There's. An old saying if you don't know where you're going any road, will take you there. Unfortunately. This mindset has grown prevalent, in the AIDS of social marketing, surveys. Show that many brands are unsure, how to execute, an effective, integrated. Marketing, communication. Strategy and, even, less sure how to measure their, success to get. The most out of your IMC, efforts, start. With a SWOT analysis, which. Stands for your brand strengths. Weaknesses. Opportunities, and. Threats. Central. To this conversation, is one question, what. Specifically. Are you trying to accomplish with. Your marketing, strategy, first, we start with strengths, what. Is your brand good at you'd. Be surprised, how many brands, don't know the, best brands, however, highlight. Their strengths, in every, marketing, message for, instance because, of good branding, we all know that Apple is good, at innovation. Disney. Is good at family, experiences. And, McDonald's. Is good at creating the same customer. Experience, at every, location across. The globe if, you're unsure of your own strengths. Use, customer, and employee surveys. Analyze. Your capabilities. Determine. Your resources, and study, your processes, this, fresh data will also help you with, our second, item weaknesses. As. We all learn from the story of Achilles, in Greek mythology, it's. Important, to understand, your weaknesses, and to protect against, them because, ignoring. Them could be fatal, often. Turning a weakness into a strength is easier. Than you think you, just have to listen look, at Lego for instance for. Years people complained, that they didn't support fan, communities, or offer, more kits featuring. Pop culture, icons. Finally. Lego, listened, and today. Their brand is even more popular, inclusive. In the verse than, ever third. Invest. In opportunities. The best brands, see opportunity. In every, social technological. Or, industry, change and, they. Embraced them amazonian, gives us a clear example of this in action they, looked at the popularity, of streaming, content and, saw, an opportunity to, create, and deliver their own they, looked at emerging, drone technology and, saw, an opportunity to, revolutionize, delivery. And with. Prime they, saw an opportunity to, roll some of their best selling, points into, a profitable. Subscription-based. Model. Fourth. Identify. Threats. Over. The past several years we've. Seen plenty of examples of, brands that fail to take external. Threats seriously just. Look at what happened to Kodak when, digital cameras, storm the marketplace, or. Blockbuster. When streaming content. Transformed. The way people rented movies no. Matter what industry you're in nothing. Stays the same forever, the, quicker you can identify threats. The, better prepared, you'll be to, transform. A threat into. An opportunity, finally. This, leads us to your next step using. Your SWOT to create your brand value proposition. Now, that you know where you want to go as a company, it's time to ask yourself what. Kind of brand can you create to, get you there your, brand value proposition. Must reflect what you do and believe.
You. In marketing. Your brand value, proposition. Is a lot like your golf swing it's, easy enough to understand. But, it takes countless, hours of, patience. And practice to, master a strong. Bvp, doesn't. Just give your customers, a reason, to choose your brand it. Also drives, things, like messaging, special. Offers, sponsorships. And community. Events and even, our D so, just as the golfer, gets out to, the driving range for practice let's, refine, our BVP game with, this five-step. Process. Step. 1 set, project objectives. And scope, a good, be VP starts. With a clear, plan. Central. To this process are two questions, what. Value, do we deliver to our customers and, why. Do our customers buy from us your. Answers, should not only be reasonable. But also actionable. And with, an unwavering, focus, on your, target personas. When, considering, scopes, start, designing, a balanced strategy, that includes, content, marketing, social. Employee advocacy. And both, traditional. And earn media, step, 2 to. Find your possible, be VPS, this, is the first thing people associate. With your brand, for, instance, apple. Offers peerless. Design. Nordstrom. Offers, superior customer, service and Walmart. Offers the lowest prices, around, what. Does your brand do whether. Your be VP is functional. Or emotional. Your, customers, must relate to it if you're a tech company for, example do, your customers care, more about performance, and, simplicity, or, your. Commitment, to green and renewable, technologies. In this. Phase focus, on idea, generation, and keep, your options open, step. 3 refine. Your bvp. Narrowing. This down begins. With qualitative. Analysis, namely. Talking. The customers, what. About your brand resonates, with them what. About your competitors brands. Resonates, with them don't, forget them social. Channels, to get a better understanding. Of current conversations. Surrounding. Both your brand and your, industry, next. Use, quantitative, analysis. To supplement, your findings, current. Market research customer. Needs data Net, Promoter scores. Competitive. Analysis, and insights, from your marketing, team all, offer, great, data sources, step. 4, develop. Messaging, architecture. For key segments, so. Now that you've refined, your bvp, it's time to get the message out but, how your. Messaging, strategy, should account for industry, standards, your, customers, known preferences. And a little bit of good old-fashioned, creativity. So, remember, your goal is the foster, of fundamental, belief system, about your brand that, is deeply, rooted equally. In both data, based strategy, an authentic.
