Tag: Marketing

  • What is Cool? Understanding Millennials

    If you happen to follow us on twitter, then you may have seen the article we recently published called “Cracking the Millennial Code“. While this piece was more oriented towards the issues that Millennials face in their attempt to reshape today’s business culture, it failed to address a popular topic of conversation within the marketing industry–namely that of the Millennial as consumer.

    Why is this topic so important in marketing? Because as Pew reports, the Millennial generation is projected to outnumber the Baby Boom generation by the end of this year. Baby Boomers, who have traditionally been the bread and butter of marketing efforts because of their numbers and generally homogeneous consumer behavior, will soon be replaced by a larger, more diverse and technologically driven generation that by all standards has none.

    Who are they?

    This raises some questions about how marketers should respond to this unruly rabble (of which your author is proudly a member). This conversation, however, did not begin with the onset of social media, or the projected exit of the Baby Boomers from the marketplace. In fact, this generation has been on marketer’s minds for some time–particularly how to mold them into predictable consumers.

    Regardless of their overwhelming numbers, extreme diversity and disparate consuming trends, one thing remains constant: we love to consume. I turn to a Frontline report that aired in early 2001, a period that most would look back on as the twilight of our naivete towards the global community that we have become accustomed to through new media. The segment, titled “The Merchants of Cool” explored the ways that marketers addressed and informed the now dubbed “Millennial” generation’s internal discourse over the question, “what is cool?”

    This conversation, along with the increasingly rapid proliferation of personal technology, has come to the post-modern conclusion that “new” and “cool” are synonymous–just look at the queues outside of your local Apple store next time there is a product launch. What is more interesting is the role that social media has played in magnifying the disparities between early adopters of new products or technologies and the general consumer. This constant tension of trying to stay with the curve, and knowing exactly what it takes to do so, has created a generation whose self worth is quantified by their ability to consume (and qualified by an ever attentive global audience).

    A Trend of Consumption 

    This is an activity that has informed a lot of our existence since the beginning. We were born during a period of relative stability and prosperity, and it shows. In fact, at the time of this report to-be-Millennial teens spent an estimated $105 billion dollars, and influenced their parents to spend an additional $49 billion dollars.  Forbes now estimates that this same generation will be spending roughly $200 billion dollars a year (which if we compare to the earlier figures and adjust for inflation shows that the rate of consumption for millennials (in dollars) has not changed since their teens).

    This revelation is interesting, especially when you consider the fact that nominal wage growth has yet to exceed pre-recession levels, let alone that of 2001. What this means is that the millennial generation puts a high premium on their ability to spend money, far above that of financial stability or independence. It should come as no surprise then that 36% of millennials live at home and the same percentage  receive some sort of financial support from their parents.

    This raises two questions. How long will this trend of spending and consumption last, and how can businesses responsibly manage this enormous consumer base? Hopefully with sustained economic recovery the former will resolve itself as more millennials gain employment with sustainable incomes. The latter, however, appears to simply be a matter of being in the right place, at the right time with a new message that speaks to the sensibilities of this highly dynamic generation.

     

     

     

  • Generational Bias May Not Be Founded

    “Know your audience” is the marketing industry’s equivalent to Socrates’ directive “gnothi seauton” (though perhaps marketing could use a little more self-awareness from time to time).

    Know your audience. It sounds like a simple imperative, especially when big data allows us to see trends that in the past would have seemed unfathomable or strictly hypothetical. This understanding is even more available when we consider all the interactions that occur publically across different social media platforms, providing direct feedback on our marketing efforts.

    Understanding your audience is essential during the brainstorming process before launching a marketing campaign. However, from a practical standpoint it is necessary to know where that audience resides. Traditionally choosing a platform for a particular marketing campaign has relied heavily on demographics, such as using print media and television for Baby Boomers and social for Millennials. But as hinted at in our previous post on multi-pronged marketing, and expounded upon by Liane Dietrich in her recent post on Marketing Land, this arbitrary division of different platforms should come to an end.

    We (Were) the Future

    Oldmancafe
    (via Unsplash.com by Jeff Sheldon)

    Liane writes, “Cross-device behavior is often seen as being associated with Millennials. This young, tech-savvy demographic group of digital natives is known for using multiple platforms to connect with brands, research, and shop for products.” As a member of Generation-Y myself, I understand the point that she makes here. I use Twitter for social interactions, LinkedIn for business networking and Netflix for entertainment. Not only that, my entire career has taken place sitting in front of a computer screen (a little sad, but true).

