B2C Marketing: 9 Key Differences<p></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1OUEnA4vpEDer0NqJI3o5bcw-rueZL4Wd5s8ks9Q1BwGpiq5U9q5QkKRXVTrpQIm8rb6o3x_x9OeWpnVXZxwXAc6jtBXNrIh0IOCNEsruJXSAreNzdhA1OvoA4mhlg-2Nnn7iK9fx7zc/s1560/b2b+b2c.jpg"><img alt="B2B vs B2C Marketing" border="0" height="343" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1OUEnA4vpEDer0NqJI3o5bcw-rueZL4Wd5s8ks9Q1BwGpiq5U9q5QkKRXVTrpQIm8rb6o3x_x9OeWpnVXZxwXAc6jtBXNrIh0IOCNEsruJXSAreNzdhA1OvoA4mhlg-2Nnn7iK9fx7zc/w640-h343/b2b+b2c.jpg" title="B2B vs B2C Marketing" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Marketing influences customer decision-making.<br /><br />A person’s decision-making process for purchasing a car, holiday or a new Ice Cream brand will differ from how they make a business decision such as what printer to buy.<br /><br />Therefore, the way businesses market consumer or business products or services is quite different. <br /><br />This article explores these differences between B2B and B2C marketing.<br /><br /></span><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Defining B2B and B2C Marketing</span></h1><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Before exploring the differences between B2B and B2C marketing, we must first define marketing.<br /><br />According to Rėklaitis & Pilelienė (2019) marketing comprises of six promotional mix elements: <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/129857/advertising-as-a-marketing-tool-to-reach-customers">advertising</a>, <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/139681/using-public-relations-to-influence-an-audience">public relations</a> (publicity), sales promotions, personal selling, digital marketing, and direct marketing; managed from an integrated marketing approach.<img alt="Integrated marketing strategy" height="160" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*IBuv5X82wECEsuC0y3O94g.png" title="Integrated marketing strategy" width="640" /><br /><br />B2B stands for ‘Business to Business’, and B2C for ‘Business to Consumer’. <br /><br />Therefore, they differ primarily in terms of the customer and audience. B2B sell products and services directly to other businesses and B2C sell products and services to consumers for personal use.<br /><br />Examples of B2B are businesses selling the raw product to manufacturers such as timber or steel, Accountants’ customers are typically other businesses, or a company offering website building or digital marketing.<br /><br />Examples of B2C businesses are the local corner store/convenience store, a website where you can buy fitness and health supplements or any store in the local shopping centre/mall.<br />“…Seeking to successfully plan and implement marketing communication strategies, it is important to understand the differences of business-to-consumer vs. business-to-business communication processes.” (Rėklaitis & Pilelienė, 2019)<br /><br />There is some overlap between the two, and many of the practices and processes stay the same. However, some differences separate them.</span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><br /></span><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Differences between B2B and B2C Marketing</span></h2><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In B2B, marketing communications are far more professional, rational, and less emotive than B2C.<br /><br />B2B is about building relationships and educating prospects; where B2C marketing uses enjoyable content and focuses on quick solutions to trigger an emotional response to a need, interest, or challenges of people in their everyday lives.<br /><br />Rėklaitis & Pilelienė (2019) identify numerous differences between B2B and B2C markets.<img alt="B2B vs B2C Marketing" height="308" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*ejm60fQS6QBGgKuDiXJ1bw.png" title="B2B vs B2C Marketing" width="640" /><br /><br />I have identified nine of the most significant differences between marketing for B2B and B2C, which are:<br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The decision-maker</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The decision-making and sales process</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The motivation</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Customer relationship</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">Marketing strategy</a></span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">Target audience</a></span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Communication tools</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Language</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Purchase value and complexity</span></li></ul>The following chapters will discuss these differences individually.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The decision-maker</span></h4><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Multiple staff can influence the decisions in organisations, whereas B2C often involves one decision-maker.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><blockquote>“In B2C, there is always a particular person who is making a decision to purchase an item. Considering B2B sales, in most cases, will be more than one person to decide; therefore, knowing the decision-makers and decision-making process in B2B is very important.” Rėklaitis & Pilelienė (2019)</blockquote><div><br /></div></span></div><div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">B2B — Multiple decision-makers or influences</span></h3><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We are not marketing to one just one person in B2B. Organisational processes confine purchases, and there is a chain of command to deal with in B2B, with owners, managers or other decision-makers purchasing on behalf of their organisation.<br /><br />The needs of the company and/or the employees drive decisions. A worker in a particular factory area might report that they need new equipment, but a manager might decide what to purchase.<br /><br />Work out who the right person is to <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/103125/targeting-how-to-make-marketing-more-efficient-and-effective">target with marketing</a> or have a conversation with is, as marketing must reach this small group of individuals within the business, which can be easier said than done.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">B2C — Decision-maker is often the customer</span></h3><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The decision-maker for B2C is often the customer or another family member. The decision is based on what benefits it brings to them personally or to their family member. Communication to consumers should focus on the problem you solve or help your brand provides.<br /><br />Marketing can reach any potential consumer for a product in a household, even if they are not necessarily the purchaser.<br /><br />Reach the household decision-maker for significant items such as a new vehicle. For smaller items such as cereal for the household or cleaning products, the kids or wife could be the decision-maker or consumer, and the husband/father the customer that makes the purchase.<br /><br /></span><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The decision-making and sales process</span></h4><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The decision-making and sales process for B2B is usually highly planned, process-driven and logical, where a B2C is often more emotional than rational.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><blockquote>“…Based on the rationality of B2B customers and the emotionality in B2C markets, the messages of marketing communications also have to emphasise different aspects of an offering: starting with general product characteristics in B2B market and ending with pursued delight and impalpability in B2C situations.” (Rėklaitis & Pilelienė, 2019)</blockquote><p> </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">B2B — Slow decision-making process, highly planned and logical</h3></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The purchasing process for B2B focuses on the logic of the product/service, its features, and financial incentives. Rationality drives choices, which are less pleasure-driven than B2C, with little personal emotion involved.<br /><br />B2B customers expect the business to look after them. Sales take a consultative approach, focusing on customer service before a transaction occurs, maintaining open communication.<br /><br />Provide custom solutions to customers to best fit their needs, as they are often investigating alternative solutions from competitors<br /><br />B2B customers spend longer researching before purchasing than B2C. <br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The length of sales cycles has increased as the more significant number of decision‐makers in the B2B buying process has increased. The buyer decision process illustrated in the AIDA model.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img alt="AIDA decision making model" height="400" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*WIrsR6b2WOD1h9txduztFw.png" title="AIDA decision making model" width="385" /> <br /><br />Customer progress in the Buyer Decision Process can be tracked through <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/178076/how-to-use-customer-relationship-management-crm-to-improve-customer-retention-and-increase-sales">CRM</a>, to understand their needs best and offer the best solution.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><blockquote>“B2B sector there are planned activities involved in a sales process: a purchaser has to follow the budget frames and time limitations.” (Rėklaitis & Pilelienė, 2019)</blockquote></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">B2C — Decisions more emotional than rational</span></h3><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Decisions made by B2C customers are often more emotional, impulsive, less rational and vary in length and importance. <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/129857/advertising-as-a-marketing-tool-to-reach-customers">Advertising often influences these decisions</a> and customers can decide on a purchase instantly.<br /><br />The purchase process, therefore, should be as easy and as convenient as possible.<br /><br />This shortened research, decision and sales process means social proof on social media or reviews has more influence on decision-making than B2B.<br /><br />Often, when a consumer realises they have a need, they already know what kind of solution (product or service) they need. They have seen the advertising, or there is a brand they trust above others.<br /><br /></span><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Motivation</span></h4><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Business purchasing decisions are typically motivated by business needs, in contrast to consumer decisions often motivated by individual desire.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">B2B — Improve business performance</span></h3><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The goal of improving their business its profitability is a significant motivation for B2B customers. These customers seek efficiency and/or expertise, thinking about the impact of their business decisions. Decisions are well thought out, with little influence of emotions.<br /><br />Emotion is in B2B does exist, just not at the same level. You are still selling to human beings with fears, needs, and wants, and marketers should try to appeal to this. Tie emotion appeal back to improving their business performance and a return on investment.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><blockquote>“B2C marketing communication campaign in most cases will be based on capturing the customer’s attention immediately. Consumers’ decision will be more emotional.” (Rėklaitis & Pilelienė, 2019)</blockquote></span></div><div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">B2C — Fulfilling consumer desire</span></h3><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The motivation for B2C customers is the desire to improve their lives in a particular way.<br /><br />They could be seeking deals, entertainment, or pleasure. Purchasing a new shirt, or a holiday probably will not have the same decision-making process than choosing an accountant for their business.<br /><br />Consumers do not have to think on behalf of an organisation, although they might decide for their family. Often instant gratification is the primary motivating factor.<br /><br /></span><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Customer Relationships</span></h4><span style="font-family: helvetica;">B2B marketing focuses on forming long-term personal relationships with its target customers, whereas B2C marketing focuses on creating short-term value and efficiency.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">B2B — Build personal relationships</span></h3><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Repeat and referral business is critical is advertising is not as effective as it is for B2C, instead of forming and developing personal relationships drives B2B sales and marketing goals.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><blockquote>“Generally speaking, building trust between seller and buyer will be the main prerequisite for a successful (B2B) deal.” (Rėklaitis & Pilelienė, 2019)</blockquote>Having conversations with people you know and meeting new people can be very successful for generating leads (potential customers; a reason why networking is an excellent tool for B2B businesses.<br /><br />More nurturing of leads is required than B2C, paying close attention to customer needs. Good communication is needed and other customer service aspects of creating positive (or negative) associations with your brand by your practices helping separate you from competitors.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><blockquote>“B2B purchasing is more likely to involve more intense direct relationships and richness of pre-purchase information.” (Jussila, Kärkkäinen, & Aramo-Immonen, 2014)</blockquote><p> </p></span></div><div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">B2C — Transactional relationship</span></h3><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The aim of B2C marketing is drive as many sales as possible in an efficient manner. The effort spent getting to know the customer is far less than B2B, as relationships are more short-term and transactional.<br /><br />Because of the larger markets and customer potential, instead of focusing on building close relationships with customers, the emphasis is on creating value and process efficiency.<br /><br />The investment into you from B2C customers is unlikely not as deep as your investment in them. Do not bombard them with too much content outside their buying cycle. Try to make the customer experience with your website or other contact points, a positive experience to encourage their loyalty.<br /><br />Focus on selling the product, one way of doing this is by using a call to action and offer incentives.<br /><br /></span><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Marketing strategy</span></h4><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The focus of B2B marketing strategy is on lead generation through relationship building. For B2C, the emphasis is instead on branding to create an identity that attracts customers.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">B2B — Lead generation</span></h3><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Lead generation is a priority of B2B businesses. B2B purchasers rely on personal sales relatively more than advertising as a source of product information. Salespeople are integral marketing tools.<br /><br />Because decision-making often involves a group of people, the salesperson can talk with and negotiate with all the relevant parties at once.<br /><br />Being consistent in the presentation of information, and a good reputation for delivering on promises goes a long way to drive repeat business and referrals.<br /><br />Networking with other businesspeople increases your chances of bumping into past clients and acquaintances, where a conversation and introduction be your next warm sales lead. You already have built credibility through the association and introduction.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">B2C — Branding</span></h3><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Branding is a priority for B2C marketing. Marketing should put the brand front and centre to create a lasting memory. When it comes time for customers to make a purchase, you automatically want them to think of your brand.<br /><br /><a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/70179/segmenting-your-target-market">Keep your brand in front of target consumers</a> with <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/144400/a-guide-to-email-marketing">email marketing</a> and remarketing on Google. Invest in SEO or Google Ads, and <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/72931/how-keywords-bring-you-customers">identify keywords that consumers are likely to search</a> for online when looking for products/services you offer, to rank for those keywords and improve your online search result.<br /><br />Encourage happy customers to leave positive reviews. Offer them a discount on their next purchase if they leave a review, which will help create social proof for consumers in their decision-making process.<br /><br /></span><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Target Audience</span></h4><span style="font-family: helvetica;">B2B marketing targets the multiple decision-makers of a business, where B2C is targeted directly to end-users.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">B2B — Multiple decision-makers/managers</span></h3><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In B2B marketing, it is essential to understand our target audience’s characteristics: businesses’ decision-makers. They may not be the product or service user but make decisions on behalf of staff who do.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><blockquote>“The larger number of decision-makers/influencers in B2B means that B2B marketers must consider different media and different messages for each person involved.” (Habibi, Hamilton, Valos, & Callaghan, 2015)</blockquote><br />Salespeople need to know who to have a conversation with — the chain of command.<br /><br />With <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/233417/digital-marketing-strategy-12-ways-to-market-your-business-online">digital marketing</a>, the more we understand these people’s demographic and behaviours, the better we can target them with smart digital advertising. It is easy to compile and then analyse data about customers through CRM.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">B2C — End users</span></h3><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Products or services are marketed directly to end-users in a B2C market. Because of this, consumers must recognise the brand and the value you provide. Consumer markets are usually much more extensive, with much more diverse customer demographics.<br /><br />Create influential advertisements for mass media that give the consumer the desire for your products or services. Lead generation through social media is another effective way to reach consumers. Focus on after-sales activities rather than pre-sale to enhance the customer’s chances of retaining your brand’s favourable opinion.<br /><br /><br /></span><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Communication tools</span></h4><span style="font-family: helvetica;">B2B communication uses integration between digital tools and salespeople, whereas B2C commonly uses mass media such as TV or <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/214991/a-guide-to-facebook-marketing-for-2021">Facebook</a> to reach audiences.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><blockquote>“B2C companies with limited budgets often choose to rely on two or even fewer media channels, thus amplifying the risk of wasting time and resources on activities that would not lead to pursued goals and objectives. As opposed, B2B companies often use several channels for communication with their targets.” (Rėklaitis & Pilelienė, 2019)</blockquote><p> </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">B2B — Integration between digital tools and salespeople</h3></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Using diverse social media and other digital tools enhances a firm’s ability to communicate a large amount of information. Social media can perform some of the functions previously carried out by salespeople, by sharing educational information about products or services, such as how you save time, money, and resources.<br /><br />However, salespeople are still essential to B2B marketing to address different decision-makers’ emotional needs.<br /><br />Social media’s coordination between the sales department, operations, and marketing should ensure consistency. Content marketing through social media helps business satisfy the rational needs of the multiple decision‐makers involved in a company. Ensure consistent messages to keep a <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/170507/how-to-create-a-brand-identity-to-attract-more-customers">consistent brand image over time</a>, in different contexts.<br /><br />The effectiveness of social media platforms for B2C, and B2B varies. Many B2C firms have experienced great success acquired customers through Facebook or Instagram, where LinkedIn generates the most leads for B2B.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><blockquote>“B2B companies place a higher value on educational formats such as blogging and webinars; consumer businesses are slightly more willing to experiment with advanced digital formats…” (Habibi, Hamilton, Valos, & Callaghan, 2015)</blockquote><p> </p></span></div><div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">B2C — Mass media</span></h3><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Facebook is a powerhouse in B2C marketing, and Instagram and Pinterest are also popular platforms for B2C. A robust visual component can help create an emotional response.<br /><br />B2C does not usually require a sales team (apart from retail). Instead, firms should choose the most relevant marketing channels to communicate with their target audience.<br /><br />Mass marketing tools such as <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/197065/how-product-placement-puts-your-brand-in-front-of-your-target-customers">product placements</a> or television advertising is far more effective for B2C than B2B.<br /><br /></span><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Language</span></h4><span style="font-family: helvetica;">B2B marketing and sales should use industry terminology to enhance professionalism and credibility, but B2C communication should be simple, in customers’ voice and emotive.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">B2B — Speak the lingo</span></h3><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Marketing in B2B should be professional; you could lose credibility with language that is too informal.<br /><br />B2B customers need a salesperson or an expert in their industry terminology and knowledgeable about their business processes. They need a constructive conversation with knowledge provided about exactly what they are purchasing. Marketers must speak their language and provide detailed content.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><blockquote>“B2B marketers must ensure that social media messages for consumer products, which often are informal, casual and humorous, do not send a signal that the company is not technically competent.” (Habibi, Hamilton, Valos, & Callaghan, 2015).</blockquote></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">B2C — Use emotional triggers</span></h3><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Marketing to consumers should use straightforward language, in the customer’s voice, so it is relatable. It should also aim to evoke the emotions of the audience to create a desire.<br /><br />Get right to the point with marketing and point out the benefits clearly, so it is easy to understand. The more straightforward your message is, the better. Do not use industry jargon.<br /><br />It is also okay to be informal and humorous.<br /><br />Consumers often purchase with the hearts over their minds and will go with their gut. Emotion often influences this ‘gut’ feeling.<br /><br />We aim to entertain the audience rather than strictly educating them. B2C customers are highly motivated by personal gratification, so marketing that tells an uplifting story about someone who benefited from consuming your brand provides excellent marketing content.<br /><blockquote>“B2B products or services are often more complex than consumer products and services. Greater product complexity means that B2B purchasers tend to rely on more information.” (Habibi, Hamilton, Valos, & Callaghan, 2015)</blockquote></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Purchase value and complexity</span></h4><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The B2B the purchasing process is more complicated than B2C, taking more consideration from decision-makers, as purchases are usually of higher cost and importance.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">B2B — High value and complexity</span></h3><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Because of the higher-order values and longer sales cycles of B2B, the potential risk is heightened compared to B2C.<br /><br />Purchases can become quite complicated, with multiple influences on decisions. Decisions are typically long-term investments; decisions can be a complicated process with pressure to get decisions right. B2B clients often need to prove a return-on-investment for their purchase.<br /><br />B2B marketers should use social media to provide informational and valuable content to reduce risk perception.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">B2C — low value and complexity</span></h3><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Purchase values in B2C can vary greatly. Low-cost consumables from the supermarket, for example, are low cost and low risk. Do not have to educate purchasers but instead entice them.<br /><br />Marketing should aim to create an emotional response — food looks eye-watering tasty, clothing makes a model look more fashionable or a phone that takes better photos to create better memories. A decision is usually not complicated, often made in a split second to fulfil instant gratification motivation.<br /><br /><br /><br /><b>Thank you for reading.</b><br /><br />I hope you enjoyed the content about B2C and B2B Marketing’s differences and learned something new!<br /><br />In summary, there are different motivations for making business decisions and making personal decisions. Choices on what to purchase for a business is a longer process more logical and rational than the sometimes emotional decision to buy something for ourselves or our families.<br /><br />Therefore, the way marketing communicates to these two customers groups will be different.<br /><br />This article was originally posted on the BYB Marketing Blog: <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/223490/the-differences-between-b2b-and-b2c-marketing</a></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">BYB Marketing - https://brandyourselfbetter.com/</div>Daniel Hopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16097570896266702933noreply@blogger.com0Hamilton, New Zealand-37.7825893 175.2527624-66.221051605423469 140.0965124 -9.3441269945765271 -149.5909876tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7106426518795808874.post-23057728958869146002021-01-17T14:30:00.001-08:002021-01-17T14:30:07.531-08:00The Ultimate Guide to Facebook Marketing: 2021 Edition<section class="section section--body" name="5738"><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><img alt="Facebook marketing 2021" height="480" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*3V-AWrVDbdEmtf0Ms1XXXA.jpeg" title="Facebook marketing 2021" width="640" /><p class="graf graf--p" name="8b1d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A business page on Facebook is a valuable tool for any marketer, whether you are a consultant, SME or corporation. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e3c9"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Ever since Facebook launched in 2004, it has continued to grow inactive users. It is the most popular social media platform across the globe and the second most visited website. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="36d0"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Literally, billions of people are using Facebook every week. So it’s an excellent opportunity to put your brand in front of your target market and grow an audience with people who could become customers.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fdb6"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">However, Facebook is not static. It is always updating the algorithm and including new features for users.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="48bc"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Luckily, I have created this guide to marketing on Facebook in 2021 with up to date information about setting up your account and the tools available for you to use.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="48bc"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="3bb7"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Social media for marketing</span></h1><p class="graf graf--p" name="b660"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Social media networks are online platforms for exchanging information, communication, and connecting to maintain and form relationships.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2971"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Social media plays a vital role in modern culture, with one-third of the total time online across the globe spent on social media.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ce00"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">According to Boyd and Ellison (2010), social media can is a “web-based services that allow individuals to</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="70fe"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(1) Construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system,</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7cff"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(2) Articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="36cf"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(3) View and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system.”</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c962"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">From a marketing point, social media offers several advantages to businesses.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="da63"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">People use social media to express their identity, but they also use it to learn about products, brands, and topics that interest them. Therefore, social media is an excellent opportunity to showcase a brand and learn more about the target market’s preferences and consumer behaviour.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="6ec8"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“The Internet environment and its increasing significance started to play a vital role in motivating customers in their decision whether to buy a product or not. The great advantage of social media (apart from others) is the fact that they are available for all sorts of businesses — no matter their size and specialization.” (Copuš, & Čarnogurský, 2017)</span></em></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p" name="3c47"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Social media is a low-cost marketing tool — it can even cost nothing (besides your time). Access to social media is readily available to any business that wants to set up an account, anytime they want.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="838f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Usage level by potential customers is large, meaning it is easy to be noticed by your target audience. There is the ability to go ‘viral’ with content seen by many people for little effort or investment.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d3cb"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The ease of linking content to your website to potentially convert leads into paying customers is another significant benefit.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5b00"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Social media has become essential for any businesses’ marketing strategy to engage with their target consumers to generate brand awareness and create a loyal following.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="b1c9"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Two-thirds of Facebook users say they visit a local business Facebook Page at least once a week.” (Kawaf, & Istanbulluoglu, 2019)</span></em></blockquote><p> </p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="436c"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Why is Facebook so crucial to marketers?</span></h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="dd35"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Facebook is a useful tool for marketers wanting to <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/201785/social-selling-how-it-works-and-10-tips-to-optimize-your-strategy" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/201785/social-selling-how-it-works-and-10-tips-to-optimize-your-strategy" rel="noopener" target="_blank">use social media for social selling</a> as part of their broader <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/111057/how-to-choose-the-right-marketing-strategy-for-your-business" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/111057/how-to-choose-the-right-marketing-strategy-for-your-business" rel="noopener" target="_blank">marketing strategy</a>.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b157"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">According to Facebook, by 2018, they had over 2 billion monthly active users, along with 60 million business pages.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ec73"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This high number of active users that makes Facebook such an appealing digital marketing platform.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5a42"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Another drawcard of Facebook is the ability to facilitate mutual communication and interaction to build relationships with a high number of potential customers.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="9da0"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Facebook allows companies to connect with many more people and much more often than the companies would be able to approach through phone calls, emails, or meetings.” (Ramsaran-Fowdar, & Fowdar, 2013)</span></em></blockquote><p> </p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="c2d5"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Setting up your Facebook business page</span></h1><p class="graf graf--p" name="c1e5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Do not make the mistake of setting up a personal profile for your business! Make a business page, to receive all the benefits such as analytics and paid advertising.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="87aa"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It is a good idea to set up <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://business.facebook.com/" href="https://business.facebook.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Facebook Business Manager</a> to organise and manage all your Facebook marketing and advertising activities from a central location after you set up your business page.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9494"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">To set up a business account, log into your personal account and go to <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/create" href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/create" rel="noopener" target="_blank">facebook.com/pages/create</a>.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="515e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Before we get into it, it is essential to say that if you want to be successful on Facebook, you need to know a lot about Facebook and how things work. Facebook continuously updates the platform, so things change. Learn about Facebook and how it operates. Use the <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/help" href="https://www.facebook.com/help" rel="noopener" target="_blank">help section on the Facebook website</a> and Google any queries.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="515e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Complete your Page info</span></h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="e2e6"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Complete every component of your profile to get the most out of your Facebook business account. Under manage page, edit page info.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2169"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Add a username</strong> — it can be up to 50 characters long. It makes sense for it to be your business/brand name, consistently named with other social media. Essential to your branding, this will become your personalised URL — e.g., facebook.com/yourbusinessname.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fd07"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The name you want may already be in use by someone else. If so, create a username as close and relevant as possible to your brand name.</span></p><img alt="Facebook business page about info" height="293" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*qg_pUH5eaB5BmOeXAKdw8w.png" title="Facebook business page about info" width="640" /><p class="graf graf--p" name="5301"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Fill out your <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">‘About’</strong> section with necessary information such as a brief but descriptive summary of who you are and what value you bring, your contact details and website, operating hours, and price range (if relevant).</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="19e6"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Search engines use this information to ensure you use relevant keywords and ensure it is consistent with your other information on the web.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fb62"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Make sure your profile aligns with your brand’s overall marketing strategy. It should reflect your brand’s unique identity, so people know what your page is about and what you do when visiting it.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fb62"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Business page template</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="ed3e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Customise the look of your Business page through one of their templates. There is a variety available to help businesses showcase content to fit their business needs best, prioritising your business type’s most critical information or content.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8ee6"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">To change your template, select the Page Settings tab of your Facebook business profile and then click on templates. Templates available are:</span></p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="8950"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Services</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="74c0"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Business</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="7800"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Venues</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="c4c3"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Non-profits</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="21ee"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Politician</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="c623"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Public figures</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="2d42"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Restaurants & Cafes</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="63fc"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Shopping</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="0917"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Video page</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="374c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Standard</span></li></ul><img alt="Facebook business page templates" height="299" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*4F9iDH3hda_VNVtDE5anyQ.png" title="Facebook business page templates" width="640" /><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Profile images</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="d864"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Your profile picture should be easy for your target audience to recognise — either the company logo for a brand or your headshot if you are a freelancer or consultant.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="bd6e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Make it high-quality and engaging to your visitors. Same with your cover photo — this is an excellent opportunity to capture your target audience’s attention.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="202d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It needs to be clear what you do and the value you bring. Facebook allows you to upload a video for your cover also — this can be an opportunity to showcase your business via video.</span></p><img alt="profile images - facebook business page" height="282" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*WT3U-Q77YlWSSZF-q4EI5g.png" title="profile images - facebook business page" width="640" /><p class="graf graf--p" name="2b97"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Currently, profile pictures display at 170 × 170 pixels on desktop, and 128 × 128 on smartphones. 170 x 170 is the recommended size</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b4df"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Cover photos display on desktop at 820 x 312 pixels and smartphones at 640 x 360. Facebook recommends 851 x 315 to work best on both.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b4df"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Call to action</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="92cc"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Make sure you enable your call-to-action button. The call-to-action button has several options such as “Sign Up,” “Send Message,” or “Learn more”, which directs to a destination URL (webpage) of your choice.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7d3d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A call to action makes it easier for customers to take the desired action, and it can help drive more traffic to your website (if that is where the URL sends them).</span></p><img alt="Facebook business page call to action" height="326" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*qvzhmeXL5lyAkbcg5DQZ1g.png" title="Facebook business page call to action" width="640" /></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="806b"><div class="section-divider"></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Define your audience</span></h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="c6b1"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">An essential component of any marketing strategy is knowing your <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/70179/segmenting-your-target-market" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/70179/segmenting-your-target-market" rel="noopener" target="_blank">target audience</a> and planning how best to communicate with those people with the right content.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="719f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Knowing this will also help target in paid advertising when you set up your audience. Ads are covered later in this article.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b5a2"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Some of the questions you need to answer are:</span></p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="915e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What is the age of your target audience?</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="0830"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Where do they live?</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="5022"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What are their occupations?</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="1ca6"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What are their interests?</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="cf17"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What are their goals?</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="6c0b"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">How do they use Facebook?</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="1c12"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When do they use Facebook?</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="ba79"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">How often?</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="5ff0"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Are they educated?</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="bd99"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Are they Married?</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="9052"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What language/s do they speak?</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="7759"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What is their purchasing activity online?</span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="a399"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="ded4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Messenger</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="a258"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Facebook Messenger is the second most downloaded app after Facebook, with over 1.3 billion people using Facebook Messenger each month.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="67a4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Many users open their Messenger messages. A<a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://mobilemonkey.com/blog/facebook-messenger-statistics-facebook-messenger-marketing" href="https://mobilemonkey.com/blog/facebook-messenger-statistics-facebook-messenger-marketing" rel="noopener" target="_blank">ccording to Mobile Monkey</a>, email typically has around a 5–10% open-rates and a 1% clickthrough rate. However, Messenger can have open-rates over 50% and a 20% clickthrough rate.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4a9c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">With so many people with the messenger app installed, they receive a notification instantly to their smartphones. In contrast, a message may sit in an email inbox for several days before someone checks their email and notices it.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="273e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you respond to customers instantly, there is more chance of converting a sale.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9c4d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">To ensure your response time on your Facebook business page is as quick as possible, you can set up a Messenger Bot. After all, most businesses do not have time to answers monitor their messages. You must work and sleep, right?</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e806"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Messenger bots</strong> are a type of Chatbot. Chatbots are a tool with artificial intelligence to simulates human conversations with internet users.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e5fc"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Chatbots communicate with your audience naturally, whether it be to answer a customer’s query or inform them what is going on in the business, such as promoting a new product or service, or upcoming sales.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9de2"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Bots can be highly-tailored to answer almost anything a customer wants to know about your business — without needing a human being’s time. They can even be programmed to have information about your entire product catalogue to recommend the best solution to their needs.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8690"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">They are more simple than you probably think to set up — there are multiple tools available to help create your bot. Read this guide from Hootsuite to on <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://blog.hootsuite.com/facebook-messenger-bots-guide/" href="https://blog.hootsuite.com/facebook-messenger-bots-guide/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">how to set up a messenger bot</a>.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8690"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="0e64"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="6605"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What do I post on Facebook?</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="15e4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Facebook as a marketing tool allows businesses to control the type of content they share when they share it and how often.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fa3f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But what type of content should your business post? Motivations for people who engage with Facebook pages include socialising, entertainment, self-status seeking and information seeking.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="bf06"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Post content authentic to who you are and your expertise and aim to encourage meaningful conversations.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8a22"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">For example, a real estate agent could post content with tips for sellers when putting their house on the market, and a plumber or handyman could post DIY guides on how to fix common household problems.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="afbf"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Facebook algorithm prioritises the content people see based on what they usually interact with and popularity of the post.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9ab0"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Think from your target customers’ perspective and what content they would find valuable, informational, thought-provoking, emotional, or entertaining. Creating this type of content will boost your credibility with your audience.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5ce1"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Desist from posting clickbait and too much spammy content.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7a97"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A good rule of thumb is posting original material 70 percent of the time, share other content relevant to your audience’s interest 20 percent of the time and 10 percent of your content self-promotional or sales orientated.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ee68"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Do not be limited to one or two types of content and embrace the opportunity to experiment with different content formats to see what works best for engaging your audience.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1493"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you post content using <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://business.facebook.com/" href="https://business.facebook.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Facebook Business Suite</a>, it also goes on your Instagram account.</span></p><img alt="Facebook business suite" height="295" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*jLS_N4YmvhpQFtgcNjnrzg.png" title="Facebook business suite" width="640" /><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Photos & videos</span></h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="2fe4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Visual content</strong> such as photos, infographics, and video, is more likely to get shared on social media than other content. Including a photo means more of your followers will notice your post as they mindlessly scroll through their feed.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1c76"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Facebook users are far more likely to engage than with a post with text alone.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3830"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It pays to invest a reasonable amount of time and other resources into creating video for your social media. Many people casually scroll and watch videos during downtime at home or work.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1c37"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">According to <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2017/03/08/video-marketing-statistics" href="https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2017/03/08/video-marketing-statistics" rel="noopener" target="_blank">WordStream</a>, 45% of people watch more than an hour of video on Facebook or YouTube a week.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6d66"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Some of these people prefer to scroll in silence as to not interrupt people around them. Some studies have indicated that up to 85% of users watch Facebook videos on silent. Therefore, including captions in your videos to videos is a no-brainer.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="86d6"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Research carried out by Facebook found that adding subtitles increases view times by 12% on average.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c7b5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Use different orientations for creating videos.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="50c3"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Facebook Stories are in Portrait mode; you should shoot some video content in this orientation. Many people watch a video in landscape view. Still, a <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://buffer.com/resources/square-video-vs-landscape-video" href="https://buffer.com/resources/square-video-vs-landscape-video" rel="noopener" target="_blank">study from Buffer</a> found that square videos perform best and receive up to 35% more views than landscape videos. Users can watch square videos easily whilst scrolling through the feed without turning the mobile sideways.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="50c3"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Facebook live</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="e371"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Give Facebook live a try. As you would expect, this is when a video is recorded and broadcasted simultaneously.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f46e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Going ‘live’ can create a buzz as it gives an ‘in the moment’ look of a business and what you do. Doing video life and unedited can seem more personal and authentic, as there is no chance to edit or perfect the footage. Viewers can also comment and ask questions that the creator can respond to in real-time.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a0eb"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Some people are more likely to watch live streams than pre-recorded videos. Figures indicate people spend more than three times longer watching a Facebook Live video than video that is no longer live.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="76ec"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Your followers receive a notification when you go live and promote the fact you will go live 1–2 weeks beforehand if you feel the video will add value to your audience. You want to ensure people know it is happening and are available to watch.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="76ec"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Facebook Stories</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="a055"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Over 500 million people view Facebook Stories every day. Stories are photo or short video posts in a vertical format (for mobile phones) that appear in vertical format and disappear 24 hours. Photos last for five seconds, videos up to 20 seconds before it skips to the next story.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9a0d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Stories from your friends or pages you follow are arranged based on an algorithm based on your engagement. Found at the top of the News Feed, meaning Stories are quite prominent to the platform.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5fe4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Snapchat originally popularised the concept which has now spread to other platforms, including LinkedIn.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9f64"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Post ‘stories’ of your workday, special projects, locations you visit or the products you sell. Give viewers a snapshot of your business.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9f64"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="86f7"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="0707"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Post frequency</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="879e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When and how frequently to post is an important consideration. Posting too often or not often enough will reduce your organic reach. Organic reach is the number of people who see your post in their feed.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="88df"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Your marketing patterns can also impact how your audience views your business. If you post occasionally, your audience will stop looking for your content and will be less engaged.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6a24"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Consumers might think you are unreliable compared to another business who posts consistently.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f019"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Would you trust a business who has not updated their Facebook Page for months? Posting consistency is essential to building a strong brand.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b8a2"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">On the flip side, posting too frequently means your audience may get sick of being bombarded with your content and may unfollow you. It is also hard to keep the quality high if you post too frequently as it takes time and effort to create quality content.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9bfc"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://www.socialbakers.com/blog/147-how-often-should-you-post-on-your-facebook-pages?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_pulse_read%3BvwvPEoBARP2D%2FPYaXubkDg%3D%3D" href="https://www.socialbakers.com/blog/147-how-often-should-you-post-on-your-facebook-pages?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_pulse_read%3BvwvPEoBARP2D%2FPYaXubkDg%3D%3D" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Research</a> has indicated a stark difference between business pages and media pages with post frequency. Media-focused pages have an allowance of a lot more content before being penalised by the algorithm. For brands, aim for post per day (5–10 posts a week); and for a media company, up to seven posts a day (approx. 50 posts a week).</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ba92"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The timing of when you post on social media can impact your engagement. The highest traffic on Facebook occurs around mid-day Wednesday and Thursday. Try and post in this window and vary the other times you post, to see what works for you and your audience.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5171"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">To help optimise your strategy, try creating a <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://blog.hootsuite.com/how-to-create-a-social-media-content-calendar/" href="https://blog.hootsuite.com/how-to-create-a-social-media-content-calendar/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">content calendar</a> with a plan for what types of content you will post and when to ensure variety and keep you accountable to a schedule.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2518"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Make most holidays, popular shopping dates and seasons such as Easter, Valentine’s Day, Black Friday, and winter.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4ad8"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Is your product mostly consumed at certain times of the year? If so, you will need focused marketing on the lead up to these dates.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4ad8"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Engage with your audience</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="422f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Take time to respond to peoples’ comments on your posts and reply messages. Engagement encourages engagement, and socialising with your followers creates a community.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fa20"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Engaging with your audience keeps you top of mind and your followers will feel more valued and validated that you care what they had to say. Regular engagement should be a positive influence on whether they become a customer, or you retain their business.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fa20"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="8527"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Facebook Ads</span></h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="f6bb"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Facebook has led the way in terms of <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/57337/social-media-trends-for-2020" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/57337/social-media-trends-for-2020" rel="noopener" target="_blank">hyper-personalised advertising</a>.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1e45"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">As annoying as it sounds, if you want to use Facebook to its full potential, you will need to pay for advertising. Organic reach (unpaid) has been declining for several years.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3e27"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Ads help your content to reach a broad but targeted audience and use the platform to its full potential.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a460"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There are 7 million advertisers on Facebook, which means newsfeed space is highly competitive and therefore, organic reach has reduced, and the algorithm favours paid content.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="dfb6"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Cost-per-click varies, but it will probably cost you around 50 cents to $2 per click.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="a617"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“The time spent on Facebook by individuals and the accessibility of Facebook using mobile phones, Facebook represents a highly familiar tool for many individuals and one of the easiest sources from which to find information online.” (Önder, Gunter, & Gindl, 2020)</span></em></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p" name="2766"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It is vital to <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/business/help/952192354843755" href="https://www.facebook.com/business/help/952192354843755" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">set up a Facebook pixel</strong></a> if you are sending traffic to your website. This pixel is a piece of code placed on your website that track who visits and their behaviour. You can then remarket to people who have already visited your website.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d70f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The power of remarketing is that you know these people are interested in what you do because of their behaviour, so your <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/129857/advertising-as-a-marketing-tool-to-reach-customers" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/129857/advertising-as-a-marketing-tool-to-reach-customers" rel="noopener" target="_blank">advertising</a> spends very targeted.