Tag Archive for: marketing strategy

Collecting and Utilizing Customer Feedback

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As we live and work in an era of unprecedented global transparency and digital experience-sharing, feedback has never been more business-critical than today. Feedback, both negative and positive, is constantly being shared about companies, products, and experiences. This is referred to as the feedback economy, and as it has grown, it has become the cornerstone of company growth initiative. 

The feedback economy has changed the way customers make decisions and their expectations are at an all-time high. While gaining customer feedback as become a no-brainer for most companies, analyzing and utilizing that feedback is not so simple. 

 

The Top Ways to Gather Customer Feedback 

Live Chat 

One of the best features an eCommerce website can have is live chat. This option allows companies to get closer to their customers by being able to immediately address needs or challenges. Companies can easily identify patterns of any recurring issues, speeding up the process of finding long-term solutions for those issues. There are a number of services that introduce live chats on any website, such as Zopim. You can make the live chat proactive by making it appear on users’ screens whenever they have been a page for a specified amount of time. This increases the efficiency of the feature and the chances of it getting used.

As with all forms of feedback, the quality of company response plays the biggest role in getting real results. Having employees constantly monitoring the chat is important, ensuring all customers’ questions or concerns are addressed promptly and legitimately. To go even further, you can get feedback on the live chat session. A short survey can be sent to the user, asking whether or not their experience was helpful. This can help companies immediately identify the effectiveness of the chat and chat-support personnel. 

Form-Based Surveys 

Surveys are the most basic and common way to gain customer feedback, but there are many opportunities for error when using this method. It’s common for companies to get carried away with too many questions, trying to get as much detailed feedback as possible. QuickTapSurvey discovered that the number of questions and time spent answering questions is not a linear connection. The more questions a survey has, the less time respondents spend on each question. Meaning that the more questions a survey has, the less accurate and reliable the responses will be. There is no ideal survey length, but from what research has gathered, the shorter the better. A good strategy is to make sure that every question has a clear purpose and will fulfill end goals.

It’s also important to include open-ended questions. While multiple choice questions are quicker for customers to answer, the answer choices are based on company assumptions. Open-ended questions give the customer the opportunity to give their unique and long-tailed opinion. These types of surveys should only be sent to engaged users that will take the time to provide the feedback. 

Consistently Monitor Social Channels 

Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn have become an invaluable resource for customer feedback. Similar to live chat, there are a variety of tools available to help companies gather conversations that take place on social media about a brand, and even monitor social presence of companies and their competitors. Social listening is a great way to get closer to customers, improve user experience, and quickly respond to comments or issues. Just as with live chat, time is crucial when it comes to handling questions, complaints, or any kind of negative feedback, as it can spread quickly. Social listening requires resources dedicated to monitoring and responding to feedback, as some companies even turn to third-parties. Feedback monitoring should go even further than just on social media, as there are a number of review-based apps and sites that are valuable as well. 

On-Site Comment/Suggestion Boards 

Suggestion boards take gathering feedback further by allowing users to not only collaborate ideas with the company, but with other users as well. Depending on the type of board used, posts can be upvoted or commented on by other users. This can help companies discover what needs or opinions are most popular among their customers. Simplicity and ease of navigation is important. Users should be able to post and comment without any difficulties. Creating categories, allowing users to view the most popular posts, and making it searchable are all ways to increase efficiency and effectiveness. To get started, invite the most engage users to leave ideas, those that know the brand best and can leave legitimate improvement suggestions. After there is a strong base board, other users can be invited to start upvoting, commenting, or leaving ideas of their own. Real results take time, as feedback isn’t accumulated immediately. 

 

Using Customer Feedback 

Product Improvement 

Being able to identify product improvement areas is one of the best things a company can get out of customer feedback. More often than not, loyal and engaged users have developed an expertise of products and their features, maybe even more than employees. No matter how hard brands try to put themselves in their customer’s shoes, users will still have a different perspective and different ideas that wouldn’t have been thought of. It can save time and resources following user advice. Not only will customers appreciate that they’re being listened to, it can set companies apart from the competition as a business that genuinely cares and implements customers’ valid ideas. 