Storytelling. Step, 5. Determine. Your expected, outcome, as, Seth, Godin, says in a, world of too many choices and not, enough time it. Is easy for people to ignore you you. Need to be remarkable. In. Other words Godin, likes to say your, brand needs to be like a purple, cow both. Conspicuous. And intriguing. Recently. CBS, decided, the pivot strongly, in the direction of health and wellness so. They changed there. You. Chances. Are whether, you sell cogs sprockets. Or gizmos, you're, probably not the only brand, that does the. Question that prospective, customers. Want to know and, that you must always be prepared to answer is, simple, what, makes you so special why. Should someone buy from you and not from another brand with, a similar, product, according. To recent route who initially proposed, the concept. Successful. Brand positioning. Amounts. To owning a piece of your customers, mind. And most, importantly, holding. On to it just. Like the homesteaders, of old once. You've staked out your claim you've got a defendant, by highlighting, your brand's quality, innovation. And value so, how can you do this first. Develop. A strategic positioning. Document, since, brand positioning. Is essential, to, your organization's. Success this, is no place to cut corners, your. Goal is to review, as much existing. Market, data as, possible, here. Are some essential questions, to answer in your document, what, is the market for your product, what. Similar, products, are out there and how is yours the same or different, how, do your competitors, brand themselves. Who. Is your target buyer persona, once. You can answer these questions, you can determine which segments, will, be most receptive, to your offerings, and begin, to position, yourself accordingly, second. Write. Your positioning, statement while. Your strategic positioning. Document, should be as in-depth, and thorough as possible your positioning. Statement should. Be simple, your, goal is to create a clean, concise. Statement. Of how, your audience should perceive, your brand the. Statement, can be used to, do the following. Provide. A blueprint, for marketing, and product development. Focus. The efforts of all marketing, and development, activities, and. Precede, the development, of sub strategies, such. As trademark. Selection, copy, media, promotion, and distribution so. Let's use an example to illustrate the, format, ideally. You want your position, statement to read something like this to, the, target market Brand, X is the, brand of competitive.
Framework That. Provides, meaningful. Point of difference see. It's, short simple, and gets right to the point here's, an example of how DirecTV. Might, follow the same template, for, serious football, fans let's call them football, fanatics. DirecTV. Is the only entertainment, service. Provider, that offers, subscribers. Every NFL game, every. Sunday in high definition. Finally. Don't forget to test your statement, and someone, who is literally tested, hundreds, of concepts, over the years with, consumer, and business audiences. Alike I can't, overstate the, value, of hearing, directly from your target audience, any. Format, where customers, can interact, with their brand works. Traditionally. This has come through focus groups since. The core of your statement, is your point of difference your, primary, concern is, to see how audiences, react, questions. You might want answered include, does, your audience relate, to the point of difference that you've identified, does. Your audience see value, in the, consumer, benefit, your highlighted, is your positioning, statement persuasive. Does, your positioning, statement remind. Your audience of, any other brands, if so who, ideally. Through this process both. Your marketing. You. Personas. Are all about the who know, not the famous rock group but. Everyday consumers, like you and me this, isn't to say that marketers, and the who don't. Have anything in common in fact, in their 1978. Song, who. Are you the who repeatedly, asks, the same question. Today's, marketers, ask of their consumers, who, are you buyer. Personas. Matter in, a nutshell knowing. Who you're selling to makes, it a lot easier to sell to them this. May not sound like a revolutionary. Concept, but, of course the best brands, are often, the most diligent. Buyer. Personas. Give, a face to all that demographic and market, data you've, painstakingly. Researched, and collected. Since. You don't sell the data points, personas. Help you develop a winning human. Messaging, strategy, your. Mission, is empathy the. Goal of buyer personas. Is to provide an authentic, impactful. Customer, experience. Personas. Help you get in the mind of your buyer, building. Up a--they for their needs or concerns and, pain points, the. Best marketing, departments, create, personas, not. Just for their buyers but, also for those likely, to influence, the, purchase decision, for. Example, the University focused. On attracting. High school seniors, we. Build a persona for prospective, students, and adults. Who might influence the students, decision, such, as parents, teachers. And coaches here's. How to get started building buyer, personas. First. Gather, buyer, data, what. Are your customers saying, about your brand your, competitors. Or your industry at large data. Can come from a variety of, sources including. Demographics. Psychographics. Geography. Purchase. Behaviors, social. Media behavior, and independent. Observation. Social. Media listening is another, great tool whether. Through review, sites like Yelp or, public, facing channels, like Twitter today's. Customers. Offer plenty, of frank, unfiltered. Insights, in, to their preferences, and