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="bf67"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">For example, you could target people who put an item from your store in their cart but did not purchase. Advertise to these people a special offer which hopefully they cannot refuse.</span></p><img alt="Facebook business page — ads" height="293" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*98AjN2M-M9L3m889_HxqGg.png" title="Facebook business page — ads" width="640" /><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Types of ads</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="e40b"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Facebook offers a lot of ad types. Majority of Facebook Ad revenue is from mobile, so make sure your ads are in mobile-first format. Before getting into the different types of ads, you can ‘<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">boost’</strong> an existing post. If you create a post that you think would work well as an ad, you can boost that content to reach a larger audience that you chose.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0241"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">First, ads need a goal. Goals can include generating leads, receive messages or to increase website traffic. Facebook offers three broad Ad Objectives.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4bca"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Awareness</strong> is about putting your brand out there, so potential customers know you exist. Tell your story and showcase your knowledge and expertise to connect with potential customers. This phase targets the <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/67806/the-marketing-and-sales-funnel-explained-marketing-strategy-for-businesses" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/67806/the-marketing-and-sales-funnel-explained-marketing-strategy-for-businesses" rel="noopener" target="_blank">top of a sales funnel</a>.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7172"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Consideration</strong> is when people start seriously thinking about your brand and what you offer. These consumers consider purchase options and begin to do their research and want more information about what you offer. This phase targets the middle of the funnel.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e6e6"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Conversion</strong> is when people carry out a specific action such as purchasing a product or service. The goal is to encourage this action to convert customers, targeting the bottom of the funnel.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f5f6"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Individual ads that you can create for different goals are:</span></p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="8b97"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">image or video ads</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="4ccc"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">carousel ads</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="b1f5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">slideshow ads</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="c8c4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">collection ads</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="0685"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">instant experiences ads</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="1580"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">dynamic ads</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="e2a5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Messenger ads</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="5463"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Stories ads</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="cd50"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">augmented reality ads</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="6b73"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">playable ads.</span></li></ul><p class="graf graf--p" name="671f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Facebook has recently introduced <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/facebooks-adding-new-ar-ads-which-will-enable-users-to-virtually-try-on-pr/527476/" href="https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/facebooks-adding-new-ar-ads-which-will-enable-users-to-virtually-try-on-pr/527476/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Augmented Reality tools for advertisers.</a> Augmented reality ads can help demonstrate what a specific product looks like on a consumer, such as trying on makeup or clothing.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e31a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Try out different types of ads and run two to three ads at a time for testing.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8c6e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Change only one element in each ad, such as an image, the copy, or the call to action; then measure the performance. Called <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">single variable testing</strong>, this helps you to improve your ads based on their performance.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="928b"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you do not test your ads’ different components, they could be under-performing, and you do not know why.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f7b4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Use automation tools </strong>that Facebook provides, such as:</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7a49"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/business/help/196554084569964?id=369787570424415" href="https://www.facebook.com/business/help/196554084569964?id=369787570424415" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Automatic Placements</a>, which is when Facebook chooses your ad placements. Facebook can also run ads on Instagram, Messenger, and other relevant apps or webpages.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2595"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/business/help/153514848493595?id=561906377587030" href="https://www.facebook.com/business/help/153514848493595?id=561906377587030" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Campaign Budget Optimization</a> is setting your budget at the campaign level, instead of at an ad level. It may not spend your budget equally, but instead, it gives the flexibility to spend in the best way it seems fit. Underperforming ads receive less allocation, and well-performing ads receive a higher ratio of spending.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f5d7"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/business/help/dynamicads" href="https://www.facebook.com/business/help/dynamicads" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Dynamic ads</a> are versions of your ads personalised to each person who views them, depending on their behaviour and what types of content they are likely to engage. Several images, videos and text are supplied by the user, used as the basis for each unique ad.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f5d7"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="deb1"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="b389"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Facebook analytics</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="443a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Track and measure how your performance of organic posts — will help you know what <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/53808/ten-ways-your-business-can-create-marketing-content-to-reach-more-customers" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/53808/ten-ways-your-business-can-create-marketing-content-to-reach-more-customers" rel="noopener" target="_blank">types of content</a> do well and what does not. Observe popular times to post, for example, and other variables, refine your content strategy accordingly to yield better results.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f206"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Use Facebook’s free internal analytics tool ‘Insights’ to provide you with a clear picture of how your business page is doing. Key<em class="markup--em markup--p-em"> metrics to monitor are:</em></span></p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="ef8f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Post Reach (how many people saw your posts)</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="db3d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Engagement (how many people liked, clicked, shared, or commented)</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="427b"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Posts that result in people unliking your Page</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="4afd"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Follower growth</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="041c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Audience insight such as the audience demographics engaging with your content</span></li></ul><p class="graf graf--p" name="1983"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Analytics can also help you build targeted custom audiences for future ads based on what you learn about your content engagement.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1983"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="42ae"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="3ed2"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Facebook Groups</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="b51e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">As of April 1999, there are more than 10 million Facebook groups, with 1.4 billion people using them every month. <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/159883/consumer-behavior-understanding-why-what-when-and-how-people-buy" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/159883/consumer-behavior-understanding-why-what-when-and-how-people-buy" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Consumer behaviour</a> on Facebook has started to move away from engaging on public pages to private groups, focusing more on business owners moving forward.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="02a2"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Facebook Groups are like a forum — a discussion platform and communication space for people with similar interests.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b232"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Groups are often hyper-focused on a specific topic. They tend to bring high engagement, as group members are passionate about and interested in the topics discussed. Group members get to know each other, and it <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/51030/how-brands-can-create-their-own-communities" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/51030/how-brands-can-create-their-own-communities" rel="noopener" target="_blank">becomes a community.</a></span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="027a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Members often openly discuss topics related to the group and trade information and tips with each other. Groups become a trusted source of information for consumers.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="88ac"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Therefore, groups are an excellent opportunity for businesses to create content for Facebook groups in their niche, to showcase their expertise and provide value. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="aeeb"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Using this strategy in groups builds trust and develops long-term relationships with potential customers or people who may refer to customers.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="800f"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Thanks to social media, business can build such emotional relations with their customers based on the mutual interaction in the online community.” (Copuš, & Čarnogurský, 2017)</span></em></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p" name="1254"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Discussions in groups can be quite casual and even personal. People are opinionated as groups are typically private and away from family and friends, so they are considered safe.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f833"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Consider creating your own Facebook group, around the topic of your business.</span></p><img alt="Facebook business page profile tips" height="296" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*rX_MusWno6NHNrDN3AWFyg.png" title="Facebook business page profile tips" width="640" /><p class="graf graf--p" name="f8ac"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You could also join existing groups relevant to your business/industry.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2c24"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Moderators facilitate what happens in the group. Everyone in the group can be invited or usually approved, and admin can remove people for behaviour against the group’s rules or spirit.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e528"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There are no paid ads in groups, but because the audience already in a segment, e.g., fans of basketball or a TV show, which can be just as powerful as targeted ads.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="dd6a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Some may allow you to post about your business or products. However, often groups with no limits on promotional posts become full of SPAM.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a0dc"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Every single group will not be suitable, but the great thing is there are usually many appropriate options that you can choose.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a0dc"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="611d"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Summary</span></h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="d252"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In sum, Facebook offers a massive opportunity for businesses to grow brand awareness and have conversations with their target audience.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="282b"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you remember to create value for your target audience and engage with your audience, you really cannot go wrong with your strategy.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3b49"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed the content.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p graf--empty" name="f7e7"><br /></p></div></div></section><div class="blogger-post-footer">BYB Marketing - https://brandyourselfbetter.com/</div>Daniel Hopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16097570896266702933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7106426518795808874.post-52550790041940575572021-01-13T01:04:00.001-08:002021-01-13T01:04:54.277-08:00How Sponsorship Increases Brand Awareness and Generates Good Will<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <img alt="How sponsorship works" class="graf-image" data-height="2992" data-image-id="1*hiyw6GdKWPfn4KkXU-eluw.jpeg" data-width="3992" height="479" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*hiyw6GdKWPfn4KkXU-eluw.jpeg" title="How sponsorship works" width="640" /></span></p><section class="section section--body" name="b909"><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p class="graf graf--p" name="75f9"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Do you have a local sports club that you support? Sponsors help them operate through providing funding or support in other ways. Some of the events you attend probably also receive sponsorship.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="007b"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The biggest sports teams in the world have sponsorship splashed across the uniforms. The NBA has even succumbed to the lure of extra money after decades of refusing to have sponsor branding on the uniforms.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f6a3"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This blog explores what sponsorship is, how it works and its benefits to businesses.</span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="74ef"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What is Sponsorship?</span></h1><p class="graf graf--p" name="4895"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Sponsorship involves a business relationship between two parties, where one party (sponsor) provides support in the form of funding, resources, or services to the other party (beneficiary), who in return provide access to the sponsor for rights and associations to be used for commercial advantage.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4895"><span class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>“(Sponsorship is) the provision of assistance either financial or in-kind to an activity by a commercial organisation, for the purpose of achieving commercial objectives.” (Meenaghan, 1983)</i></span></blockquote><p></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c9d5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The sponsored party could be an event, organisation, or an individual; the involvement of this second party, distinguishing sponsorship from advertising.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4361"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Initial examples of sponsorship can be found over 100 years ago, but they are rare and on a small scale. Its use has exploded since the 1970s. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="55dd"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">According to Meenaghan (2001), in the UK, spending on sponsorship increased from £4 million to $1075 million between 1970 and 1997. In the US, spending increased from $850 million in 1985 to $8.7 billion in 2000.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="a90c"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Sponsorship involves two main activities: (1) an exchange between a sponsor and a sponsee, whereby the latter receives a fee and the former obtains the right to associate itself with the activity sponsored and (2) the marketing of the association by the sponsor.” (Cornwell & Maignan, 1998)</span></em></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p" name="62f7"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A common form of sponsorship is of sports clubs. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5beb"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Your favourite sports teams are likely to have the logo of their key sponsor/s on their uniforms. This exposure on television, social media or other media holds value to the sponsor. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8e31"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The sponsor could also be provided access to players for their own events or PR and corporate hospitality at their events or games.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8e31"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="0454"><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">How does sponsorship work?</span></h1><p class="graf graf--p" name="9dc6"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Through the affiliation with an entity people care about, sponsorship helps to enhance the public perception of the sponsors’ brand. This affiliation creates a ‘halo effect’ of goodwill, where positive associations with the beneficiary of the sponsorship are reflected onto the sponsor.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5742"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Because sponsorship provides a positive benefit to society through empowering the existence of entities consumers care about, sponsorship is typically more positively perceived than advertising’s sole focus on commercial goals.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2c8a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Advertising’s only interest is the profitability of the firm, thereby having no obvious benefit to the greater society. Advertising can also be coercive, resulting in alerting consumers’ defence mechanisms. Sponsorship’s commercial intent is more subtle and indirect, lowering consumer defence mechanisms. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4341"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Read more about <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/62723/persuasion-knowledge-a-consumer-s-defense-against-marketing-2" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/62723/persuasion-knowledge-a-consumer-s-defense-against-marketing-2" rel="noopener" target="_blank">persuasion knowledge</a> for a better understanding of this process.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4341"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The table below shows a comparison between sponsorship and advertising characteristics.</span></p><img alt="Comparison between advertising and sponsorship" height="304" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/0*uZikNYiGpje2xpOB" title="Comparison between advertising and sponsorship" width="640" /><p class="graf graf--p" name="1ba3"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><span class="markup--em markup--p-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Comparison between advertising and sponsorship (Meenaghan, 2001)</span></span></strong></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1ba3"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><span class="markup--em markup--p-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span></strong></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="dc29"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Sponsorship works differently in relation to the consumer than do other forms of advertising and promotions in that it engages the consumer differently by bestowing benefit on an activity (e.g., sports or the arts) with which the consumer has an intense emotional relationship.” (Meenaghan, 2001)</span></em></blockquote><p> </p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Leveraging the partnership</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="2b7a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">To maximise the commercial result of their sponsorship, sponsors should focus their branding and marketing communications efforts on leveraging the association.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2080"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">For example, along with displaying their branding on flags or banners at a sponsored event, social media posts promoting the event and the businesses’ role as sponsor.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6101"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Consumers can hold positive associations and deep loyalty towards sponsors of the sport, events, causes or other entities that they care deeply about. Sponsors proactively promoting their relationship enables these brands to leverage this emotional connection these consumers hold. The values of the sponsored activity or entity are then associated with the sponsor’s brand.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="4976"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Sponsorship appears to be another area of marketing, along with source effects, store atmospherics, brand extension, and brand alliances, where the consumer’s ability to see an association between marketing assets enhances the effectiveness of these assets.” (Cornwell, 1995)</span></em></blockquote><p> </p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Sponsorship fit</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="6adb"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Sponsors invest in sponsorship to establish their credibility with their target market. For this practice to be effective, there needs to be an organic link in terms of similar goals, values, and vision, between the sponsor and the beneficiary of the sponsorship. One that makes sense to the public.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="87f1"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The sponsor’s target market should match the target market of the beneficiary they are sponsoring. Therefore, the right consumers have subjected the affiliation and the response is likely to be better if there is perceived to be a good fit between the two parties.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ada9"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Also, passionate followers, fans or consumers of the sponsored entity judge the fit of the relationship and respond more (or less) positively than the typical consumer if the sponsor fits the same values. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="db86"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If there is a fit, the sponsorship is perceived to be more sincere. This is seen as more <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/48845/can-businesses-fake-authenticity" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/48845/can-businesses-fake-authenticity" rel="noopener" target="_blank">authentic.</a></span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="41e2"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Events, activities, and venues have been fully recognized for their ability to target a particular demographic or psychographic segment.” (Cornwell, & Maignan, 1998)</span></em></blockquote><p> </p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="7bbe"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What are the benefits of sponsorship?</span></h1><p class="graf graf--p" name="aee4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Sponsorship works in a way that it provides mutual benefits for the sponsor and the beneficiary. The beneficiary of the sponsorship receives funding or resources to operate. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="bb72"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Sponsorship has replaced other forms of funding such as government support in some countries to the extent that some sponsored activities rely on corporate funding to exist.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1e2b"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">For a business, some of the key motivations for investing in sponsorship are improving goodwill, <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/139681/using-public-relations-to-influence-an-audience" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/139681/using-public-relations-to-influence-an-audience" rel="noopener" target="_blank">enhancing public relations</a>, increasing brand awareness, improving brand image. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d547"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Improving profitability is obviously the end goal for any businesses’ strategic planning — these motivations contribute to enhancing the probability of this.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="fa9b"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“The sponsor’s investment benefits the activity generates a goodwill effect among activity fans, which in turn influences their attitude and behaviour toward the sponsor’s brand.” (Meenaghan, 2001)</span></em></blockquote><p> </p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Goodwill</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="248f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">One of the key factors distinguishing sponsorship from advertising is the presence of goodwill. Goodwill from the sponsor in supporting the beneficiary and gratitude from consumers to the sponsor, grateful to them for helping out a favourite event, sport or organisation.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0d95"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">According to Meenaghan (2001), goodwill effects are mediated by the intensity of an individual’s involvement or connection with the sponsored entity. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c0b4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Highly involved fans/consumers connection with a sports team for example can be deeply felt, and their awareness of the sponsor’s brand is likely to be higher than a casual fan/consumer.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4d05"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Therefore, the goodwill affects for the sponsor are likely to be greater and they are more likely to develop a favourable opinion of the sponsor. This can trigger a strong preference for a sponsor’s products or service, increasing their purchase intention.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9f75"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Goodwill also exists at different levels depending on the type of entity being supported by the sponsor. For example, the sponsorship of social causes typically generating more goodwill toward the sponsor than sponsorship of the arts or a building.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9f75"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Enhancing public relations</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="b7b4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Through sponsoring entities such as sports clubs that consumers care for, this fosters a socially responsible reputation. Improving community relations is a common sponsorship objective for corporations, especially banks, as they often do not have the best reputation. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9185"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">As well as sponsoring well-known sports clubs, the organisation also sponsor local events or not for profit groups that benefit the local community where they are based. Other ways to benefit the community might be providing computers to a local school.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="69c1"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Sponsorship can be <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/75494/the-profitability-of-customer-loyalty" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/75494/the-profitability-of-customer-loyalty" rel="noopener" target="_blank">a relationship marketing tool</a>. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6d8d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Relationship marketing is the marketing activities that attract, develop, maintain, and enhance customer satisfaction and fostering customer retention. This was discussed in week 14.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3705"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Sponsorship can be a vehicle for developing relationships with the <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/103125/targeting-how-to-make-marketing-more-efficient-and-effective" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/103125/targeting-how-to-make-marketing-more-efficient-and-effective" rel="noopener" target="_blank">target market</a> through signalling to them that our business shares similar interests and supports the same causes.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6362"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In B2B, It also helps create bonds with businesses partners who share a common sponsorship or strengthen their relationship with current and potential clients, through the use perks of sponsorship such as a corporate box at events.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6362"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Increasing brand awareness</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="9442"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Awareness of the sponsor’s brand is increased through the publicity of the entity they are supporting. It could be through <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/129857/advertising-as-a-marketing-tool-to-reach-customers" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/129857/advertising-as-a-marketing-tool-to-reach-customers" rel="noopener" target="_blank">advertising</a>, TV coverage or other media such as <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/57337/social-media-trends-for-2020" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/57337/social-media-trends-for-2020" rel="noopener" target="_blank">social media</a> or news articles, or people attending and seeing branding of sponsors.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fe64"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Local businesses can increase awareness of what they are doing in the local community through an article in a local newspaper, whereas large corporations or consumer brands can put their brand in front of thousands or even millions of people through sponsoring a high-profile sports team with an audience on a global scale. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="58a6"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The All Blacks, Los Angeles Lakers or Manchester United, for example.</span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img alt="Sponsorship of sports teams - The All Blacks" height="426" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*edmltWgabI5H3m6pa51scQ.jpeg" title="Sponsorship of sports teams - The All Blacks" width="640" /></span><p class="graf graf--p" name="0dba"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Sponsorship can provide a broader reach than advertising which will only reach a finite audience, depending on the platform.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="77ed"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Activity followers, being most knowledgeable of the image values embodied in the activity, transfer these specific image values to the sponsor.” (Meenaghan, 2001)</span></em></blockquote><p> </p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Improving brand image</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="58fc"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Cultivating positive and favourable brand associations (traits consumers attribute to a brand) and enhancing credibility is a benefit of sponsorship. Because of the goodwill factor, sponsors are viewed more favourably. This positively influences their brand equity.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a897"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/93078/how-creating-brand-equity-provides-value-to-your-customers" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/93078/how-creating-brand-equity-provides-value-to-your-customers" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Brand equity is the influence brand knowledge has on the consumer response to marketing.</a> Brand equity strengthened when the co</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">nsumer is familiar with the brand and holds strong and favourable associations with it. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a897"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="d2b9"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Types of sponsorship</span></h1><p class="graf graf--p" name="6e77"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Sponsorship is typically associated with a sports team or event, but there are multiple forms of sponsorship. It can include concerts or the performing arts, and sports stars such as LeBron James are commonly sponsored by clothing companies such as Nike because of their global appeal.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f952"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Other sponsored entities include not for profit groups, charity or business events, associations, social media influencers and celebrities, buildings (often banks sponsor skyscrapers), and local government-funded venues such as stadiums.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fc22"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">One event could have multiple sponsors. Those sponsors might all contribute an equal amount for equal benefits, or there might be different tiers of sponsors. These have different levels of investment and sponsors receive individual benefits based on the value of their investment.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ecb8"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">For an example of a business event — I run a <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/96876/ten-networking-tips-to-help-boost-your-career" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/96876/ten-networking-tips-to-help-boost-your-career" rel="noopener" target="_blank">networking event</a> called <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/linkedinlocal-hamilton" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/linkedinlocal-hamilton" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Linkedin Local Hamilton</a>, funded through sponsorship. It’s probably not what you expect — I wanted it to have an atmosphere more like a cocktail party.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d69c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Sponsors pay for the food and beverages of the people attending the event — usually around 150 people. Venues are offered for free, which is an in-kind sponsorship (discussed shortly). </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b430"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Tickets to attend the event are free or donation-based, which means there is little income. The events rely on sponsorship to exist. The benefit to sponsors is the exposure of their brand as a sponsor in social media promotion and with the people attending the event. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9a8f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It has worked well — I have run 13 events and counting.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9a8f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9a8f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Financial sponsor</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="c2d9"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There are two main types of sponsorship. Financial and in-kind sponsors.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f36d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A financial sponsor is also known as a cash sponsor and it is the most popular form of sponsorship. It is pretty simple — they give money to an entity in return for a promotion or other benefits outlined in their sponsorship agreement.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="835d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Some different types or levels of financial sponsorship are:</span></p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="6659"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Series sponsor</strong> — the highest status of sponsorship. the name and the logo of the sponsor are incorporated into the title of the series and other promotion, the rights to use teams, team members, players, coaches, and the series body in conducting joint promotions, right of presence at all official events.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="4ebe"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Title sponsor</strong> — similar to series sponsor, but for a one-off event. Many of the same benefits of a series sponsor mentioned above, another being branding placed around the stadium.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="96d5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">General sponsor</strong> — also a large contributor (usually exist in the absence of a title sponsor), they receive the right to promote their association as a sponsor and often receive media coverage.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="57df"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Team sponsor</strong> — fund individual teams. They receive mention in media coverage of a team and often has on the uniforms and at their stadium. Special access to the team often provided.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="16d3"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Official sponsor</strong> — is a sponsor that makes a certain part of raised funds (within 20–25%). Typically, the given status may be granted by category — for example, ‘official insurance partner’.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="4ff6"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Participating sponsor</strong> — is often one of the numerous sponsors and the benefits are not as extensive as the other sponsors. The size of their fee usually does not exceed 10% of total raised funds.</span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In-kind Sponsors</span></h3><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="3515"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Venue Partners</strong> — allows events to be hosted at their venue for a discounted or free rate. This allows the venue to gain exposure to a certain demographic.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="9f3d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Prize Sponsors</strong> — donate items to be used as prizes at events such as spot prizes for doing activities or items to be included in a charity auction.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="5cb5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Food Sponsors</strong> — at events, food sponsors offer free food to attendees. Catering can be a big expense for the organiser.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="131a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Digital Sponsors </strong><span class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">— </span>might provide a custom app for an event or live stream it to social media or a webpage.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="fc03"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Media Sponsorship</strong> — marketing is provided on multiple communication platforms and PR, which can be valuable for not for profit/small businesses who do not have the budget or expertise themselves.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="bd1d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Technical sponsor</strong> — provides goods or services, to a sports team for example in terms of medical skills or equipment or perhaps supplements.</span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="c7d1"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Summary</b></span></h1><p class="graf graf--p" name="e729"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In sum, sponsorship is a marketing tactic involving a business relationship between two parties — one being the sponsor who provides support in the form of funding, resources, or services to the other party (beneficiary); who in return provide access to the sponsor for rights and associations to be used for commercial advantage.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ebd8"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This article has discussed how sponsorship works and its benefits, different types of sponsorship, and what needs happen in order for sponsorship to be an effective marketing tool.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ebd8"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="622a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Thank you for reading.</strong> </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fc6e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I hope you enjoyed the content and learnt something new that you can apply to your business.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fc6e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This article was originally posted on the BYB Marketing Blog: <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/208450/how-does-sponsorship-work">https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/208450/how-does-sponsorship-work</a></span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fc6e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p></div></div></section><div class="blogger-post-footer">BYB Marketing - https://brandyourselfbetter.com/</div>Daniel Hopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16097570896266702933noreply@blogger.com0509 Tuhikaramea Road, Temple View, Hamilton 3218, New Zealand-37.8264013 175.2249237-66.136635136178853 140.0686737 -9.5161674638211551 -149.61882630000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7106426518795808874.post-14702312049184162652021-01-07T00:35:00.021-08:002021-01-13T00:53:20.713-08:00Social Selling: How it Works and 10 Tips to Optimize Your Strategy<section class="section section--body" name="1033"><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Social selling as a marketing strategy" height="425" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*_74UnEe97zw9PSmxnZQQcw.jpeg" title="Social selling as a marketing strategy" width="640" /></div><p class="graf graf--p" name="03a4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Social media is a pretty big deal in 2020. It was a pretty big deal back in 2010! But now, even more so. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6c0c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Literally billions of people spend hours a week, sometimes hours a day, scrolling through their social media feeds, engaging in content that interests them.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7402"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Businesses came to realise pretty quickly that social media is a pretty useful tool to reach their potential customers. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="afa4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Social selling was born as a way to communicate with potential customers through social media, in a less obtrusive way than traditional marketing. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="afa4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">So how do we do this?</span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="e377"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What is Social Selling?</span></h1><p class="graf graf--p" name="d5e9"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Social selling is the use of social media to research, find, and understand sales prospects, to network and engage in conversations in online communities with them, to build and strengthen relationships.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d5e9"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></em></p><blockquote><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Social selling is taking out the pitching component of sales. You’re creating conversations about your product and services which organically can produce sales conversations.” (LinkedIn)</span></em></blockquote><p></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7556"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The aim is to provide value to prospective customers through answering questions, responding to comments and sharing content related to your area of expertise.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b722"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Prospect cans are anywhere throughout the buying process — from awareness to consideration. The idea is to consistently provide value, so you are the first person or <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/41549/managing-your-brand-to-attract-more-customers" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/41549/managing-your-brand-to-attract-more-customers" rel="noopener" target="_blank">brand</a> a prospect thinks of when they are ready to buy.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="810a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Digital marketing principles can implement at an individual salesperson level or a firm level, but social selling requires an investment of time, effort, money and technology. It can be done on a shoestring budget, but to create quality content, we need to invest in our social selling strategy.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="364d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The popularity of social media makes it a perfect platform to build relationships with prospects. Through an emphasis on social interaction and content creation via digital platforms, social selling could be considered sales 2.0. The image below illustrates how it differs from the traditional sales model.</span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Social selling - Sales 2.0" height="277" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/0*M5Wnoz7-7fHHGmxQ" title="Social selling - Sales 2.0" width="400" /></div><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="24cd"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Social selling is the identification, targeting and reaching out to prospective and existing customers through social media channels and social communities in an effort to engage them in conversations that result in a potentially mutually beneficial relationship.” (Belew, 2014)</span></em></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p" name="353a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">According to <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/278414/number-of-worldwide-social-network-users/" href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/278414/number-of-worldwide-social-network-users/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Statista</a>, around 3.6 million people are using social media in 2020. By 2016, approximately 71% of all sales professionals were social selling in some way or form, even if they did not know it.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="448e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Having a business page on Facebook or commenting on posts in groups on LinkedIn for example are social selling tactics. It is not about bombarding strangers with private messages selling something after you connect on LinkedIn.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="56b1"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">That is spam and the opposite of what you should do.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="bc81"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Sales strategy has always revolved around <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/75494/the-profitability-of-customer-loyalty" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/75494/the-profitability-of-customer-loyalty" rel="noopener" target="_blank">building and strengthening relationships</a> to establish rapport and credibility with prospects and customers, so you are the one they think about when they require a solution to their problem, that you provide.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f2dc"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Social selling uses this same methodology but does it online with social media instead of requiring cold or warm calling or sales demos.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0e23"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It might not be a surprise to you to hear that not many people enjoy doing cold calling and that many people do not like to receive cold calls. According to the <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://hbr.org/2012/07/tweet-me-friend-me-make-me-buy" href="https://hbr.org/2012/07/tweet-me-friend-me-make-me-buy" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Harvard Business Review</a>, 90 percent of decision-makers say they never respond to cold calls. This means it can take numerous cold calls to reach a potential client if you can reach them at all.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="3342"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“The approach is not simply another sales channel for making sales pitches but a way to engage the informed, empowered, and social buyers during their purchasing journeys using digital and social channels.” </em><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">(Ancillai, Terho, Cardinali, & Pascucci, 2019)</em></span></blockquote><p> </p><span><a name='more'></a></span><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Social selling for B2B</span></h1><p class="graf graf--p" name="3ac6"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Social media was is largely a personal tool — we use Facebook to keep in touch with friends and family, for example. However, it has also become a <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/58407/but-i-m-not-a-product-personal-branding-explained" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/58407/but-i-m-not-a-product-personal-branding-explained" rel="noopener" target="_blank">personal branding tool</a>. Read my blog about <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/57337/social-media-trends-for-2020" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/57337/social-media-trends-for-2020" rel="noopener" target="_blank">social media trends in 2020</a>.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ecbe"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I used LinkedIn originally when I went into real estate a did not have much of a network locally. Grow awareness that I was a real estate agent. I did this by educating people about the local market and real estate in general, I was an ambassador for growth/construction in the city and a little bit of real estate content. Maybe 1 or 2 out of every 10 posts was about a listing for sale.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f011"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This is how I stood out when every other real estate salesperson, who was pretty much posting 100% of content about what they had for sale or what they had sold. This felt natural to me.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f075"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Social selling was not a thing when I did my marketing degrees, but it follows the foundations of relationship marketing and content marketing.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="867a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Using social selling is mutually beneficial to customers and sellers.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="42cc"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Businesses using social media to inform and educate prospects is useful to buyers, as social media can be an <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/90754/using-research-to-better-understand-your-target-market" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/90754/using-research-to-better-understand-your-target-market" rel="noopener" target="_blank">important part of their research process</a>, influencing their decision-making. Several studies over the past five years have indicated that over 90 percent of B2B buyers conduct research online and through social media before making a business purchase. Over 80 percent of senior executives use social media to aid their purchase decisions.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4f27"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Buying behaviour has changed in B2B markets. According to LinkedIn, 73% of B2B buyers prefer sales professionals who have been referred by someone they know; therefore, their professional networks are a valuable information resource.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4f5a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="http://www.slideshare.net/linkedin-sales-solutions/build-relationships?next_slideshow=1" href="http://www.slideshare.net/linkedin-sales-solutions/build-relationships?next_slideshow=1" rel="noopener" target="_blank">87% of B2B buyers</a> saying they would have a favourable impression of someone introduced through their professional network.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="6225"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Unlike traditional advertising, social media marketing lets you engage with online prospects and customers.” (Belew, 2014).</span></em></blockquote><p> </p><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The benefits of social selling</span></h1><p class="graf graf--p" name="0fe9"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Through social selling, Sellers can identify new leads through pinpointing who is talking about their brand, competitors or their industry. These prospects can then be engaged in a way that is useful to them.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="994d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Social selling does not disrupt its target audience the way that traditional marketing does, it is a two-way conversation, unlike traditional sales which are only one-way.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f6c5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A major benefit of social selling is the low cost. Social media profiles are free and a lot of the activities you can use to grow your brand and reach customers are free or very low-cost, making social selling an affordable marketing strategy for any business.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f12f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Social media users can often share a lot of information about themselves online. A LinkedIn profile for example could contain most of the information you need to make a personalised and relevant first point of contact with a prospect.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="122a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Through social selling, a salesperson can grow their personal brand to increase their credibility and the quality of their customer leads.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e262"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Introductions to potential customers can be gained through existing mutual connections or them viewing your content over a period — may be unbeknown to you, which creates a sense of trust and rapport.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="37ae"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Salespeople have long leveraged offline social networks… All things being equal, people prefer to buy from those they know and trust. Now, sales professionals need to replicate their networking strategy online because social media is where peer conversations are happening.” (Schaub, 2014)</span></em> </blockquote><p class="graf graf--p" name="2913"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Actively social selling increases the number of visits from your social media channels to your website, as well as increasing the number of leads that your social media generates.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c897"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Because the leads generated through social media are of a higher quality and you have already established credibility and trust, there is an improved conversion rate than from other sales activities such as cold calling.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="41a0"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Social selling encourages a stronger alignment between sales and marketing, which will be discussed a bit further on in this article.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="41a0"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Optimising your social selling strategy</span></h1><p class="graf graf--p" name="c2e9"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">First up in your social selling strategy, as with any strategy, you must establish goals and objectives. The general goal is to establish relationships that lead to sales, but we must work out smaller more specific goals and objectives to help get you there.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4b1e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">An individual should spend around six to 15 hours a week on social selling. It might be around 20 to 40 percent of their allocated work time. It is key to identify and target the most relevant social media networks where potential customers are active.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a060"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Therefore, I found in bizarre in 2019 when marketers started telling businesses they should be active on TikTok while there’s enormous organic reach. Well, only if your customers are teenagers! It seemed strange preaching this on LinkedIn — largely is a B2B platform.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e704"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">For retail, it would be Pinterest, for hospitality Instagram or Facebook, and for tourism, YouTube would be useful.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="edb9"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Here are ten ways to optimise your social selling strategy.</span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">1. A completed and professional profile</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="e54b"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Make sure you complete every section of your social media profiles. Especially on LinkedIn. If someone clicks your profile, you want them to be able to find out what you do, how you add value, a link to your website and any contact information so they can easily get in touch.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fa7a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Look at your profile from the point of view of a potential customer. Does your profile reflect that you are a credible professional?</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fa7a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">2. Follow relevant brands and people</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="1e66"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Follow local companies, brands and influencers in your industry.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="44db"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This would be one of the first steps after creating your profile. This will start filling your feed with relevant content.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="bdb5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Any ‘dream’ clients you may have, send a connection request to relevant people in the organisation and if they decline (send them a personalised message with your request to increase your chances), follow them so you can keep up with what they post.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ec7a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Engage in their content and congratulate them on any achievements. Saying something insightful could mean they check out your profile it could go from there.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ec7a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">3. Join and participate in groups</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="6428"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There are literally millions of groups on both LinkedIn and Facebook. Each group will have its own purpose or theme. <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/51030/how-brands-can-create-their-own-communities" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/51030/how-brands-can-create-their-own-communities" rel="noopener" target="_blank">It is a community.</a> It might be a gardening group, or it might be a group about marketing.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0652"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Join groups relevant to your area of expertise and industry. For example, if your target customers are small business owners, join groups relating to small businesses.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="aaa1"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Use keyword searches to identify relevant groups and once in these groups, share your knowledge and expertise — do not try and sell!</span></p><img alt="Social media for marketing" height="470" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*EVIX0PzFP9Ivp6gTCeoAyg.jpeg" title="Social media for marketing" width="640" /><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">4. Create and share relevant content</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="b093"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Content in social selling is used as a touchpoint to engage and nurture leads through educating and informing them.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="cbf8"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Through sharing interesting and relevant and information-rich content, social presence is enhanced. This presence helps brand us as an expert and build familiarity and eventually trust with our target prospects. Social media is an important information source for purchasers, so we want to increase the chances of them finding our content.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8a50"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Create and then share content based on your expertise. Think from the perspective of your target audience and try and create valuable content they would find useful or interesting.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4b9f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Look at the news, use <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://trends.google.com/trends/?geo=US" href="https://trends.google.com/trends/?geo=US" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Google Trends</a>, look at the content of influencers in your industry or create content based on questions or topics discussed in your network.