Prevent Customer Churn 

Negative feedback shouldn’t be swept under the rug or kept silent. This is crucial to improve customer service and experience. Ignoring negative feedback has compounding effects. A customer who has taken the time to contact you about a problem is much more likely to spread that information to others, especially if they were just ignored. Failure and negative feedback is actually an opportunity to foster a stronger and long-term relationship with that customer. Understanding these customers’ problems and ensuring future satisfaction is important. Keeping a consistent two-way conversation open goes a long way, by building trust and showing you care. Responding to negative feedback increases the chances of keeping an existing customer, which is cheaper for companies in the long run, and looks better all around.

Empower Employees

Customer feedback can be used as a driver to motivate employees. If there has been consistent positive feedback about one feature in particular, share that with whoever is responsible and the team as a whole. It’s a good strategy for encouraging healthy competition among staff. Similarly if there is any consistent negative feedback about one specific feature, pass it on to those responsible. They should communicate with the dissatisfied customer directly. It can make employees feel more in charge and encourage them to take ownership of products or features. Sharing interesting feedback can help teams start deeper conversations about products and come up with new improvements and ideas. 

Identify Potential Advocates 

Consistently gathering customer feedback can help quickly identify those that are most satisfied and the most loyal. The next step is to develop those customers into valuable advocates. Get them sufficiently educated and excited about products so they can accurately share and recommend them. Advocates don’t need monetary rewards to be motivated. Give them shout-outs on social media, send them exclusive information, deals, or even hand written notes. New customers often trust other customers more than companies themselves. It’s a good sign if more than just the company is boasting about how great their products are.   

 

Final Thoughts 

Creating a product and marketing it well is only half the job. The feedback economy is growing, companies can take advantage of it by having a lasting commitment to gathering, analyzing, and sharing feedback to anyone that plays a vital role in product and business development. Customer feedback is becoming more and more essential for growth and mastering customer experience. A company that falters in listening to customer feedback is a company that will most likely falter in all other areas. 

 

More From Onimod Global

For more digital marketing tips, updates, and the latest news, check out our blog page here, or learn more about Onimod Global here.

Understanding Different Types of Location-Based Marketing

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The idea of location-based marketing is not new, but it is becoming an increasingly popular campaign strategy for brands to attract both new and loyal customers. As the use of mobile devices continue to rise and advancing technology is at all-time high, location-based marketing has become easier and more effective than ever before.

It is essential for brands to understand the different types of location-based marketing tactics, to be able to utilize them in the best and most fitting ways for their brand.

 

What is Location-Based Marketing?

Also referred to as geomarketing, it is any form of marketing that incorporates location intelligence to improve the odds of specific ads reaching the right consumers at the right time. As we said before, this is not a new concept, but today’s geomarketing activities are much more advanced than traditional strategies. Marketers now have the ability to engage with people when they actually need your products or services, instead of just sending out ads and hoping you can convince someone they need it or that they will keep you in mind for when they do at a later time. The idea is that it will increase your overall return on investment.

 

Types of Location-Based Marketing:

Geofencing

This refers to serving advertisements or content to consumers based on their real-time location. It uses global positioning or radio frequency identification to define the geographic boundary. Once the virtual barrier is established, the marketer can set up triggers, sending out texts, email alerts, or push notifications when a mobile device enters or exits the area.

Geofencing is a way to engage consumers based on a hyper-local location, triggering immediate sales and helping to understand the consumer mindset. There are a number of tools and technologies brands can use to set the parameters and automatically send notifications, ads, content, etc. The most prominent companies providing these capabilities are Facebook and Google. Snapchat also provides location-specific geofilters that brands can utilize to promote events or raise awareness. There are also a number of push notification providers that provide these tools as well.

Geotargeting

Geotargeting is serving advertising and content to audiences that have visited specified locations in the past. Marketers geotarget through mobile devices because they’re always present and location gives valuable insight on the users’ environment and mindsets. Ultimately making it easier to deliver more relevant content, and hopefully increasing likelihood of sales. The central idea of geotargeting is that understanding consumers real-time or past locations, enables marketers to get as close as possible to deliver the right messages at the right time.