buying, habits. Second. Assemble, your team the. More Minds you have on the task the, better good. Persona, brainstorming. Sessions, are lively, and open to all ideas the. More conversation. You can generate the, more nuanced, your persona profiles, will, be, create. An environment, ripe for input by encouraging your team to, leave their phones at the door and to, be prepared to speak third. Create, a story. Think. Of the buyer personas. As the heroes of your brand story here, are some questions to get to know your personas, what. Is their name what. Do they do for work where. Do they do for fun what. Are their buying habits, what. Are their hopes dreams. And, aspirations. Where. Do they look like, how. Can your brand reach them at different points, in the, buying stage is. Your customer, b2b, or b2c and. In either case who. Influences. Their buying decisions, what, are their pain points and, how, can you alleviate, them and finally. Revisit, and revise. Creating. Buyer personas. Is not a one-and-done process. Customer. Needs market, conditions, media. Habits and pain, points, all can change in other, words always. Be ready to ask who. Are you and know. That the real. You. Let's, say you're an online shoe, retailer, sales. Have gone well the past couple of years but, lately you've noticed, they've been slipping, after, some research you, learn a few things first. Your site is still getting a lot of traffic in fact. Prospective. Customers, are filling, up their digital, shopping carts that's. When you notice that a lot of people are abandoning, their carts right, before buying, without. A doubt you've just discovered, a customer, pain, point but, what exactly is it and what can you do to solve it first.
Brainstorm. Possible causes. What. Could be causing so, many people to get so close to buying only. To change their minds, could, it be a poorly designed checkout. System, on your website or, your competitors, offering the same product, at a cheaper, rate what, about incentives, or buyer rewards, programs. Perhaps. Your customers, are, going someplace else, for more enticing long-term. Benefits, these are all promising, possibilities, but, it's important, that you gather more, information, before jumping, to any conclusions, this. Brings us to our second, step check, the data good. Brands, collect data here. Are some information streams, to check are you. Encouraging, customer, feedback, if so when and how often further. What kinds of questions are you asking where. The visitors go after, leaving your site are, they going to your competitor sites, instead, what. About industry, data this. Is a great way for determining. Whether your challenges, are part of a larger trend or. Unique, to your brands, in the, case of the shrinking shoe, sales you. Learned a few things, customer. Feedback indicates. Positive. View of your brand overall, but. Lower marks on price this. Seems odd since your prices, are generally lower. Than your competitors, who's, reported, earnings are still growing. Clearly. Some key information is, still missing third, try, social, listening customer. Feedback, is helpful but, not everyone, is going to be honest with you fortunately. Social, channels, offer great, new ways to get unsolicited, feedback. Checkout, conversations. About your brand on channels, like Twitter Facebook. Or, Instagram if, appropriate. Ask, questions, but your main goal is to just listen. What, are content writers saying about you industry. Or consumer, blogs can, be very helpful for identifying problems. What. Are consumers, saying about you and your competitors, on social review sites, after. Checking out the conversation. Around your brand you, learned that people really, like your selection. Especially. Your exclusive, offerings. Then. Something, catches your eye, reviewers. Are constantly, praising, the shipping, and return policies, of several, of your competitors, it looks like you may have just found, your pain point you've, learned that customers, like your brand and selection. But. Have had hang-ups on price leading, to a lot of abandoned, shopping carts that, they're looking into it further you realize, that the, price point wasn't, just the cost of the items themselves, but. Rather the, cost of shipping not. Only are your shipping rates higher than your competitors, but, your system for returns and exchanges, also. Leaves something to be desired so. Your new goal don't, just fix the pain point beat. Your competition at, their, own strengths that, said make sure your solution, doesn't, create any new pain points, in the, process. You. What's, your story and what are you doing to tell it in, the early 2000s. Ups was looking for a new marketing, campaign, something. To reestablish the, brand as a premium, international, shipping company. Unfortunately. The marketing, team was stumped, and when. Leadership, pressed them on the issue the, team basically said, what, can we do we're a brown company, from, the other end of the room a member, of the upper management, team shot back oh yeah well let me tell you what, this brown company, can do then he launched, into a speech about UPS's. Commitment. To quality, its strong sense of identity and its pride in its distinctive. Brown trucks, everyone. Could feel the electricity in, the room and as the manager finished, his speech, everyone. Realized, they had captured the very essence, of the UPS story, and they, found their new slogan what. Can Brown do for you according. To Stanford, professor, Jennifer ocker stories. Are up to 22, times more, memorable, than facts alone in order for something to be meaningful, relying, on logic, just isn't enough we have to connect emotionally as, well so.