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e210"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The aim is to provide valuable information to the right people at the right time — when they are ready to purchase. Through consistently sharing content in a particular niche or topic, our social media profiles are also more likely to show up when potential customers are searching for people with expertise in that area.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="b6f9"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“You need a lot of content to build relationships and keep the sales funnel fed.” (Belew, 2014)</span></em></blockquote><p> </p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">5. Do not be too ‘salesy’!</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="425e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It is okay to mention your products or service in a small portion of your social posts but only do it once or twice every 10 posts or so. Do not try and pitch yourself nine or 10 out of 10 posts! People quickly tune out.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ded7"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Our tone should be consultative — giving professional advice or recommendations free of charge rather than trying to sell something. The goal is to contribute valuable information to enhance your credibility and <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/98450/positioning-5-strategies-to-stand-out-from-your-competitors" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/98450/positioning-5-strategies-to-stand-out-from-your-competitors" rel="noopener" target="_blank">position you as an expert in your industry</a>.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fe98"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you are going to pitch to somebody, wait for the right moment. This is not when you connect! It is when they post asking for a recommendation in the industry you are in. Or maybe you picked up other subtle hints they might need help. Maybe you met them in passing at a <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/96876/ten-networking-tips-to-help-boost-your-career" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/96876/ten-networking-tips-to-help-boost-your-career" rel="noopener" target="_blank">networking event</a> and they mentioned they need some help with something aligned with what you do.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="d968"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Aggressive selling techniques are likely to be ignored on social media.” (Belew, 2014)</span></em></blockquote><p> </p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">6. Expand your network</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="a657"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">One of the easiest things you can do to grow your social presence is to expand your social networks to connect with more of the people. Connect with people as much as possible and strive to create content that will encourage people to like your page, follow or connect with you.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7725"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">LinkedIn provides search functionality to search for people based on location and job title/industry, so it allows you to send connection requests or follow people that match your <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/60927/using-buyer-personas-for-targeted-marketing" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/60927/using-buyer-personas-for-targeted-marketing" rel="noopener" target="_blank">buyer personas</a>/<a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/70179/segmenting-your-target-market" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/70179/segmenting-your-target-market" rel="noopener" target="_blank">target segments of the market</a>.</span></p><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">7. Build mutual relationships</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="f4b6"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When you connect with prospects, stay in touch with them over time and engage in their content. Not every single post, but enough so they recognize you. Like their content as well as posting an insightful comment or say thanks by letting them know that you appreciated their post. Learn who people are and what is important to them.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="7e62"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“The effectiveness of social selling is likely to be contingent on the salesperson’s simultaneous use of customer oriented selling approaches.” (Ancillai, Terho, Cardinali, & Pascucci, 2019)</span></em></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p" name="8372"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you are relationship-focused, you are more likely to understand prospects and existing customers and where they are in their buying process. It is a good idea to find prominent social connectors or influencers in your industry and connect if possible or at least engage in their content, so their following gets to know you.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4b6d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If a contact moves to a new position or company, LinkedIn makes it easy to send a quick note of congratulations by sending you a notification.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0f5d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you notice a contact asking for help or advice, add value through sharing knowledge freely. People seek trust and confidence from social connections, especially those they might do business with.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="61ac"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Facilitate bringing people together for mutual benefit, if someone asks for a recommendation for example and somebody in your network is a good fit. Rarely ask for favours and instead give to others where possible and the business should come back to you.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="61ac"><img alt="Social media for marketing - social selling" height="426" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*bkNwJcw-vlUKbTeHa9YU6Q.jpeg" title="Social media for marketing - social selling" width="640" /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">8. Be active and engage</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="acb8"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Participate and engage in conversations actively, to build relationships.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="29bc"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Digital tools such as bots who use AI to have conversations do have some advantages in marketing and customer service, but with selling, people do business with other people. So, do not be robotic in your engagement, show some personality and do not be afraid to use a bit of humour. Be yourself — you will seem approachable. This is where that authenticity word comes in.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ee78"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Respond to what people are saying about your brand or your industry. Use the search function to find relevant content you can ‘like’ or answer questions and give recommendations based on your knowledge.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="caa6"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Do not limit the conversations you join to strictly business. Family or leisure related content you engage in will help position you as someone who cares. Make sure your tone is consistent — if you seem to have multiple personalities, you probably will not seem too trustworthy.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f5d5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Be patient — do not expect leads overnight. It takes consistency over a long period until people start to recognise who you are, what you do and start to trust your expertise.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f5d5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">9. Integration</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="8b3b"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Social selling is cross-functional with many components. Within an organization, a social selling team should be made up from customer service, marketing and sales.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="db54"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Having <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/83521/sales-versus-marketing-different-roles-but-same-goal" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/83521/sales-versus-marketing-different-roles-but-same-goal" rel="noopener" target="_blank">sales and marketing teams aligned</a> is a good idea anyway as there is now a lot of overlap with digital marketing. A customer service representative can help monitor social media and respond to any basic questions.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="19ad"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Having these three areas integrated means they are aligned and share data that can help them all do their jobs better.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="55b0"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Social Selling is simply a by-product of effective sales and marketing alignment at scale across your organisation. Streamlined communication bridges between sales and marketing, which have increased the flow of new ideas for digital insights.” (Shanks, 2016)</span></em></blockquote><p> </p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">10. Research</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="d9b2"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Before you start social selling, you need to identify the social media networks that are the best fit for your business. This might be obvious, but it may take a little research.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6515"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Paid Social listening tools such as <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://signupnow.hootsuite.com/newbranding-selfserve-apac-core-usd-nonbranded-sem/" href="https://signupnow.hootsuite.com/newbranding-selfserve-apac-core-usd-nonbranded-sem/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Hootsuite</a> or <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://www.falcon.io/cmp/easy-social-media-management/" href="https://www.falcon.io/cmp/easy-social-media-management/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Falcon</a> or using social searches with keywords will help you uncover data to monitor and analyse what people are talking about online regarding your brand, competitors or industry which will help discover customer prospects. People share useful information on their social media — sometimes what they want and need.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="dd4f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You can learn from this. You can learn how people feel about your brand and what they think of your competitors.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e552"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Look for issues people are having or recommendations, providing natural opportunities for you to provide the solution to a problem. Pay attention to influencers in your niche and see what strategies they are using to generate a following and implement some of these into your strategy.</span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="9f1f"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Tips for social selling on different social media networks</span></h1><p class="graf graf--p" name="0121"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">With the best practices above in mind, here are some specific tips for getting started with social selling on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.</span></p><img alt="Social media for marketing - social selling" height="393" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*u9zNyAIXGRL70V7MxGHdOg.jpeg" title="Social media for marketing - social selling" width="640" /><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">LinkedIn</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="cebe"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">LinkedIn is the most obvious social network to engage in social selling, being a business social network. Now with close to 700 million users, if you are in B2B, LinkedIn is by far the best source of leads.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="bd2f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Back in 2016, LinkedIn boasted that <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://business.linkedin.com/sales-solutions/b2b-sales-prospecting/techniques-for-successful-prospecting" href="https://business.linkedin.com/sales-solutions/b2b-sales-prospecting/techniques-for-successful-prospecting" rel="noopener" target="_blank">50%</a> of B2B buyers use LinkedIn as a resource when making purchasing decisions. Now it is reported that Eighty percent of leads sourced for B2B marketing come via LinkedIn.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="47ad"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">From having a professional headshot to asking for recommendations and endorsements. Read my blog about <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/81273/tips-on-how-to-use-linkedin-to-attract-more-leads" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/81273/tips-on-how-to-use-linkedin-to-attract-more-leads" rel="noopener" target="_blank">optimising your Linkedin strategy to attract more leads.</a></span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d705"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When you begin to contribute, you will find that more people will view your profile. If they do this, send them an invitation to connect.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d705"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">LinkedIn Social Selling Index</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="100d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Social Selling Index (SSI) measures how effective you are at establishing your professional brand, finding the right people, engaging with insights, and building relationships. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a4ee"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">LinkedIn says “Sales reps that use social selling sell more and reach their targets faster.” </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a22c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">They encourage the practice, asserting that social selling leaders get “better results” and boasting that “78% of social sellers outsell peers who don’t use social media.”</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7cc3"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">LinkedIn has four elements of social selling to measure a person’s social selling performance:</span></p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="8420"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Establish your professional brand</strong> — An optimised profile with the customer in mind and posting meaningful and relevant content for relating to your industry, establishing you as a thought-leader.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="5595"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Find the right people</strong> — know what type of people you are looking for and identifying customer prospects using keyword searches. LinkedIn also provides paid research tools such as <a class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" data-href="https://business.linkedin.com/sales-solutions/sales-navigator" href="https://business.linkedin.com/sales-solutions/sales-navigator" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Sales Navigator</a> (using this will give you a higher score for this element). Find similar people both in your industry and in the industry of your ideal client.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="bce6"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Engage with insights</strong> — Share content from other people or brands you find interesting. Have conversations with people through commenting on posts in your feed or join active groups relevant to your industry and authentically share your expertise without promoting something.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="c800"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Build relationships</strong> — Establish trust with prospective customers, influencers, people in your local business community and decision-makers. This will strengthen your network and help you stay top of mind. I have the opinion that anybody on LinkedIn is a worthy connection as through connecting with them, someone else relevant might see your engagement.</span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Twitter</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="a7e4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Start ‘social listening’ — create <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://help.hootsuite.com/hc/en-us/articles/204585950-Add-or-remove-users-from-Twitter-lists" href="https://help.hootsuite.com/hc/en-us/articles/204585950-Add-or-remove-users-from-Twitter-lists" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Twitter Lists</a> to monitor content from specific groups of people. Create individual lists for existing customers, prospects, influencers, competitors. Twitter has become so influential that Nielsen launched a Twitter TV Rating to rank the social engagement of TV programs and events.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6884"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Do not be too sales-focused with your tweets (Twitter posts). A ratio of roughly one or two ‘selling’ posts per 10 posts is plenty.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6884"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Facebook</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="f28f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Facebook is the most ‘personal’ of the three social networks discussed. Some people will not want to accept random friend requests from someone they might have met once or twice in a business context, so Facebook does not work in the same way as Twitter or LinkedIn where anyone can see your content.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2cb4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Depending on who your friends are, social selling on your personal account might be wasted effort unless you have a lot of professional friends.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="697f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Works the same way. Share expertise and engage. Join relevant Facebook groups and engage there. You should also create a Facebook Business Page, invite relevant friends and use the same strategies with your page — create value and engage.</span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="172f"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Summary</span></h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="1fe4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In sum, Social Selling is the use of social media by businesses, as a marketing, branding, customer service and sales tool. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2cf0"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Instead of using traditional approaches like cold calling and advertising, the emphasis is on creating value for potential customers to form and strengthen relationships.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="aab5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This article has explored social selling and how it works, the benefits of social selling and ten tips to optimise your strategy.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p graf--empty" name="3414"><br /></p></div></div></section><div class="blogger-post-footer">BYB Marketing - https://brandyourselfbetter.com/</div>Daniel Hopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16097570896266702933noreply@blogger.com0509 Tuhikaramea Road, Temple View, Hamilton 3218, New Zealand-37.8264013 175.2249237-66.136635136178853 140.0686737 -9.5161674638211551 -149.61882630000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7106426518795808874.post-54769694292815934752020-12-23T15:02:00.007-08:002020-12-23T22:55:34.061-08:00How Product Placement Puts Your Brand In Front of Your Target Customers<section class="section section--body" name="ca0b"><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><img alt="What is product placement?" class="graf-image" data-height="3840" data-image-id="1*KPDreuxpbt3pnFcAe4XD4w.jpeg" data-width="5760" height="426" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*KPDreuxpbt3pnFcAe4XD4w.jpeg" style="font-family: helvetica;" title="What is product placement?" width="640" /></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Have you ever noticed in the big movies how often you see major brands? </span><p class="graf graf--p" name="5ee2"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">More often than not, the PC or mobile phone somebody is using is an Apple or perhaps a Samsung. All the vehicles could be Fords, or there might be several BMWs. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3292"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Your favourite influencers on social media? Chances are that they are sponsored by brands to promote their products. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e383"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This is called product placement, which is a form of advertising but attempts to persuade in a far less obvious way than traditional advertising.</span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="c7b1"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="8805"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What is Product Placement?</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="c992"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Also known as <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">embedded marketing</strong>, product placement is a multi-billion dollar industry.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a0ab"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Companies pay to have commercial content such as their brand, products or services incorporated into non-commercial content such as film, TV or other mainstream media. The idea is to use the placement whilst maintaining realism with context or plot.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4b5e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The audience gets exposed a brand, product or service being consumed in its natural setting; positively influencing their perceptions and opinions of the brand. They are not meant to notice that it is <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/129857/advertising-as-a-marketing-tool-to-reach-customers" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">advertising</a> — that is the power of product placement.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="9de7"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“In its simplest form, product placement consists of an advertiser or company producing some engaging content in order to sell something.” (Falkow, 2010)</span></em></blockquote><p> </p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6c1d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Product placements can be subtle or more obvious. Ranging from an unobtrusive appearance within the setting, or more prominent incorporation and acknowledgement of the brand as part of the plot.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0eb8"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The product itself does not have to be shown; it could be a logo, signage or brand name for example. More subtle product placement could avoid showing the brand itself but instead showing a distinct colour scheme or other feature synonymous with that brand.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="49b1"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Consumer products such as electronics (Apple products for example) or automobiles, as well as service placements (such as McDonald’s), that target ultimate household consumers are the most common placement, but business-to-business promotions are becoming more common.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fd41"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The vast number of media that use product placements include films, television programs, celebrities/influencers via social media, video games, blogs, music videos, concerts, magazines, books, comics, musicals and plays, live sport, radio, the internet, and mobile phones.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c9db"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Product placement on television has grown rapidly to try and combat people skipping traditional commercial breaks. <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://priceonomics.com/the-economics-of-product-placements/" href="https://priceonomics.com/the-economics-of-product-placements/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">According to Priceonomics</a>, television accounts for just over 70 percent of all paid product placements, and approximately 75% of all broadcast-network shows feature some form of product placement.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8c6b"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Films can often use multiple brands as product placements, Superman: Man of Steel is <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://adage.com/article/news/superman-reboot-man-steel-snares-160m-promotions/241822" href="https://adage.com/article/news/superman-reboot-man-steel-snares-160m-promotions/241822" rel="noopener" target="_blank">reported to have used </a>$160 million worth of product placements promotions with over 100 brands.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="7a58"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Since Unilever’s deliberate insertion of Sunlight Soap into several early Lumière films of the late 1890s, the practice of placing branded products within films for commercial purposes has developed into a distinct promotional tool.” (De Gregorio & Sung, 2010)</span></em></blockquote><p> </p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="4cbe"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A Brief History of Product Placement</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="2cf3"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Although the term product placement was only created to describe this practice as recently as the 1980s, it is not a new practice. Instead, dating back to the first appearance of brands in Lumière films in 1896.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7e34"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Product placement was not always monetised — many of the product placement deals were cash-free; instead, the arrangement was often reciprocal, items were borrowed and used as props by studios and television networks, reducing the cost of production. Products could be moved as well as selling movie tickets.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a7d2"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Commercial product placements were integrated into the creation and marketing of mass media content as early as the 1920s. The first spurt of popularity came in the 1950s, where tobacco companies tried to glamorise smoking cigarettes in TV and film.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f136"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In the 1980s, product placements became widely used after E.T. followed a trail of Reese’s Pieces out of the woods, resulting in a reported 65% increase in profits for Hershey’s.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="4316"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“In E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, the alien followed a trail of Hershey’s Reese’s Pieces to his new home. The movie was a hit, sales of Reese’s Pieces increased dramatically, and to some the product placement industry was born.” (Newell, Salmon, & Chang, 2006)</span></em></blockquote><p> </p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="2a99"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Benefits of Product Placement</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="3ac7"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This fusion of advertising and entertainment helps brands to <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/103125/targeting-how-to-make-marketing-more-efficient-and-effective" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">reach and engage with many of their target audience.</a></span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e92f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Because many people find traditional ads are annoying or irrelevant, it is estimated that two-thirds of TV viewers mute or skip ads. A major benefit of product placement is they cannot be skipped — they are embedded into the TV program, movie or other media itself.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d187"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The brand is often associated with the characters or context of the placement, so they must match to create a compatible match, which usually achieves positive evaluations.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4d38"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Brands placed with attractive characters or settings can often be more appealing to the audience/consumers. This can be attributed to the ‘halo effect’, where a positive association with a show or person creates a positive association with the corresponding product or brand.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a2df"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Viewers can become emotionally invested in the storyline in which a brand is presented. Because of this, the placement can encourage purchase intent.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d64a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When a placement is integrated seamlessly into a piece of media, the brand is seen in context, so it markets to consumers less directly. This means<a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/62723/persuasion-knowledge-a-consumer-s-defense-against-marketing-2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> consumers’ persuasion knowledge is less likely to be triggered</a>; this is a barrier that consumers put up to resist persuasion attempts from marketing that is too obtrusive.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d322"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Product placements can also boost <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/41549/managing-your-brand-to-attract-more-customers" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">brand recognition</a> — the audience is also more likely to be able to recognise and name a brand after seeing it in product placement.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6938"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A study by Williams, Petrosky, Hernandez, & Page Jr (2011) found that just over 57 percent of TV viewers recognized a brand in placement when the brand also was advertised during the show.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3623"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The final major benefit is that movies and TV programs can be watched many times over several years, so their value is not limited to when it is originally aired.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="86fa"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Viewers are able to correctly recognize brands placed in films and consumers do not really mind seeing products placed in motion pictures.” (La Ferle & Edwards, 2006)</span></em></blockquote><p><img alt="American Idol — product placement of Coke" class="graf-image" data-height="615" data-image-id="1*2pl1YCBw0DG0gUF42e8iVg.jpeg" data-width="1024" height="384" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*2pl1YCBw0DG0gUF42e8iVg.jpeg" style="font-family: helvetica;" title="American Idol — product placement of Coke" width="640" /> </p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="37d4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">How Product Placement Works</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="9525"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Product placement is all about context. To present a product or service in a way that will produce positive feelings towards that brand and hopefully influence peoples’ buying behaviour to purchase the brand. This connects with the audience in a more natural way than advertising when consumers are marketed to directly.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2f65"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Product placements can be initiated directly through the firm’s marketing team suggesting their products to a studio or producers of a TV/Movie, or it could go the other way. Some companies and agents work as an intermediary to match companies with product placement opportunities. The brands in placements should be matched as closely as possible with the projected target audience of that piece of media.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7807"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Because of this potential influence over an audience, product placement should be ethical. The placement of brands of tobacco or alcohol for example can be viewed as unacceptable by much of the audience, especially in content created for youth.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ed74"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There are two main forms of product placements: <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">visual and verbal.</strong></span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="206a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A visual placement involves placing a brand into a piece of media, so it is viewed. It could be an advertising hoarding in the background of a shot, or it could be of more importance in a scene, such as a cast member eating a packet of branded potato chips.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="640e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A verbal placement refers to the brand being mentioned in dialogue. There are varying degrees of audio placement, depending on the context in which the product is mentioned, the frequency with which it is mentioned, and the emphasis placed on the product name. Purely verbal placement we are called script placement.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8f10"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A plot placement that relies on placing the brand both on the screen and in the conversation provides an opportunity for both verbal and visual encoding, whereas the other situations would activate only one form of encoding.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8d76"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If a brand’s product becomes part of the plot -playing a major place in the storyline of building the persona of a character, this is a plot placement. Where a brand is identified with a character, e.g. James Bond and his Aston Martin, this is high intensity. A brief mention and appearance on screen low intensity.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c7a5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Based on the coding redundancy hypothesis (See Paivio 1971), “…memory increases directly with the number of alternative memory codes available for an item”. Visual and audio activate different codes, and therefore different combinations of screen and script placement vary in effectiveness and brand recall.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="39c3"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Virtual product placement” has been used to insert products and/or advertisements into portions of a media stream, where the products and/or advertisements may not actually exist.” (Gajdos & Pettersson, 2011)</span></em></blockquote><p> </p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="d5f0"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Digital Age of Product Placements</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="5d6f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Advances in digital editing technology allow producers to update existing placements or create new ones in post-production, sometimes changing items used in shows long after they were filmed.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ec92"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In live sports broadcasted to viewers, an advertisement on a billboard can be created where the advertisement is different than what physically exists. It may be a different ad or there might not even be an advertisement there in the first place.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ad53"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">On TV and in movies, virtual product placements can be inserted after the movie has been produced. Examples of this could be an advertising sign inserted into the background of a scene advertise a brand, or a beverage a person is drinking being altered to display a specific brand.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3c18"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">With advances in AI, product placements can be inserted into a media stream based on information about the consumer watching it, meaning brands relevant to that individual can be used, becoming more targeted to their personal interests.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0fc5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Product placement has exploded on social media in the form of <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/115793/influencer-marketing-in-2020" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">influencer marketing</a>. An influencer is a social media personality with a following, who are paid to include products in their content to boost that brand’s popularity with their following. If the following of an influencer matches the target market of a brand, then they are a good fit.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fa29"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Influencer marketing can range from a small mention in a post to the topic of a piece of content. The more obvious the product placement, the more it is deemed to be considered too ‘commercial’ by the followers of that social media influencer and the less effective it is likely to be.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="5c63"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“The extent to which the placement is prominent, whereby more prominence seems to evoke more negative reactions.” (Ewers, 2017)</span></em></blockquote><p> </p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="4689"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Product Placement in Retail Settings</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="084a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Product placement not only applies to media — but it can also apply to physical retail shop space. Brands will pay top dollar for prime space on the retail floor and shelves. This includes large endcap (end of an aisle) displays, the area next to the register where you checkout, or having item at eye level on the shelves and limiting shelf space their competitors — known as a slotting or shelving fee.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c227"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Large brands pay good money for this premium shelving space, this makes it harder for small brands and new businesses to break into the commercial retail market.</span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="1bf1"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p class="graf graf--p" name="ca88"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In summary, product placement is when a company pays to have commercial content such as their brand incorporated into a piece of media such as a film, or TV program, to expose it to the audience which is usually a good fit with their target market.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1dfa"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This aims to positively influence their perceptions and opinions of the brand in a less obtrusive way than traditional advertising. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a3df"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This article has explored product placement, how it works and the benefits of using it as a <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/111057/how-to-choose-the-right-marketing-strategy-for-your-business" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">marketing strategy</a>.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8841"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Thank you for reading.</span></strong></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ecdb"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I hope you enjoyed the content and learnt something new.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ecdb"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This was initially posted on the <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BYB Marketing Blog</a> - <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/197065/how-product-placement-puts-your-brand-in-front-of-your-target-customers">https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/197065/how-product-placement-puts-your-brand-in-front-of-your-target-customers</a></span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ecdb"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p></div></div></section><div class="blogger-post-footer">BYB Marketing - https://brandyourselfbetter.com/</div>Daniel Hopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16097570896266702933noreply@blogger.com0509 Tuhikaramea Road, Temple View, Hamilton 3218, New Zealand-37.8264013 175.2249237-66.136635136178853 140.0686737 -9.5161674638211551 -149.61882630000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7106426518795808874.post-84095478627802030612020-12-15T13:55:00.000-08:002020-12-15T13:55:00.031-08:00How to Optimise Your Pay-Per-Click Advertising<section class="section section--body" name="b900"><div class="section-content"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><img alt="Optimising your Pay per click advertising" border="0" data-original-height="1249" data-original-width="2048" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOC-ARInTMxIYQKGhZnXob093eLWAygh2bVz_w6wpaJeAitf9QDNK3KvtP4rh-mY_CeblwXoLAEOlUDpI9_qUhk6sOD3tP9IfgX_EUmfNHPkeyJjo6nA55YxlAzNOpVEjtPRFNGVXAXIw/w640-h390/stephen-phillips-hostreviews-co-uk-shr_Xn8S8QU-unsplash.jpg" title="Optimising your Pay per click advertising" width="640" /></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p class="graf graf--p" name="1a47">The first place that many people go to search for information about a product, service or brand is an online search. Probably Google. </p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b637">From the convenience of our computers or mobile phones, we have access to all the information we will need. If a business wants customers to find them online, they must optimise their presence on these search engines so customers find them before their competitors. </p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4784">There are two ways to do this, SEO and Pay per click ads. </p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6f6e">This blog explores how Pay-per-click advertising works and gives recommendations on how a business can optimise their strategy.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6f6e"><br /></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="e842"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="ca2b">What is Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising?</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="1bb2">Pay-per-click advertising is a form of digital marketing, originally developed as a method of creating revenue for search engines. Along with organic (non-paid) search results, paid ads make up a second list of results.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="99d9">Ads appear alongside the organic (non-paid) results on a search engine results page (SERP), companies paying to their links displayed in this sponsored section.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fa73">You can think of it like buying visits to your site instead of earning those visits organically <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/72931/how-keywords-bring-you-customers" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/72931/how-keywords-bring-you-customers" rel="noopener" target="_blank">through search engine optimisation (SEO).</a> As the name suggests, businesses running the PPC ads are only charged when a user clicks on their ad.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6bbd">There numerous PPC ads, the most common being search engine advertising, as explained above. Google ads are by far the most popular, Bing coming in a distant second. Google ads are the main subject of this article.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="27a2">Other types of PPC advertising include display advertising (banner ads) and remarketing where people see an ad because they previously interacted with your company. With display ads, the owner of a webpage allows businesses to advertise on their website.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ad67">Also referred to as contextual advertising, keywords in the content of the webpage trigger what ads visitors are shown.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5aa1">Businesses running ads are in an ongoing competition for popular keywords — ads are subjected to an ‘Ad Auction’. Based on competition, advertisers bid on certain keywords for ad placement and the search engine uses algorithmic calculations to determine which ads are displayed and in what order.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1798">As well as the cost-per-click bid (the highest amount an advertiser is willing to spend), the other factor that determines the ad rank is the Quality Score assigned by Google. This will be discussed further later.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="d278"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“As PPC suggests, advertisers also have to pay for every click they receive via that sponsored link.” (Kritzinger & Weideman, 2013)</em></blockquote><p> </p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="6a16">The Benefits of PPC</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="c799">Because businesses are only charged when a potential customer clicks on their ad, it is a pretty effective form of <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/129857/advertising-as-a-marketing-tool-to-reach-customers" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/129857/advertising-as-a-marketing-tool-to-reach-customers" rel="noopener" target="_blank">advertising</a>. Imagine how many people would drive past a billboard and see it, but never act. Results can be more objectively measured.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e161">Businesses also benefit by reaching potential customers at a price that fits the budget they set for the campaign.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="baac">There are far fewer PPC advertisements on a search result page than the organic results, so businesses better chance of being seen by internet searchers. It is also extremely hard to rank in the first few results organically — usually, it is a large investment in SEO over a period, that most businesses do not have the expertise to do themselves.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1f10">It is much easier to set up a Google ad and rank — if you have the budget for it. Users of PPC ads choose the geographic areas they want their ads to be shown in, so it is a powerful way to focus your advertising to locations you are trying to target.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0825">There are three beneficiaries with PPC ads. First, the website or search engine displaying the ads get paid for the advertising space, the advertiser who attracts customers and the customer who is provided with relevant results for their search query. Keywords ensure the ad should be just as relevant as the organic results.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="9217"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“Google makes 99% of its profit through the PPC model of Internet advertising.” (Kapoor, Dwivedi, & Piercy, 2016)</em></blockquote><p> </p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="d103">Creating a PPC Campaign</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="fc05">First, create logically organized Ad Groups. An ad group has one or more ads sharing similar target audiences — it organises ads by theme. Next, <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/90754/using-research-to-better-understand-your-target-market" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/90754/using-research-to-better-understand-your-target-market" rel="noopener" target="_blank">research</a>, select and organise closely related keywords into these Ad Groups. Then, ads are created for these ad groups. Each Ad Group should consist of a minimum of two ad variations.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7840">A campaign has one or more ad groups. Ad groups should be as specific as possible, to ensure they are relevant to customers</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1323">Campaigns need a start and finish date. Before getting started, work out your daily budget, based on the campaign length. Sometimes it can spill over budget slightly, so allow for around a 10% contingency — tell Google your budget is 10% less than it is, just in case.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="04f9">Each keyword has an average cost per click depending on the competition, so based on your overall budget, calculate how much you to spend on your chosen keyword bids.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="04f9"><img alt="Analyzing your pay per click ads" border="0" data-original-height="1337" data-original-width="2048" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfygzFmGN9VpUNDxFJBx_FQ3W_yZwG4ueHLPZW7SWw9qqRnl3dWX59thZ7TJaDU-DTxYj87bP4aakfB_SZAV3roarmPW_FPLrPEz8yOtvsEWro_4wQWEWFTpJfi5iss_wwQUHVtbvSC0g/w640-h418/myriam-jessier-VHXiGXxwOQ4-unsplash.jpg" title="Analyzing your pay per click ads" width="640" /></p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="450c">Analysing Your PPC Results</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="558a">Spend money to test, learn from their results, and then refine your ads to optimise your campaign results. One of the advantages of digital marketing is the amount of data it creates, empowering businesses with information to improve their advertising. Continuously analysing your performance allowing you to make small adjustments at a time to optimize your campaigns.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="27d0"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Test </strong>your campaigns and ad groups. This is when you start spending money. Test variations of your keywords, ad copy and landing pages. Dedicate time and money into educating yourself what works best for your business. Start with more than one version of your ad — you do not know how it could be improved if you only run one ad. If it does not work, you blow your whole budget.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="aa15"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Learn</strong> by analysing the results of your ads. This provides valuable consumer feedback in terms of their behaviour when exposed to your ads. Objective data to improve your ads and gain a better understanding of the best keywords to use and how much to pay for each click.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4b29">When we understand our ROI for different <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/72931/how-keywords-bring-you-customers" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/72931/how-keywords-bring-you-customers" rel="noopener" target="_blank">keywords</a>, we can find expensive and under-performing keywords which can be removed and those we want to bid higher on to achieve a higher Ad Rank and improve your Quality Score. You can also identify negative keywords that you do not want to trigger your ads.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2efe">By checking ‘see search terms’, you can see which terms triggered your ads. It also helps to discover new keywords to add to your existing campaigns.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5956">An impression is when keywords trigger an ad to be shown in the results. Impression share is the percentage of times your ads were shown out of the total number in the <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/103125/targeting-how-to-make-marketing-more-efficient-and-effective" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/103125/targeting-how-to-make-marketing-more-efficient-and-effective" rel="noopener" target="_blank">market you were targeting</a>.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="984b">Other key metrics to monitor are page views per visit, time on site and conversion rate.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5433">Creating a UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) snippet tag for ads to help identify the link in Google Analytics. This allows you to identify what ad campaign was most successful. how visitors came to land on the landing page.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="24a3"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Optimise</strong> your ads by refining them to modify what is not working. Make changes to your keyword lists, ads and landing pages to find the formula and user experience that works best for your business.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="72ab"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“…allows advertisers to place bids on specific keywords or phrases and have their advertisements show up alongside the organic search engine results.” (Boughton, 2005)</em></blockquote><p> </p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="e67d">Optimising Your Ads</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="c9d0">To make sure we get the best return on investment from our PPC ads, we must optimise them to get the best result. This section discusses four ways to optimise your ads: Keyword relevance, Google’s quality score and creating more targeted ad copy and landing pages. There are tools available to analyse your ads, such as Wordstream’s <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://www.wordstream.com/google-adwords" href="https://www.wordstream.com/google-adwords" rel="noopener" target="_blank">free AdWords Performance Grader</a>.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c9d0"><br /></p><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="b848">Keyword relevance</h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="d7d4">PPC campaigns are built around keywords. The Keywords within a search query trigger what results are shown. Therefore, businesses need to figure out what terms their target customers will be searching for.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6d1b">Create tight keyword groups with a mixture of low-cost, highly relevant keywords and frequently searched terms relevant to your business.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b5c9">Long-tail keywords should be included; these are more targeted search phrases that contain the more generic keywords (head) with modifiers that make it relevant to a more specific audience. For example, instead of just ‘marketing’, ‘digital marketing strategy in Hamilton’.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7071">Once you learn more about what is working and what is not, you can add Negative Keywords. These are non-converting search terms that you can exclude from your campaigns, to become more targeted by improving campaign relevancy and reducing the wasted budget by focusing on your best-performing keywords.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d037"><a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://adwords.google.com/home/tools/keyword-planner/" href="https://adwords.google.com/home/tools/keyword-planner/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Google Keyword Planner</a> is a great tool to help with keyword research. It highlights the search volume and cost per click for keywords and suggests relevant terms. Wordstream also provides a free <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://www.wordstream.com/keywords" href="https://www.wordstream.com/keywords" rel="noopener" target="_blank">keyword tool</a> to help you find the most relevant keywords to use for your business.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d037"><br /></p><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="a25b">Quality score</h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="0eac">The quality and relevance of your keywords, landing pages, and PPC campaigns. better Quality Scores mean more ad clicks at lower costs.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7190">Assigned independently by Google, Quality Score includes:</p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="41a3">The historical clickthrough rate (CTR) measure of how convincing your ad is to your target audience. of the keyword and the matched ad</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="dfd8">The CTR of all the ads and keywords in your account</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="6b7e">Landing page quality</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="54b1">Keyword relevance to the ads in its ad group</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="383f">Keyword relevance to the matched ad and search query</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="9dd4">Account performance in the geographical region where it is shown</li></ul><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="18da"><br /></h4><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="18da">Ad Copy</h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="464d">Your ad copy should be relevant to the landing page where you send them. If it is not, this will affect your quality score. To test your ads, run two or three variations per ad campaign to test different titles and descriptions.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="98b2">To optimise your ads, your headline should not exceed 60 characters, and your description should not exceed 80 characters.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="003d">However, Google does prefer longer headlines as this is where information is most likely to be noticed. The most important keywords should also be communicated in your ad copy.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="003d"><img alt="Landing page to sign up to receive a free eBook" class="graf-image" data-height="626" data-image-id="1*vQFUTj8Qmxgoi0pSEVV2dA.png" data-width="1350" height="296" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*vQFUTj8Qmxgoi0pSEVV2dA.png" title="Landing page to sign up to receive a free eBook" width="640" /></p><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="cfd4">Landing page</h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="36e1">The landing page is where a person goes after clicking on an ad. Do not make the mistake of sending every ad directly to your homepage.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3549">Send people directly to a custom landing page matching the ad content, that is optimised to minimise bounce rates and increase conversion rates. </p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8eb6">The image above is an example of a landing page to sign up to receive a free eBook. This could be the focus of a PPC ad, to add relevant people to your database.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9a51"><a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/53808/ten-ways-your-business-can-create-marketing-content-to-reach-more-customers" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/53808/ten-ways-your-business-can-create-marketing-content-to-reach-more-customers" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Content</a> should be specifically tailored to the ad and have clear calls-to-action (CTAs) aligned with the search queries that would have triggered the ad.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="84b7">Sending people to a general page means it might not be relevant to what they initially searched, and they probably will not be able to find the information they require easily. They are likely to hit the back button or close the window/tab. Users are unlikely to navigate through further pages to find what they need.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="84b7"><br /></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p class="graf graf--p" name="84b7"><br /></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="e46a"><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p class="graf graf--p" name="d150">In summary, if you want to target strong customer leads and have a good budget to do so, then PPC ads could be a great option for your business. Assuming that you have a website to send them to!</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fda6">This article has explored PPC advertising and its benefits and given practical tips on how businesses can improve their PPC advertising results.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fda6">Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed the content.</p></div></div></section><div class="blogger-post-footer">BYB Marketing - https://brandyourselfbetter.com/</div>Daniel Hopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16097570896266702933noreply@blogger.com0Hamilton, New Zealand-37.7890804 175.2596865-66.099314236178856 140.1034365 -9.4788465638211576 -149.5840635tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7106426518795808874.post-64225986535763547052020-12-10T15:07:00.003-08:002020-12-13T14:15:37.325-08:00How to Create a Value Proposition for Your Business<p> <img alt="What is a value proposition" class="graf-image" data-height="755" data-image-id="1*DnvA2wC833aVka7d8MKglA.jpeg" data-width="1132" height="426" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*DnvA2wC833aVka7d8MKglA.jpeg" title="What is a value proposition" width="640" /></p><section class="section section--body" name="c30c"><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p class="graf graf--p" name="3842">As a business, we need to capture the attention of potential customers as quickly as possible by telling them how we provide a solution to their needs.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c76a">If customers understand exactly how our business provides them with a solution, they are more likely to become customers than if the value proposition leaves them confused as to what exactly we do. </p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fc65">This blog explores the Value Proposition and strategy on how to create one for your own business or brand.</p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="6ec5"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="477d">What a Value Proposition?</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="621e">A value proposition is a firm’s summary statement of why a customer would choose their product or service.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="be2b">It is our promise to a group of customers, communicating our primary benefit and how we uniquely deliver value. It introduces our brand to consumers by communicating what our company stands for, what we do, and why we deserve the customer’s business.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="85dd">We must clearly explain how the benefits of our brand’s products or services fit their need better than comparable products on the market.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5022">Our benefits then become crystal clear to customers from the outset to persuade prospects to become paying customers. The number one reason a product or service is best suited to that customer must be communicated directly to consumers — through our website and other marketing materials.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3688">The value proposition is an essential element of a <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/111057/how-to-choose-the-right-marketing-strategy-for-your-business" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">firm’s overall marketing strategy</a>. Unique to a firm, it becomes the foundation for our <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/170507/how-to-create-a-brand-identity-to-attract-more-customers" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">brand identity</a>, branding strategy and position in the market.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="65bc">However, it is not the same thing as a positioning statement. <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/98450/positioning-5-strategies-to-stand-out-from-your-competitors" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Positioning</a> is just one component of our value proposition –communicating what makes our products or service unique from the competition.