Geo-Conquesting

The goal of geo-conquesting is to attract customers away from competitors using location-based ads. These ads can be served to customers who are currently visiting the competition, or have visited them in the past. The idea behind the practice is that a consumer who is or has been at the competitor’s business is already in the market for a particular product. A competitor that can serve a compelling ad that’s close by has a good chance at attracting that business.

For example, Burger King ran a campaign using geo-conquesting tactics by offering one cent whoppers to those that had their app open when visiting a McDonald’s. To use geo-conquesting successfully, brands must be sure to have accurate location-data, but companies in the field continue to boost geo-data quality. Making the tactic easier and easier to utilize.

Proximity Marketing

Similar to geofencing, this tactic uses technology such as beacons, near-field communication, or augmented reality to trigger ads, alerts, or content to smartphones, but only when they are a few feet from a specific location. This is increasingly used as a fast and easy way to make payments. Smartphones can detect close by credit card terminals, and if your card is linked to your phone, you can make a payment without digging for your wallet. Beverage companies are also starting to take advantage of this tactic with new augmented reality apps, such as Living Wine Labels. Users can scan wine labels with their phone, which then turns the label into an animated display while educating them on that particular wine.

 

The Benefits:

Location-based marketing offers a variety of opportunities that can be utilized by all types of businesses because it’s very low cost, sometimes even free. Everytime you create a page for your business on a location-based service, you’re getting free advertising. The more advanced forms of location-based marketing are still very affordable, but are highly targeted, meaning you’re getting the most out of your ad dollar.

You get to better connect with loyal customers, while attracting new ones. You can allow past customers to leave reviews, getting better insight of their preferences. With check-ins you can also reward frequent customers with discounts, deals, or special offers. It also gives you a tangible way to identify who your most loyal customers are. This can show potential business that you really do value your customers, while keeping the existing ones happy. Some companies also use the tactic of offering specials to first time customers, or first time check-ins. Once you have their attention, you can hopefully turn them into repeat customers by showing them all you have to offer.

This also gives you the opportunity to convert impulses into sales and increase business during slow periods. For example, it’s raining and you sell umbrellas. You can send out ads offering deals on umbrellas to those in your geolocation, hopefully catching someone that needs one. You can also send out deals to those in the area during times of the day you don’t normally get very much business. Let’s say you’re a coffee shop near a university and you don’t get many customers from 1-4 pm. You now send texts to students within 2 miles of your business offering $1 off coffee during that time. Even though you’re offering a discount, you’re still getting more sales than before, and maybe generating loyal customers for the future.

 

Concerns:

Some consumers worry about privacy when it comes to GPS or location tracking. A critical step in utilizing location-based marketing is understanding how these audiences are created and how to ensure consumers that their privacy is protected. The data should always be aggregated and anonymized, preventing individual tracking. This is a common practice because there is no incentive to gain from building a campaign around an individual person. It’s best practice to not build audiences off of any sensitive locations, such as anything related to healthcare. Most, if not all, location-based marketing services follow and adhere to the codes of conduct from various industry groups. Marketers generally prefer to reach as many people as possible within their target market. As long as users are aware that they are opting-in to share their location, and that they can opt-out if they chose, there are generally no issues.

 

Conclusion:

Location-based marketing offers unique opportunities and benefits that traditional marketing tactics cannot. Though any successful campaign will rely on multiple strategies and tactics to reach success. While data is extremely critical, content quality is equally, if not more important.

If you’re struggling to generate visibility, reach, or business in general, we can help. At Onimod Global we are experts in digital synergy, creating cross-channel digital marketing campaigns driven by machine learning analytics and human intelligence. Together ensuring your brand meets the consumer when and where they need them. Learn more about what we do here, or contact us today here.

The Ultimate Marketing Strategy for Your E-Commerce Company

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Many e-commerce companies cower in fear of its industry leader, Amazon. In just a few short years this online retailer has grown to gather nearly $178 billion in 2017.