Let's Talk about storytelling, and, how it can help you unlock, the, emotional, core of your brand first. Start. With the why thought. Leaders simon, Sinek said it best people. Don't buy what you do they buy why you do it the. Most successful. Brands build the why into, every, piece of content, they create Apple. Dares customers, and employees to think different, IBM. Enlists, stakeholders, to create a smarter, planet MasterCard. Provides, the keys to priceless moments. For, their customers, to cherish, forever, to. Put the why front, and center follow, sanics Golden Circle start. With the why follow. With the how and drive, it home with the what this, way the emotional, connection, comes first, second. Let's talk a little bit more about emotional. Connection, according. To the Harvard Business Review. Customers. With an emotional, connection can. Boost a revenue, profitability, by 25, to 100. And more, than just satisfied, customers, so, how do you build these connections, here's. A tip, according. To Nielsen, 92%. Of, people trust, peer, and family, recommendations. More, than they trust any other source so. To determine whether, you're building emotional, bonds with your customers, measure. Conversations. About your brand who's, talking, about you what are they saying and what, kinds of content are they sharing third, ask which. Is better creation. Or, curation. If your, goal is to create emotional, connections, what, do you think is better content. Your design in-house, more, curated, content produced, by third parties, naturally. When you create your own content, you have better control on, the message and the, quality, enabling. You to put your story front and center however. This doesn't roll out content, duration just. Remember, two things one when. You're curating ask yourself, whether the content, mirrors. Your own brand story, two. When you share others content, include. Your own commentary. Upfront to, personalize, the experience there's. One last thing to think about as you set out on your storytelling. Journey, invite. Your audience to be co-creators. Of your brand story, remember. That social marketing, is all, about two-way, interactions. Not one-way, monologues. You. Seth, godin once said content. Marketing, is all the marketing, that's left today's. Consumers, want helpful. Easy-to-understand, content, and they want it on their terms, if they, sense you're just trying to pitch your product and not add value they'll, happily take their business somewhere else so.
What Is content, marketing we, define content, marketing, as the creation and distribution, of, content across, all relevant, touch points focused. On delivering, the right content, to the right person, at the right time and place put. Another way, content marketing lies, at the intersection of, the, content, that brands, like to publish and the content, that consumers, and prospects. Actually want, so, how do you develop a compelling, content marketing, strategy here. Are five steps to build a content, strategy blueprint. That is scaleable, to your business, reduces. Marketing, spend drives. Revenue and, increases. Visibility and, brand, recognition. Step. 1 conduct. A Content audit, compelling. Content both informs, your audience and serves, your business goals a Content. Audit helps you determine the, priorities, and to identify potential gaps, does. Your supply of content, and map to your buying stages is, it relevant to your target personas. And is, it in sync with your brand value, proposition. Most. Importantly. Is your content easily accessible. And all, of your audience's, preferred touch points, step. 2, remember. Your brand value, proposition. Effective. Content marketing links, your bbp to, your brand story, ask. Yourself, the following questions. What. Value, do we deliver to our customer, why. Do customers buy, from us why. Should they care step. 3 target. Buyer personas. And your, story, who. Do we want to reach at, the, core of your content, marketing strategy is, your target persona, the. Better you know your buyers the more compelling, your messaging, strategy, next. Focus, on a good story, not. Only are good stories more memorable, they can make the complex. Simple. Identify. The core, story at the heart of your brand create. Narratives, that feed the story and customize. Your content, to suit different touchpoints, step. For sourcing. And managing, content research. Shows that the more valuable, content, you produce the. Better it is for your brand when. Considering, how to feed your content, stream taken. All the above approach with the following, sources, your. Employees, customers. Ad. Agencies. And crowd, sourcing, remember. While quantity, speed, and efficiency are. Very important, don't. Cut corners on, quality. Regardless. Of who produced it each, piece of content should represent the best your brand has to offer while, delivering rich, customer. Experiences. Step 5. Build, your content team, and start publishing common. Roles in an effective, content team include, the following content. Creators, channel. Managers, designers. Curators. Editors. And SEO. Specialists. In most leading brands, content, teams are driven by, a chief brand choreographer. Who, works to ensure consistent.