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="a654"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“A clear and effective value proposition should be the basis of a firm’s functional, psychological and economic value.” (Hassan, 2012)</em></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p graf--empty" name="a193"><br /></p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="7158">The Importance of a Value Proposition</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="ad19">The value proposition communicates a business/brand’s most important reason someone should do business with you and not the competition.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7aba">How do you provide the most value?</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8c1b">This can provide a competitive advantage if done well.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7a73">It becomes a focus in our marketing and should always be prominent on the website and other customer touchpoints such as social media.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a738">For many consumers, your value proposition is the first thing they encounter — so it should differentiate you from the competition.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5133">However, many firms do not have one. According to HubSpot, only around 60 percent of businesses do. But a lot of businesses do not do it well which becomes a problem if customers then do not immediately understand the value of what you offer.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c942">Many customers will research several options before making the purchase. A value proposition can help your business to stand out amongst these alternatives, be noticed and remembered.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2feb">An excellent value proposition helps potential customers to quickly understand how you uniquely provide value. If it is not immediately clear what you offer, you will likely be disregarded. The value proposition should <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/70179/segmenting-your-target-market" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">target your ideal customers/market segment</a> by identifying why your solution best fits their needs.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="d2fc"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“These days, an elevated level of competition and rapid changes in the market and technology make it complex for a company to sustain momentum without focusing on deliver the value that customers require.” (Hassan, 2012)</em></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p graf--empty" name="b733"><br /></p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="02c1">Creating a Value Proposition</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="5ce2">When creating our value proposition, we must define what we offer and explain how we provide a unique solution or benefit, best suited to meet a specific need of a specific group of customers.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8c84">First, we must identify all the benefits of our products or services, and what makes us different from the alternative options from competitors. Be as specific as possible when describing how this provides value, in an easily digestible way for the reader.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="41e0">Strive to be too straightforward and the point — focus on clarity and the conciseness of your message.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4003">You want the customer to understand your message, so avoid hype, marketing buzzwords and industry jargon.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="20f7"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“Identify the elements that make their offer superior in order to demonstrate, document and communicate them clearly to the targeted customers.” (Hassan, 2012)</em></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p graf--empty" name="af20"><br /></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a366">It is also not your slogan or catchphrase. It is more than that.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d0e6">A value proposition should target customers’ strongest decision-making drivers. To do this, we need to define how consuming our products or services are going to make their lives better and how their experience makes them feel.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6bf1">Customers can have several motivations, including wants which are emotional drivers, rational needs, and fears which are about avoiding undesirable outcomes.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d8da">Focus on how customers define value. By connecting our value to the challenges of our target customer, the value proposition becomes clearer.</p><p class="graf graf--p graf--empty" name="2d28"><br /></p><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="34ae">Research</h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="e5df">Before writing our value proposition, we need to be truly clear on what customers we are targeting with our products or services.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8694">Different customers perceive value differently. More than one component of a product or service adds value, such as price, quality or location. Therefore, we need a <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/90754/using-research-to-better-understand-your-target-market" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">deep understanding of the market we are in</a>, to help identify our target customers’ expectations, to best address their needs.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8694"><img alt="Market research - value proposition" class="graf-image" data-height="3264" data-image-id="1*xTJtSQEGM4gkapqbeMRhAA.jpeg" data-width="4928" height="423" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*xTJtSQEGM4gkapqbeMRhAA.jpeg" style="text-align: center;" title="Market research - value proposition" width="640" /></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4be9">Market research will help us understand what customers are looking for in the product or service that we offer and how they phrase their needs. A value proposition is written in our ideal clients/customer personas’ language, which can often be different to how we as the business would phrase it.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="533c">This helps us to determine the message that resonates best with our ideal customers and/or main buyer persona, so the right language is incorporated into the value</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="81ff">Some of the things we are trying to learn through market research are:</p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="998c">Who our target customers are?</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="ee73">What their values are</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="f3e0">What their needs are</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="0194">What their motivations are</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="4e5f">What your competitors are lacking</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="a06a">What your product or service does better</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="eba9">Why this difference matters to customers</li></ul><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="8435"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“…Whether the value propositions of a company’s business model correlate with the actual needs of the customers it wishes to serve.” (Osterwalder, Pigneur, Bernarda, & Smith, 2014)</em></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p graf--empty" name="1c8e"><br /></p><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="3937">Formatting a value proposition</h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="1e89">The value proposition must answer what we offer, who is it for and how it is useful. It will usually follow a particular format, using a headline, sub-headline, and a short paragraph of text, with a visual.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b190">A value proposition must have a strong and clear <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">headline</strong> to grab the attention of customers. It summarises your key benefit to the customer in one sentence, so needs to be both clear and instantly credible.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fdb9">The format for this could be “We help (X) do (Y) by doing (Z).”</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="337c">The <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">sub-headline</strong> is a 2–3 sentence paragraph. It is a specific explanation of what we do/offer, for whom it is for, and why it is useful. The final<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"> paragraph</strong> explains this more in-depth by outlining more about what you offer and why it is superior.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b2e6">Key benefits or features are listed, often as bullet points for ease of reading.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1cb8">An image can communicate much faster than words, so a <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">visual</strong> such as a photo or hero image is another key component of our value proposition. A hero image is an oversized banned image a webpage that services user is the first glimpse of the company.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="735c"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“An entire set of experiences, including value for money that an organization brings to customers. Customers may perceive this set or combination of experiences to be superior, equal or inferior to alternatives.” (Lanning, 1998)</em></blockquote><p> </p><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="d667">Testing your value proposition</h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="b7ad">After the research and writing our value proposition, we should test it. <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/is-value-proposition-testing-part" href="https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/is-value-proposition-testing-part" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Research has shown</a> that half of the businesses do not optimise their value proposition. </p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d059">So how do they know if theirs is any good? </p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5ff3">Testing the effectiveness of your value proposition helps objectify the process a little.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f832">As well as surveying customers or using a focus group, you might consider running A/B tests. You can test two alternative value propositions by driving traffic to two different landing pages. Targeted Facebook ads, Google ads or email marketing are an effective way of driving relevant targeted traffic to these landing pages.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7f99">If one page performs better than the other by generating more engagement and conversions, then this gives an objective answer for which is a better fit.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="195e">This process can be used several times to further hone your value proposition to improve results.</p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="745d"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p class="graf graf--p" name="dd0c">In summary, a value proposition is the summary statement of why a customer would choose a company’s product or service. It frames how they uniquely provide value to customers.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d466">This article has discussed the importance of creating a value proposition and the steps a business can take to create their own, to differentiate themselves from the competitors.</p><p class="graf graf--p graf--empty" name="5993"><br /></p></div></div></section><div class="blogger-post-footer">BYB Marketing - https://brandyourselfbetter.com/</div>Daniel Hopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16097570896266702933noreply@blogger.com0Hamilton, New Zealand-37.7890804 175.2596865-66.099314236178856 140.1034365 -9.4788465638211576 -149.5840635tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7106426518795808874.post-30713301341857791232020-11-29T23:36:00.004-08:002020-11-29T23:36:59.769-08:00How to Create a Brand Identity to Influence How Customers Perceive Our Brand<div class="separator"></div><div class="separator"><img alt="What is a Brand Identity?" class="graf-image" data-height="720" data-image-id="1*wxWwNFskr7vQPZrlaL72Tw.jpeg" data-width="1280" height="360" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*wxWwNFskr7vQPZrlaL72Tw.jpeg" title="What is a Brand Identity?" width="640" /></div><p class="graf graf--p" name="6097">A common mistake from beginner marketers is confusing their businesses brand image with their brand identity. I get it. They sound similar and are connected concepts.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f6ee">But they are not… Our brand identity is what we think our brand is and the brand image is what customers think our brand is. However, our brand identity does influence how our brand image is perceived.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4f0d">This article explores what a brand identity, its importance and strategies a business can use to create their own brand identity.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><h2 style="text-align: left;">How your Brand Identity Influences your Brand Image</h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="f299">A brand image is distinct from the brand identity.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="55ea">A brand’s identity is its intent to cultivate a certain image in consumers’ minds. How a brand is perceived is the brand image. Therefore, brands do not control the brand image, they can merely try and influence this perception.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3cdb">Everything a potential customer associates or identifies with a business or a product from previous experiences or through advertising creates a perception of that brand. Brand image is the result of a firm’s branding efforts — successful or unsuccessful.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0ce3">Marketing, experiences and memories associated with that brand are the basis for a brand image, and it comes in the form of a gut opinion or mental flash of recognition.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="dbb2">The brand identity signifies what a firm wants its brand to stand for. They control this with all the elements that make up a brand and its marketing. All the visible elements of a brand, such as its colours, design features, and logo. It is a marketing strategy to nurture a certain image in consumers’ minds that identify and distinguish the brand.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="4b42"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“Companies that present a cohesive, distinctive, and relevant brand identity can create a preference in the marketplace, add value to their products and services, and may command a price premium.” (Schmitt & Simonson, 1997).</em><p style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Brand identity vs brand image" class="graf-image" data-height="1500" data-image-id="0*CxabxMdhdV_8YOAy" data-width="1000" height="640" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/0*CxabxMdhdV_8YOAy" title="Brand identity vs brand image" width="427" /> </p></blockquote><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">What is a Brand?</h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="3ee9">Many people associate a brand with a logo or a name, but a logo is not a brand. The terms are often used interchangeably, and although the logo is often the visual symbol of a business, it is not a brand’s entirety.</p><p class="graf graf--p graf--startsWithSingleQuote" name="f206">‘Branding’ was originally the identifying marks burnt into the skin of livestock, slaves and criminals. Symbols such as national, religious, or guild date back hundreds of years — this is another origin of branding.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9303">Modern branding dates to the industrial revolution when factories started producing goods and brands were used by manufacturers to differentiate themselves from the other manufacturers.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0418">Simple visual branding evolved to include <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.co.nz/blog/post/129857/advertising-as-a-marketing-tool-to-reach-customers" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.co.nz/blog/post/129857/advertising-as-a-marketing-tool-to-reach-customers" rel="noopener" target="_blank">advertising</a>, mascots, jingles, and other marketing techniques.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote" name="6060"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">A strong brand “increases customers’ trust of invisible products, while helping them to better understand and visualise what they are buying.” (Berry, 2000)</em></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p" name="11b0">The brand defines everything about our business.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f0c0">It is the promise to consumers about our products or services. Everything that contributes to customers’ opinions and feelings about your company. It is our reputation, how people recognise us, and how we are distinguished from competing offerings.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3d00">Everyday interactions your brand has with consumers, from the website to salespeople, to customer support to advertising. It is all the brand.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8034">CEO of Amazon Jeff Bezos once famously said that your brand is what other people say about you when you are not in the room.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8034"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">The Objectives of a Brand Identity</h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="2781">A brand’s identity supports its strategy by communicating the brand visually to differentiate it from competitor products/services.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4944">This helps shape the long-term impression of a brand. How a brand communicates its <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.co.nz/blog/post/98450/positioning-5-strategies-to-stand-out-from-your-competitors" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.co.nz/blog/post/98450/positioning-5-strategies-to-stand-out-from-your-competitors" rel="noopener" target="_blank">position in the market</a>, what their values are, how the products are unique, and how you want customers to feel. The brand becomes more distinguished in consumers’ minds and encourages them to engage.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0422">Components of the brand such as colours and imagery represent who the brand is, complemented with a certain tone of voice. This becomes a template for the look and feel of the company’s marketing.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="e7d6"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“A brand’s personality provides a richer source of competitive advantage than any functional feature can.” (Sherrington, 2003)</em></blockquote><p> </p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="cf65">Brand Personality</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="76f6">Every brand should reflect certain personality traits to humanise it, so customers find them easy to relate to. Brand messaging in marketing communicates in a certain voice to establish a unique personality. Examples of personality traits are:</p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="62c6">innovative,</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="f1bc">socially conscious,</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="1cac">trustworthy,</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="1509">friendly,</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="d714">nostalgic,</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="775d">luxury,</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="1ea1">cool,</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="8997">socially conscious.</li></ul><p class="graf graf--p" name="67f1">An example might be ‘tough’ for an off-road vehicle or ‘fit’ for sportswear.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsYiR6UHahVLq1ArSdxFI3PBUWa-xGBLjt3Fcllr-2_GU4rCQ5-VC_F5jjE94q7DD_67FM_FLTGkdgk_B3OV8zSmbmjpxANEemV6JvLHHnNgLScxzaWJtzktACMGTgPaNsHP2khTC-xs8/s2048/bruno-nascimento-PHIgYUGQPvU-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="'fit' brand identity - running shoes" border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsYiR6UHahVLq1ArSdxFI3PBUWa-xGBLjt3Fcllr-2_GU4rCQ5-VC_F5jjE94q7DD_67FM_FLTGkdgk_B3OV8zSmbmjpxANEemV6JvLHHnNgLScxzaWJtzktACMGTgPaNsHP2khTC-xs8/w640-h426/bruno-nascimento-PHIgYUGQPvU-unsplash.jpg" title="'fit' brand identity - running shoes" width="640" /></a></div><p class="graf graf--p" name="dada">This personality should be reflected in the <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">brand positioning</strong> — which is how a brand is perceived against its competitors. This includes the <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">brand promise</strong> — its unique selling proposition, and <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">brand values</strong> which guides a firm’s decision-making.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote" name="bf7a"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">A unique set of brand associations enable a brand to develop a rich and clear brand identity. While some customers may attach greater importance to functional benefits, emotional value helps the brand stand above others. (Ghodeswar, 2008)</em></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="8a76">Brand Associations</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="ea6b">Brands create personality characteristics that they want customers to associate with their brand. However, the associations a brand creates with their brand identity is not always perceived the same way by customers.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a498">Customer assessments and opinions of a brand become the anchor for their associations of what a brand represents. New associations are continuously made with brands, simultaneously with each interaction. These assessments are evaluated against a consumer’s values and lifestyle.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f727">The content you create and share on your social media influences perceptions of your brand. It defines your brand. If you share boring content and talk about yourself all the time, that is the brand people will associate with you.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9555">Associations can be how your brand looks, feels, and speaks to people. Even how it tastes, feels, sounds, and smells.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="160e">These assessments evaluated against a consumer’s personal and cultural values. When people have an unfavourable experience, they correlate that negative experience with everything associated with that brand.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="838d"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“A brand tends to have a strong and attractive identity when the identity is more distinctive and more prestigious.” (He, Li, & Harris, 2012)</em></blockquote><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--empty" name="89de"><br /></blockquote><h2 style="text-align: left;">Why is a Strong Brand Identity so Important?</h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="23fe">A well-researched and distinct brand identity should be the foundation of any successful business.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ddf3">A brand identity aims to influence customer perceptions of the brand and its products or services. A strong brand identity increases the <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.co.nz/blog/post/70179/segmenting-your-target-market" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.co.nz/blog/post/70179/segmenting-your-target-market" rel="noopener" target="_blank">target market</a>’s awareness of that brand. Brand awareness is a customer’s ability to identify a brand in a saturated market. If brand identification is high and customers trust the brand, companies gain a competitive advantage of competitors and enhance their brand value.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="488c">Having a strong brand identity means consumers are more likely to develop an emotional connection with the brand, forming a stronger customer-brand relationship and encouraging loyalty.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="c37c"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“Brand identity management should be the starting point of integrated marketing communications for the purpose of building brand loyalty.” (He, Li, & Harris, 2012).</em></blockquote><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--empty" name="b7cd"><br /></blockquote><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="7f28">Credibility and Trust</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="d701">A strong brand establishes trust and credibility with customers and prospective customers. Brand identity makes a brand more memorable and increases its authority in the marketplace. Because of this, having a strong identity can often make new product rollouts more successful because of the trust customers have in the brand.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4fad">Strong brand identities will attract people who resonate with what a brand has to offer and what it stands for. A <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.co.nz/blog/post/51030/how-brands-can-create-their-own-communities" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">brand's community can give them a sense of belonging</a>.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="55f2">This satisfies the symbolic needs of customers more than their functional needs, helping them fulfil their need for uniqueness.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="17b4"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“Strong brands enjoy customer loyalty, the potential to charge premium prices, and considerable brand power to support new product and service launches.” (Ghodeswar, 2008)</em></blockquote><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--empty" name="3d55"><br /></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p" name="32ff">A firm can create a positive brand identity that fails to translate into a positive brand image. If a brand identity does not translate with consumers’ image of the brand, it will negatively affect the sales results. Brands must have a willingness to invest in themselves to live up to their promise to customers.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9fb8">Apple’s brand identity and brand image are closely aligned. Apple is very deliberate in its strategy of creating hype for the release of their new products, in a way to create hype. They position themselves as a premium offering due to their investments into modern technologies and bringing them to the market first.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="dac1"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“A strong brand identity that is well understood and experienced by the customers helps in developing trust which, in turn, results in differentiating the brand from competition.” (Ghodeswar, 2008)</em></blockquote><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--empty" name="37bd"><br /></blockquote><h2 style="text-align: left;">How to Create a Brand Identity</h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="6489">A brand identity should be constructed to represent our business.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0a7d">Creating a brand is more than just picking a few colours and creating a logo. It needs to be approached strategically. We need to be able to stand out amongst the competition and capture the attention of our target market. Through creating differentiation, our brand becomes more visible, relevant, unique, distinct and memorable.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4325">Our brand should be cohesive and translatable across communication platforms and be flexible enough to evolve with the brand and easy for designers to apply.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="a7ab"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“Building brand associations requires a company to understand its brand as well as competitors’ brands through customer research.” (Ghodeswar, 2008)</em></blockquote><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--empty" name="4627"><br /></blockquote><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="229c">Analyse Your Firm, the Market and the Competition</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="362b">Creating a brand image requires an analysis of your firm and the marketplace. Firstly, what are the company’s vision and goals? What makes it unique? When a firm understands what they stand for and what it is they want to communicate, they can design the communication of their brand identity around that.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7ec5">Through <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.co.nz/blog/post/90754/using-research-to-better-understand-your-target-market" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.co.nz/blog/post/90754/using-research-to-better-understand-your-target-market" rel="noopener" target="_blank">market research</a>, firms can understand how the brand is perceived.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="47ff">Talk to customers. What do they think the brand stands for? Our brand identity is also informed by what your brand’s customers want to engage with, so our identity must resonate with them. Therefore, it is important to <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.co.nz/blog/post/70179/segmenting-your-target-market" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.co.nz/blog/post/70179/segmenting-your-target-market" rel="noopener" target="_blank">know our buyer personas.</a></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="198e">Talk to customers through surveys, focus groups, and one-on-one interviews.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0ef5">It is also important to understand their competitive landscape or risk blending in. Find out what (if any) is the difference between our brand and the competition.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="af33"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“Brand identity is based on a thorough understanding of the firm’s customers, competitors, and business environment.” (Ghodeswar, 2008)</em></blockquote><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--empty" name="6fc9"><br /></blockquote><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="0765">Consistency</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="64c6">Consistency in marketing communications leads to consistent brand identity.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="29d2">Your branding’s appearance should always be cohesive and consistent across the business. Each piece complements the brand identity.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="37d0">Components such as:</p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="cfc0">Logo</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="e0ce">Design and Colours</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="130c">Typography (fonts)</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="f58e">Photography, illustration and data visualization such as infographics</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="cbaf">Video and motion</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="e832">Web design</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="34bb">Packaging</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="0821">Tone and language</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="52e3">Other marketing such as social media</li><li class="graf graf--li" name="ac74">Employee communication and <a class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.co.nz/blog/post/105923/customer-service-why-it-matters-and-10-key-skills" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.co.nz/blog/post/105923/customer-service-why-it-matters-and-10-key-skills" rel="noopener" target="_blank">customer service</a></li></ul><p class="graf graf--p" name="499a">Every element needs to support the overall message and business goals.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="499a"><br /></p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="9733">Visuals</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="49cb">The brand personality, goals, and values should be translated into visual concepts to communicate. How much visual impact a brand makes can increase the likelihood of being remembered.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ac0d">The <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">logo</strong> is the most recognisable part of a brand — it is the face of your business. Many businesses have logos that do not have a defining feature. It must become synonymous with your brand; it must be unique.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b3fc">Online, your <b>marketing content</b> is your brand. Every piece of content defines your brand. Great content, great brand. Boring content, boring brand.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d9cc">Use <b>language and a tone</b> to match the personality of your brand. For example, if your brand identity is of a premium offering, use professional language.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="21b4"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Colour</strong> is used as a tool to <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.co.nz/blog/post/134218/differentiation-as-a-marketing-strategy-to-stand-out-from-the-competition" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.co.nz/blog/post/134218/differentiation-as-a-marketing-strategy-to-stand-out-from-the-competition" rel="noopener" target="_blank">differentiate your brand from the alternatives</a>, but it can also elicit strong emotions. Brands should create a unique colour palette of 1 main colour, 2 primary colours and 2 accent colours. It provides you with variety while remaining true to the brand identity.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="aeca">Your brand should use the same <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">fonts</strong> as often as possible. Limit the number of font families to 2–3. There is usually one primary font and then a couple of secondary brand typefaces. This should be consistent across the logo, website, advertising and any document such as letters, emails.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="aeca"><br /></p><span><!--more--></span><p class="graf graf--p" name="aeca"><br /></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="aeca">Thanks for reading this article on brand identity.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6357">In summary, your brand identity is how you want to be recognised and remembered. </p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6357">Marketing is used to create a brand identity, which then influences how the brand is perceived by customers - your brand image.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="48b6">Creating a distinct brand identity will help your business stand out amongst the competition. </p><p class="graf graf--p" name="48b6"><br /></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5b83">This was originally posted on the BYB Marketing blog: <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/170507/how-to-create-a-brand-identity-to-attract-more-customers">https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/170507/how-to-create-a-brand-identity-to-attract-more-customers</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">BYB Marketing - https://brandyourselfbetter.com/</div>Daniel Hopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16097570896266702933noreply@blogger.com0Hamilton, New Zealand-37.7890804 175.2596865-66.099314236178856 140.1034365 -9.4788465638211576 -149.5840635tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7106426518795808874.post-73348089413382251742020-11-17T11:43:00.002-08:002020-11-17T16:06:52.235-08:005 Marketing Management Theories That Every Serious Marketer Should Know<section class="section section--body" name="7b38"><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><figure class="graf graf--figure" name="a949"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img alt="Marketing models and theories marketers should understand" class="graf-image" data-height="3617" data-image-id="1*IcZBAdoVJNlzLP6mfBo6qg.jpeg" data-width="5425" height="426" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*IcZBAdoVJNlzLP6mfBo6qg.jpeg" title="Marketing models and theories marketers should understand" width="640" /></span></figure><p class="graf graf--p" name="787c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The better we understand the theory, the better our decision-making becomes, without even having to think about it.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="787c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Marketing is the psychology behind selling more products or services. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="787c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">By understanding more about consumption and the thought processes behind it for customers, the better we can please them. The more we understand about how businesses work, the more we can improve the processes. The more chances of success!</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8298"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This article explores five theories and models that all business owners and marketers should understand.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8298"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The 80/20 rule, The Expectancy Disconfirmation Theory, The Product Life Cycle, Porter's Five Forces, and The Ansoff Matrix.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8298"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="2342"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The 80/20 rule</span></h1><p class="graf graf--p" name="0b86"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The 80/20 rule suggests that 80% of sales come from 20% of customers.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0847"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This theory dates to 1896, conceived by Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, to explain wealth distribution when he noticed that 80% of Italy’s land was owned by approximately 20% of the country’s total population. It is thought that his initial observation was that 20% of the pea pods in his garden produced 80% of the peas!</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--pullquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="9aa6"><em class="markup--em markup--pullquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“The Pareto Principle, which is sometimes called the 80/20 rule, states that a small proportion (e.g., 20 percent) of products in a market often generate a large proportion (e.g., 80 percent) of sales.” (Brynjolfsson, Hu & Simester, 2011).</span></em></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Pareto Principle</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="06be"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In the 1940s, Joseph M. Juran developed Pareto’s principle for use in strategic business management, naming it after Pareto — the Pareto Principle.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="db4d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The underlying belief that the relationship between inputs and outputs is imbalanced and unequal, and for many phenomena, 80% of the output, consequences or effects are produced by 20% of the input or causes.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9325"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Representation of the Lorenz curve and the Concept of the 80–20 Rule (Dunford, 2014)</span></strong></p><figure class="graf graf--figure" name="692e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img alt="The pareto principle - the 80/20 rule" class="graf-image" data-image-id="1*otMw8Kr5dHkpBuiTGARmhw.png" height="575" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*otMw8Kr5dHkpBuiTGARmhw.png" title="The pareto principle - the 80/20 rule" width="640" /></span></figure><p class="graf graf--p" name="c346"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The rule transcends disciplines. It has since been applied for numerous purposes across the business, including in sales, marketing, economics, management and even computer sciences. 20% of athletes win 80% of the time, 20% of patients consume 80% of healthcare resources, and 20% of society holds 80% of the world’s wealth.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ca93"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When applied to business, the underlying assumption is that 80% of the outcomes or results come from 20% of the effort. Other variations of this rule in a business context are:</span></p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="790a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">80% of profits or revenue come from 20% of customers</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="e13d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">80% of product sales from 20% of products</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="5f84"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">80% of sales from 20% of advertising</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="c779"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">80% of customer complaints from 20% of customers</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="049f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">80% of sales from 20% of the sales team</span></li></ul><p class="graf graf--p" name="8734"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">However, this ‘rule’ is an observation, rather than a law or science. The two numbers don’t have to add to 100% — it is only used as a rule of thumb. It could be 80–20, 90–10, or even 90–20.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2995"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What we learn from this principle is to focus your efforts by working harder on the things that matter. That 20% of activities that provide 80% of results. The small stuff does not need to be sweated if it does change the overall result.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--pullquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="8171"><em class="markup--em markup--pullquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“It helps to realize that often the majority of results comes from a minority of inputs.” (Dunford, Su, and Tamang, 2014)</span></em></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p" name="0651"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Individuals and businesses should focus most of their time and energy on accomplishing the tasks with the largest return on investment. They can do this through recognising how and where results are achieved. Similarly, the focus with sales should be on developing strong relationships with the best and most profitable clients.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0651"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="49e0"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Expectancy Disconfirmation Theory</span></h1><p class="graf graf--p" name="6d7c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Expectation confirmation theory is a popular model used in services marketing for measuring customer satisfaction, introduced by Richard L. Oliver in 1977.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--pullquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="7ad0"><em class="markup--em markup--pullquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“An individual’s expectations are (1) confirmed when a product performs as expected, (2) negatively disconfirmed when the product performs more poorly than expected, and (3) positively disconfirmed when the product performs better than expected.” (Churchill & Surprenant, 1982)</span></em></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p" name="0aad"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The performance of a product or service is compared or measured against the customer’s expectations. Those expectations (or desire) of performance (or experience) are subjective to everyone, based on their prior knowledge of that product.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="753a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Performance becomes the mediator for satisfaction. The evaluated performance or experience influenced by previous experiences with that brand and consumers without prior expectations base their satisfaction judgements solely on the performance of the product.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3184"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The resultant difference between expectations and performance the basis for the disconfirmation of expectation (or desire) and can be positive or negative. Negative disconfirmation meaning the customer is left dissatisfied.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3dc6"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The theory has been applied across multiple fields to gain a better understanding of customer’s expectations and requirements, such as marketing and consumer behaviour, tourism, psychology, information technology, and the airline industry.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d79f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The expectancy disconfirmation theory involves four primary variables: expectations, perceived performance, disconfirmation of beliefs, and satisfaction.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e193"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The original expectancy disconfirmation model (Oliver, 1980)</span></strong></p><figure class="graf graf--figure" name="ab9b"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img alt="The expectancy disconfirmation model" class="graf-image" data-image-id="1*Oqrl32cewLeSZUWHZ_xVMg.png" height="153" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*Oqrl32cewLeSZUWHZ_xVMg.png" title="The expectancy disconfirmation model" width="640" /></span></figure><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Expectations</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="c9ce"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Consumers associate certain attributes or characteristics with a brand which is anticipated by that person. These expectations form the basis of comparison judgement — directly influence both perceptions of performance and disconfirmation of beliefs, and indirectly influence their post-purchase evaluations and feelings.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f56e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Expectations of a brand, product or service can be based on aspects such as feedback from friends and family, online reviews, <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/45161/the-evolution-of-the-marketing-mix" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">marketing material</a>, <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/83521/sales-versus-marketing-different-roles-but-same-goal" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">salespeople</a>, and previous consumption experiences.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--pullquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="6c0c"><em class="markup--em markup--pullquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“First, customers have an initial expectation according to their previous experience with using a specific product or service. Second, new customers that don’t have a first-hand experience about performance of product or services.” (Elkhani, & Bakri, 2012)</span></em></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Perceived Performance</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="d870"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">After consumption, the consumer forms perceptions of the performance of a product, service or experience. These perceptions are influenced by their pre-purchase expectations, then influencing the disconfirmation judgement.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e11d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Aspects that performance is based on will be subjective depending on the product, service or experience — for example, for a mobile phone, one performance factor is how long the battery lasts.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fdf8"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Perceived performance can also indirectly influence customer satisfaction.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fdf8"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Disconfirmation</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="0589"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The judgments or evaluations that a person makes regarding a product, service or experience is called the disconfirmation of beliefs. These are made in comparison to the consumer’s original expectations.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2202"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If it outperforms expectations, the disconfirmation is positive. If it underperforms, the disconfirmation is negative. Thus, increasing or decreasing post-purchase satisfaction.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3a39"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Disconfirmation mediates the relationship between performance and satisfaction.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3a39"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Satisfaction</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="3f64"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Post-purchase satisfaction is the extent of how pleased, contented or unhappy a person is after consumption.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6c26"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The consumer’s disconfirmation of the perceived performance directly influences their satisfaction, satisfaction also indirectly influenced by both expectations and perceived performance through the mediating effects of disconfirmation.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2adc"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">How satisfied or dissatisfied a consumer has influenced their post-purchase behaviour. This includes their attitude towards the brand, their loyalty and whether they repeat purchase, and their word of mouth intent. If people are happy, they are more likely to purchase again and tell friends about their positive experience.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2adc"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="7c9d"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Product Life Cycle</span></h1><p class="graf graf--p" name="c59f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The lifecycle of a product is the length of time it is on the market. Beginning when it is introduced into the market and lasting until it is taken off the shelves.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="db32"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When a product is introduced to the market if successful, demand increases. Then, as new products enter the market and become successful, they push more dated ones from the market, replacing them.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f171"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This concept is commonly used in marketing management, helping inform the decision-making of business, such as <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/78224/12-ways-to-price-your-products-or-services" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">pricing</a>, when to increase spending on advertising, expand to new markets, redesign packaging and cost-cutting.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4bb3"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This life cycle has four or five stages, depending on the source. The original model used four — <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">market development, growth, maturity,</strong> and<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"> decline.</strong></span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="bcec"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Other versions have added a fifth, <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">introduction</strong>, which is the second phase.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b723"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Where a product is in its life cycle impacts how it is marketed. New products have more informational marketing, whilst mature products have marketing which <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/134218/differentiation-as-a-marketing-strategy-to-stand-out-from-the-competition" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">differentiates it from the alternatives</a>.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c68c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Large manufacturers often have products each in various stages of the product life cycle at any given time.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="eeec"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Each stage has unique costs, opportunities and risks and individual products have different lengths of time when they remain at any of the life cycle stages.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="eeec"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a78b"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Product Lifecycle (Levitt, 1965)</span></strong></p><figure class="graf graf--figure" name="12a2"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img alt="The product lifecycle" class="graf-image" data-image-id="1*bON6-7BNA9T4tZEmtpUAjQ.png" height="356" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*bON6-7BNA9T4tZEmtpUAjQ.png" title="The product lifecycle" width="640" /></span></figure><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Stage 1 — Market Development & Introduction</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="34d4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When a new product is brought to market, typically there will be some <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/90754/using-research-to-better-understand-your-target-market" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">research and development behind it</a>, to make sure it is fit for market and proven demand for it.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5942"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Before launched into the market, costs accumulate with no sales. It could take years and a large investment of capital to develop and test some products.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="91dc"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Next comes the introduction to the market, where the goal is to build awareness of the product.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="70ec"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Marketing costs here are high. To reach out to potential customers, substantial investment in advertising is made. Marketing focuses on making consumers aware of the product and its benefits.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fe1b"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Pricing can sometimes be higher to recover costs associated with product development.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--pullquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="9778"><em class="markup--em markup--pullquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Unit sales are low in introduction, because few consumers are aware of the new good (or service). With consumer recognition and acceptance, unit sales begin to increase… the start of the growth stage. …As more competitors enter the industry and the market becomes smaller… Unit sales reach a plateau, and the product is in the maturity stage.” (Rink, & Swan 1979)</span></em></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Stage 2 — Growth</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="3c9f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If a product launch is successful and customers accept the product, it enters the market growth phase as demand increases. The size of the total market inflates, sometimes called the ‘Take-off Stage’, as the company aims to increase market share. Production, distribution and availability are expanded.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c8b3"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If innovation on a product is high and there’s little competition, pricing can remain high. Marketing is aimed at a broad audience as demand and profits are both increasing.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c8b3"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Stage 3 — Maturity</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="fc61"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">As demand and sales levels off, a product enters the market maturity stage. Sales are the highest at this phase and the costs of production decline as manufacturing becomes more efficient. Marketing costs are also reduced.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ab19"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">As more options become available to customers, as competition increases.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0bc7"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Firms may look at updated product features to stay ahead of competitors and maintain market share. Prices also tend to decline to stay competitive.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0bc7"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Stage 4 — Decline</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="2d2d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When products start to lose their appeal with consumers and sales reduce, they enter the market decline phase. Market share is lost, often because of increased competition as new products enter the market, with other firms trying to emulate their success. These can be more suited towards customer needs with the advancement in technology for example or lower prices.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b64e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Firms can choose to discontinue the product and remove it from the market, find new product uses to <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/98450/positioning-5-strategies-to-stand-out-from-your-competitors" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">position it differently in the market</a>, or perhaps by exporting the product into new markets.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3c90"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In any case, the firm by now should be into the research and development phase for their next product.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3c90"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="c694"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Porter’s Five Forces</span></h1><p class="graf graf--p" name="9f50"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">To help better understand and assess the competitiveness of an industry, Porter’s Five Forces model is commonly used.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--pullquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="17e2"><em class="markup--em markup--pullquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“According to Porter (1980), the collective strength of the forces determines the ultimate profit potential in the industry.” (Dobbs, 2014)</span></em></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p" name="2a9c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Michael E. Porter from the Harvard Business School created the model in 1979. He believed that by understanding the level of competitive intensity of an industry, it will identify the attractiveness of entering that market.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0443"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Porter’s 5 Forces (1979)</span></strong></p><figure class="graf graf--figure" name="e42c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img alt="Porter's 5 forces model" class="graf-image" data-image-id="1*GOoi8F_HyQou8ASJ3yEb0Q.png" height="361" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*GOoi8F_HyQou8ASJ3yEb0Q.png" title="Porter's 5 forces model" width="640" /></span></figure><p class="graf graf--p" name="6d03"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Attractive markets have few competitors or there might be a gap in the market that a business can <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/103125/targeting-how-to-make-marketing-more-efficient-and-effective" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">target with strategic positioning.</a></span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7857"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Emphasising the importance of identifying imperfect markets offering more opportunities that are profitable, the model provides useful information to direct a businesses’ strategic approach and marketing.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9940"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If they are an existing firm and want to a better understanding of the current market, they can analyse their current position and plan their future direction by aligning it with their strengths and addressing their weaknesses. If a new business or entering a new industry, they can highlight how they are most likely to succeed.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--pullquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="719b"><em class="markup--em markup--pullquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“…Account for long-term variances in the economic returns of one industry versus another… distilling the complex micro-economic literature into five explanatory or causal variables to explain superior and inferior performance.” (Grundy, 2006)</span></em></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p" name="4d30"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Applying ‘systems thinking’, the model simplifies several complicated microeconomic theories into just five components that impact a market’s long-term profitability:</span></p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="0146"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The bargaining power of the buyers</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="e98e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The threat of new entrants</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="ba1d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Competitive rivalry</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="1464"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Threat of substitution</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="1c70"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Supplier power</span></li></ul><p class="graf graf--p" name="d20e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Competitive rivalry is the central box of the model, a function of the other four forces. The importance of negotiating power and bargaining arrangements is identified — this focus on external factors more prominent than in other market analysis theories such as a SWOT analysis.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d20e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Buyer Power</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="a5aa"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In certain marketplaces, buyers have more power and can apply pressure on companies to lower prices. If competition is high and the customer has many choices, they have a higher power. Buyers can also join to have a stronger influence on changing the behaviour of a firm. For example, for ethical reasons consumers might boycott a brand.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a5aa"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Threat of New Entrants</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="922a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What is the likelihood of new entries in the market? If an industry is perceived as attractive, increased competition is highly likely.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2c44"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If too many new entrants enter that market, its potential profitability will decline. If a marketplace has few but immensely powerful players in it, they will try and make it as difficult as possible for new companies to enter that market. Other barriers to entering that market also need to be considered to do exit barriers. Entry barriers include government policies, patents and technology.