Through several key strategic moves such as its recent acquisition of Whole Foods, Amazon has been able to successfully eliminate or minimize the impact of its competition. This wild success leaves many within the e-commerce industry to wonder where exactly they fit.

Fortunately, changing consumer purchasing patterns are helping to provide and even bigger market for all online retailers. But how exactly does a small e-commerce company successfully compete in this type of fierce environment?

Niche Market Strategy

Many e-commerce companies have found a solution with a niche marketing strategy. This type of strategy focuses on an unmet or underserved need of consumers. Since the need is not being met appropriately, these niche brands are providing services that do just that!

Many would assume that a company as large as Amazon would have it all, right? Wrong. Brands like Boxed, Brandless, and Dote are all filling in this needs gap, and as a result that have each seen pretty remarkable results.

Boxed

Boxed works to deliver bulk consumer goods without any sort of a membership fee. This company recognized that urban consumers struggle to purchase in bulk because of a lack of transportation.

Many people living in large cities do not own or regularly use a vehicle, instead opting for public transportation. This makes it impossible for such travelers to lug home bags upon bags of products.

Boxed perfectly caters to this need by providing large amounts of bulk goods delivered right to your door in a conveniently short amount of time. By carving out this specialized section of the market, Boxed has been able to enjoy substantial profits after finding ways in which they can reduce damage rates to packages, according to Adweek.

Brandless

The company Brandless has been able to achieve many of the same positive results by implementing its own unique niche marketing strategy. Brandless primarily operates as a company that provides complete honesty and transparency to their customers.

Brandless carries thousands of products that do not have any association with a particular brand. This generic packaging and advertising cuts significant costs and allows consumers to bypass the usual marketing jargon and head straight to the actual product and its contents.

This strategy is effective for two reasons: it saves money and it makes the consumer feel more informed and aware of the products they are purchasing. Such abilities have been incredibly popular with the Millennial generation.

Dote

This company specifically targets young women by creating a “mobile mall” that they can shop through using their phone. This single platform combines apparel from more than 130 retailers, which allows consumers the ability to shop through thousands of different items all at once without having to travel to each individual website.

Dote has succeeded in creating a personal and comprehensive experience for their users, and it is all easily accessible to boot. Consumers have become so enthralled with Dote that according to Adweek, they visit the app an average of 3.9 times a day.

Conclusion

All of these brands have achieved greatness, even in the wake of powerful e-commerce giants like Amazon. The key is to differentiate in any meaningful way that you can. While this may not necessarily be the one and only strategy, it does seem to be quite effective.

For more information on marketing strategy, please visit the Onimod Global news page! Our content creation specialists regularly publish new content relating to current industry events and trends.

4 Statistics That Should Impact Your 2018 Online Marketing Strategy

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2018 will be a critical year in terms of marketing with all of the constant changes happening within the industry. Therefore, having the right marketing strategy in place will ensure that your organization doesn’t fall behind in 2018. The importance of online visibility in today’s digital world should never be overlooked, and it’s an aspect that many businesses lack. Listed below are four marketing statistics from various sources that will help shape your marketing strategy for the year ahead.

1. Repeat E-commerce spenders spend twice as much as new customers
Customer loyalty is huge, and it’s no surprise that repeat customers are far more likely to purchase more from your business. According to an article from Neil Patel, the “average E-commerce spending of repeat customers is $52.50 compared to $24.50 for new customers.” Moreover, effective E-commerce strategies will be crucial in 2018 and being able to generate solid customer relationships will most likely result in revenue increases.

2. The number of advertisers using Facebook is now over 3 Million
Facebook is an extremely effective digital marketing channel, and if utilized correctly it can greatly increase the ROI for your business. Investing plenty of time and money to the social media giant should definitely be a component of your organization’s marketing strategy, as it will pay off in the long run. According to a report from Statista, “the number of active users on Facebook worldwide has now reached 2.13 billion.” Another interesting Facebook fact found by WordStream is that “the average cpc on Facebook across all industries is $1.72.” Ultimately, there’s a reason that Facebook now has over 3 million advertisers, as the platform can be very rewarding for you business if used correctly.