    Often times the driving force behind this level of engagement across different platforms comes from a generational desire to do things better, more efficiently and to not heed the warnings and advice of earlier generations (for better or worse). In fact, old media in some ways has been dubbed “old” because of its association with its primary demographic. I remember one time when I wanted to get a new bed. I mentioned something about it at a family dinner to my grandmother. One week later, she came back to the house with a bundle of newspaper clippings of different beds. Little did she know that earlier that week, I got a bed off Craigslist, ordered sheets from Ikea and had a custom pillow made on Etsy.

    Change is Happening (Not Where You’d Expect)

    Whether due to the increasing integration of “things” with the internet, increased exposure, or negative feedback like the situation described above, the demographics of those using multiple platforms is changing. According Liane, a study done by ComScore reveals that people over the age of 55 are now the fastest growing group of multi-platform adopters. So it high time that we abandon our preconceptions about where our target audience is. We live in a global society, but it is important to not forget about the generational diversity that exists across different marketing platforms.

  • Maximize Your Marketing Efforts

    Maximize Your Marketing Efforts

    Marketing is a funny animal, especially when it is in the form of content marketing. It is certainly not the most difficult concept in the world by any stretch of the imagination and yet it is not such an exact science that business gurus are mastering it the way they would master something like the art of selling or ad copy. There is a significant amount of trial and error when it comes to content marketing and often times it can be the errors that help us the most.

    Content marketing is something that works a little bit differently for everyone. But the end game for any content marketer, however, is to maximize your marketing efforts in order to increase brand awareness, website visits, and ultimately click-throughs and sales and there are steps you can take to do that.

    Develop a Strategy

    In order to realistically expect any success from your content marketing efforts you need to specify what it is you will be doing and how you’re going to do it. Too many marketers take a random or “shotgun” approach in which they put out a bunch of blog posts, tweets, and email blasts thinking they’ve done their job in generating brand awareness. But while this may generate some results, it will not maximize you efforts. There are specific things you need to understand about your target audience or demographic such as what they care about, what compels them to make a purchase, and what the “buyer journey” looks like for them. When you are able to gather as much information about your audience as possible you can better tailor your content to them and establish a regimented schedule for doling it out to them.

    Use Concrete Information Rather Than Speculation To Make Decisions

    Content marketers tend to be more right-brained than left-brained which is to say they are more creative than analytical. This tendency can often lead them to make speculative decisions about the whats, hows, and whens of their content marketing efforts. They go with their gut more often than using metrics in order to strategize their marketing plan which can end up working against them in the long run (and in the short run if they’re really not careful). Analyzing what has worked well in the past versus what hasn’t and building future campaigns and strategies based on that information may require a little more effort than guessing but it is always worth it as it is a surefire way to see the results you want.

    Learn by Doing

    There is something to be said for having a thoroughly thought-out plan and creating a solid content marketing strategy but without actual execution, none of that other stuff really amounts to much beyond wasted time and effort. There is something called “analysis paralysis” which is essentially getting so caught up in the data that you drown yourself in it trying to come up with the perfect content marketing strategy. Strategy is important as we noted earlier but so is temperance. It is important to strike a balance so that you are not over-planning and under-executing.

  • Marketing – Most Companies are Doing it Wrong (Seriously)

    Marketing – Most Companies are Doing it Wrong (Seriously)

    Most companies would like better results from their marketing efforts. After carefully designing a campaign, and releasing it into the wild, it is not uncommon for a business to find that their expectations for the campaign’s results are not met. One of the primary reasons for this is that the majority of companies fail present the potential customer with a clear, concise, image of the company and its products or services, an image which will invoke the proper feelings in the customer.

    Marketing is not just telling the customer about your product or service. More than that, marketing is getting your customer’s senses and feelings involved with your offering, and stimulating them to want to deepen that involvement (learn more or make a purchase). In order to boost the effectiveness of your company’s marketing efforts, you must use visual, auditory, and other sensual methods to pique your customers’ interests. This is because, as every salesperson knows, customers buy with their emotions, not their analytical minds.

    In its most recent marketing blitz, targeting the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Coca-Cola launched a marketing campaign which ties its soda to the excitement felt by all of those who love World Cup soccer. Its marketing pieces show people engaged in soccer at all levels, from the street level to the pros. Its ads are accompanied by uplifting Brazilian rhythms, punctuated with motivational and inspirational quotes to produce a euphoric effect.