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2c44"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Competitive Rivalry</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="3f6e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The current competition within the marketplace is obviously an important consideration. Understanding competitive rivalry uncovers how many competitors there are and how much they spend on marketing, what competitive advantages they have (if any), the level of continuous innovation and any differences in quality between players.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3f6e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Threat of Substitution</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="8ad0"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Customers might be able to choose to substitute a product or service with another. Not to a competitor’s product from the same market — but instead, switching product categories altogether. For example, a person might stop purchasing fast food and instead purchase pre-made frozen healthy meals. The more substitute items there are, the more likely customers are to be drawn to an alternative product.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8ad0"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Supplier Power</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="ad75"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Firms must research and consider different alternatives for supply in the market. Raw materials for example can vary a great deal in terms of price, quality and whether. Have the right supplier is critical. How much power does that supplier have? How many competitors do they have? Will their price be consistent or are they likely to increase it? The fewer suppliers there are, the more power they have. The cost of switching suppliers and the ease of distribution is also a consideration.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ad75"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="616c"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Ansoff Matrix</span></h1><p class="graf graf--p" name="90a4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A popular framework for decision-making about growth and expansion strategies is the Ansoff Matrix. Developed by H. Igor Ansoff, it was first published in the Harvard Business Review in 1957.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6df3"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">His perspective was that firm must continuously grow and change to create a competitive advantage.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--pullquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="3294"><em class="markup--em markup--pullquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Growth is essential to run a business for profit and, to study the growth, Ansoff Matrix is a planning technique used for deliberate judgment about firm growth through product and market extension networks.” (Hussain, Khattak, Rizwan, & Latif, 2013)</span></em></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p" name="b5b5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">By analysing their market through the four components of the matrix: <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">market penetration, market development, product development </strong>and<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"> diversification</strong>; firms identify strategic alternatives to accomplish their growth objectives.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b5b5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2379"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Ansoff Matrix (1957)</span></strong></p><figure class="graf graf--figure" name="3faf"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: helvetica; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Ansoff matrix" class="graf-image" data-image-id="1*nPy8-BFhAlhum73_L2Z-xg.png" height="628" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*nPy8-BFhAlhum73_L2Z-xg.png" title="The Ansoff matrix" width="640" /></span></figure><p class="graf graf--p" name="9180"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Also referred to as the Product/Market Expansion Grid, the Ansoff Matrix also helps businesses to better understand the risks of different growth strategies.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7076"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Of the four strategies, market penetration hosts less risk and diversification the most risk.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7076"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Market Penetration</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="4d10"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Increasing the sales of existing products to an existing market is a market penetration strategy. Firms aim to increase their market share, which can be achieved in the following ways:</span></p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="3a41"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Prices are decreased to attract new customers</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="779a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Promotion and distribution increased</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="2e0f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A competitor in the same marketplace is acquired</span></li></ul><p class="graf graf--p" name="b505"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Often brands new to a marketplace engage a market penetration strategy through offering lower introductory prices.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b505"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Product Development</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="6ebc"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The focus of the next strategy is on developing and introducing new products to existing markets. This involves extensive research and development by a firm to expand on its product range. The strategy is usually used if a firm has a strong understanding of their current market, giving them the ability to meet the needs of the existing market by providing innovative solutions.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ab9c"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Characteristics of product development include:</span></strong></p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="f21a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Investing in R&D to develop new products to cater to the existing market</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="5091"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Acquiring a competitor’s product and merging resources to create a new product that better meets the need of the existing market</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="3218"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Forming strategic partnerships with other firms to gain access to each partner’s distribution channels or brand</span></li></ul><p class="graf graf--p" name="cdff"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">An example of this BMW and other premium automobile manufacturers adding an electric sports car model to their fleet of vehicles, to compete in the electric sports car market with Tesla and increasing consumer demand for electric vehicles.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="cdff"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Market Development</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="00ec"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Entering a new market with existing products is called a market development strategy. This could be by expanding into new geographic areas, either domestically or internationally, or focusing on new customer segments (groups of buyers with similar needs).</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="dbbf"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If a company holds a competitive advantage with a certain technology, for example, it can be easily transferred into another marketplace where similar <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/159883/consumer-behavior-understanding-why-what-when-and-how-people-buy" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">consumer behaviour characteristics</a> with their own market, should mean it is a profitable strategy.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="981c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">For example, often companies in New Zealand will expand into neighbouring Australia if they are highly successful. Australia and New Zealand share similar consumer behaviour across many segments, meaning the product or service can remain virtually unchanged.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="981c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Diversification</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="720a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Using the introduction of new products as a strategy to enter a new market is called diversification. This is the riskiest strategy in the Ansoff Matrix, as both market and product development are required. But it also offers the most potential for profitability, by accessing consumer spending in a market they previously had no access to.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f3df"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There are two types of diversification: <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">related diversification </strong>and<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"> unrelated diversification.</strong></span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9b69"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Related diversification means there is an overlap between a business and the new product or market. For example, a company that produces plastic lunchboxes might start producing plastic bumpers for automobiles.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ffe2"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Unrelated diversification is where there is no overlap between the core business and the new product or market. For example, if that same company producing plastic lunchboxes was to start manufacturing steel framing for construction.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ffe2"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="bfa6"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="21d5"><strong class="markup--strong markup--h3-strong"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></strong></h3><h2 style="text-align: left;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--h3-strong"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Summary</span></strong></h2><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">That is the conclusion of the five theories & models that all marketers and business owners should understand.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c43a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">That was a fair bit of information, I hope you can digest it all and learnt something that will benefit you and/or your business.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d64d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Marketers and business owners, in general, should always be looking for opportunities to increase their understanding of how customers think and how business works.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d0cd"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I hope you enjoyed the article and learnt something new. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d0cd"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d0cd"><b><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This content was originally posted on the <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BYB Marketing Blog</a>: <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/164457/5-theories-or-models-that-every-serious-marketer-should-know">https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/164457/5-theories-or-models-that-every-serious-marketer-should-know</a></span></i></b></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d0cd"><br /></p></div></div></section><div class="blogger-post-footer">BYB Marketing - https://brandyourselfbetter.com/</div>Daniel Hopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16097570896266702933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7106426518795808874.post-85592975310421475502020-11-10T12:45:00.002-08:002020-11-17T11:43:56.741-08:00Consumer Behaviour: Understanding the Psychology Behind Consumption<section class="section section--body" name="d605"><div class="section-divider"></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIxXAxKyN2FBVdgmeLl2r4N7HIQ5RhEGROdXmJs5vlnCSMhT2PhKBIZ_f31EbJAUj5EZHO4cN3YzM5R7Y-6mGMK4FL8m9-a7jYfQtvOcmfcwPtDu5jGlxKybIYtqYBWVoCll6giENQvB8/s2048/credit-card-and-shopping-bags-in-hand-shopping-gir-KE39TNM+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Consumer behavior - shopping bags" border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIxXAxKyN2FBVdgmeLl2r4N7HIQ5RhEGROdXmJs5vlnCSMhT2PhKBIZ_f31EbJAUj5EZHO4cN3YzM5R7Y-6mGMK4FL8m9-a7jYfQtvOcmfcwPtDu5jGlxKybIYtqYBWVoCll6giENQvB8/w640-h360/credit-card-and-shopping-bags-in-hand-shopping-gir-KE39TNM+%25282%2529.jpg" title="Consumer behavior - shopping bags" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p class="graf graf--p" name="63f2">Each business should have a pretty good understanding of our target consumers, how they think, and the reasons for how they behave.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="87ec">If not, it is very difficult to give them exactly they want.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1a46">The study of consumer behaviour improves decision-making a some of the guesswork is removed.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e058">This article explores the foundations of understanding consumer behaviour so the business can make better choices with their marketing and attract more of their target customers.</p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="4fce"><div class="section-divider"><br /><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p class="graf graf--p" name="99de"><br /></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="99de">Consumer behaviour is the study of consumption. It aims to have a better understanding of consumer actions and processes used in their purchase decisions, as well as the usage of products and services and how they are disposed of.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5e14">Exploring how the consumer’s emotions, attitudes and preferences affect buying behaviour, consumer behaviour draws upon ideas from several fields including psychology, sociology, anthropology, biology, marketing and economics.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5e14"><br /></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="0b8d"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“[Consumer behaviour is] all activities associated with the purchase, use and disposal of goods and services, including the consumer’s emotional, mental and behavioural responses that precede or follow these activities.” (Kardes, Cronley, & Cline, 2010)</em></blockquote><p> </p><p class="graf graf--p" name="460b">A consumer could be an individual, groups or organisations. The study of their consumption investigating characteristics such as demographics, personality, lifestyle, and behavioural variables such as usage rates or occasion. Businesses aim to understand the process and underlying motives when satisfying their needs and wants.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="40be">Through a better understanding of what causes the consumers to buy certain goods and services, marketers can better determine the needs in the marketplace and accordingly alter marketing to suit. Consumer behaviour is the who, where, when and how of consumption.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="eac9">The consumer is not necessarily the purchaser. From the information provider to the decision-maker, the user, the payer or the disposer; consumers play numerous roles. Roles also vary depending on the circumstances — for example, within a family, the Mother could be the purchaser, the children consume the items and the mother also disposes of them.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4bef">An early model of understanding consumer behaviour was introduced by Belk (1975), based on a stimulus, organism and response. The stimulus an object and a situation, a person (consumer) is the organism and the response to their behaviour (consumption).</p><figure class="graf graf--figure" name="ddcb"><img alt="consumer behavior model" class="graf-image" data-height="274" data-image-id="0*9cUt28Fl8j_w7iI-" data-width="768" height="229" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/0*9cUt28Fl8j_w7iI-" title="consumer behavior model" width="640" /></figure><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="d248">Factors that influence consumer behaviour</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="8259">Consumer behaviour is not static. It changes over a period and depending on the nature of products. Societal trends change, but also does an individual over their lifetime. Equally, all consumers do not behave in the same manner. Some people spend outside their means, others are quite frugal even if they do not need to be.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="df21">For many individuals, knowledge of consumer behaviour enhances their ability to consume more wisely. Given the time and energy we devote to consuming, we should aim to be better at it and have at least a basic understanding of how marketers try and influence our behaviour.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="df21"><br /></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="e534"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“Most of us spend more time buying and consuming than we do working or sleeping. We consume products such as cars and fuel, services such as haircuts and home repairs, and entertainment such as television and concerts.” (Hawkins & Mothersbaugh, 2010)</em></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p" name="0282"><br /></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0282">Some of the factors influencing consumer behaviour are:</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="cd1b"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Marketing factors</strong> such as product design, pricing, promotion, packaging, positioning and distribution</li><li><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Personal factors</strong> such as age, gender, education, and upbringing</li><li><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Psychological factors</strong> such as buying motives, perceptions and attitudes.</li><li><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Situational factors</strong> such as physical surroundings, social surroundings and time factor</li><li><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Social factors</strong> such as social status, reference groups, social media and family</li><li><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Cultural factors</strong> such as religion and ethnicity</li><li><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Lifestyle factors</strong> such as status, income and identity</li><li><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Geographical factors</strong> such as region, country and urban or rural.</li></ul><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwR7X-xfp3W1brO6rEwg0j9kwLSJVaqkl-os9NCEwS31f0XLI2BQkZhcnOkrWQnPkVKt6cVYnJKM1KOcXDdcpurdIi6jfhnLL89zSMANU-QZ-oCE_ZpW3ZbZT9NqKUFMWlKFFUGn0dAq8/s2048/indian-community-togetherness-technology-concept-PCZ498K+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Indian student consumers" border="0" data-original-height="1310" data-original-width="2048" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwR7X-xfp3W1brO6rEwg0j9kwLSJVaqkl-os9NCEwS31f0XLI2BQkZhcnOkrWQnPkVKt6cVYnJKM1KOcXDdcpurdIi6jfhnLL89zSMANU-QZ-oCE_ZpW3ZbZT9NqKUFMWlKFFUGn0dAq8/w640-h410/indian-community-togetherness-technology-concept-PCZ498K+%25282%2529.jpg" title="Indian student consumers" width="640" /></a></div><p class="graf graf--p" name="02dd">In a household, the whole family have influence and may become involved at various stages of the decision process, performing distinct roles.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0d56">For example, the mother is often the decision-maker, Dad the purchaser, but the children important influencers.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0efa"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">The Initiator</strong> -the person who proposes a brand (or product) for consideration (something in return)</li><li><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">The Influencer</strong> -someone who recommends a given brand</li><li><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">The Decider</strong> — the person who makes the ultimate purchase decision;</li><li><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">The Purchaser</strong> — the one who orders or physically buys it;</li><li><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">The User</strong> — the person who uses or consumes the product.</li></ul><p></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1113">Some purchase decisions involve long, detailed processes that include extensive information search to select between competing alternatives. Other purchase decisions, such as impulse buys or habitual purchases, are made instantaneously with little or no investment of time or effort in information search.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ea4d">All of this illustrates the many complexities of understanding consumer behaviour.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ea4d"><br /></p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="3e67">Why consumer behaviour is important to marketers</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="6233">One of their biggest challenges for businesses is to stay relevant to their target market. We must ask questions of our customers such as:</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a1de">Why do people buy and use certain products?</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1dc8">What do they buy, when do they buy it and how often?</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e65c">What are their likes, dislikes and expectations?</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="493a">Why do they decide to buy one product and not another?</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a26e">Do consumers behave differently individually and in groups?</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2e0e">Consumer behaviour gives us a better understanding of what motivates consumers to make purchases, and the benefits most valued by them. Knowing what consumers value most will improve the decision-making of businesses when creating more effective marketing campaigns. Ideally to sell more! Marketing needs to be strategic to be at its most effective.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2e0e"><br /></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="e8f4"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“Marketers spend billions of dollars attempting to influence what, when, and how you and I consume. Marketers not only spend billions attempting to influence our behaviour but also spend hundreds of millions of dollars studying our behaviour.” (Hawkins & Mothersbaugh, 2010)</em></blockquote><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--empty" name="b5a7"><br /></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p" name="bc82">For example, Procter & Gamble adding the word “repeat” to the instructions of their shampoo in the 1980s is a part of marketing folk law — not because it was required, but because it sold more shampoo.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0e7b">Not only is consumer behaviour relevant to <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/111057/how-to-choose-the-right-marketing-strategy-for-your-business" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">marketing strategy</a>, but it is also important to research and development, management, sales and advertising.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="378a">Remember, marketing is not just advertising. It starts with <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/90754/using-research-to-better-understand-your-target-market" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">marketing research</a> — which helps us understand consumer behaviour in our market better, which then influences the product or service itself. We want to make it fit the needs of our target market as closely as possible, as it becomes easier to sell.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="38e2">However, it is not an exact science. Consumer behaviour is difficult to predict. Applying the principals learnt from consumer behaviour knowledge requires human judgment, therefore is not an objective fixed set of rules.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="cbec">Marketers must have a good understanding of consumer behaviour. The best way to do this is by using market research to study a range of factors that influence their target customers. Customer relationship management (CRM) statistics are an asset for the analysis of customer behaviour.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d6c1">Consumption is the ultimate goal for marketers, referred to as a behavioural response. But marketing also aims to elicit an emotional (affective) responses, as well as a mental (or cognitive) responses, influencing a consumer’s thought processes. These are often antecedents for consumption.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d6c1"><br /></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="7b2b"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“Consumer behaviour is of most importance to marketers in business studies as the main aim is to create and retain customers” (Kumar, 2004).</em></blockquote><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--empty" name="4ba2"><br /></blockquote><h2 style="text-align: left;">The benefit of understanding consumer behaviour</h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="3945">Understanding consumer behaviour habits of the target market enables marketers to take appropriate marketing decisions concerning the following factors:</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b8fc"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Product design</strong> — If a company fails to understand the reaction of a consumer towards a product, there are high chances of product failure.</li><li><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Pricing</strong> — what price is the target market most likely to purchase at? Is this profitable?</li><li><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Promotion</strong> — where is the best place to reach the target market? Facebook? They might spend a lot of time reading car magazines. That would be a good place to put an ad.</li><li><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/103125/targeting-how-to-make-marketing-more-efficient-and-effective" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Targeting</a> </strong>— a group of consumers with the same or similar behaviour. Each group of consumers are different, their needs and wants different from other groups. Consumer differentiation will help to tailor your strategies to the needs of varying customer groups.</li><li><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Packaging </strong>— what type and style of packaging will be most attractive to customers? Does it matter?</li><li><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/98450/positioning-5-strategies-to-stand-out-from-your-competitors" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Positioning</a> </strong>— communicating a brand’s point of difference compared to its competitors, to the target market.</li><li><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Branding</strong> — monitoring other brands in the customer’s consideration set to optimise planning.</li><li><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Place of distribution</strong> — what location or type of store to sell a product or service?</li><li><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Customer retention</strong> — retaining customers is cheaper than attracting new ones, so understanding what customers want is key to <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/75494/the-profitability-of-customer-loyalty" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">maintaining their loyalty</a>.</li><li><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Predicting changing trends and behaviours</strong> — consumer behaviour changes, especially with fast-evolving technology. A consumer behaviour analysis will indicate a shifting trend so marketing efforts can be aligned accordingly.</li><li><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Innovating new products and staying relevant</strong> — many new products and services end up in failure. It can range from 33% to 90% based on the industry. Understanding customers helps businesses to design offerings that will be consumed.</li></ul><p></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="96a9"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Buyer decision process</h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="2d31">The buyer decision process (or customer buying process) helps marketers to better understand consumer decision-making and how the journey from knowing about a product to making the purchase decision is completed.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6d6b">The process consists of 5 distinct stages: problem or need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase, and post-purchase behaviour/evaluation.</p><figure class="graf graf--figure" name="d947"><img alt="Buyer decision process" class="graf-image" data-height="720" data-image-id="0*H-tto63ciL-51CSX" data-width="1280" height="360" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/0*H-tto63ciL-51CSX" title="Buyer decision process" width="640" /></figure><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="78f0" style="text-align: left;">Problem recognition</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="3e23">The buyer decision process begins with the problem recognition stage, occurring when the consumer identifies a need or want. The strength of the need drives the decision process and the consumer decides they need a product or service to satisfy this desire. Triggers of problem recognition include:</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ff54">• <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Out-of-Stock/Natural Depletion</strong> — e.g. when you run out of toilet paper</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="67c2">• <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Regular purchase</strong> — e.g. purchasing a bottle of wine each week with the groceries</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6c9f">• <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Dissatisfaction </strong>— e.g. not happy with their current internet service provider and change to a new one.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6313">• <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">New needs/wants</strong> — as a family gets bigger, they purchase a bigger vehicle</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3595">• <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Related product</strong> — purchasing on product triggers need for accessories, spare parts or complementary products such as purchasing the latest X-Box gaming console and upgrading the TV, buying games to go with it, and extra controllers.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="74bd">• <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Marketing induced</strong> — advertising triggers the recognition of a problem or needs that consumers did not realise they had. E.g., my internet IS slow. Yes, I do need faster internet!</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="74bd"><br /></p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="f313">Information search</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="85a3">The information search phase aims to identify a list of options representing realistic buying options. Consumers search their internal memory and use external sources for information about options that will potentially satisfy their need. In an internal search, the consumer scans their memory for suitable brands.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fe46">The evoked set are preferred brands, typically to around 3- 5 alternatives.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2327">Businesses use marketing to increase brand awareness and the likelihood that their brand becomes a part of their target market’s evoked set. An understanding of their target market’s behaviours means they are can be more objective with putting marketing in places where they are more likely to see it and hopefully remember it.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c703">External sources of search include the internet such as social media or product comparison websites, shopping around and talking to friends/family.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="35ca">Information search and the next phase of evaluation can occur throughout the entire decision process.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="35ca"><br /></p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="0220" style="text-align: left;">Evaluation of alternatives</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="f6ff">Consumers engage in a series of rational evaluations of the alternative options available to them. During this evaluation phase, consumers consider a small number of options that could be viable choices.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4dc9">Being aware a brand exists does not necessarily mean it will be considered as a potential purchase. Realistic purchase options are known as the consideration set, each consumer will have distinctive characteristics they are looking for, searching for the best value and the best fit for their needs.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="db09">Different evaluation criteria are used depending on each unique buying situation, consumers assessing and then ranking the relative merits of different options available. Consumers with low knowledge about a product category tend to evaluate a brand based on functional characteristics.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e7e5">Towards the end of the evaluation stage, consumers form a purchase intention.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e7e5"><br /></p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="dc53" style="text-align: left;">Purchase decision</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="3a75">Once the alternatives have been evaluated, the decision is made by the consumer and they proceed through to the actual purchase. To increase the chances of customers purchasing with them, businesses use techniques to improve conversion rates, such as a strong call-to-action in advertising. “Buy now while stocks last!”. This encourages an immediate sale.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5f5f">Some customers might know all along who they want to purchase with. Others might spend an extended period researching information about the different options available before they make their decision.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5f5f"><br /></p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="dc94">Post-purchase evaluation</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="1aaf">This process is not complete until after the consumption of the product or service and the consumer engages in a post-purchase evaluation. Consumers compare their experience with the product or service and the perceived value with their expectations that were formed during information search and evaluation. This is called expectancy disconfirmation and is a strong driver of satisfaction.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="94b0">Factors evaluated include price, functionality, and quality.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7da2">A consumer’s next purchase decision for that good or service is influenced by this evaluation. If consumers feel some uncertainty or regret towards their choice, they are unlikely to choose that brand again.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7da2"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Consumer motivations</h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="9d1e">An underlying motivation drives a consumer to act and purchase. These motivations fit under the problem recognition phase discussed above.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="21c5">This motivation can be either positive or negative. A positive motivation could be a pleasure — having dinner a nice restaurant or a night on the town.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fe4b">A negative motivation could be the avoidance of unpleasantness such as purchasing toothpaste to minimise tooth decay, getting toothaches and having to visit a dentist.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b0b2">Abraham Maslow’s well-known Hierarchy of needs model is one way to help understand the motivation.</p><figure class="graf graf--figure" name="b21f"><img alt="Maslow's hiararchy of needs" class="graf-image" data-height="429" data-image-id="0*JSnS1eSqUHZKKIwo" data-width="776" height="354" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/0*JSnS1eSqUHZKKIwo" title="Maslow's hiararchy of needs" width="640" /></figure><p class="graf graf--p" name="0b9c">Although not a marketing model, it is commonly applied across the social sciences. This model can help marketers to understand the unique needs and levels of motivations of customers.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="adeb">It contains five levels of needs, organised accordingly to the level of importance. Lower order needs are most important, consumers typically using most of their time, energy and finances attempting to satisfy these.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5572">Only then can they move onto the higher-order needs and they become meaningful.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2457"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Physiological </strong>is a human’s basic levels of needs such as food, water and sleep. We need these to survive.</li><li><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Safety</strong> is the need for physical safety, shelter and security. Purchasing a house or paying rent.</li><li><b>B</b><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">elonging </strong>the need for love, friendship and a desire for group acceptance. A man buys his new wife an expensive ring when they get married.</li><li><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Esteem </strong>is the need for status, recognition and self-respect. Purchasing the latest BMW car or a designer handbag and shoes.</li><li><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Self-actualisation </strong>is the desire for self-fulfilment such as personal growth or artistic expression. You might over to the other side of the world to see a motivational speaker such as Tony Robbins at a conference.</li></ul><div><br /></div><p></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p class="graf graf--p" name="6358"><br /></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6358">Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed the content on consumer behaviour and learnt something new.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6358">As you can see, there is a lot of psychology behind the reasons why people buy. The better a business understands this process, the best they can serve the customers in their market. This article has explored some of the important components and theory of consumer behaviour - but it is a huge topic, so this just scratches the surface. </p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6358">Learning more about the psychology of consumption should be ongoing for any serious marketer.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3b89">This article was first posted on the BYB Marketing Blog - <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/159883/consumer-behavior-understanding-why-what-when-and-how-people-buy">https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/159883/consumer-behavior-understanding-why-what-when-and-how-people-buy</a></p></div></div></section><div class="blogger-post-footer">BYB Marketing - https://brandyourselfbetter.com/</div>Daniel Hopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16097570896266702933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7106426518795808874.post-83053626716802715822020-11-03T01:19:00.005-08:002020-11-03T12:41:06.213-08:00How to Optimize Google My Business to Improve Your Local Search Ranking<section class="section section--body" name="9b5a"><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><figure class="graf graf--figure" name="034a" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img alt="Google maps - optimise your google my business profile" class="graf-image" data-height="4000" data-image-id="1*Neu8_Icau6GpujBEMgy32A.jpeg" data-width="6016" height="426" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*Neu8_Icau6GpujBEMgy32A.jpeg" title="Google maps - optimise your google my business profile" width="640" /></span></figure><p class="graf graf--p" name="0868"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">With over 90% of the search engine market, it is important for businesses that they are easily found through Google searches.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0180"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Google has made it easier for businesses to rank on their search engine by introducing Google My Business. </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Optimising your Google My Business profile will improve your rankings through Google search and maps</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="421c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This article explores how businesses can optimise their Google My Business profiles to outrank their competitors and be the first business customers find on Google maps or search.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="954c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Google owns 92.18% of the search engine market share.” (Mohsin, 2020).</span></blockquote><p> </p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="a661"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="f24e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What is Google My Business?</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="5282"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">65 per cent of all Google searches contain a local reference, which means it is especially important businesses can optimise their local search engine optimisation (SEO).</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e0e9"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Google My Business a free tool that helps business owners to better manage their online presence by providing information about their business that is shown in Google search results. This includes information such as their location, contact information, photos, customer reviews and products/services they provide.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="56c1"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">For a business to create a Google My Business account, they first need a Google account.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="315e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Providing as much information as possible to help their Google ranking for relevant search queries. The more Google knows, the easier it is for them to show it to the right people. A businesses’ online identity is therefore significantly improved as part of a location-based marketing strategy. Once a Google My Business listing is created, this generates a Google Maps location which synchronises with Google Search to enhance searchability.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="eed8"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Google offers several discrete approaches for local SEO strategy such as listing a business through Google My Business.” (Keegan & Taylor, 2019)</span></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p" name="2ff5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Google My Business complements a businesses’ website by giving them an extra marketing presence through a Google listing, which can drive more traffic to the website or convert people into customers without them even needing to visit the website. It provides a snapshot of your business.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2ff5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="8585"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The benefits of Google My Business</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="08e2"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Google My Business profiles enable potential customers to find, learn about, and engage with businesses. Users can list all their business attributes to highlight what they do and their unique and desirable benefits, including information useful to consumers such as whether there is Wi-Fi or disability access.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9584"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The key benefit of creating a Google My Business profile is to capture more customers who search for a service like they offer on Google search or maps. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6717"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Similarly, to social media or a website, it is another <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/67806/the-marketing-and-sales-funnel-explained-marketing-strategy-for-businesses" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/67806/the-marketing-and-sales-funnel-explained-marketing-strategy-for-businesses" rel="noopener" target="_blank">marketing and lead generation tool.</a></span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="4a44"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Google Maps empowers business owners to create and maintain listings that appear in Google Maps and Search. First, a business owner uses the Google My Business website to register a new listing.” (Huang, Grundman, Thomas, Kumar, Bursztein, Levchenko, & Snoeren, 2017)</span></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p" name="08a5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A businesses’ local search ranking is enhanced through posting regular content and having relevant and useful information to the My Business account. Google’s algorithm considers activity and quality of information as well as proximity and relevance to the search query. A higher ranking in search results means higher visibility and more likelihood of customers finding them.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c1e0"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">More customers are also converted, as all the pieces of information useful to potential customers is provided. Theoretically! But only if their Google My Business profile is optimised. This can lead to customers calling, direct messaging, visiting the website, asking questions, requesting a quote or booking an appointment/reservation — all through the My Business profile!</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="d31e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“The strategy represents the ultimate in genuine pay for performance marketing and, as a result, represents one of the most promising long-term marketing strategies for e-commerce.” (Duffy, 2005).</span></blockquote><p> </p><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Google My Business Strategy</span></h1><p class="graf graf--p" name="f862"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The first step is having a Google My Business profile. But the challenging work is not all done! The profile must be optimised and there must be a strategy, just like with any other <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/45161/the-evolution-of-the-marketing-mix" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/45161/the-evolution-of-the-marketing-mix" rel="noopener" target="_blank">marketing</a> tool.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="72a1"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There is actually one step before the first step (I know, makes no sense) — do a Google search to make sure a listing does not already exist. If one does, from a previous owner or third-party data source, Google Maps allows the new operator to claim ownership.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c063"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Next, verify the My Business listing. Find out how to do that <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://support.google.com/business/answer/7107242?hl=en" href="https://support.google.com/business/answer/7107242?hl=en" rel="noopener" target="_blank">here</a>. This is critical for the listing’s visibility and performance — Google will not display the business or its edits until ownership is verified.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c063"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Completed profile</span></h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="9957"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Having as much useful information about your business as possible through having a completed profile will help boost the ranking of your business page in local search results and increase the chance of potential customers engaging and acting.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c94c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The sections of a Google My Business profile to complete are:</span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Name, location and phone number</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="7141"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The business name should be identical to what is used on store signage and other marketing. Make sense, right? The location obviously needs to match your physical location and any other listings of the business online.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d890"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Since many businesses operate as service-area businesses and do not have a physical brick-and-mortar location, the location of the business can be switched off if it is a home office for example that does not take appointments. Adding a service area means the business will still show up in relevant local searches.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1491"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">With such a high number of people making search queries on Google Maps via mobile phones, it is important to list the business phone number so customers can contact the business to make bookings or ask questions. Make sure there is someone who answers that phone number promptly and returns calls if they are missed.</span></p><figure class="graf graf--figure" name="18cd"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img alt="Optimise your Google my business" class="graf-image" data-height="768" data-image-id="1*_IBKv1AwTluZnSpblEMeUg.png" data-width="1366" height="359" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*_IBKv1AwTluZnSpblEMeUg.png" title="Optimise your Google my business" width="640" /></span></figure><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Website</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="4b4f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Make sure the website (if there is one, which there should be) is included. One of the key benefits of a My Business profile is the ability to send more traffic to the website to convert more customers. It is not often people are going to decide to purchase from a My Business profile unless they are looking for something on the go such as a café or gas station nearby.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4b4f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Hours</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="cbf7"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Add the hours that the business is physically open or taking appointments and update them if they change. Such as with Covid-19, if the business is forced to close, a My Business profile should reflect this. The profile can also be customised for holidays and other special events. If customers know you are open, it will encourage them to visit your physical store.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="cbf7"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Category and Attributes</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="72e9"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Choosing the right category for your business to help the most appropriate customers find you is key. Over 80% of My Business views are through discovery searches for a product/service category rather than searching for a business name.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c735"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">After choosing a primary category for your business, you can choose secondary categories. Make sure they are relevant, so the right people are finding your business who need a product or service you offer.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c0c8"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When you choose your categories, Google will give you a list of attributes you can check off to further describe your business.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6448"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Many attribute options are available, you can view them <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://www.websites360.com/blog/google-my-business-attributes" href="https://www.websites360.com/blog/google-my-business-attributes" rel="noopener" target="_blank">here</a>. Note that currently, this option has been deactivated due to Covid-19 and there are only a small number of available options.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6448"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Add products and services</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="69bf"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">By adding all your products and services to your profile, this will tell potential customers exactly what you do and what your specialities are. It also adds relevant keyword terms to your profile to improve your ranking on Google searches. Include the product or service name, description, and price if applicable. Link these products/services to be purchased at the website’s store if you have one.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="69bf"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">From the business description</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="c361"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The description of your business is included in the ‘From the business’ section. Try and use all the available 750 characters, with key information in the first 250 characters. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d9be"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Use <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/53808/ten-ways-your-business-can-create-marketing-content-to-reach-more-customers" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/53808/ten-ways-your-business-can-create-marketing-content-to-reach-more-customers" rel="noopener" target="_blank">content you have already created</a> for your social media accounts or from the About Us page on your website (assuming you have one).</span></p><figure class="graf graf--figure" name="5f9b"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img alt="Optimise your Google my business" class="graf-image" data-height="628" data-image-id="1*vy1m9FrSplDztl7y7podMg.png" data-width="1301" height="309" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*vy1m9FrSplDztl7y7podMg.png" title="Optimise your Google my business" width="640" /></span></figure><p class="graf graf--p" name="c0f0"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You can use this to talk about how you provide value to customers, what makes you unique and how you are different from competitors. This is called positioning.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f480"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Just like traditional website SEO, <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/72931/how-keywords-bring-you-customers" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/72931/how-keywords-bring-you-customers" rel="noopener" target="_blank">using keywords</a> in the business description will increase the chances of customers finding your profile.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f480"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Posting regularly with updates and photos</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="f2ec"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A My Business profile can be used to post about a variety of things such as business announcements, offers, and events. Posting content on your My Business page is like blogging on your website for SEO or posting on social media. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="eccc"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The aim is to provide as much quality and detailed information about your business as possible, to try and connect with searchers.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="42fa"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Posting regularly will increase your Google ranking, and increase the number of actions taken by consumers who find your profile. Some posts will be viewable on Google search or Maps if relevant keywords are triggered, making it valuable marketing direct to customers.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f949"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Posts expire every seven days, so it is important to be consistent to keep your presence fresh on Google. Posts can be made on-the-go via the app from a phone or tablet, or via a computer.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d4b4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Include links and other calls to action, such as getting visitors to visit your website, follow you on social media or sign up to mailing lists for example.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="dd12"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Because of the little situation going on around the world currently forcing many businesses to close their doors, there is now a specific option to add COVID-19 updates.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="b15c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Adding links to Google Business profile, as well as relevant photos and images encourage Internet users to take targeted actions on the retailer’s website. Targeted actions of Internet users, including the number of routes and the quantity of calls are directly depend on the number of photos uploaded by retailers.” (Murphy, 2019).</span></blockquote><p> </p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Photos</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="e740"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Adding photos regularly will help a My Business page to perform better by positively impacts your ranking.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c869"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">According to Google, businesses with photos on their My Business profile receive 42% more requests for driving directions via Google Maps and 35% more clicks through to their websites than those without any. One of your images may be used by Google to display in local search results if it matches a keyword term searched for.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="cc1b"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Each week, I’ll add a post with a link to my latest blog and an image such as this one below.</span></p><figure class="graf graf--figure" name="5f69"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img alt="Google my business tips" class="graf-image" data-height="4000" data-image-id="1*VvEVwcRitS9c5WQeatEIiw.jpeg" data-width="3000" height="400" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*VvEVwcRitS9c5WQeatEIiw.jpeg" title="Google my business tips" width="300" /></span></figure><p class="graf graf--p" name="f6bb"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Try to add a new photo once a week. Use photos to summarise the business and what it can do for its customers. Create an identity.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6334"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Encourage customers to leave photos as that will improve your ranking. If you are a restaurant or café, you could offer a free voucher for ‘photo of the week/month’ for example to incentivise people to leave a great photo on your profile. The photos I have added to My Business profiles via Google maps has now surpassed over 1 million views which prove — people are looking!</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="acf6"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you are a restaurant, add photos of food items on your menu, or satisfied customers. </span></p><figure class="graf graf--figure" name="300f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img alt="Food photo" class="graf-image" data-height="3456" data-image-id="1*_pDuyffoztphpecgk0pTSg.jpeg" data-width="5184" height="426" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*_pDuyffoztphpecgk0pTSg.jpeg" title="Food photo" width="640" /></span></figure><p class="graf graf--p" name="2302"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you are a consultant, add some photos of you in your work element. Other examples of photos you could share are interior and exterior views (e.g. parking), or team photos.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6585"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Ensure your photos are of high quality. If your photos are of low quality, that does not leave a great impression with customers. Follow Google’s best practice for images: JPG or PNG formats, sized between 10KB and 5MB, minimum resolution of 720px height and width. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="cc2c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Make sure photos are in focus, well-lit, without editing and excessive use of filters. Professional and keep it as real as possible!</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2f6c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Upload your logo for your profile thumbnail and one that highlights your <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/41549/managing-your-brand-to-attract-more-customers" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/41549/managing-your-brand-to-attract-more-customers" rel="noopener" target="_blank">brand</a> as the cover photo. Edit to fit a 16:9 aspect ratio.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d714"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You can also add video, so include a video of you introducing yourself and how you help people or maybe a video snapshot of you or the team on the job.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="cc7c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Internet users’ reviews/comments in Google affect the retailer’s website position in the local search results.” (Natorina, 2020).</span></blockquote><p> </p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="9d94"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Customer Reviews</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="38d0"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Positive reviews have a positive effect on potential customers who are researching your business. They also increase your businesses’ visibility in search results, so try and encourage customers to make reviews.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="142e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Reviews influence consumer decision-making, so reviews are a key ranking factor in the My Business algorithm. On Google searches, often the first results are those with multiple reviews and a high rating, and search results may also a display a review for a My Business Profile if it uses certain keywords people are searching for.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c8d8"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Encourage customers to leave feedback by <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://support.google.com/business/answer/7035772" href="https://support.google.com/business/answer/7035772" rel="noopener" target="_blank">creating a link</a> they can click to write a review. Around 60% of people will leave a review if requested, so ask! It could be in a follow-up email. Start with your loyal customers.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="aee3"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Reviews help other customers decide about a purchase, so people often do not mind leaving one (like I leave photos of every restaurant I eat at on Google Maps — which has now surpassed).