3. Over 90% of shoppers’ purchase decisions are influenced by social media
It’s no surprise that social media is important when it comes to potential consumers and what influences their purchase decisions. A study from Iron Paper found that “approximately 93% of purchase decisions are influenced by social media, and that 90% of users trust peer recommendations.” Businesses that have caught on to this trend have seen increases in sales and overall ROI. It should also be noted that image focused platforms like Instagram and Pinterest offer a huge opportunity for businesses to showcase products/services to help influence purchase decisions.

4. 87% of internet users own a smartphone
The overwhelming usage of smart phones has revolutionized the entire advertising industry. Mobile marketing is not the future, it’s happening right now. The Global Web Index found that “87% of all internet users own a smartphone” and that “there are 9 new mobile users added every second.” Therefore, there must be a major focus on mobile responsiveness in any marketing strategy. It’s essential regarding your organization’s website in terms of user friendliness and ranking higher in search engine results.

Contact Us
If you’re business is in need of digital marketing expertise this year in 2018, Contact Us at Onimod Global. Check out Our Work and see what digital solutions we have to offer! We look forward to hearing from you!

2017 Year in Review: Digital Marketing

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As we near the end of 2017, we recall many of the new ideas and innovations that this year brought to us. In digital marketing, there have been many changes. Digital marketing is centered around change, as it is required for this industry to live and thrive. Now we take a look at some of the biggest changes to digital marketing in 2017.

The Move to Mobile

This past year saw an incredible shift in user preference to mobile devices. It has grown to such a height that mobile search has now overtaken desktop search. The trend began early in 2017, but did not slow down at all. 33.3% of all transactions from Cyber Monday were completed on a mobile device. This mobile activity is up nearly 17% from the previous year.

It is also worth noting that age does not matter when it comes to mobile. Most people assume that the only demographic utilizing these mobile technologies are younger generations. In reality, older consumers are regularly active on digital devices. In fact, 50+ year old consumers had a 12% growth in smartphone usage over the past year. Read more in our article, “How to Reach Senior Citizens Using Digital Marketing”.

Competition Between Social Platforms

In 2017, each major social platform was vying for the spotlight. Twitter attempted to increase their numbers by doubling the character limit from 140 to 280. Sadly, this change did not produce the desired effect they were looking for, as their Q3 reports showed another decline in activity.

Snapchat focused on increasing advertising revenue. Their ‘Snap Pixel’ gives marketers better insight into consumer behaviors, which is certainly valuable when forming any kind of marketing strategy.

In the end, one social media platform came out on top in 2017. There can only be one winner, and this winner is Facebook. Facebook provides a larger audience, better targeting options, and superior results when it comes to digital marketing. Their resources and refined tools cannot be outdone. It is also very likely that their success will only continue to grow in the upcoming year.

The Importance of a Marketing Strategy

Digital marketing has become much more calculated. As the industry grows, experts are looking to make the most precise decisions when it comes to their digital marketing efforts. This means that anyone serious about digital marketing should be using a well thought out marketing strategy.

Long standing organizations have the benefit of possessing a history of data. This data is invaluable. Past behavior predicts future behavior. So, data can show you exactly what decisions to make, without much risk of failure.

However, if you do not have a large database to fall back on, it is best to begin with broad objectives which are then refined over time as you begin to notice what works and what does not. For more detailed information in creating a marketing strategy, please take a look at our article, “Create the Perfect Digital Marketing Strategy”.

Digital Permeation

As the digital industry continues to grow, it expands across many other industries. Digital marketing presents all businesses with the ability to better market their products and services. The main advantage is digital marketing’s low cost. Of course, digital marketing campaigns can become expensive if desired, but most campaigns produce results for mere pennies on the dollar.

This advantage has allowed digital marketing to infiltrate every area of business possible. There are no real limitations when it comes to digital marketing. Any organization looking to sell their product to a specified target audience can do it.

As a result, digital marketing strategies have been developed for entire industries. Food, healthcare, metal fabrication, you name it. All of these industries have been affected by digital marketing, and will continue to be affected in 2018.