    Let Coca-Cola’s World Cup campaign serve as a guide as you continue to craft your company’s marketing message. Use colors which convey the kinds of feelings your brand wishes to invoke in its customers. Much research has been done on the way certain colors make people feel, and this research can be easily found online. In addition to the visual, present your offering accompanied by music, or rhythms, which convey the feelings your company wishes your customer to feel when they think about your product or service.

    Overall, marketing is about feeling. This single realization should guide all of your business’ marketing efforts. If, on analyzing your company’s current marketing and branding schemes, it becomes clear that the picture painted by them does not convey the kinds of feelings you wish for your customers to associate with your company, it may be time for a reboot. Though starting from scratch, or even tweaking, may involve a significant cost or change in company culture, it must be acknowledged that the only way your company will have the success you desire for it is if your customers are properly emotionally connected with it.

  • The Advantages of Stealth Marketing in the Pay per Call Movement

    The Advantages of Stealth Marketing in the Pay per Call Movement

    Stealth marketing is the latest soon-to-be-overused buzz term that is picking up momentum in the world of performance marketers. It has earned something of an unsavory reputation as a type of underhanded and manipulative form of marketing because of a few unscrupulous individuals who have used the tactics in those kinds of ways. Even the term itself – stealth marketing – carries with it an inherent tone of sneakiness that comes off as something that is designed to line the pockets of advertisers at the expense of their customers. However, stealth marketing – sometimes referred to as undercover marketing (which admittedly sounds just as ominous) – is simply a form of advertising that allows performance marketers the opportunity to market their business without damaging their reputations. Pay per Call promotions are among the most effective means for advertisers to harness the power of stealth marketing, and there are a variety of ways in which they do so.

    One of the quickest and most efficient ways to generate sales leads through stealth marketing is through blogging. Writing short articles related to performance marketing and recommending the specific business in question with the phone number is an extremely effectively way to push a Pay per Call campaign. The articles don’t need to be extensive but they do need to be relevant, and more importantly, informative and helpful. Advertisers create a niche related to the campaign or offer and write the relevant articles around the topic. They then generate a list of businesses that perform best in that niche, establish a solid SEO position, and incorporate tracking numbers.

    Another online avenue for lead generation for performance marketers is creating YouTube videos. This is among the most popular methods because it is relatively easy to do and can generate the quick and lasting leads that every business longs for. There are several other video forums such as Vimeo and Vine that marketers use to showcase their business and phone numbers, but YouTube is far and away the most popular and the most effective. Think of the most effective videos as visual blogs. That is to say, find a niche related to the offer in your Pay per Call promotion, offer some kind of relevant and useful information about that niche, and display your number on the screen throughout.

    Something that requires a little bit more effort and time in order to see results is the “giveaway” tactic. Pay per Call Campaigns and the performance marketers who use them can benefit tremendously from this type of stealth marketing. It involves having your numbers on all possible manner of physical promotional items like t-shirts, coffee mugs, pens, and key chains. These items are then handed out to anyone and everyone in the local community and the word – as well as your numbers – spread, both offline and online. This tactics does not generate the fast leads that online tactics do but for generating leads over a longer period of time, it is one of the best ways to implement stealth marketing. This is far from an exhaustive list of tactics that performance marketers can use but it will definitely get your mind working in the right direction. Advertising is about creativity, not just creativity in your content but also in the way you present that content. There are countless ways to promote your business and many of them haven’t even been thought of yet. A few of the others, well, you just read about them. Now use them and get those leads!

  • Does Your Company Understand Real Time Marketing?

    Does Your Company Understand Real Time Marketing?

    In the Digital Age everything is moving toward being instantaneous. The amazing speed of information generation and sharing means that the fight for a consumer’s attention is heating up like never before. It also means that marketers and advertisers have less time to get their point across to consumers. In the Twitter Age, you should be able to get your complete marketing message to your prospects in the span of 140 characters or less.

    Companies with long drawn out processes are facing increased competition from those which can deliver the same, or similar, products or services in less time. This means a reduction in hedging and equivocating, and an increase in experienced and bold professionals coming together to bring a product to market. For marketers, reduced ramp-up time means being able to literally incorporate today’s headlines into tomorrow’s marketing message. This is one of the reasons social media has grown to such a powerful marketing platform: It allows marketers to respond to their market and client base in real time.

    The companies which survive into the 21st century will be those which are ready to take the chances necessary to make the big score. That may mean trying a new marketing platform, or expanding or contracting the product base. The reason these companies will survive is not because real time decision making is any better than the older, slower model, but it is because this is what the marketplace and customer base demands.

    To read more from Ad Age, click here.