</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a30e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Make sure you monitor and respond to reviews. This feedback will encourage additional customers to leave one as it illustrates that your business values its customers and their feedback.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a30e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="a146"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Questions and answers (Q&A)</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="9e96"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Set up alerts to monitor your Q&A, as anybody can ask, and anyone can answer. Monitoring this ensures you maintain accurate information.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="df37"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Questions and answers that contain keywords can help improve you are My Business profile’s ranking for that keyword. Creating your own Q&A is therefore an important optimisation tool. Make a list of the businesses most frequently asked questions and then ask, answer, and upvote answers on your personal profile.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="df37"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="54a2"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Messaging</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="ac52"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Over 80 percent of people use their phone or tablet for local search, so being able to conveniently message from their device to your My Business profile is a fantastic opportunity.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c7f7"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Businesses can only reply to customers through Google My Business app. Messaging must be enabled via settings on your Google My Business dashboard and once enabled, a button appears on your profile for direct messaging from customers. To make sure you do not miss an opportunity, set up alerts for messages.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5ab2"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Businesses can set up customised automated responses to messages. This will improve your responsiveness which will help keep message response time under 24 hours and make sure you are not penalised from slow response times.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5ab2"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="bdbf"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Other functionality</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="a09d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Google My Business is continuously being updated with more tools for businesses.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d655"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Marketing Kits are now available with a recent update, which you can use to share on other forms of social media to bring traffic to your page. One of these is to encourage reviews. On the topic of reviews, make sure you have some! Try to encourage satisfied customers to write you a glowing review. This will increase your credibility with anyone who finds you.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2977"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Google reserve is another useful function, allowing people to make reservations or book a meeting time with you via integration of a calendar application. This syncs with your calendar with notifications. This is a very convenient feature to show people what time slots are available to book without having to go backwards and forwards.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="038b"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You can now add a short name to your Google My Business account, which makes your business easier to find through a map search, and URL’s are not as messy if you share the link.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="038b"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="6950"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p class="graf graf--p" name="71d2"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="71d2"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Thanks for reading this article, I hope you enjoyed the content and learnt something you can apply to your businesses’ Google My Business to improve your search results.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="46dd"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This content was originally posted on the BYB Marketing Blog - <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/153562/how-to-use-google-my-business-to-attract-more-customers-through-search">https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/153562/how-to-use-google-my-business-to-attract-more-customers-through-search</a></span></p></div></div></section><div class="blogger-post-footer">BYB Marketing - https://brandyourselfbetter.com/</div>Daniel Hopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16097570896266702933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7106426518795808874.post-17607598544202753372020-10-25T15:13:00.002-07:002020-11-17T11:51:05.096-08:00How to Use Affiliate Marketing to Increase Sales or to Create an Income<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><img alt="Affiliate Marketing" class="graf-image" data-height="4000" data-image-id="1*KI0FI2FAasQ3y5jIKetxiQ.jpeg" data-width="6000" height="426" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*KI0FI2FAasQ3y5jIKetxiQ.jpeg" style="font-family: helvetica; text-align: center;" title="Affiliate Marketing" width="640" /></p><section class="section section--body" name="2ba7"><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="0b25"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Affiliate Marketers act like a salesforce for a business. </span></h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="597e" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Marketing can be a costly investment for businesses. Big investments into advertising can be an elevated risk if you do not know the return.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5de2" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Would it not be great if someone else better at marketing took up that risk and funded the marketing?</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a759" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You could pay them a small commission fee for each sale. It may sound too good to be true, but it is not. This is called affiliate marketing.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="227a" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This article explores affiliate marketing, how it works and the benefit it provides to both the seller and the affiliate marketer.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="227a" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="72ad"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /><br /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="56c2"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What is Affiliate Marketing?</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="f941" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Affiliate marketing is an endorsement-based advertising strategy, that earns promoters (affiliate) money when internet users act on that marketing.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d5d6" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Based on a model of revenue sharing, vendors (merchant) offer a financial incentive such as a commission, through an affiliate program. Affiliates earn a piece of the profit for each sale through creating marketing content to try redirect customers through a customer URL to the merchant’s product.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4159" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Affiliates can make money promoting products and services and make an income, without actually having any of their own.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f45e" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">For the merchant, it employs the help of affiliate to invest time and money into marketing your products or services. to expand their reach on the target (online) audience.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6850" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">According to <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://mediakix.com/blog/affiliate-marketing-statistics/#gs.lDcPsUI" href="https://mediakix.com/blog/affiliate-marketing-statistics/#gs.lDcPsUI" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Mediakix</a>, affiliate marketing spending increases every year in the USA, with around a 10 percent yearly increase in affiliate marketing spending.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote" name="e06f"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Affiliate marketing refers to an online relationship between the so-called merchant and the affiliate, where the merchant pays the affiliate a commission to redirect potential consumers to the merchant’s website (Libai et al., 2003).</span></em></blockquote><p> </p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="3430"><div class="section-divider"></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="61b4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">How Affiliate Marketing works</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="8391" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Affiliate marketing involves four different parties:</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="623e" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">• The merchant,</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="769f" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">• The affiliate,</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4b35" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">• The affiliate marketing network, and</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="46b3" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">• The customer.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b598" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">From a marketing point of view, there are two components: the merchant who has produced the product or service for sale and the affiliate marketer who promotes it.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1b2d" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">With a traditional business model, the seller bears the risk that profit exceeds the overall marketing costs. However, an affiliate takes on the promotion efforts and then earns a piece of the profit from each sale they make. This is usually via a predefined commission, and the sales are tracked via personalised affiliate links.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c0b2" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">For the affiliate, they just need to be good at marketing. It works similarly to somebody employed in sales on commission. Such as real estate agents. This incentivises their performance. This is a huge benefit to the merchant having a purely commissioned sales force and predictable marketing costs.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4e03" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In the other hand, affiliates can create a revenue stream without investing in inventory or infrastructure.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="b119"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“The key to successful affiliate marketing lies in the construction of a win-win relationship between the advertiser and the affiliate.” (Duffy, 2005)</span></em></blockquote><figure class="graf graf--figure" name="2294"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXCeyuuAmT1lnTEZcBe2rnkXuTq5gj9QPvNagMknZaOtdcEUmPS8FaVPAFPpK4f2pxOl8o_gO5I9Eedq0mx0sOdEYSY-JywUKC9AKB_BBI5GTpYccBd5oot5X6imyx4Hzq-UBmkkLX07k/s763/affiliate+marketing+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="How Affiliate marketing works" border="0" data-original-height="763" data-original-width="750" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXCeyuuAmT1lnTEZcBe2rnkXuTq5gj9QPvNagMknZaOtdcEUmPS8FaVPAFPpK4f2pxOl8o_gO5I9Eedq0mx0sOdEYSY-JywUKC9AKB_BBI5GTpYccBd5oot5X6imyx4Hzq-UBmkkLX07k/w630-h640/affiliate+marketing+1.png" title="How Affiliate marketing works" width="630" /></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Imagine via </span><a class="markup--anchor markup--figure-anchor" data-href="http://justlearnwp.com/best-wordpress-plugins-for-marketing/" href="http://justlearnwp.com/best-wordpress-plugins-for-marketing/" rel="noopener" style="font-family: helvetica;" target="_blank">JustLearnWP.com</a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></figure><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="fa70"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">1. The merchant</span></h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="5260" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The merchant is also known as the seller, vendor, or retailer. They are the party who created the product to market — it could be a physical object or a service. They could be a sole trader or a large corporation. Once the product is created, they are not required to be actively involved in marketing. They have others do the promotion, in exchange for a commission on sales.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5260"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="2950"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">2. The affiliate</span></h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="8716" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Also known as the content creator or the publisher, the affiliates try to create appealing marketing to attract customers to the merchant’s website. They create content for the products to share on social media, blogs, and websites.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="956c" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Affiliates often already have an audience or following on social media, so they choose products in their niche that meet the needs of their audience. For example, If I had built an audience posting content about fitness and health, I would not become an affiliate marketer for a candy company.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="dd9d"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“There are thousands of affiliates, working for many different advertisers simultaneously, driving incremental traffic and sales in exchange for commission.” (Duffy, 2005)</span></em></blockquote><p> </p><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="a8af"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">3. The network</span></h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="deeb" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Many merchant/affiliate relationships are managed through affiliate marketing networks. There are two key relationships: The first is with the affiliate and the second is with the merchant. The network works as an intermediary between the merchant and the affiliate.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f0d7" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Affiliate marketing networks such as <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://rakutenadvertising.com/content/linkshare/" href="https://rakutenadvertising.com/content/linkshare/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Linkshare</a>, <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://www.cj.com/" href="https://www.cj.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Commission Junction</a>, and <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://www.clickbank.com/" href="https://www.clickbank.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Clickbank</a> facilitate the tracking of sales transactions, payments and product delivery. Their technology tracks all the activities and manages the commissions and the issuance of payments to affiliates.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="77a7" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">These networks also serve as a database of products, out of which the affiliate can choose products or services to promote. The network facilitates the management of applicants, making the process of participation easy for both the merchant and the affiliate.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b48d" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Amazon also has an affiliate network (Amazon Associates Affiliates Program), to help promote consumer products such as books and toys, sold on their platform.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b48d" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="11ce" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">4. The consumer</span></h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="2816" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The consumer (or customer) make this relationship work. If they do not purchase, there is no revenue and the affiliate will not receive a commission. When consumers buy the product, the seller and the affiliate share in the profits.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ce2a" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There will not be a higher price for consumers purchasing through an affiliate, as the cost of the affiliate network is typically included in the price.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ce2a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ce2a"><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p></p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="4ea9"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The benefits of affiliate marketing</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="0c08" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Affiliate marketing is beneficial to both the merchant and the affiliate. The relationship spreads the responsibilities of marketing, leveraging the abilities of a variety of individuals for a more effective <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/111057/how-to-choose-the-right-marketing-strategy-for-your-business" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/111057/how-to-choose-the-right-marketing-strategy-for-your-business" rel="noopener" target="_blank">marketing strategy</a>.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="db5d" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">For the affiliate, it is an inexpensive method of making money with little overheads. It allows digital marketers to make money as free agents for a variety of merchants. The affiliate gets a share of the profit and the merchant benefits from predictable marketing costs as a percentage of sales.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="112a"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“The strategy represents the ultimate in genuine pay for performance marketing and, as a result, represents one of the most promising long-term marketing strategies for e-commerce.” (Duffy, 2005).</span></em></blockquote><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="9e42"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">How do affiliates get paid?</span></h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="95bd" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Affiliates receive a commission payment from the merchant, depending on predefined consumer actions. These include Pay per click — redirect of a consumer, such as a click-out to their online shop for a lead; or they might Pay per sale if a transaction takes place.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ed6f" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The affiliate’s share of the profit is included in the retail price — there is not an extra fee placed on the customer for a sale through affiliates. Customised affiliate URLs created by the affiliate marketing company or network for each affiliate, to track their sales.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="c8b0"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Each time a sale is made using the affiliate URLs, the merchant pays the content creator a cut of the sale through the affiliate marketing company.” (Mathur, Narayanan, & Chetty, 2018).</span></em></blockquote></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="6310"><div class="section-divider"></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="7db7"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></h3><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="7db7"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Merchant Strategy</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="66d8" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Assume you already have a product or service to sell and there is a market for it. Merchants find affiliates, often through an affiliate network, to promote their product or service.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fb59" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The difficult part for the merchant is finding an affiliate who already have an engaged audience, that matches their <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/103125/targeting-how-to-make-marketing-more-efficient-and-effective" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/103125/targeting-how-to-make-marketing-more-efficient-and-effective" rel="noopener" target="_blank">target market</a>.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7e74" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The commission amount positively affects the number of leads. The affiliate will work harder on their marketing. For digital products, because they are easily replicable, commission rates can be 50% or even higher.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="258a"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Affiliates place a variety of different kinds of ads on their websites (banners, text ads, even product links) that motivate consumers (website visitors) to take an action to review and potentially buy a product or service from the advertiser. When it works, the affiliate gets paid a commission.” (Duffy, 2005).</span></em></blockquote><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="aebf"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></h3><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="aebf"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Affiliate strategy</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="076f" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Affiliate marketers find a product or numerous products, they like enough that they think is worthwhile promoting it.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5b91" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Websites such as <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://gumroad.com/" href="https://gumroad.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Gumroad</a> help affiliates to find affiliates to partner with and allow them to collect commissions.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="bda0" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If an affiliate marketer is starting without having a following, they could begin by reviewing products on a YouTube channel or blogging with product reviews and comparisons in their chosen niche. Part of this strategy involves trying to build your contact list by incentivising people to join your mailing list. When an affiliate has an income, using pay per click advertising will help scale up with faster growth.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6820" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Merchants should provide their affiliates with various advertising media to suit different applications and to keep fresh in the marketplace. This will improve the results of the affiliates.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="bd90"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Social media activities showed a significant effect on the number of leads generated by the affiliates. Affiliates predominantly use social media to engage with their target audience. Especially if an affiliate’s business focus is congruent with the merchant’s, affiliates may employ social media messages to draw their audience’s attention to the relevant merchant.” (Olbrich, Schultz, & Bormann, 2019)</span></em></blockquote><p> </p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="30b9"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="619d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></h3><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="619d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Marketing tools</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="02d5" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There are several marketing tools that an affiliate marketer can use. Firstly, marketing should be targeted to try and reach the people most likely to be a customer. If you are selling a B2B service, for example, do not use TikTok. Use the methods most likely to reach them. It could be through social media, blogging, <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/144400/a-guide-to-email-marketing" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/144400/a-guide-to-email-marketing" rel="noopener" target="_blank">email marketing</a> or paid <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/129857/advertising-as-a-marketing-tool-to-reach-customers" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/129857/advertising-as-a-marketing-tool-to-reach-customers" rel="noopener" target="_blank">advertising</a>.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e802" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you have chosen a product in a niche that you already have a large email database for or a large social media following, those are the most logical places to start.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="37ee" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It could be a banner on a blog article on your website you wrote to compare products in that category that sends potential buyers to the merchant’s website. You might develop a whole website dedicated to merchant’s products. Search engine optimisation through having sufficiently interesting content to get an adequate number of natural hits.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="37ee"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="a5e5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Social Media</span></h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="a95b" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Studies indicate (See (Olbrich, Schultz, & Bormann, 2019) that social media activities of affiliates positively affect the number of ad impressions the number of affiliate leads.</span></p><figure class="graf graf--figure" name="5bac" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img alt="social media as a marketing tool" class="graf-image" data-height="606" data-image-id="0*osAwz6nvPvMwhm3Z" data-width="1080" height="358" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/0*osAwz6nvPvMwhm3Z" title="social media as a marketing tool" width="640" /></span></figure><p class="graf graf--p" name="8781" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Through social media, affiliates can regularly engage with existing customers and reach new ones through providing meaningful content. Leave links in your email to view social media content that may be valuable to them and have buttons at the bottom of the email to your accounts.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e69d" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There may be a captive audience on platforms you never even considered, such as Pinterest. So at least have an account on the major social media platforms and repurpose your <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/53808/ten-ways-your-business-can-create-marketing-content-to-reach-more-customers" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/53808/ten-ways-your-business-can-create-marketing-content-to-reach-more-customers" rel="noopener" target="_blank">marketing content</a> you already have, to suit the users on that platform.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7990" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Pinterest content will be different from Instagram content for example.</span></p><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="0c98"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">PPC advertising</span></h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="8b01" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Once an affiliate is making money via organic (non-paid) lead generation, the next step is paid to advertise. This will drive traffic to their sites.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c6f4" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">However, it is important to know and improve your numbers through analysis and optimising ads. The price paid for each click, the conversion rate of those who click through and the average commission need to be considered, which dictates how profitable the advertising is.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="73c6"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“If the value proposition is inadequate for affiliates, it is typically because the advertiser offers a commission percentage that is too low or the conversion rate for customers once they have been directed to the advertiser’s website is too low.” (Duffy, 2005)</span></em></blockquote><p> </p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="fcd1"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p class="graf graf--p" name="772b"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="772b"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Thanks for reading this blog about affiliate marketing.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="17b5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I hope you enjoyed the content and learnt something new. If you sell products and services online but are struggling to get many results from your marketing, affiliate marketing could be an avenue for you to approach. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="17b5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This was originally posted on the BYB Marketing Blog: <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/149397/what-is-affiliate-marketing-and-how-does-it-work">https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/149397/what-is-affiliate-marketing-and-how-does-it-work</a></span></p></div></div></section><div class="blogger-post-footer">BYB Marketing - https://brandyourselfbetter.com/</div>Daniel Hopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16097570896266702933noreply@blogger.com0Hamilton, New Zealand-37.7890804 175.2596865-66.099314236178856 140.1034365 -9.4788465638211576 -149.5840635tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7106426518795808874.post-71475554453848170942020-10-16T19:41:00.002-07:002020-10-16T19:41:47.682-07:00Email Marketing: A Tool to Strengthen Relationships, Improve Brand Awareness and Increase Sales<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <img alt="Email marketing - BYB Marketing blog" class="graf-image" data-height="3037" data-image-id="1*w6OdA6zpxujAdGllRgcZvw.jpeg" data-width="4820" height="403" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*w6OdA6zpxujAdGllRgcZvw.jpeg" title="Email marketing - BYB Marketing blog" width="640" /></span></p><section class="section section--body" name="0b24"><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p class="graf graf--p" name="3a46"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Email Marketing</strong> has become one of the most popular and effective marketing method and relationship management tool used by businesses since it rose quickly into prominence with the internet about 25 years ago. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3a46"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Pretty quickly, most people had a personal email address and were checking their email, making it a powerful tool to communicate with people.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="552f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This article explores the use of email as a marketing tactic.</span></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="8d7e"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="dc02"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What is Email Marketing?</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="66e1"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Short for electronic mail, email is the sending of messages to one or more recipients, distributed by electronic means via the internet. Email marketing is a digital marketing tool that uses email to develop relationships with prospective customers and maintain and strengthen relationships with current customers. The end goal is to influence these people to make a purchase and be ongoing customers.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="f148"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Companies often list email as one of their most powerful marketing channels. To this day, the size of your email list is a demonstration of your reach and thought leadership. However, your email marketing campaigns should be part of a holistic approach to educate your contacts about your company.” (Georgieva, 2012)</span></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p" name="5d22"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The popularity of email marketing has been a part of the ongoing trend away from a product-focused marketing strategy to a customer focus of customisation and relationship management, to satisfy the needs of each customer.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a11a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Email marketing has been growing since the mid-1990s and is a widely used marketing tool by the majority of B2B and B2C companies. In 2015, one study indicates that over 80% of firms use email as part of their marketing strategies (See Zhang, Kumar, & Cosguner, 2017).</span></p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="294a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The benefits of email marketing</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="a397"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Email is a powerful marketing tool, with several benefits for businesses using it to build customer relationships and increase sales. Using their database of email addresses, businesses can design email marketing campaigns, personalised for diverse groups of leads and customers. Some of the benefits of email marketing are:</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b23c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">• <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Brand awareness </strong>— keeps the brand top of mind and people informed about what you offer.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9b1b"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">• <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Speed </strong>— a quick output and quick response for lead generation.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ed6e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">• <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/70179/segmenting-your-target-market" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/70179/segmenting-your-target-market" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Segmentation</strong></a><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"> </strong>— allows you to selectively email members of your database depending on their behaviours.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="bd62"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">• <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Cost-Effective</strong> — Low cost per contact for customer acquisition. A better return on investment many other forms of marketing.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0378"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">• <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Targeted</strong> — you are sending relevant materials to your audience.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8fc8"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">• <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Customer Dialogue</strong> — encourages a two-way dialogue with customers, where communication is one way with many other marketing methods.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4c50"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">• <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Trackable</strong> — Analytics allows you to track the performance of your emails.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f3c5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">• <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Conversion</strong> — turn prospects who are interested in your industry or your products/services into customers.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1326"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">• <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">CRM </strong>— customer relationship management helps maximise the lifetime value of customers by increasing customer retention and repeat purchases.</span></p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="782b"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Objectives of email marketing</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="9bf3"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Email Newsletters are great not only for marketing to prospects but also for nurturing your existing customers. Some of the objectives of using email marketing are:</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8cff"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">• <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Send recipients to other </strong><a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/53808/ten-ways-your-business-can-create-marketing-content-to-reach-more-customers" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/53808/ten-ways-your-business-can-create-marketing-content-to-reach-more-customers" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">marketing content</strong></a> such as landing pages with exclusive offers, blog posts or other valuable content.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d43a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">• <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Communicate</strong> with a community, customers, employees or other stakeholders to generate a reaction or a result.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f135"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">• <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Inform the reader</strong> about a new offer or send them to a blog post.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1b44"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">• Maintain and develop <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">long term relationships</strong> with current customers.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c7cf"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">• Motivate customers to <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">finish a purchase</strong> who have items in their shopping cart that was abandoned.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ce48"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">• <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Increase sales</strong> by converting more leads into customers and selling more to previous customers.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ce48"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="ee67"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Analysing the results of your email marketing</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="123f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">One of the major benefits of email marketing is the ability to monitor subscriber engagement and interest.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2ab3"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It is a process of continual improvement — testing and tweaking your email content and database management. To analyse the performance of your email marketing, there are several key metrics to help measure the performance of each campaign against previous benchmarks.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e3f3"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">For example, analysing the interaction that people have with your website after they click on a link, this can help you pinpoint how to improve the user experience on your website. Two different landing pages could be used to test which one receives better results.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="101b"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">• <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Open rate</strong> is the proportion of people opened the email. But this can be an inaccurate gauge as customers who are active in opening a firm’s emails may not be active in purchasing and vice versa. Some people are more responsive to emails. Some people like to browse. Other people may purchase but never open their emails. Therefore, it is important to track more factors than just your open rate, such as tracking your click-through rates and conversion rates.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7e5d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">• <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Bounce rate</strong> is the total emails sent that could not be delivered to the recipient’s inbox, If one particular campaign has a lower than average delivery rate (high bounce rate), examine the subject line and content of that message to check if there’s something that could have flagged it as spam.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="37f5"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">• <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">The list growth rate</strong> is how fast your email list is growing. This is calculated by subtracting opt-outs and hard bounces from the number of new email subscribers gained per month.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="1d21"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Be clear to your target market about what they will get out of subscribing to your emails. Give them a clear description of what the value proposition is. For example, will your emails offer: (1) tips and tools on how to run their business more efficiently, (2) product updates from your company, or (3) special offers via email? Your audience will want to know “why” they should subscribe before they decide to clutter their inbox with even more emails.” (Georgieva, 2012)</span></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p" name="25e3"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">• <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Unsubscribe rate</strong> is the proportion of people in your database who unsubscribe from receiving your emails. This is not always a reliable picture of the health of your email list, however, as many subscribers no longer want to receive emails will not bother to go through the formal unsubscribe process. They will just stop opening email messages and delete them instead.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f86e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">• <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Click-Through Rate (CTR)</strong> is a foundation of email marketing analytics, as it indicates whether the message was relevant and the offer compelling enough to check out. This measure how many people click on the offer or other link in your email.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a9b7"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">• <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Conversion rate</strong> is the proportion of people who clicked a link and completed the desired action, such as purchasing a product. This is also dependent on factors beyond the original email message, such as the quality of your landing page or the offer itself.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="02ed"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Conversion rate is the ultimate measure of an email campaign’s effectiveness. The higher your conversion rate, the more relevant and compelling the offer was for your audience.” (Georgieva, 2012)</span></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p" name="873e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">• <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Revenue per email </strong>measures the ROI of an email campaign, calculated by dividing the total revenue generated from the campaign by the number of emails sent. This is only relevant if you generate a lot of direct sales from email campaigns.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="873e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="bea1"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Spam</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="8e71"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Because it is so cheap and accessible (anyone with an email address can send a mass-email), email is used as a tool to spread spam emails. Spam is unsolicited digital communication sent out in bulk to random email addresses without consent.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2cb1"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Spam has caused email marketing to leave a bad taste in the mouth for many people. We’ve probably all received an email or two from a Nigerian royal or long-lost family member promising us millions of dollars.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="1f1b"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Low production costs spur greater production, inducing entry to the industry by legitimate and not-so-legitimate marketers, which further increases the volume of email messages sent. As a result, consumers are awash in a sea of ads and information, some useful and some not.” (Pavlov, Melville & Plice, 2007)</span></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p" name="5ac7"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The significant difference between spam and genuine email marketing is having an opt-in policy. If businesses keep rigorous with this, it means they are only emailing people who consented to receive them, and the business will not get any trouble. Most countries around the world now have anti-spam laws, so its best businesses are cautious with who goes into their emailing database.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5ac7"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="1749"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Database management</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="9d98"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A database can be powerful. But only if managed correctly.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0816"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A database should be continuously updated to make sure it stays relevant. If a user has been emailed 20 times and has never opened one of those emails, they probably should not be emailed once a week. You might email them once every 6 months or remove theirs completely. Your metrics will tell you who is no longer engaging.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="afa0"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Database members should be categorised so you can best meet their needs. Group them based on some common characteristics and behaviours.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e948"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Continually work to add new contacts to your email database, as the natural churn rate of an email list can be 25% or even more per year. Make sure you are gaining new relevant people on your database by providing a benefit to them by being on your mailing list (exclusive offers, gifts, industry updates etc).</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="72cb"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Software such as <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://mailchimp.com/" href="https://mailchimp.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Mailchimp</a> or <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://www.constantcontact.com/" href="https://www.constantcontact.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Constant Contact</a> will help you manage your database as well as setting up your email marketing. Some systems will also you to set up your whole sales funnel with landing pages for lead generation, as well as for analytics and reporting to allow you to monitor the performance of your email marketing campaigns.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="72cb"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="343d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Email marketing strategy</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="9a2a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Email marketing is about more than sending your latest offer out to your database once a month. Businesses must think of it like designing marketing communication campaigns — because they are! The objectives of email marketing should be clearly defined, who the target recipients are, the content must be developed to fit the purpose. Make sure it provides value!</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="70c4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The email campaign should be tested on a small sample, tweaked and then sent to the segmented members of the database. The results should then be measured to see what you can do better next time.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a188"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">As well as immediate results, businesses should consider how their strategy will affect their future profitability. If your business sets up lead nurturing, emails are sent out automatically to new leads, according to the schedule you set up. lead nurturing is all about understanding the nuances of your leads’ timing and needs- tightly connected series of emails with a coherent purpose and full of useful content.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="843e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Tying a series of emails to a specific activity such as joining a mailing list, and then sending them an automated series of emails to learn more about their behaviour and potentially influence a purchase. The lead is qualified over a period with automation, saving a business time and energy.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="bede"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Leads should be segmented into groups of buyers as you learn more about them to better meet their needs and provide them value. <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/103125/targeting-how-to-make-marketing-more-efficient-and-effective" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Targeted marketing</a> has a far better return on investment than mass marketing — so do not be tempted to send the same email to all your contacts!</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="71bd"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Email is a vital component of a <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/67806/the-marketing-and-sales-funnel-explained-marketing-strategy-for-businesses" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">marketing and sales funnel</a> — where the objective is to turn as many leads into sales as possible. But email should be part of an integrated marketing approach — email does not work in isolation.</span></p><figure class="graf graf--figure" name="a2ad" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img alt="Marketing and sales funnel - BYB Marketing" class="graf-image" data-height="787" data-image-id="0*Suxf5zBCMQ1rYZzw" data-width="1400" height="359" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/0*Suxf5zBCMQ1rYZzw" title="Marketing and sales funnel - BYB Marketing" width="640" /></span></figure><p class="graf graf--p" name="25b4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Your marketing emails need to be complemented by other efforts, such as search engine optimisation and content marketing on social media. If you blog, send people to your blog via your email and encourage people to sign up to your newsletter at the end of blog posts. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="25b4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Your <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/111057/how-to-choose-the-right-marketing-strategy-for-your-business" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">marketing strategy</a> should outline how your individual marketing efforts complement each other.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="25b4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="0f7d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Email content</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="b0ee"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What goes into an email? Of course, this will vary depending on the firm and its objectives. But there are some general rules when it comes to the content of email marketing.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a013"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The email title must convince the recipient to open the email. This is key. It must be related to the content of the email (stay away from clickbait), but at the same time be compelling enough that the recipient is curious enough to open the email. Because many people check their email via smartphones, long titles will not be displayed in full. Aim for 5 to 9 words.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="ae36"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“In the Subject: line Each word makes a critical difference in whether your message is opened at all. Once its opened, you only have seconds to capture the readers imagination. You have to grab their attention and keep it.” (Sterne, & Priore, 2000)</span></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p" name="446c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Your content must be brief and relevant for the recipient. Grab their attention right away, by containing the most information in the first paragraph. Try and keep it the length to under 100 words.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c053"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Use a personalized greeting at the beginning of the email and a clear call-to-action at the end of the email. Include a couple of hyperlinks to other useful content such as a blog or video on your website, or a custom landing page that contains more information (find out more, or to order).</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="338d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">An option to unsubscribe must be available. Email marketing software with automatically using an unsubscribe option.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e648"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The layout and design of email marketing are important — especially if it is a newsletter. But you do not want to go over the top trying to make it aesthetic, simple can be beautiful. Try to use a maximum of two colours.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0419"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Include one or two images in the email, one of those can be the company logo for brand awareness. Make sure the images have alt text for those not viewing the email in HTML (quite often images are turned off automatically).</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fbb3"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Your contact information as well as social-following buttons for your social media accounts should be at the bottom of the email.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fbb3"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="fc8e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">How many emails should you send?</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="b7ff"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The right number of emails to send is difficult to pinpoint, as it will depend on your customers. If you are emailing qualified leads, it might be once or twice a week. Other customers, once a month or once a quarter might work better. It will depend on the engagement level of your audience.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="df4f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Sending the right number of emails is critical for the firm’s profitability, especially since most customers tend to complain about the large number of emails sent by firms.” (Zhang, Kumar, & Cosguner, 2017)</span></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p" name="8909"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Many companies start to send fewer emails to keep subscribers. However, the frequency of emailing does not necessarily negatively impact subscriber retention. There can be email overload, for sure. But also, ask yourself if you are emailing the right people with the right message.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8909"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8909"><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4bb2"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this week’s content about email marketing and learnt something you can implement in your business.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4bb2"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This article was originally posted on the BYB Marketing Blog: </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4bb2"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/144400/a-guide-to-email-marketing">https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/144400/a-guide-to-email-marketing</a></span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4bb2"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p></div></div></section><div class="blogger-post-footer">BYB Marketing - https://brandyourselfbetter.com/</div>Daniel Hopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16097570896266702933noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7106426518795808874.post-38911584985879550192020-10-12T01:31:00.001-07:002020-10-12T01:31:14.332-07:00Using Public Relations to Influence Your Audience's Perceptions<section class="section section--body" name="215c"><div class="section-divider"></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPjcZgJQ5bg6t-tvwvYCEAXqJAPp_3st8YfCK7l8zgINE5pzAUxXFrFNlKLhlNvYAw8lGlRa9pfv75pRF3KaKPsF271_3mrN-zUNJCvll1rQY2cKIYTyAVk4DvXu8AClfSopTOkzB94Kw/w640-h422/austin-distel-Hg3BHX6U5jg-unsplash.jpg" /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The use of the media to influence the perceptions of vast audiences has long been used by governments and corporations.<br /><br />This is called public relations (PR), where the media is used as a gatekeeper for releasing a story to the wider public.</span></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br />However, over the past 20 years or so in the age of the internet and social media, the average business or individual now has access to PR without needing a connection in the media or a big budget to pay a PR company to gain exposure.</span></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br />This blog explores the use of public relations as a part of a marketing strategy.</span><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="a6a8" style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What are Public Relations?</span></h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="205a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Public relations (PR) is the manages the release and spread of publicity from a firm or individual to the public to influence their opinions, attitudes or behaviours. PR aims to build and maintain relationships with stakeholders and those who influence the target audience, to enhance the public reputation.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="feca"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Public relations professionals are storytellers and image shapers who create a positive narrative for their clients by working closely with journalists and other media. This allows them to manage and generate positive publicity for their clients to enhance their reputations. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8467"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Public relations are controlled internally as a strategy, but publicity is controlled and distributed externally.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8467"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><blockquote>“(Public Relations) helps establish and maintain mutual lines of communication, understanding, acceptance and cooperation between an organisation and its publics; involves the management of problems and issues; helps management keep abreast of and effectively utilise change.” (Harlow, 1976)</blockquote><p></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2c5f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">PR has been a profession since the dawn of the 20th century, but the roots of the idea of widely influencing public opinion and action can be found and during the movement to abolish slavery in England 100 years before that. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c485"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Because of these beginnings, one of the underlying assumptions of PR is that it should be socially responsible and go beyond organisational goals to play a constructive role in society.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="aa6d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Depending on the situation, PR will have a particular tone — whether it is showing empathy and understanding, storytelling and creativity, or more <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/62723/persuasion-knowledge-a-consumer-s-defense-against-marketing-2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">persuasive messaging</a>. Messages are tailored to the relevant target audience/s.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3cac"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">PR applies to all organisations from small businesses to corporations to governments or activists. They could be from the private, public or third sector. The third sector is an umbrella term for voluntary and community organisations such as social enterprises.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5d8f"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Some of the tools used for PR are:</span></strong></p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="58ed"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Owned media (e.g. website)</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="bca8"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Earned media (e.g. newspapers)</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="2270"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Shared media (e.g. social networks)</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="3ee9"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Sponsorships and fundraising</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="bb88"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Face-to-face</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="d76c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Photography</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="eda7"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Moving images (video)</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="7c7c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Print (e.g. newsletters)</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="37ca"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Events (e.g. conferences)</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="8059"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Public Speaking</span></li></ul><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Publics</span></h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="1b11"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Public Relations is a critical link to manage communications between a firm or person and its publics. ‘Publics’ is any group of people or stakeholders who have a common interest in a particular subject.