Maximize the Potential of Your Social Video Marketing Strategy

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Consumers are constantly shifting toward the convenient. This is exactly why popularity of video content has soared in 2017, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Users are able to more quickly absorb information through videos, which makes them a very attractive form of advertisement and promotion.

Advertising Implications

The world of digital marketing and advertising revolves around innovation. The goal is to continually adapt to the needs/wants of the consumer in order to be better able to promote products and services to them. Video marketing is proving to be a very effective method in accomplishing this exact objective.

An infographic by Rendrfx states that over 22 billion videos are viewed daily between Facebook (8 billion), Snapchat (10 billion), and YouTube (4 billion). Another statistic that they boast is an online video ad viewer attention rate that is 18.3 times higher than that of T.V. commercials.

The numbers do not lie. What’s more is that daily use of videos is only expected to increase in the next several years. So how can marketers and advertisers best utilize and optimize this trending marketing medium?

Social Spaces Are Best

Social medias have become a wealth of opportunity for digital marketers in recent years. It is a perfect way to tap into the daily activities of target consumers, and to appear as native as possible in advertising style. The more an advertisement looks like a normal piece of news feed foder, the better.

Facebook has become the single most dominant force in social media marketing. With over 2 billion active users, and more than $40 billion made in 2017 from advertisements, according to Statista, it is clear that Facebook is running the show when it comes to paid social media marketing.

Adweek contributor Aubrie Richey wrote a great article on how to get the best value from your Facebook video marketing campaign. Her article is summed up here in the following 5 tips:

  1. Design your ad in a mobile format to best reach potential customers.
  2. Keep the length of your video between 15-30 seconds.
  3. Do not stop being adaptable and flexible with your content!
  4. Your video does not need to be perfect. A less refined video will make the ad seem much more genuine and appealing.
  5. Use video as a supportive piece of the overall customer journey.

More From Onimod Global

This article is only one of the many that has been produced by the Onimod Global content team! We are relentlessly searching to find the most accurate and up-to-date information to keep you informed of what is going on inside of the ever-evolving digital marketing industry.

To read through more of our articles, please visit our blog by clicking HERE. We hope you enjoy reading through the best that our digital marketing experts have to offer!

Marketing Strategy Advice From Forbes Contributors

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We have compiled articles discussing marketing strategy that have been published on Forbes over the last couple of weeks. While we offer plenty of our own digital marketing advice here at Onimod Global, it never hurts to get another perspective. So, what do the experts have to say about building up a successful marketing strategy?

Flywheel Effect

A flywheel has many different spokes. This same principal design can be easily transferred to marketing. As Lisa Allocca described in her Forbes article, “The best marketing results come from integrating marketing activities from different spokes of the marketing flywheel to see success.”

Each aspect of a marketing strategy (search engine optimization, social media marketing, paid advertising, etc.) represent a spoke of this flywheel. The specific spokes may vary depending upon the goal of the business, but the idea remains the same. All strategy objectives are equally important to achieving the organization’s overarching goal.

Rule of Seven

The same article by Allocca brings another significant strategy to light: the rule of seven. The basic meaning of this rule is that in order to effectively market any product or service to the target market, it must be repeatedly presented to them at least seven times.

This rule is by no means a new idea. It has been discussed for years as a surefire way to make a lasting impact upon consumers. Unfortunately, this rule is quickly and easily forgotten by most marketers.

This once again brings us back to the flywheel analogy. It is critical that your marketing strategy does not overlook any components just because they are simple to understand and execute. You need every piece of the puzzle, not just a few.

Big Wins vs Consistency

Forbes contributor, Same Page, debated the pros and cons between a high-risk and high reward marketing strategy compared to a low-profile and consistent marketing strategy.

Page noted that many people recognize the riskier organizations that target the biggest fish in the pond. After all, who doesn’t remember the horrendously creepy Burger King campaign from last year? Consumers had a violently negative reaction to the King, and the ads were quickly pulled off air.

Positive results are not impossible with a risky strategy. As Page pointed out, the Dos-Equis campaign that followed the day-to-day lifestyle of the “Most Interesting Man in the World” was a huge hit.

On the other hand, we have consistent marketing strategies. Page brought attention to several brands that many consumers pay little attention to, but are still achieving success year after year.

In the end, Page concludes that the main aspects to consider when deciding between these two types of marketing strategies are, “your product, the customer base you’re marketing to, how risk-averse your company is and how creative your marketing team is.”

Changes in Future Marketing Strategies

As digital technologies continue to advance, marketing strategies are sure to change in the coming years. Brian Solis describes his expectations for the future of marketing in his own Forbes article.

Solis breaks down modern day consumers and their recent marketing trends into the following 3 categories:

  • Availability of Information
  • High Expectations
  • Impatient Attitudes

These 3 trends represent the shift going on in marketing right now. Consumers have more information at their fingertips than ever, and there is no where for brands to hide.

Expectations are also growing higher and higher as organizations adapt to the consumer and their every need. Brands that cannot or will not adapt to these needs will soon be left behind and forgotten.

The desire for instant gratification is also rapidly growing among consumers. This is a very logical standpoint because who would really want to wait around for any kind of product or service when they have the option to get it immediately? The faster brands deliver, the better.

As patterns of behavior and attitudes shift among consumers, it is important that marketing strategies shift along with them. Any resistance to these changes will only have negative impacts upon the brand itself. So what are you waiting for?

How to Run a Successful Cause Marketing Campaign

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Cause marketing is a relatively new term. What it boils down to is a campaign led by a large organization in order to help fund a charitable project. This idea began with American Express back in 1980.

Historically

The credit card company decided to launch a campaign that would donate a portion of each American Express transaction to fund the restoration of the Statue of Liberty. The results were wildly successful as the company generated over $1.7 million for the restoration project, and the card’s use rose 27%.

Since this marketing milestone, many other large businesses have followed suit, and have achieved the same success. But how do they do it? Sure, everyone loves a good cause, but that is not all there is to it. Follow along for deeper insight into cause marketing and how your business can reap its benefits too.

Find Your Cause

The first step behind a cause marketing campaign is to take a look at how your brand is associated with a certain cause.

For instance, Dawn dish soap has been partnering with wildlife foundations for years. Most notably, their soap was instrumental in the rescue of thousands of animals after the giant BP oil spill in 2010. This kind of direct link between grease-covered ducklings and dish soap is exactly what your business should be looking for.

Positive or Negative?

The outcomes from positive vs negative advertising have been debated many times over. While a review of 100+ scientific studies from Wiley found no definitive difference between the two approaches, there is still more to the story.

Certain types of industries tend to have different reactions to these two methods of advertising. Negativity tends to work very well in political situations. On the other hand, positivity relates well to humanitarian efforts.

Ultimately, the direction of your cause campaign lies in the stance that your business wishes to take. Get a comprehensive view on the situation. Do a little research. It may even be worthwhile to run short campaigns in select areas to see which message produces better results.

Social Media

The use of social media in marketing should never be overlooked. For cause marketing specifically, this rings especially true. Once it is time to start running your campaign across a variety of digital mediums, social media will prove to be very advantageous.

As in many marketing strategies, your goal in this instance is to tell a compelling story. The use of photos and videos is a great way to get this message across.

When consumers can actually see what their support it going toward and how they are changing the world, they feel much more drawn to the cause. Many social media platforms are constantly evolving to create more ways in which to share a story.

As mobile usage continues to skyrocket, we see users spending less time looking at each individual post on their social media feed. So in order to get your message across, you need to do it quickly and effectively. Continue reading more about the benefits of mobile advertising with our article “Why Mobile Matters.”

Conclusion

A cause marketing campaign should always start with your business. How can it help? What can it do? Once you find a connection, find your viewpoint. Determine how to tell your story, positive or negative. Finally, start sharing that message across every digital space you can think of to get people involved. This is how your company can achieve success through cause marketing.

How to Create the Perfect Digital Marketing Strategy

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The key to a great digital marketing campaign is the well thought out plan behind it. If you try to launch any campaign without specific directives, it’s likely that you will waste a lot of time and money without producing any real results. This is why many businesses turn to a digital marketing professional. The experts at Onimod Global are here to assist you, and provide insight into what it takes to put together a high quality digital marketing strategy.