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3111"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Some of those publics are:</span></strong></p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="22e1"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Employees (and potential)</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="6c8e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Suppliers (and potential)</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="6bb1"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Partners</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="b872"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Distributors (and potential)</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="2c47"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Investors</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="0f25"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Donors</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="3125"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Political audiences, decision-makers and other opinion formers</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="83f7"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Media and other commentators</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="bf3a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Social media influencers</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="ff82"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Customers</span></li></ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="Newspaper article - Public relations" border="0" data-original-height="1367" data-original-width="2048" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPKuzQnrKXY-ggm-iEmrVEp2jhJ93x5izWDf8i0LW95_NQo0ffQe_yDogLLGSPRgiFO63DqizsIGKPwjXDsmbja9ox-NvTN5cG4FiIMyv-u05Ef5jVaApgmSj_X0CbC9VTJgXGV7MQ1cU/w640-h428/roman-kraft-_Zua2hyvTBk-unsplash.jpg" title="Newspaper article - Public relations" width="640" /></div><div><br /></div></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="4fa7"><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="39df"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Objectives of Public Relations</span></h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="1657"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Public relations can be used to protect, enhance or build reputations. </span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote" name="2a00"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The “management of communications between an organisation and its publics.” (Grunig, 2013)</span></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p" name="8e96"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The goal is for firms or individuals to establish, build, nurture and maintain trusted relationships with their target audience.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="699e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Communication tactics are planned and executed to influence peoples’ attitudes and behaviours, ultimately to maintain or foster a positive opinion of the firm or person.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="aa98"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Much like marketing, PR has several individual activities and can have distinct goals. The intended audience could be prospective customers, investors, partners, employees, or just the general public.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7980"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Some of the objectives of PR are:</span></strong></p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="c128"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Increase brand awareness:</strong> inform the public of the policies, procedures and interests of a firm, promote an idea, or recognise accomplishments.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="5699"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Crisis communication: </strong>managing a company’s reputation when negative news is public, formulate a response and ease the damage.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="19ce"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Internal communications:</strong> communicating within the company itself, employee relations.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="4ef6"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Government relations & lobbying:</strong> public affairs is engaging and interacting with the government to influence public policy.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="7ba3"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Media relations:</strong> building and maintaining close relationships with the news media.</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="358e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--li-strong">Social Media/Community Marketing: </strong>leveraging social media marketing to distribute messages to desired target audiences.</span></li></ul></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="5857"><div class="section-divider"></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Public relations strategy</span></h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="3bc1"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">PR is a strategic communication process, and a strategy often begins with an idea to create a story that would be of interest to the general public and will leave a positive impression for the company or individual. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fa88"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A second way could be to follow up with a comment on the latest news or a current event connected to the firm/person or the industry they are in.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fa88"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><blockquote>“Public Relations is a strategic communications process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organisations and their publics” (Grunig & Hunt, 1984)</blockquote><p></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5923"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A PR message might be prompted by a piece of news, but a PR strategy is deliberate and should begin with an analysis of the organisation to pinpoint strengths or opportunities to guide the positioning of the strategy and messaging.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="62fe"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A PR strategy should be actively managed and grounded in research, to gain an understanding of the environment that shapes decision-making. Messages that are consistent with organisational values and goals, but also consistent with public values and goals is key.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4606"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The interests and concerns of the company’s stakeholders should be acknowledged in the strategy — listening to their concerns to build a mutually beneficial relationship. To avoid having contradictory or confusing messages, there must be consistency in the overall message and theme.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3c7c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Several distinct but complementary messages are created to target different audiences. For example, a charity event. One message would be crafted towards the general public, and one message crafted towards corporate sponsors. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="19b9"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There’s the same goal of a successful event that raises lots of money, but there are different value propositions for somebody paying to attend the event and enjoy a night for a good cause, to a corporation wanting to <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/41549/managing-your-brand-to-attract-more-customers" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">increase their brand awareness</a>.</span></p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="74f6"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“The overall planning, execution and evaluation of an organisation’s communication with both external and internal publics — groups that affect the ability of an organisation to meet its goals.” (Grunig, 2013)</span></blockquote></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="1c3a"><div class="section-divider"></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="7dfc"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">PR activities</span></h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="e3ee"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There are several activities and tools that businesses can use for PR. There used to be a reliance on media companies and PR firms to use media such as TV and magazines to reach a certain target audience. The internet has created several opportunities for businesses to do their own PR.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b036"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Firms or individuals can produce and share content via social media to respond to a circumstance or to enhance brand awareness with their target audience.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6553"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Some of the individual PR activities that businesses can use include:</span></strong></p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="f1db"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Writing and distributing press releases</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="83ec"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Managing internal communications</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="f3bb"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Arranging interviews for company spokespeople</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="e0f4"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Holding press conferences and media interviews</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="3303"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Speechwriting</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="6aa7"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Writing and sharing story pitches directly to journalists</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="3b61"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Hosting or sponsoring events</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="4ab3"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Personal networking</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="f31c"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Writing blogs and newsletters</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="d912"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Social media promotions</span></li></ul><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="Speech writing - Public relations" border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwtxFp6tbWGvmHHbN6WG6ksSbsgDeRN0Sn4QsOFPM5rEcg5dzTjCOuglnhgoF4X3ArpvkYm3Q6nF7Bif3YlXZdFT3pLitMKdcF0tmmcB-xnp0BixQZhg26U8WDU2du_kvyNq9zGGcnS1Q/w640-h426/miguel-henriques-RfiBK6Y_upQ-unsplash.jpg" title="Speech writing - Public relations" width="640" /></div><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="f7b7"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Is public relations marketing?</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="e7f6"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Public relations have become a component of marketing over the past 20 years or so since social media started being used for press releases. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="96cf"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The fragmentation of mass media has dissolved a lot of the barriers public relations had for small businesses and PR has shifted into more interpersonal channels of communication. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="db1a"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">PR can be used for <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/98450/positioning-5-strategies-to-stand-out-from-your-competitors" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">market positioning</a> and branding, aligning it with marketing goals.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1c36"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The fundamental idea behind PR is for businesses to gain exposure to their target audiences using topics of public interest, this coverage received for free. Referred to as ‘earned media’, this is what makes public relations different from <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/129857/advertising-as-a-marketing-tool-to-reach-customers" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">advertising</a>. </span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="0ce8"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">However, social media can blur those lines — a boosted post for example where a normal social media post becomes a paid ad.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8658"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Think of PR as the generation an article featuring a client, rather than having a paid ad next to the article. This positive story enhances reputation as it is more credible coming from a third party.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8edb"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Some of the main differences between advertising and public relations are:</span></strong></p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="59d8"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Paid vs Earned</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="b652"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Builds exposure vs builds trust</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="4371"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Visual vs language</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="0274"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Creative control vs Media control</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="eece"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The audience is sceptical vs media gives third party validation</span></li></ul></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="5572"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p class="graf graf--p" name="f406"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Thank you for reading.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f406"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I hope you enjoyed this blog about public relations and how the media can be used as a tool to spread a positive message about a business or person, to influence public perceptions.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6489"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Dan.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6489"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This blog was originally posted on the <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/139681/using-public-relations-to-influence-an-audience" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BYB Marketing blog</a>.</span></p></div></div></section><div class="blogger-post-footer">BYB Marketing - https://brandyourselfbetter.com/</div>Daniel Hopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16097570896266702933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7106426518795808874.post-31117169047101949542020-10-06T21:08:00.000-07:002020-10-06T21:08:23.957-07:00Using Differentiation to Stand Out From The Competition<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="Differentiation strategy" border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_BOPhHzzcQYERWXjbchUOOpIyV7BCAtIR3BwylL0bQvWRXp_FFAXj-DcShSjYQ6DqrA3bMusOqYcov1h-I6mVBSgRw7chcfXA2CObbLfCeJiIJkXHtvGqsO4QsByl2w3_0_iRiF2H8fA/w640-h426/jessica-ruscello-DoSDQvzjeH0-unsplash.jpg" title="Differentiation strategy" width="640" /></div><p></p><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="3e97">If we’re the same as everybody else, nobody will remember us. If we’re a brand, we want to be memorable, right?</h4><div><section class="section section--body" name="997b"><div class="section-divider"></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p class="graf graf--p" name="67dd">We want people to think of us when they are thinking about purchasing a product or service that we offer.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6a36">If we have a point of difference to our competitors, we are more likely to be remembered. We also want to offer a unique benefit that our competition does not offer.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c17c">This week’s marketing blog, this article explores differentiation as a business strategy.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><h2 style="text-align: left;">What is differentiation?</h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="0aea">Product differentiation is a marketing management strategy that aims to distinguish or differentiate a company’s products or services from the alternatives offered by competitors. Businesses communicate their unique and distinctive benefit through the marketing strategy to make it attractive to a group of customers/target market.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="dc7e">Also referred to as a point of difference, providing customers with a unique and distinct benefit can create a competitive advantage in that marketplace.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="588c">It is a powerful strategy when a target group of customers is not price-sensitive (a price increase will not reduce demand), when a market is competitive and saturated with options, or when a group of customers have specific needs that are under-served.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="b40f"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“Point of difference — even seemingly contradictory ones — can be powerful. Strong, favourable, unique associations that distinguish a brand from others in the same frame of reference are fundamental to successful brand positioning.” (Keller, Sternthal & Tybout, 2002)</em></blockquote></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="645e"><div class="section-content"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><figure class="graf graf--figure" name="a2b4" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="Differentiation strategy - marketing" class="graf-image" data-height="810" data-image-id="0*zEnuFP5hpxfiTsNW" data-width="1080" height="480" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/0*zEnuFP5hpxfiTsNW" title="Differentiation strategy - marketing" width="640" /></figure></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h2 style="text-align: left;">Objectives of differentiation</h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="0737">The underlying objective of differentiation is to make your brand different to and more attractive than your competitors. Develop a <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/98450/positioning-5-strategies-to-stand-out-from-your-competitors" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">position in the market</a> that potential customers see as unique and valuable.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="02fe">Perceived differentiation is subjective from customer to customer, from brand to brand. It is marketing’s job to alter this perception and customers’ evaluation of the benefits of one brand’s offering compared to another.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6dd5">When a product or service becomes more unique, it will attract fewer comparisons with competitors, and it moves away from competing on price.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2bf0">This uniqueness helps to achieve a competitive advantage in a crowded marketplace.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5310">Product differentiation helps develop a strong value proposition, making a product or service attractive to a target market.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="bffa"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“Offering a product that is perceived to differ from the competing products on at least one element of physical and nonphysical product characteristics… Product differentiation can be based on perceived as well as actual physical and nonphysical product differences.” (Dickson & Gitner, 1987)</em></blockquote><span><!--more--></span><h2 style="text-align: left;">Marketing’s role in differentiation</h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="8faf">Differentiation is a <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/41549/managing-your-brand-to-attract-more-customers" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/41549/managing-your-brand-to-attract-more-customers" rel="noopener" target="_blank">brand management</a> tool that results in perceived uniqueness, even if the physical product and functional benefits are the same or like competitors. Businesses can pursue differentiation through product design and actual product characteristics, but they can also pursue differentiation through marketing alone.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="faae">Advertising highlights the non-functional/physical features and characteristics, like a feeling you get from that brand, or maybe the prestige. Fashion for example — there is probably not much difference between a $50 Nike T-shirt and a $5 unbranded T-shirt. Marketing establishes a perception of key benefits and differences of a brand that make it ‘a better choice’ than the alternatives.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="05e6">Marketing demonstrates that a brand’s offering can do everything the competitors can but has unique additional benefits. It identifies the qualities that set it apart, creating a sense of value.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="48e7">Businesses and brands can create differentiation through something as simple as packaging. It could be an aesthetic change in design and styling or a change in distribution. Selling your product at supermarkets for example could give it a point of difference if the product category or service is not typically found in supermarkets.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="28b9">Promotion and advertising play a crucial role in differentiation. All the big brands you can think of, such as McDonald’s, Nike, Apple, Microsoft, and Coca Cola, they all invest heavily into promotion to help set their brand apart from the competitors. These brands communicate a USP (unique selling proposition) in their advertising that distinguishes them from the competition, making their brand more appealing.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9c14">Businesses need to communicate how and why they are different. Even if they are not different at all, it comes down to buyers perceiving a difference that they value.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="ec31"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“Differentiation tends to be characterized by heavy use of advertising and promotion and to result in prices that are somewhat above the equilibrium levels associated with perfectly competitive market conditions. It may be classified as a promotional strategy or approach to marketing.” (Smith, 2006)</em></blockquote><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--empty" name="c4ee"><br /></blockquote><h2 style="text-align: left;">Types of differentiation</h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="faad">There are two main differentiation strategies a business can use. Firstly, a broad differentiation strategy where the brand or organisation is the focus. The application is to industry and will appeal to a vast range of consumers. Secondly, a focused differentiation strategy is at a product/service level, fulfilling the requirements of a targeted niche market.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b181"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Some of the applications of differentiation at an organisational and product-level are:</strong></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2c8c"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Organisation:</strong></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9da3">• Create a unique brand image and reputation. Align the overall brand with a unique theme, emotion or benefit</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9e8e">• Service quality and customer support</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="bb21">• Technical expertise</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="62eb">• Innovation</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ecea">• Distribution</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4d67">• Location</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d9a5"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Product:</strong></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e54b">• Match the needs and preferences of customers through providing utility,</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="55c8">• Innovative product design,</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="aa73">• Unique features or functionality,</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c714">• Increased product performance or durability,</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a203">• Improved quality accompanied by an increase in price.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="f442"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“From a strategy viewpoint, product differentiation is securing a measure of control over the demand for a product by advertising or promoting differences between a product and the products of competing sellers. It is basically the result of sellers’ desires to establish firm market positions and/or to insulate their businesses against price competition.” (Smith, 2006)</em></blockquote><h2 style="text-align: left;">Benefits of differentiation</h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="4e48">There are several benefits to businesses who adopt a successful differentiation strategy. Ultimately creating a competitive advantage and more customers choose their brand over alternatives from competitors.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a687"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Some of the other potential benefits of differentiation are:</strong></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3f8e">• Develops a strong brand identity and increases brand awareness.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="bd53">• If perceived by customers as superior to alternatives, this increases their loyalty to the brand.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e06c">• Reduces perceived substitutes as customers may not be willing to replace your product with another one. This increases market share.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ea9f">• Allows the business to charge a premium price for their brand, increasing profit margins.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="85aa">• Provides reduced price competition by competing on something other than lower prices.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9454">• Customers become less price-sensitive to competitor offers — If they perceive a product to be better than its competitors, consumers will consider it worth the higher price.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="708f">• Improved cross-price inelasticity with competing brands as demand is unaffected by competitors lowering prices.</p><span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="Building blocks of Marketing strategy" border="0" data-original-height="1141" data-original-width="2048" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8sXKiLXCMHzv9ThwUg9s37RGVok2A3ta9GG3BSsQKTF3Ag6GXXy54Qm14pTg811vJb4lMLAXlSBk62FrIsLuEh27MvWx0PgNZt4gqjEijAiGtrU0d1-J9sPtqbI_jazYdN8THXOuEpk8/w640-h356/blocks+marketing.jpg" title="Building blocks of Marketing strategy" width="640" /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Choosing a Differentiation strategy</h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="cca6">A specific group of customers must value any differentiation strategy that a business chooses, and its effectiveness will depend on the industry and location you are in. What customers value will often change over time as competitors imitate your unique benefits and latest trends come along, changing consumer tastes and preferences.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5ae3">A sustainable point of difference/differentiation strategy needs to meet three deliverability criteria. It must be feasible, profitable and not easily imitated. Your marketing mix will communicate the unique benefits of your differentiated offering to the marketplace.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1bbd">To find their point of difference, businesses should first analyse their strengths and weaknesses as well as look for opportunities in the marketplace. A business may have unique capabilities or resources that will be difficult to replicate by other firms.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b7e0">A SWOT and/or PESTEL analysis, as well as Porter’s 5 Forces analysis, is a good place to start to find any gaps or opportunities in the greater market. Customer research will also help to better understand their wants and needs, to align your offering and selection of a point of difference.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f72c">This <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/90754/using-research-to-better-understand-your-target-market" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/90754/using-research-to-better-understand-your-target-market" rel="noopener" target="_blank">research and development</a> may involve a huge cost, as will the marketing, but the long-term benefits and return on investment of sustainable competitive advantage is well worth the effort and initial costs.</p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="a061"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p class="graf graf--p" name="2e89">That is this week’s blog on differentiation strategy.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ac88">Having a point of difference sums it up.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="09bd">If you want your target market to remember you next time they purchase a product or service you offer — give them something unique about your business, brand or product/service to remember!</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e0f5">I hope you enjoyed this week’s content.</p></div></div></section></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">BYB Marketing - https://brandyourselfbetter.com/</div>Daniel Hopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16097570896266702933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7106426518795808874.post-66992723070392028552020-09-29T17:17:00.018-07:002020-09-29T20:50:03.076-07:00Advertising as a Marketing Tool to Reach and Influence Customers<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-30LkfTD7uCapfv1TB0xTFi9PMi6l9YI4q-L05kjIUy_tSvBlvm2Go4qEXnCr6EYCSRsQj1atB7jTJsdV4vEwcjelzuH96mZ1iYF2ZNs32kTkVqDp92Oshqfdl-ycPDId1SDPtf1foeg/w640-h427/denys-nevozhai-N6t14kV_X68-unsplash.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Advertising. It’s everywhere.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We're exposed to hundreds of advertising messages daily, so our brain starts to filter them subconsciously.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But businesses and brands don't want these advertising communication filtered - they want customers to take in the messages and remember them.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This week’s blog article explores advertising and a range of different advertising approaches that businesses can use to reach their target audience.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><span><a name='more'></a></span><h1 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What is advertising?</span></h1><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Advertising is a marketing communication method that attempts to inform and/or influence the opinions and buying behaviour of potential users of a product or service. Also called an “ad” or advert for short, it is a one-way message to promote an identified organisation/brand, product, service or an idea.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Businesses buy advertising space or time, and it is openly sponsored, controlled and non-personal message (designed for mass media).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The world is saturated with advertising, wherever we go. Advertising is almost always present, though we might not be consciously aware of it. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Advertising’s ability to deliver a specific message to many people has given it a significant role in most businesses’ marketing.</div><blockquote style="text-align: justify;">“In market-based economies, consumers have learned to rely on advertising and other forms of promotion for information they can use in making purchase decisions.” (Belch & Belch, 2003)</blockquote></span><div><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The confusion between advertising and marketing</span></h3><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Advertising is marketing, but not all marketing is advertising. People often make the mistake of viewing marketing in terms of individual activities. For example, for some, marketing would have a sales-dominated view, for others, it might be <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/90754/using-research-to-better-understand-your-target-market">market research</a> and product planning. For others, marketing and advertising seem to be interchangeable terms. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, these activities are all just <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/45161/the-evolution-of-the-marketing-mix">components of marketing</a>, cogs in a machine working together. Marketing is the total process of planning and executing product or service design, and the pricing, promotion, and distribution to meet a firm’s objectives.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Elements of the promotional mix (Belch and Belch, 2003)</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><img alt="Elements of marketing" height="159" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/production-sitebuilder-v1-0-7/417/180417/v2lhrfb1/6a0de05088524d9eaeba96680a1d7c64" title="Elements of marketing" width="640" /></div></span></div><div><h4 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The aims of advertising</span></h4><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div style="text-align: justify;">All advertising is trying to capture the attention of their <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/103125/targeting-how-to-make-marketing-more-efficient-and-effective">target audience</a>, but advertising strategies will differ across industries and situations. One advertiser may be aiming for an immediate response or action from customers, while another may be developing a positive brand awareness over a longer period.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Some of the aims of advertising are as follows:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div style="text-align: justify;">inform customers of a company or brand’s offering,</div></span></li><li><div style="text-align: justify;">persuade and convince consumers their offering fits their needs or wants,</div></li><li><div style="text-align: justify;">stimulate a decision to purchase,</div></li><li><div style="text-align: justify;">create a brand image by associating an offering with certain qualities,</div></li><li><div style="text-align: justify;">differentiate an offering from competitors in a crowded market,</div></li><li><div style="text-align: justify;">to be informative and trustworthy,</div></li><li><div style="text-align: justify;">launch a new product from an established brand,</div></li><li><div style="text-align: justify;">increase consumption, sales and market share,</div></li><li><div style="text-align: justify;">promote causes,</div></li><li><div style="text-align: justify;">market political candidates,</div></li><li><div style="text-align: justify;">increase awareness of social issues such as drink driving.</div></li></ul></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">“Constructive advertising can alert consumers to the existence and location of products, and it can also convey (pre-purchase) information concerning the functions and qualities of products.” (Bagwell, 2007) </div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action) is a popular advertising model first used over 100 years ago (See Elias St. Elmo Lewis, 1898), that uses a hierarchy of effects to help illustrate the four stages of the purchase process.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Awareness:</b> The prospect is aware of their problems and viable solutions for them. Marketing attracts customer attention to the product. The customer becomes aware it is available.</div></span></li><li><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Interest:</b> The prospect shows interest in a group of services or products. Marketing develops an interest in a product or service.</div></li><li><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Desire:</b> The prospect begins to evaluate a certain brand. Marketing develops a desire to own a product. The customer wants it.</div></li><li><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Action:</b> The prospect decides whether to purchase. Marketing prompts action to purchase the product.</div></li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This model has since become the foundation of a <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/67806/the-marketing-and-sales-funnel-explained-marketing-strategy-for-businesses">sales and marketing funnel.</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img alt="Sales and Marketing Funnel" border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhknMkFr93DGG0dupGbQZQVgnL0BdLzZ6aiY90hnx16bafnLvAzYJGPTWml22BOB88LsoPZTiEbXraYrWVNokrXPVbNfAUimUPabv7KSsuKmauc4_7mPBqFn504E3qGvmZd0LiWY9bDhz0/w640-h360/Marketing+and+sales+funnel1.jpg" title="Sales and Marketing Funnel" width="640" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>“Brand advertising has a significant and positive effect on the brand’s current sales and market share.” (Bagwell, 2007)</blockquote><p> </p></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Should advertising be persuasive or informative?</h3><div style="text-align: justify;">There are two schools of thought on the role of advertising. First, advertising as a <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/62723/persuasion-knowledge-a-consumer-s-defense-against-marketing-2">persuasive</a> market power, where advertising affects consumer preferences and tastes and differentiates from the competitors. Informative advertising educates consumers about product attributes and but does not change the way they value those attributes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Persuasive advertising</h3><div style="text-align: justify;">The persuasive approach views advertising as a tool to alter consumers’ tastes, creates product differentiation and <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/75494/the-profitability-of-customer-loyalty">brand loyalty</a>. Market share becomes more stable, and advertising leads to higher prices and profits. A tool for established firms to increase the barrier to entry to that market. Advertising can lead to anti-competitive effects, resulting in concentrated markets characterized by unreasonable prices and profits.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Informative advertising</h3><div style="text-align: justify;">The informative view of advertising is based on the fact many markets have inequal amounts of information, and the time and effort required to learn about alternatives can deter customers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Because of these market inefficiencies, advertising becomes a solution — consumers receive information. In this view, the demand increases elasticity, advertising promoting competition between established brands. Advertising facilitates entry to the marketplace and therefore advertising has pro-competitive effects.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: justify;">Types of advertising</h4><div style="text-align: justify;">There are many types of advertising. Businesses can communicate through mass media such as a television, or it could be a flyer delivered in your mail. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The most suitable method for each business will depend on their budget and what is the most suitable approach to reach their target audience as many times as possible.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the age of the internet, advertising has evolved and now there are far more methods available to businesses, so we are no longer as reliant on expensive traditional media advertising such as television.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Traditional advertising reaches a wide audience, but it is not as targeted — many people will see you advertising who will never be a customer. This is where <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/65191/ten-ways-to-market-your-business-online-for-free-or-little-cost">digital marketing</a> has the edge — it has a lower-cost and its far more targeted.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This section will cover some of the popular traditional forms of advertising such as print and radio, as well as some of the newer approaches such as social media advertising.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: justify;">Print</h4><div style="text-align: justify;">Advertising through print was once the dominant form of advertising. While advertising has evolved and there are far more options available, print advertising can still be effective. Just at a much higher cost than other methods such as digital advertising.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img alt="Newspaper advertising" height="427" src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1495020689067-958852a7765e?ixlib=rb-1.2.1&q=90&fm=jpg&crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&w=1080&fit=max&ixid=eyJhcHBfaWQiOjU1MTN9&utm_source=endurance-innovation&utm_medium=referral" title="Newspaper advertising" width="640" /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Newspaper</h3><div style="text-align: justify;">Newspaper advertising reaches a wide range of people, usually in one location. Display advertising is throughout newspapers, and classified advertising is all in one specific section. Display advertising is far more expensive, as the ads can blend in with the articles.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Magazine</h3><div style="text-align: justify;">Magazines typically service a group of customers (e.g. Women’s gossip magazines) or by trade or topic (e.g. car magazines).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Magazines serve a much wider geographic area than newspapers, so tends to work best for larger businesses with a national market. They also have a much longer shelf life than newspapers, which people might quickly throw away — magazines often sit on coffee tables for months on end.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Direct mail</h3><div style="text-align: justify;">The distribution of direct mail is direct to people in their mail, in a specific geographic area. This technique is effective for a localised market — for example, it is a popular strategy for real estate agents to distribute ‘just sold’ and ‘for sale’ flyers in the local area.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Catalogues, leaflets, flyers, and brochures are all forms of direct mail and only have minor differences — usually in the amount of information contained. A catalogue will list several products in a booklet for example, while a leaflet is on a single piece of paper and it aims to look attractive rather than display a lot of information.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: justify;">Broadcast</h4><div style="text-align: justify;">Broadcast advertising is promotional material via television or radio. It is a comparatively expensive form of advertising, but the audience potential is large. It was once the go-to for any large brand, but it the age of the internet, there are now far more options for businesses that are more targeted.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Radio</h3><div style="text-align: justify;">Radio is more targeted than Television. For example, it is easier to target a specific geographic area and certain demographics. For example, if you are a store selling tools, you could advertise on a radio station that plays classic rock music, where you know the audience is predominantly men over the age of 30. Sound can have its limitations, as people do not get a visual of your brand, they can quickly forget. Radio advertisement works best if it is consistent over a period.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img alt="TV Advertising" height="427" src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1593784991188-c899ca07263b?ixlib=rb-1.2.1&q=90&fm=jpg&crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&w=1080&fit=max&ixid=eyJhcHBfaWQiOjU1MTN9&utm_source=endurance-innovation&utm_medium=referral" title="TV Advertising" width="640" /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Television</h3><div style="text-align: justify;">Television advertising usually has reach at a national level (unless you are a local station of course), so generally works best for businesses with a large national or international market. Because TV advertising has visuals and sound, movement and colour being more engaging than sound alone.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Like radio, TV advertising is sold in units (e.g. 15 or 30 seconds) and costs vary according to the popularity of the network and the time slot. Obviously, when more people are watching, the advertising will cost more. It can be expensive.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: justify;">Directories</h4><div style="text-align: justify;">Directories list businesses in a geographic area or by industry, the Yellow Pages is an example. Typically, a consumer who uses directories have already planned to buy — they are researching what business to choose.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: justify;">Outdoor</h4><div style="text-align: justify;">Outdoor advertising includes large road-side billboards, hoardings at stadiums, sponsored buildings, on the back of buses or sign written vehicles, and posters at bus stops. These contain a limited amount of information as they are difficult to read — they are often just the branding. Again, advertising is restricted to the geographic area.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img alt="Digital marketing" height="427" src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1563986768494-4dee2763ff3f?ixlib=rb-1.2.1&q=90&fm=jpg&crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&w=1080&fit=max&ixid=eyJhcHBfaWQiOjU1MTN9&utm_source=endurance-innovation&utm_medium=referral" title="Digital marketing" width="640" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: justify;">Online</h4><div style="text-align: justify;">Fast evolving technology over the past 25 years has changed the way consumers interact with brands. A mobile phone in virtually everybody’s hand or pocket means advertising no-longer must be to a mass-market place — it can become hyper-targeted based on almost any demographic.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The internet has provided an avenue for any business to be able to advertise their business digitally, without the big marketing budgets required for traditional forms for advertising. Another benefit of digital marketing is that it is immediate and easy to measure results.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Paid search advertising</h3><div style="text-align: justify;">Google ads are an example of paid search advertising. This involves bidding on certain keywords, so the ad shows on the top of search results when a user searches for that keyword. Advertisers pay-per-click (PPC) — when someone clicks on their ad.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Social media advertising</h3><div style="text-align: justify;">Advertising via social media has become immensely popular with small businesses and large brands alike. Ads are placed in the social media feed, along with posts from friends or family. The advertisements can be very targeted, meaning you do not waste money marketing to people unlikely to be customers. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The ability to track where sales are coming from and retarget people who have previously purchased or engaged in an ad are other advantages. Budgets can be as little as a couple of dollars a day.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Native advertising</h3><div style="text-align: justify;">Native advertising tries to hide its marketing intent by matching the look and feel of the content of the website. Articles, infographics or videos are advertised on websites hosting similar material, and the content contains valuable information rather than being promotional. This form of advertising is unobtrusive so come across as more trustworthy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>“Consumer attitudes toward advertising in general have long been found to be negative.” (Tsang, Ho, & Liang, 2004)</blockquote><p> </p></div><h4 style="text-align: justify;">Factors that impact advertising performance</h4><div style="text-align: justify;">Businesses must consider how the audience will interpret and respond to their advertising. According to Martins, Costa, Oliveira, Gonçalves, and Branco (2019), informativeness, credibility, entertainment, and incentives positively influence advertising. Irritation has a negative influence on advertising effectiveness.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Informativeness</b> is the ability of advertising to advise consumers of product and brand information</div></span></li><li><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Entertainment</b> is the perception of enjoyable or likeable advertising. Humour for example.</div></li><li><div style="text-align: justify;">The<b> credibility</b> of the brand influences the credibility of their advertising and how much consumers trust them. This credibility positively affects a consumer’s behavioural intentions, and the above authors found that credibility was the strongest positive factor in advertising performance, followed by entertainment and informativeness.</div></li><li><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Incentives</b> are monetary gains to consumers such as discounts and gifts.</div></li><li><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Irritation</b> reflects unwanted advertising techniques that annoy, offend, insult, or manipulate consumers. Consumers will often avoid these brands and ignore their advertising in the future.</div></li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>“Television ads often have a higher degree of irritation than radio ads, which are less irritating because radio programs usually serve as background music.” (Tsang, Ho, & Liang, 2004)</blockquote></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Customer attitudes</h3><div style="text-align: justify;">A person’s attitude includes their positive or negative evaluations, feelings, and actions towards an object or idea. This attitude will influence the response to advertising. Consumers typically have negative attitudes toward advertising. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ads are annoying right? That is why they must be informative, entertaining and credible, to increase the chances of a positive impact on consumers’ attitudes towards that brand. Ads that irritate negatively influencing consumers’ attitude toward that brand.</div><span><!--more--></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">That is the lot for this week's blog. I hope you enjoyed this week’s content about advertising.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Dan.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/" target="_blank">BYB Marketing</a></div></span><a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/" target="_blank"><span></span></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">BYB Marketing - https://brandyourselfbetter.com/</div>Daniel Hopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16097570896266702933noreply@blogger.com0Hamilton, New Zealand-37.7890804 175.2596865-68.921696143936174 140.1034365 -6.6564646560638288 -149.5840635tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7106426518795808874.post-26843571626275977702020-09-16T18:33:00.001-07:002020-09-16T18:33:14.736-07:00 The Co-Creation of Value: Everybody Wins<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img alt="Co-creating value" border="0" data-original-height="1326" data-original-width="2048" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvnZezQMbsZX1peRzI_33Em-N1Cm3uTovT2k_J-xIcc59xKqGygVWpJAvkkLgSZdwDPuCIWXYdR19cCoJvKoL7LSRXfhoNaOo0JlL9r8sVA7iDIvQB5Rgk-ey0jvY-lrN23Wy1iOLOr6o/w640-h414/chris-liverani-9cd8qOgeNIY-unsplash.jpg" title="Co-creating value" width="640" /></span></div><section class="section section--body" name="0a64"><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="432e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">How the customer and firm can co-create value together to both get what they want.</span></h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="07ed"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In 2020, customisation and giving the customer exactly what they want is becoming the norm. How do we give customers exactly what they want? One way is by letting them co-create value.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ea03"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This week’s article explores the co-creation of value as a strategy and how this approach creates unique value for customers, creating a competitive advantage.</span></p><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a name='more'></a></span></span><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What is co-creation?</span></h2><p class="graf graf--p" name="9fe4" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Co-creation is the actions of more than one person or party, bringing something into existence.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e26c" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In business, it is a strategy and process focusing on the joint creation of value by customers and company. An interactive relationship, customers and staff function as active participants. It is becoming more common for service providers to let customers co-create value — this mutual creation of services enhancing the consumption experience of customers.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d264" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The co-creation of value is an application for a product and goods-based businesses as well as services and experiences. Marketing helps facilitate this mutual creation and enjoyment of value — business has moved away from the traditional model of customers purchasing goods or services — now, customers can engage in dialogue with suppliers during each stage of product design and product delivery. Value co-created at multiple points of interaction.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="2b79"></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Co-creation is about joint creation of value by the company and the customer. It is not the firm trying to please the customer.” (Prahalad & Ramaswamy, 2004)</span></blockquote><p></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="21d2"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Characteristics of co-creation include:</span></strong></p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="f510" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Allowing the customer to co-construct personalised service experience to suit her context</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="4507" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Joint problem definition and problem-solving</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="6ebd" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Creating an experience environment in which consumers can have active continuous dialogue and co-construct personalized experiences</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="8ed9" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A variety of unique customer experiences</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="1603" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Innovative experience environments</span></li></ul><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><!--more--></span></span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Co-creation of value vs co-created experiences</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="d948" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The is two distinct categories of firms who use co-creation as a strategy: co-creation of value and co-created experiences.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d948" style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="B2B Co-creation" border="0" data-original-height="1367" data-original-width="2048" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ7TpTAq3LHwufpxFUO-_caFnrbz4J-NxV51kblPOqsTngAjtFkVZZKY7Rd9xb87HcQ1upLsnzsE30izLETQ0jifFexjnT6yRpaLwA_08peaEZJPD-7zbnKLu_ziKgS0kWR_JrJFvYsBo/w640-h428/our-online-retail-grows-very-fast-YNLYF8K.jpg" title="B2B Co-creation" width="640" /></div><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p></p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The co-creation of value</span></h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="6945" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Encouraging active involvement from the customer, co-creation of value from products or services is on-demand and made-to-order. It is a collaborative effort and customers help make it happen to reach their goals. Customer experiences and perceptions influence their considerations of value and highly informed consumers are willing to pay more for businesses who can meet their requirements.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e513" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Customers and other stakeholders such as suppliers are actively involved in the problem-solving process; participating in suggesting ideas, designs, concepts and solutions for products and services. This can be throughout the entire process, from idea generation to the end-user.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="660c" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Unilever is an example of a brand embracing co-creation of value. Their Open Innovation platform communicates their specific challenges to the public and encourages people or businesses to submit responses for potential solutions.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="db7a"></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Marketing should be viewed as a set of processes and resources with which the company seeks to create value propositions. Processes include the procedures, tasks, mechanisms, activities and interactions which support the co-creation of value.” (Storbacka, 2007)</span></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="A networking event is co-created" border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="960" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Scu3A556IqKGPvNuMYi2Px3HFbz1-T-HH-LHevMHXUgYaAB3a5vSfD8IVMEiFicmDXoOyXzrTX8LCAaMCOZeJqm_5tOYZZTlYMTYIShNz6zAY5nUZsEGqrAlol-ztKgIiUdVBw4vqro/w640-h360/linkedin+culture1.jpg" title="A networking event is co-created" width="640" /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Co-created experiences</span></h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="bfb8" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Inviting and encouraging active involvement and participation from customers, Co-created experiences are unique and value-rich. An interactive relationship between the customer and the experience, the focus on facilitating the co-creation of diverse experiences that consumers enjoy.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fa29" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">An example of a co-created experience is concerts. The audience can choose whether they have a seat, or whether they stand near the stage and their active involvement as a community in activities such as singing and dancing. Staff are also actively involved to co-create this customer experience.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="e4d8"></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“…Involving the customer in the service system more broadly and in various stages and functions of the service value chain.” (Oertzen, Odekerken-Schröder, Brax, & Mager, 2018)</span></blockquote><p></p><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><!--more--></span></span><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">From a product to customer-focused strategy</span></h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="9594" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Co-creation is becoming a more central focus in the management and marketing of services. Value creation for customers has evolved from a product-centric focus to a consumer-centric approach. The 21st century has seen a mindset shift and customers now recognised as active collaborators, and co-creation efforts became emphasized competitive strategy.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="c20b" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The customer and their experiences with the firm now dictate much the decision-making process. Service providers should ditch their product-centred approach and instead focus on helping customers to co-create their desired personalised experience.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="a1be"></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Companies must escape the firm-centric view of the past and seek to co-create value with customers through an obsessive focus on personalized interactions between the consumer and the company.” (Prahalad & Ramaswamy, 2004)</span></blockquote><p></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b6b7" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Acknowledging the customers’ point of view should help to define the design of experiences, and therefore businesses should be active in understanding consumer trends, desires, and preferences.</span></p><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><!--more--></span></span><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Customer experiences</span></h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="9015" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Often, the quality of the consumer experience depends on the nature of their involvement. Rather than playing a passive role, consumers are wanting to take more of an active role in co-creating experiences. Consumers want empowerment to co-create a personalised experience. That is where the real value resides to customers.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ba88" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Experiential marketing emphasises emotional benefit to consumers rather than the utility of the goods or service itself.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="80af"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“The experience is the brand. The brand is co-created and evolves with experiences.” (Prahalad & Ramaswamy, 2004)</span></blockquote><p></p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Prerequisites of co-creation</span></h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="d2c3" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There is a multitude of terms discussed in the marketing literature as being either synonym for co-creation, or prerequisites. Whether they sit alongside co-creation or are fundamental in creating co-creation is probably irrelevant — in any case, co-created experiences are collaborative, with customer involvement, engagement and participation. Co-design, co-development, co-production, co-consumption are also discussed as types of co-creation.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d2c3" style="text-align: justify;"><span></span></p><!--more--><p></p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="7e1c" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Application and management of co-creation</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="7a87" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There are many diverse applications for the co-creation in business. With the rapidly evolving nature of technology, this provides new opportunities and breakthroughs in allowing consumers the opportunity to co-create value.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a0e5" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Interaction and exchange of information is a key component of co-creation — series of two-way interactions between the customer and the provider.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="9ad2" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Businesses utilise the knowledge of customers to improve innovation with the co-design and development of new goods and services and customers can customise products or services to fit their exact needs.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="227c" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Processes and resources are set in place for customers to manage their experience to fit their requirements. The amount of information, knowledge, skills and other resources available to consumers will influence their ability to co-create value. One example of this is self-service, where there is a transfer of labour to the customer. The interactive screens at McDonald’s where customers can customise their order for example.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f493" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Online, businesses can use <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">“social media as a real-time interactive channel to co-create value with consumers and develop authentic engagement” (Buhalis & Sinarta, 2019). </strong>The use of online communities helps businesses to engage in digital co-creation to improve customer support, facilitate meaningful relationships with customers, and develop innovative ideas.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3fba" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Goals are set and strategies put in place</strong> for both customer and the provider on how to create shared value. Each industry and customer group will have their preferences and opportunities to co-create value, so this process is ongoing to evaluate the unique situations. Every interaction between makes a cumulative contribution to co-created value.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="bf40" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In the case of co-created experiences such as live sport, the theatre or a concert, the aim should be on creating an atmosphere concurrent to high involvement from customers. Create an environment where different audience types can successfully immerse themselves. In this context, there are three co-creators of the experience: the artist/athletes, the servicescape (venue) and the audience.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="d41f"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Organizations require a long-term view of customer relationships, which does not fit well with the short-term financial goals that tend to drive Western capital markets.” (Payne, Storbacka, & Frow, 2008).</span></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img alt="Co-creation" border="0" data-original-height="1362" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDntkcqVqZKW76ORxyc9sCI3mHOpmrltg4Wc3OgXK9Yb0Iy4dOJd3M0Dsszx5oSvA7w5q9mjMDV-5EQbuXn1ujXQxyhe3lHZXF2OvES5bwaRzycjC5sDGpujDfJM7pXEAj8yLGDNDKSqM/w640-h426/nikhil-mitra-Q_6BS8IN0J8-unsplash.jpg" title="Co-creation" width="640" /></span></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The benefits to customers of co-creation</span></h3><p></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f93a" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Co-creation provides unique experiences for customers. Customers are expecting more personalised and customised services where they can choose how they interact with the firm.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1672" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Co-created value can provide financial benefits to customers, as it can be cheaper for them to design a custom offering rather than paying more and receiving some features or services they do not want or need.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4178" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The biggest benefit to customers of co-create is that it makes them happier.</span></p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Wellbeing</span></h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="7ff4" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The enjoyment of the consumption of experiences increases the wellbeing of those individuals. The collaborative activities of these experiences provide both hedonic wellbeing and eudaimonic wellbeing through the co-creation process. Hedonic wellbeing comes from a sense of pleasure, where eudaimonic wellbeing coming from a sense of meaning. The social benefits from connecting with other people during an experience can provide both these benefits <span class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">(See Hopper, Costley, & Friend, 2015 — YES! That is me).</span></span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e3cd" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If consumption experiences become ‘extraordinary’ (See Arnould & Price, 1993), consumers experience personal growth, self-renewal and heightened feelings of pleasure through the co-creation of this optimal experience. Through ritualised practices, emotional intensity, and interaction with like-minded others, co-creation becomes a part of an authenticating act. This feeling of authenticity contributing to consumers’ happiness — a reward for consumption-related behaviour.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e3cd"><span></span></p><!--more--><p></p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="9516" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The benefit to businesses of co-creation</span></h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="253d" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There are several benefits to businesses who managing value co-creation with their customers.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a914" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Some of those benefits include (See Oertzen, Odekerken-Schröder, Brax, & Mager, 2018):</span></p><ul class="postList"><li class="graf graf--li" name="4f3e" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">High-quality interactions resulting in improved efficiency and effectiveness in operations</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="a634" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Improved relationships and enhanced customer loyalty</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="8daf" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Maximise the lifetime value of desired customer segments</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="678e" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">New sources of competitive advantage</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="0757" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Enhanced knowledge and skills to develop new offerings and improve existing ones</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="fd77" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Shorter time-to-market for new offerings</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="2493" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Increased financial performance of profit margins and sales of new offerings</span></li><li class="graf graf--li" name="81ab" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Improved working environments and teamwork</span></li></ul></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="613d"><div class="section-divider"><br /><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p class="graf graf--p" name="161d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="161d"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this week’s content about co-creation.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3218"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Dan.</span></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3218"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The article was originally posted on the <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/125173/the-co-creation-of-value-how-it-works" target="_blank">BYB Marketing Blog</a></span></p></div></div></section><div class="blogger-post-footer">BYB Marketing - https://brandyourselfbetter.com/</div>Daniel Hopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16097570896266702933noreply@blogger.com0Hamilton, New Zealand-37.7890804 175.2596865-66.099314236178856 140.1034365 -9.4788465638211576 -149.5840635tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7106426518795808874.post-60699379619427268902020-09-10T01:10:00.003-07:002020-09-10T15:04:24.770-07:00Hashtags: How to Use Them to Engage Your Audience<p style="text-align: center;"> <img alt="hashtags" class="graf-image" data-height="3986" data-image-id="1*9CZviGW0TsgxH50Q1Q_WBA.jpeg" data-width="5979" height="426" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*9CZviGW0TsgxH50Q1Q_WBA.jpeg" title="hashtags" width="640" /></p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="5b37">Anyone browsing Instagram is bombarded with hashtags, but how much purpose do they serve on Social Media? Is less more?</h3><section class="section section--body" name="bb1f"><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p class="graf graf--p graf--hasDropCapModel graf--hasDropCap" name="5201"><span class="graf-dropCap">If</span> you browse through Instagram, Twitter or even LinkedIn, no doubt you will come across hashtags. </p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b965">They could be used to define a topic like #Marketing, or it might be something a bit more random like #Dansmarketingtips.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d8c3">But what do they actually do? What is the benefit of hashtags?</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="fc90">Is there such a thing as too many hashtags? </p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5d75">Yes, there is — and here’s why.</p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="858e"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="cad2">What is a hashtag?</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="3df4">A hashtag is a keyword or phrase preceded by a hash (#). North Americans also refer to the hash symbol as a pound symbol (also an octothorpe), and the original use was to mark numbers.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="df92"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“Hashtags have been seen as a way of increasing the communicative reach of a social media text by attracting a great audience who might ‘engage” with a post.” (Zappavigna, 2018)</em></blockquote><p class="graf graf--p" name="2835">Vastly popular on social media, these hashtags help a piece of content become more discoverable by other users. It is a form of social tagging to embed metadata in posts. Social tagging is <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">“the act of annotating a digital text with user-generated tags so that other users can find it” (Zappavigna, 2018);</strong> whilst metadata summarizes basic information about data. A small piece of data about a bigger piece of data!</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d17d">This social metadata facilitates ‘real-time’ search, which is an essential function of social media. It allows users of a social media website to find other posts containing that keyword. Twitter marketing specialist Chris Messina sent the first-ever tweet containing a hashtag in 2007 after pitching the idea to his bosses to help group related Tweets (posts) together.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="85a9">Because of the character-constrained aspects of Twitter (also called microblogging), a hashtag was an uncomplicated way to provide more context for a post without using too many characters. The decision to use the # symbol as it was easy keyboard character to reach on a Nokia phone at the time (remember when people used Nokias!?)</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4a0f">Hashtags have since become popular and spread to other social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, and have even to television and advertising. Some tags have short life cycles if they are based on a trend or cause, while others are relevant over an extended period.</p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="d116"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="c1ed">Functions and benefits of using hashtags</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="a136">The use of hashtags has grown from the initial purpose of indicating the topic of a post to support visibility and participation, to having the additional function of a social resource for forming relationships and communities. Social media users now commonly use hashtags to give interpersonal meanings to a piece of content. Because users choose their hashtags, they inevitably have become personalised and can even start trends. These two broad functions of hashtags providing numerous benefits.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="91dc"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“Hashtags operate as social metadata in the sense that they are a form of descriptive annotation produced by users, rather than assigned by the microblogging service.” (Zappavigna, 2015)</em></blockquote><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="cb9e">Indicate topics or themes</h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="8053">Hashtags are an information-organising tool in the same way as <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/72931/how-keywords-bring-you-customers" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/72931/how-keywords-bring-you-customers" rel="noopener" target="_blank">keywords</a> are for search engine optimisation (SEO). They add context to a social media post and act like a “decentralised, user-generated tagging, organising, and classification system” (Saxton, Niyirora, Guo, & Waters, 2015). A piece of content is classified into a specific topic, theme or conversation. For somebody browsing their feed, a hashtag might capture a user’s attention enough for them to engage in the content, if the topic is of interest.</p><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="fdfd">Help your target audience find you</h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="46c1">Hashtags enhance the searchability of content, by helping people find more content about a topic of interest. Accordingly, it helps a brand create content that their <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/103125/targeting-how-to-make-marketing-more-efficient-and-effective" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/103125/targeting-how-to-make-marketing-more-efficient-and-effective" rel="noopener" target="_blank">target audience can find</a>.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f445">With an added hashtag, a post becomes indexed by the social media network. People who search that hashtag can then find your content even if they are not following you — using highly searched popular hashtags helps a new audience find your brand. Some social networks even let users follow hashtags to help curate what kind of content they see in their feed and make sure it is relevant.</p><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="31a0">Interpersonal hashtags</h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="0243">Social media users now often use hashtags to portray an attitude towards a certain topic or current affair. For example, #getoverit or #supportlocal. Hashtags like this are used to engage with other users and form relationships. These are interpersonal functions — the motivation of asserting opinions and negotiating relationships.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="4fda">This goes against the original function of hashtags, as they provide no value for making a post more findable. However, this makes sense as most social media users are not trying to grow an audience, they want to engage with others. It can show social affiliations, or it can be emphasizing a humorous observation.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="c9de"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“Hashtags remain a popular means of coordinating social media discussion, referencing ideas, cracking jokes and producing metacommentary… The act of tagging, once an act of classification, has emerged as a means of forging and contesting social bonds.” (Zappavigna, 2018)</em></blockquote><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="a498">Hashtag communities & branded hashtags</h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="f9f2">Popular hashtags and especially those created around a specific cause or event often have communities developed around that hashtag. Large scale participation in the sharing of memes, for example, #nekminnit (only New Zealanders may know that one). Organisations can create these hashtags for a specific cause to help raise awareness, such as #BLM or #BlackLivesMatter.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5b83">Creating a personalised branded hashtag can be an effective way to start conversations, personalise your content and make it easier to find. This is a great way to <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/41549/managing-your-brand-to-attract-more-customers" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/41549/managing-your-brand-to-attract-more-customers" rel="noopener" target="_blank">grow your personal brand.</a></p><p class="graf graf--p" name="605a">For example, I hashtag some of my LinkedIn content with #brandwithdan, so if people click on that hashtag, they find more of my content about marketing. I run a networking event called LinkedIn Local Hamilton, and I hashtag those posts with #LinkedInlocalHamilton, so people can find more event content. If people start to follow those hashtags, they automatically get their content. The goal is to start communities around these branded hashtags. But do not use too many, one a post is enough.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="3fb7"><em class="markup--em markup--blockquote-em">“These networks/communities can be ephemeral and arise in response to emergencies and crises, or they can be more stable, long-term communities of practice or knowledge that develop to spread ideas, news, or opinions on a given topic.” (Saxton, Niyirora, Guo, & Waters, 2015)</em></blockquote><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="d131">How to choose hashtags</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="e37d">Now we know the benefits of using hashtags, here are some guidelines to help get the best result from using hashtags. Stuffing a post with 20 random hashtags such as #likeaboss or #dansrandomthoughts is not going to do a post any good. Choosing the right hashtags can be quite strategic. At one end of the scale is using random personalised hashtags that nobody would search for is at one end of the scale, while at the other end are generic and common hashtags.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="93bf">Just using the most popular hashtags is not going to do much good either. For example, if a hashtag has 10 million search results, then the chances of people finding your content are extremely low. They also do not add much meaning to a post or say much about your brand. Use these popular hashtags sparingly.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="7130">The first way you can research hashtags is to check out relevant <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/115793/influencer-marketing-in-2020" href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/115793/influencer-marketing-in-2020" rel="noopener" target="_blank">influencers</a> in your niche as well as your established competitors and see what hashtags they are using often.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="6c55">There tools such as <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://hootsuite.com/" href="https://hootsuite.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Hootsuite</a>, that analyse current social media trends and what hashtags are the best fit for your brand. Other research tools that will help you find relevant and effective keywords in your niche are <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://ritetag.com/" href="https://ritetag.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">RiteTag</a> and <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="https://hashtagify.me/hashtag/smm" href="https://hashtagify.me/hashtag/smm" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Hashtagify.me</a></p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="f9b0"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="a585">Hashtags best practice</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="db41">Knowing how to use hashtags will help boost your brand’s social media engagement. The annoying part is that every social media platform treats hashtags slightly differently. However, some general rules apply across platforms.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="d478">People can use a hashtag anywhere in a post — in the body of text to emphasise a certain keyword, or at the end to provide context to that post. You cannot use spaces, punctuation or symbols in a hashtag. Posts must also be public — if it is private, only followers can find the post, defeating the purpose. Also, do not string too many words together — the best hashtags are short and easy to remember. If a word is difficult to spell, it will not make for a highly effective keyword either. Detailed and specific hashtags will lead to better results than broad ones.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5a01">More is not better when it comes to hashtags, contrary to widespread belief. The world of Instagram has popularised the use of numerous random hashtags across other platforms, even though they provide no benefit or function. Some people on LinkedIn finish a post with 10–20 personalised hashtags. To me, it just seems vain and spammy. Some platforms even penalise content for using too many.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="1af4">Limit the number of hashtags you use. More is not always better. It looks spammy and people tune out from spam.</p><figure class="graf graf--figure" name="5a03" style="text-align: center;"><img alt="social media" class="graf-image" data-height="1027" data-image-id="0*3yVHgDOxOHxniVha" data-width="1400" height="294" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/0*3yVHgDOxOHxniVha" title="social media" width="400" /></figure><p class="graf graf--p" name="4cce">Here are some guidelines for hashtag use on the major social media platforms.</p><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="7b13">Twitter</h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="1bcc">Research has shown one to two hashtags on Twitter is optimum. Engagement reduces when you include more than two. It can be valuable to search hashtags to find conversations related to your niche to be involved in — type the hashtag into the search bar. You can also click on explore and then trending, to find current ‘hot’ hashtags, use any that are relevant to your content to reach a wider audience. People and businesses can also add hashtags to their bio/profile.</p><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="32be">Facebook</h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="7990">On Facebook, it is again important not to use too many hashtags. One or two is the recommendation again. There is no real use in using them on your private personal account as people who are not friends will not find your content, but on a public business page, they can. Because of the privacy of personal accounts, it is also hard for brands on Facebook to monitor the performance of branded hashtags.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="a89b">Inside Facebook groups, hashtags are useful for grouping together content by topic.</p><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="7f1e">LinkedIn</h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="fa2a">Hashtags have only been utilised by LinkedIn over the past few years. LinkedIn does not have privacy on personal accounts which means there is a lot of value in using hashtags to make content more findable by people outside your network.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="bad9">Two to five hashtags are the recommendation, and the first three used in the posts URL to help with search engine optimisation. LinkedIn even suggests keywords for you when you write a post and you can also follow hashtags. Use one personally branded hashtag so people can follow your content is beneficial but use specific hashtags that indicate the topic of a post for your others.</p><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="84c9">Instagram</h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="18f0">Using multiple hashtags on Instagram is more embraced than any other social media platform and even encouraged. In posts, you can use up to 30, but around 10–12 is the sweet spot. In stories, you can use up to 10. People do not use hashtags as a keyword as was their initial intention on Twitter, instead, hashtags such as #picoftheday and #instadaily have become some of the most popular hashtags. Hashtags are more lifestyle based.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="ef2c">Unlike other platforms, people on Instagram often use hashtags in their comments. Because of the vast number of content (over a billion users) and keywords, it is important to know what hashtags are popular in your niche. They are likely to be far different to LinkedIn for example. You can also use hashtags in your bio, so use them more like a keyword there.</p><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="9fe4">YouTube</h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="afd0">As well as adding tags to a video on YouTube, you can also use hashtags in the title and the description. Clicking on one of these hashtags helps a user find more content with that hashtag. Again, there is no point using random personalised hashtags, instead, use them as a keyword. The optimal number of hashtags to use is less than 10, and YouTube will penalise any video that uses more than 15 — ignoring the hashtags and the post may be flagged. YouTube views this as spam. If you do not include hashtags in the title, the first three hashtags in the description will show above the title of your video.</p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="1b0f"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p class="graf graf--p" name="3956">That is the lot for this week’s blog about Hashtags. I hope you learnt something new about Hashtags and implement some changes into your social media strategy that helps you get more engagement.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="76cc">#Seeyounextweek,</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f9dc">Dan.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="f9dc">This content was originally posted on our <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/120490/how-hashtags-work-and-how-best-to-use-them" target="_blank">website blog</a>.</p></div></div></section><div class="blogger-post-footer">BYB Marketing - https://brandyourselfbetter.com/</div>Daniel Hopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16097570896266702933noreply@blogger.com0New Zealand-40.900557 174.885971-66.924848678708855 139.729721 -14.876265321291147 -149.95777899999996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7106426518795808874.post-47164071347421911692020-09-02T15:09:00.003-07:002020-09-02T15:10:20.982-07:00Influencer Marketing in 2020 - Are We Sick Of It Yet?<p></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0dmIyGqEae5YMTYu2L1XQj6k0gA5hZZBWYF6NORZ_NKtRIKQLRLa6M_PWo-_P4JfGafCWXHoA0feqeZJD8HUVwTb8W3HXM50q5SWZiqw8pjfIGBLs_RAxU8aMBZde0BO2bJ_I9RNdw44/w640-h427/diggity-marketing-QFZ_72_NxIQ-unsplash.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Influencer Marketing is one of the biggest marketing trends for the past five years. </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If you spend much time browsing Instagram or YouTube, no doubt you will have come across an internet celebrity with a sponsored post or product placement promoting some random brand. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So how does it all work?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Are Influencers still relevant? </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Or are we getting sick of unauthentic posts from celebrities endorsing a product they don't use? </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h1 style="text-align: justify;">What is Influencer Marketing?</h1><div style="text-align: justify;">Social media influencers are individuals who create content promoting certain brands through social media sites like Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. This is a marketing strategy used by brands who hire these influencers to increase their interactions with their target customers online, increasing their brand awareness and recognition, increasing sales.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">These influencers have built a following online through their prominent <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">personal branding</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>“Influence can be broadly defined as the power to affect a person, thing or course of events. Influence manifests itself in many ways, from direct purchase advice to subtle shifts in perception of a vendor’s credibility.” (Brown & Hayes, 2008)</blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Influencers are people who have built a reputation online for their knowledge and expertise on a topic or lifestyle or because of their status. This reputation gives them social influence in their specific niche or area of expertise/fame, their followers taking note of their actions and opinions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="An influencer taking a selfie" height="360" src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1592329347810-258afdd206bb?ixlib=rb-1.2.1&q=90&fm=jpg&crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&w=1080&fit=max&ixid=eyJhcHBfaWQiOjU1MTN9" title="An influencer taking a selfie" width="640" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Unlike celebrities of the past who often lead very private lives, influencers give followers access to a snapshot of their personal lives. This glimpse into the good life creates a bond and helps influencers to win the trust of their target audience.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">These social relationships become assets for influencers to collaborate with brands to help them reach their <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">marketing</a> goals, as they have the power to affect the purchase decisions of others through their authority and trust of their following. This provides credibility for brands with a shared target audience.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">Social media</a> uses love to feel like they can relate to the people they respect and follow. What better way of doing this than consuming the same products? Because of this, social media influencers can often create trends.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Influencers post content on their social media accounts to advertise the brands through product reviews and endorsements and commonly use product placements. This application of a brand into a “real life” situation (social media is often a little staged) entices their audience to view the product positively.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">An influencer can have as little as 1,000 followers, or the top celebrity influencers now have hundreds of millions. Portuguese professional footballer Cristiano Ronaldo is the biggest, now at almost 240 million followers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>“Social media influencers represent a new type of independent, third-party endorsers who shape an audience’s attitudes through blogs, tweets, and the use of other social media channels.” (Freberg, Graham, McGaughey, & Freberg, 2011)</blockquote></div><h2 style="text-align: justify;">The Benefits of Influencer Marketing</h2><div style="text-align: justify;">The major drawcard of using influencers in a <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">marketing strategy</a> is their ability to give a brand a wider audience online. The following statistics are an indication of the effectiveness of influencer marketing:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div style="text-align: justify;">92% of marketers surveyed believed influencer marketing is effective at generating and converting leads in generating leads (<a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">Influencer Marketing Hub</a>).</div></span></li><li><div style="text-align: justify;">One study found that every $1 spent on influencer marketing produced an average return of $18 (<a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">Oberlo</a>).</div></li><li><div style="text-align: justify;">80 percent of consumers surveyed had purchased a product after it seeing it in an influencer’s post (<a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">Oberlo</a>).</div></li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The use of social media influencer marketing as a public relations and marketing strategy has removed many of the barriers between consumers and brands, changing the way they interact. Brands use influencers as a tool to attract and enhance relationships with their target audience, as many social media users use influencers to help guide their target market with their decision making.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The trusting relationship followers have with influencers means their recommendations are almost as trusted as a recommendation from a friend — one study found <b>“56% of users surveyed said they rely on recommendations from friends, while 49% said they rely on influencers” (See Woods, 2016). </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This recommendation from a trusted influencer strengthens a brand’s credibility and reputation, which can form a relationship with the brand.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Influencers help to <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">increase brand awareness</a> of their clients and broaden their audience through the exposure of the brand to their followers. Brands need to choose a relevant influencer who is popular and relevant to their target audience. They give brands a fresh perspective, as they are already regularly creating unique and engaging content for their audience. Their audience perceives this <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">marketing content</a> as more credible and authentic than traditional advertising due to the trust the influencer’s following has.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Brands can now target audiences through influencers that were previously unreachable through mass marketing. Nano and Micro-influencers often have strong followings and credibility in niche markets and communities that traditional marketing cannot reach.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>“You log onto Instagram and a celebrity confesses their love of Chipotle with a burrito in their hand. Later you are scrolling through Twitter and one of your friends tweets an image with their Starbucks Frappuccino. Both of these are examples of influencer marketing, the only difference being the first one is paid by advertisers and the second is not. This blurring of the lines between what is a genuine endorsement and what is a paid one through content-rich platforms is what makes influencer marketing so powerful.” (Woods, 2016)</blockquote></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">How is influencer marketing so effective?</h3><div style="text-align: justify;">Social media has broken down the barriers between been brands and their consumers. Influencers have made this even more of a two-way relationship, where previously advertising was one very one way.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">influencers promote brands by using them in their personal lives, it does not seem like advertising. The product placements they use in an everyday setting makes brands seem more relatable to consumers. In this sense, influencers serve are a connector between a brand and a consumer.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Through openness and honesty in their social media content, influencers seem authentic, giving them credibility with their audience (We’ll talk about this further later).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Social media followers learn from the example of influencers, and through this observation, people have a higher likelihood of adopting those behaviours. <b>Social Learning Theory</b> (see Bandura, 1969) proposes that people can develop new social behaviours through observing and imitating others.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Electronic Word of Mouth </b>can also explain why using influencers is so powerful — this is any positive or negative statement made about a product or brand online. Word of mouth is one of the most credible and trusted sources of marketing and helps form consumers’ opinions on products and services. Consumers are more likely to have a positive perception of a message from a friend or a trusted influencer than a sponsored post that comes from a company.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: justify;">Types of Influencers</h2><div style="text-align: justify;">Not every influencer has celebrity status. There are four broad categories of influencers:</div><div style="text-align: justify;">1. Celebrities</div><div style="text-align: justify;">2. Industry experts and thought leaders</div><div style="text-align: justify;">3. Bloggers and content creators</div><div style="text-align: justify;">4. Nano, Micro & Macro Influencers</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Celebrities</h3><div style="text-align: justify;">The top tier of influencers is celebrities. They could be sports stars, actors, pop stars or just people who are famous for being famous. The Kardashian and Jenner family the perfect example of the latter, with three of the family (Kim, Kylie and Kendall) in the top 10 most followed on Instagram.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">These celebrity influencers typically have more than a million followers and tend to have a wide range of followers rather than in one niche. The cost to use this celebrity influencers is extremely high, and their followers are not as defined — they often come from all walks of life.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Top 5 Instagram Influencers in 2019 (<a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">https://hypeauditor.com/top-instagram/</a>)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="top 5 influencers" height="394" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/production-sitebuilder-v1-0-7/417/180417/v2lhrfb1/a38a2a569afd4dafb78da7bc15503752" title="top 5 influencers" width="640" /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Industry Experts and Thought Leaders</h3><div style="text-align: justify;">Influencers can also gain their status by gaining it through their qualifications, position, or experience in their area of expertise. They often gain this reputation and respect through having a prominent role in the workplace. For example, although now you could almost consider her a celebrity, New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Adern, has a large following on <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">LinkedIn</a> and Facebook.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">These experts and thought leaders include journalists, CEOs at large corporations, academics and industry experts.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Content Creators and Bloggers</h3><div style="text-align: justify;">Content creators are everywhere on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and even LinkedIn. They typically post a variety of informational content about a topic of interest and build a following through this. These influencers differ from industry experts as they are not in a position of power or have widespread credibility because of their professional reputation. They can be small business owners or just passionate about a certain topic.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">One such niche which is growing in prominence is gaming. Gaming influencers live-stream their games over YouTube or other video platforms and their fans watch to get better at the game. Brands can promote products and offers through these streams to generate <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">sales</a>. For example, a headset or controller brand. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A gaming influencer called PewDiePie has over 100 million followers on YouTube.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Bloggers publish content on topics such as travel, marketing, fashion, lifestyle or business and promote their blog content across various social media platforms. Those with a large following become a credible authority in their niche so their audiences are likely to trust their recommendations.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Nano, Micro and Macro Influencers</h3><div style="text-align: justify;">Nano and Micro-influencers are the other end of the scale from Celebrities. Nano influencers have small followings of under 10,000 and Micro-influencers are the next tier up with between 10,000 to 10,000 followers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">These influencers are typically are normal people with normal jobs, who have become well known because of their content and knowledge in a specific niche. They are credible and their social media following are people interested in that niche and engage often in their content. They have a strong relationship with their following and because of this, they usually do not want to harm their reputation through promoting something that does not fit.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They are likely to become vocal and loyal advocates for a brand and their audience are more likely to perceive their recommendations as an authentic testimonial, instead of the branded endorsement of a celebrity.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">These influencers are perfect for small businesses with modest marketing budgets.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Macro Influencers sit between Micro-influencers and Celebrities, sharing characteristics of both, usually having a following of between 100,000 and 1 million people. A bigger audience than micro but not the same loyal following. Often Macro Influencers found their fame online, through being a content creator on YouTube for example.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: justify;">Current Influencer trends for 2020 and beyond</h2><div style="text-align: justify;">The use of influencer marketing has exploded over the past five years. But there has recently been some backlash against influencer marketing (more about that soon), however, the online search for “influencers” search term itself has seen a 1500% increase between 2016 and 2019 (<a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">https://influencermarketinghub.com/</a>). This shows influencer marketing still has a massive relevance to businesses.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There are still plenty of businesses investing in influencer marketing according to <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">Oberlo</a>:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Nine out of 10 marketers believe that influencer marketing is effective</div></span></li><li><div style="text-align: justify;">93% of marketers used influencer marketing in 2019</div></li><li><div style="text-align: justify;">57% of marketers plan to increase their influencer budgets in 2020.</div></li></ul></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Influencer Fatigue</h3><div style="text-align: justify;">Even though social media users know that brands pay influencers for their endorsements, many are still able to remain a trusted and authentic source to their followers. However, this is starting to change. People are getting sick of plastic and unauthentic social media posts that are obviously staged, where a promoted product is different from an influencer’s niche that they do not even use it. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Why would you trust somebody just saying something just for the money?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="influencer cartoon" height="429" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/production-sitebuilder-v1-0-7/417/180417/v2lhrfb1/c7844a35819a47e7b566bd5c5abf2d68" title="influencer cartoon" width="640" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The growing demand for authentic content from Gen Y and Z has means that some brands are starting to move away from the use of influencers. They want REAL content and that is what they enjoy engaging with.</div><h4 style="text-align: justify;">‘Faking’ Influence</h4><div style="text-align: justify;">The use of fake followers and likes has become increasingly more widespread, where a person pays for artificial engagement and growth to boost their social media accounts. Bots often used to inflate these numbers — Numerous influencers were caught using these services. This artificial following used to ‘trick’ brands into collaborating with them</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I too have been approached many times by direct message on Instagram, asking if I want to increase my number of followers and get a certain amount of likes per post, for a fee.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>“For social media influencer’s whose focus is on lifestyle branding, authenticity is key… The influencer being genuine, honest, and open with her followers. Authenticity allows an influencer to relate with followers on a new level and aids in building a relationship between followers and brands.” (Glucksman, 2017)</blockquote></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Celebrity Influencers are out, Nano-influencers and Micro-influencers are in</h3><div style="text-align: justify;">The influencer game is changing. Celebrity influencers are no longer as popular as they used to be, as brands move toward the use of teams of micro-influencers instead of using one or two celebrities. Nearly 80 percent of the brands surveyed by <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">Linqia</a> said they want to work with micro-influencers in 2020.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Celebrity influencers require a large pay-check, sometimes of hundreds of thousands or even a million dollars per social media post. If the content does not come across as authentic, then the return on investment is not going to be as high as using micro-influencers with a more genuinely engaged following.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Contrasting the perfect image portrayed by many celebrity influencers (how can that be real?), micro and nano influencers create content that is not glamourous or staged. This is a lot more believable.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Influencers are employed for their ability to influence people. Not just because they have a following. Having the ability to influence the decision-making of consumers in a niche is key.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Businesses must weigh up an influencer’s following with their credibility with their <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">target audience</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The internet has allowed the fragmentation of media into small niches and communities. Because of this, Nano and Micro-Influencers are becoming more attractive; with their penetration into these communities where they have engagement and credibility.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">The use of Employee Advocates as influencers</h3><div style="text-align: justify;">A study by <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">MSL Group</a> suggests that brand messages are re-shared 24 more often when distributed by employees than by the brand itself.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Employees can be immensely proud of where they work and happy to spread positive messages about their company and brands. They live and breathe the brand, so often have the tremendous insight they can share that does not come across as staged or inauthentic and they become the perfect candidate for an influencer. Therefore, businesses should encourage their staff to be advocates — especially on a platform like LinkedIn. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They might not have much of a following, but it costs nothing, and a team of enthusiastic staff can have as much reach as one or two paid influencers in their niche.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">That is the lot for this week's blog about Influencer Marketing! I hope you enjoyed this week’s content.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If you're thinking about getting an influencer to promote your brand's products or services, make sure their audience aligns with your target market.</div></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">BYB Marketing - https://brandyourselfbetter.com/</div>Daniel Hopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16097570896266702933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7106426518795808874.post-17047641642514694052020-08-26T16:40:00.002-07:002020-09-02T02:42:00.255-07:00How to Choose the Right Marketing Strategy for Your Business<h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="04c0">A <strong class="markup--strong markup--h4-strong">marketing strategy</strong> is shaped by a businesses’ strengths, opportunities, and goals, and directs the more specific deliverables of the marketing plan.</h4><section class="section section--body" name="9413"><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><figure class="graf graf--figure" name="31e1"><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Marketing Strategy - Blog" class="graf-image" data-height="3072" data-image-id="1*6PsN3X17wvRHuKmgcdE6hw.jpeg" data-is-featured="true" data-width="4608" height="426" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*6PsN3X17wvRHuKmgcdE6hw.jpeg" title="Marketing Strategy - Blog" width="640" /></div><figcaption class="imageCaption"><br /></figcaption></figure><p class="graf graf--p graf--hasDropCapModel graf--hasDropCap" name="4e5d"><span class="graf-dropCap">W</span>ithout a marketing strategy, firms are just chucking a product or service out there, hoping it will work. </p><p class="graf graf--p" name="13d0">Hoping there is a customer for it. </p><p class="graf graf--p" name="afe5">Hoping there is something that sets them apart from the alternatives. </p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2501">Having no strategy is like walking across a desert without a compass or map, hoping good luck will help make it out the other side…</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="ec8f">“Marketing strategy is an organisation’s integrated pattern of decisions that specify its crucial choices concerning products, markets, marketing activities and marketing resources in the creation, communication and/or delivery of products… and thereby enables the organization to achieve specific objectives.” (Varadarajan 2010, p. 119)</blockquote><p class="graf graf--p" name="cd00">This article explores <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">marketing strategy and its key components</strong>. <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Five common business orientations</strong> are also discussed, and how these <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">influence the marketing strategy and dictates the specific activities of a marketing plan</strong>.</p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="1d75"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="15fb">What is Marketing Strategy?</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="0521">A marketing strategy is the overall ‘game plan’ for a business of implementing and reaching marketing-related goals. Focused and achievable; the strategy contains the major objectives, purpose and goals, as well as essential policies and plans for reaching those goals. It is forward-looking, focused on major decisions that affect the long-term direction of the business. It is unique to each business; dependent on their offering, resources, competition and target customers.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2406">This strategy outlines how a firm interacts with the market and its customers. Objectives must consider what a business does well and what they are not doing well, to improve their performance.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="91bd">In simple terms, marketing’s goal is to reach prospective consumers and turn them into customers, or to retain existing customers. To achieve this, a firm must have a deep understanding of their market and the needs and wants of customers. Their marketing strategy is the link between them and their potential customers.</p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="905e">The importance of a marketing strategy</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="e059">If a firm does not have a marketing strategy, it can lack direction. Marketing that is not producing results waste money and the firm lose customers that do not know their brand exists. In an increasingly competitive marketplace, firms must make strategic decisions to increase the chances of making the right decisions.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="4460">“(A Marketing Strategy is) essentially a formula for how a business is going to compete, what its goals should be and what policies will be needed to carry out these goals.” (Porter, 1980)</blockquote><p class="graf graf--p" name="8384">A marketing strategy defines a firm’s plan to improve its performance, accounting for its unique challenges and opportunities. Firms produce their strategy by matching their goals, key resources and core capabilities, with external opportunities and trends, and the consideration of the possible risks they face.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="8b89">Corporate objectives and strategy transformed into a competitive market position through differentiation and meeting customer need more effectively than competitors. Marketing defines how a product or service provides value to customers.</p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="02b3"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><figure class="graf graf--figure" name="e044"><img class="graf-image" data-height="4136" data-image-id="1*tasEyp7J4ZkJAIPHSKY5UA.jpeg" data-width="7352" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*tasEyp7J4ZkJAIPHSKY5UA.jpeg" /></figure><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="66ae">What is the difference between a marketing plan and marketing strategy?</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="120e">The marketing strategy guides a marketing plan by outlining the firm’s vision, direction and goals. A marketing plan outlines the practical details of specific and defined marketing actions, activities and tactics to reach those goals. A marketing plan aims to make the strategy a reality.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="e0e8">Marketing strategy is the ‘big picture’ and has a longer timeline than an individual marketing plan, as it contains key business elements such as branding and their unique value proposition. A marketing plan contains the details of individual campaigns, which could be over a brief period such as six months to a year.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="9b04">“Strategy decisions and actions… concerning a firm’s desired goals over a future time period, and the means through which it intends to achieve them including selecting target markets and customers; identifying required value propositions; and designing and enacting integrated marketing programs to develop, deliver, and communicate the value offerings.” (Morgan, Whitler, Feng & Chari, 2019)</blockquote><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="e648">Creating a marketing strategy</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="45ee">Formulating a marketing strategy can be a daunting process, even for an experienced marketer. How do you know if your strategy is going to work? To maximise their effectiveness, firms should use the following three co-ordinated steps when creating their marketing strategy:</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="b14b">1.<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"> Evaluate</strong> the situation, including internal and external environments. Any competitive advantage should be the basis for a marketing strategy, but it still needs to match customer demand.<a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/90754/using-research-to-better-understand-your-target-market" target="_blank"> Market research helps to understand the wider business environment</a> and define specific customer needs and identify opportunities.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="39f1">2. The next phase is the <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">formulation</strong> of the strategy that matches products/services with customer segments and outlining specific marketing plans for reaching these target customers.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="99c6">3. The final phase is the <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">implementation</strong> of the <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/45161/the-evolution-of-the-marketing-mix" target="_blank">marketing mix activities</a> that provides a competitive <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/98450/positioning-5-strategies-to-stand-out-from-your-competitors" target="_blank">market position</a> and the set of actions necessary to put the plan in place to reach the firm’s goals.</p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="84a5"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="459c">Key components of a marketing strategy</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="e0f9">The goal of marketing is to align a businesses’ strengths and capabilities with customer need. Their value proposition and any competitive advantage should be the foundation of their marketing strategy. These internal factors become important components of a marketing strategy and brand communications. Other key tools and techniques that help guide a marketing strategy through understanding and meeting customer needs are <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">segmentation, targeting </strong>and<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"> positioning</strong>.</p><figure class="graf graf--figure" name="5ac2"><img alt="‘Basis of a Marketing Strategy’ (Drummond, Ensor & Ashford, 2010)" class="graf-image" data-height="422" data-image-id="1*VMuAT1RPNYEvheDXPBJmSQ.png" data-width="548" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*VMuAT1RPNYEvheDXPBJmSQ.png" /><figcaption class="imageCaption"><strong class="markup--strong markup--figure-strong">Basis of a Marketing Strategy</strong> (Drummond, Ensor & Ashford, 2010)</figcaption></figure><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="0f6e">Segmentation</h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="ea6c"><a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/70179/segmenting-your-target-market" target="_blank">Market Segmentation</a> is the act of breaking down a market and grouping together customers who share similar characteristics, behaviours and attitudes. This process helps businesses to understand their customer needs, optimising their marketing, advertising and sales. Creating buyer personas is part of the segmentation process; these are fictional representations of the customer types in your chosen market segment, to illustrate their different personality traits. This process helps match customer wants and needs with your businesses’ ability to satisfy them.</p><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="64e2">Targeting</h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="65a3"><a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/103125/targeting-how-to-make-marketing-more-efficient-and-effective" target="_blank">Targeting focuses all marketing efforts on a defined group</a> or groups of people called a target market. The selected market segments share common characteristics and interests, so are likely to respond similarly to the marketing material. Because advertising and other marketing strategies focus solely on a target market, marketing becomes more affordable, efficient and effective at generating customer leads.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="3271">The targeted customers can be based on existing customers or might be groups of people who overlooked by the competition. If they are profitable, this then presents an opportunity, but it should be long-term to build relationships with customers.</p><blockquote class="graf graf--blockquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="94c6">“The marketing strategy lays out target markets and the value proposition that will be offered based on an analysis of the best market opportunities.” (Kotler & Keller, 2012)</blockquote><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="6597">Positioning</h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="7240">Firms use positioning to communicate their value proposition and create an image of their brand, product or service, in the minds of target customers. This position is relative to competitors, defining how a brand is unique and how it provides a distinct benefit to customers. Marketing communicates this market position, influencing customer perceptions. Before determining their position in the market, firms decide on a segment of the market that they want to target.</p><h3 class="graf graf--h3" name="b4b2">Business Orientations</h3><p class="graf graf--p" name="22c0">A firm’s business orientation is their overall strategic organisational focus, which also dictates its marketing strategy. There are <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">five main orientations: production, product, sales, market </strong>and<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"> societal</strong>. This orientation should be based on the strengths of the firm.</p><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="6861">Production orientation</h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="800f">A firm with a production orientation focuses on efficient production as its key performance indicator. The key concern is on mass production, the economy of scale (high volume), cost control and meeting production schedules.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="2a2d">A production orientation does not use customer needs or desires to guide their strategy but instead focuses on producing high-quality products as cheaply and quickly as possible. This approach assumes that if you create good products at an affordable price, customers will purchase them, regardless of whether it meets their every need.</p><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="772a">Product orientation</h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="251c">Although it sounds similar, a product orientation is vastly different from a production orientation. Instead of focusing on producing a product cheaply, motivation is product development and innovation to continuously improve products to stay ahead of the competition. The idea is that the products are of high quality, so they should sell themselves. Sometimes this means that a firm must try and find a market for a product, as opposed to creating a product for the needs of a market.</p><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="01b0">Sales orientation</h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="68d5">Sales volume is the focus of a sales orientation. Often these firms employ a large salesforce, and focus on <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/83521/sales-versus-marketing-different-roles-but-same-goal" target="_blank">short-term sales targets, instead of a long-term strategy</a>. Firms might implement this strategy after a production orientation, to move stock that did not sell as well as expected. Companies concentrate their resources on marketing and sales instead of customer needs. They are a means to an end.</p><figure class="graf graf--figure" name="3403"><img class="graf-image" data-height="3840" data-image-id="1*oGrKgrrsPc0iE6CGbKlqjw.jpeg" data-width="5760" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*oGrKgrrsPc0iE6CGbKlqjw.jpeg" /><figcaption class="imageCaption">Car dealerships often have a sales focus</figcaption></figure><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="daaf">Market orientation</h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="1fdf">Understanding and meeting customer needs is the basis of market orientation. Also called a <a href="https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/105923/customer-service-why-it-matters-and-10-key-skills" target="_blank">customer orientation</a>, being responsive to customer needs is the key objective. Customer demand becomes the focus for resources, to be able to supply what the market wants. Understanding the marketplace comes before any production or marketing. If a firm moves its marketing strategy to a market-based orientation, it often requires fundamental changes in the organisational structure. A market orientation also considers what the competition is doing as well as a focus on building long-term relationships with customers.</p><h4 class="graf graf--h4" name="9fee">Societal orientation</h4><p class="graf graf--p" name="b79c">The consideration of society’s long-term interests and doing ‘the right thing’ is the focus of a societal marketing orientation. This philosophy dictates that the environment and society become a consideration for marketing decision-making before customer wants or the company’s requirements. Ethical considerations come first, focusing on the impact the firm and its products have on society and the wider environment.</p></div></div></section><section class="section section--body" name="3694"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider" /></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p class="graf graf--p" name="fbb9">This article has explored what a marketing strategy is and how its key components segmentation, targeting and positioning direct a marketing plan and its specific activities.</p><p class="graf graf--p" name="5f40">The five common business orientations production, product, sales, market and societal were discussed and how they influence a businesses’ marketing strategy</p></div></div></section><div class="blogger-post-footer">BYB Marketing - https://brandyourselfbetter.com/</div>Daniel Hopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16097570896266702933noreply@blogger.com0Hamilton, New Zealand-37.7890804 175.2596865-65.078745029898244 140.1034365 -10.499415770101766 -149.5840635