Persona Development

Every marketing strategy should be focused around the consumer. The first step in your strategy is to identify who this consumer is. Many professionals outline a buyer persona because it has been proven to be a substantially more effective marketing method.

The persona allows you as the marketer to develop a much more detailed description of your ideal target audience. These details include goals, challenges, interests, and personal priorities of the consumer.

Campaign Goals

In can also be beneficial to ask these detailed questions of your own company and product. Clearly defining the final objective is essential. Much of the strategy will be built around what you eventually hope to achieve with the digital marketing campaign.

While most plans are structured around conversions and sales, there are a wide variety of other goals to be considered. Increasing brand awareness through simple traffic and reach campaigns can be very effective. It is also common to launch campaigns with the intent to gather positive reviews about a product or company. Make sure that you are considering all of your options before moving on to the next step.

Measurement

Your measurements will depend upon the chosen objective for the marketing strategy. Determining the overall success of your digital marketing initiatives will be shown through key performance indicators.

Common key indicators are conversion rates, click-through rates, and overall impressions. If your campaign spans across multiple platforms, it would be wise to link them all together in Google Analytics.

Analyze

Google Analytics is a wonderful tool for digital marketers. This program allows you to combine all of your data into one easily manageable source. After letting all of your ads run over the course of a few weeks, you should have plenty of solid information regarding your marketing efforts. Once the data is compiled, it is easy to glean insights about the campaign.

Analytics provides an opportunity to compare all marketing mediums in use side by side. This way you can clearly see if the Facebook ads are outperforming the Bing ads. Looking at the overall performance of these many platforms can help you see which is most successful, and which is not.

Revisit and Readjust

Now that you possess tons of information and insight into your digital marketing activities. Using analytical tools you should be able to pick out details about the different ads and how they are running across different platforms.

With this information, you should be able to determine how to best spend your ad dollar. Trim the fat of the campaign and eliminate poorly performing advertising options. Or, you can try to rewrite your ads completely and start fresh.

Whatever you decide to do, now you know how. A new plan must be created every step of the way. They do not all have to be incredibly complicated or intricate, but they do need to be intelligent business decisions. The key to any advertising strategy is to have one. Plain and simple.

3 Deadly Digital Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

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Digital marketing is often much more difficult than many people think. You can’t just hand over a marketing department to any millennial with a laptop and a Facebook account. You need a trained professional. Onimod Global is here to help with a quick list of marketing mishaps to steer clear of.

1.) No Clear Marketing Strategy

This is without a doubt the most effective way to sink your company. Moving ahead with digital marketing initiatives without any type of real game plan is detrimental. Not only will it waste time and money, but some of the damage may be irreversible. It can be very hard to change a consumer’s perception of a business once they’ve already interacted with it. After all, no one gets a second first impression.

Make sure to develop a real strategy before making any major moves. Consult with real professionals outside of your business. You may also want to seriously consider hiring someone full time to run your marketing campaigns. Digital marketing is not something that can be learned overnight. It requires real experience and education to be implemented successfully.

 

2.) Limited Social Media Exposure

First of all, you need to make sure that your brand exists on social media. Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and Instagram are just a few to get started. If you aren’t on these 4 basic platforms, then you are most certainly missing out on an enormous customer base.

Being present on these various platforms is invaluable to your brand’s identity. They are also completely free, aside from the time it will take to get them up and running.

If potential customers cannot find you anywhere on the internet besides your website, they may think that your company is a scam. Social media is a perfect way to build up a solid foundation and spread the word about your business. It is also a great way to push your content.

 

3.) Not Enough Content

The more original content you generate, the better. Whether in the form of a tweet, blog, or newsletter, these all have the potential to gain more traction for your business. This is a great way to get people interested in what you have to say.

Every extra minute you spend inside of a particular platform helps you gain more knowledge and credibility. Engaging with others is a great way to prompt them into engaging with you. The more time that you spend tweeting, retweeting, hashtagging, and following major influencers, the more recognition your brand will receive.