Integration. Across. Touchpoints. And finally. The most critical, tool in your publishing, arsenal is the, editorial, calendar, the, best brands, think like publishers, timing. The release of their country. You. They, say that great ideas, come to us when we least expect, them like driving, in our car relaxing. On the beach or even taking a walk since. Great ideas, are the key ingredients a great content, the question, is how, do you keep the good ideas, flowing the. Best creative, teams have regular, opportunities to. Come together and pitch new content, ideas themes. And formats, that align, with your brand's goals, here. Are some tips to help your team, green. Means go, leave your critical, mind at the door after all the goal is to generate as many ideas as possible build, an idea vault most, likely, you won't be able to act on all the good ideas at once it's, always, good to save a few gems for later bet, the winners now. That you've identified a, good, set of ideas it's time to narrow them down so, ask yourself, which ideas, are most relevant, to your target personas. Which. Ideas, are most helpful or, address. Specific, pain points. Do. Your ideas align, and represent, your brand story, after. Generating, a set of strong ideas, it's time to develop your content and fuel, your supply chain here. Are five potential, sources. Number. One your customers, some. Brands that do very well with customer, focused content include, Southwest, Airlines, HubSpot. And Ford. Others. Like GoPro and redbull have staked their brands, on either user-generated. Stakeholder. Inspired, or community, based content, this, could come in the form of testimonials. Or a live stream event, whatever. Your typical buyer might prefer, number. Two your ad agency, the, role of the traditional ad agency, has shifted somewhat, in the digital age however. There's, still a great resource, for valuable. Compelling. Content to. Get the most out of your agency, make sure they're up to speed on your business, your, products, and branding, goals share. The ideas, you generated, in your brainstorming, sessions, and see what they can come up with number. Three employees. With. A social, employee advocacy. Program. Your brand has access, to a diverse group of people who, are in sync with your mission vision and, values, further. Their, passion, for your brand and regular, interaction. With, stakeholders. Provides, much-needed, insight, into, your, audience, and improves. Your brand, reach through, employee networks, whether. Your employees, are curating, or creating, content, this, authentic, approach will help drive your message, beyond, traditional, marketing channels number. Four in-house, creative talent, recent. Data shows that marketing. Departments, are increasingly, looking to, in-house, talent for their content needs not. Only can it be more cost effective afford, greater control, an, able quicker turnaround but, your content, creators, will also have a deeper, understanding of. Your brand products. And services. Number five crowd, sourcing crowd. Sourcing has come a long way in recent years the, key to understanding, how to engage creatives. Who know your market have a track record for engaging, customers and, know, how to create compelling content as, part. Of your regular content, mix crowd. Sourcing can help you deliver affordable content. Both, quickly, and with minimal risk if, you're. Known as an engaging collaborative.
Brand Talented. Content, creators, will leave it the chance to work with you at. The end of the day think of content, sourcing, up. You. In football. The best quarterbacks. Are always ready to pivot to a new strategy to keep their opponents, guessing, even. At the line of scrimmage they, can call out on the spot changes, to improve their team's chances, of winning the. Best marketers, take a similar approach with. Their paint owned and earned media strategy. Today. Flexibility. Is key and knowing your audience is, more, important, than ever running against so many new and emerging cost-effective. Options, traditional. Approaches, simply aren't bringing the same returns. Especially. If you're not tied to, a broader branding, effort so if this is the case what, strategies. Do work in, today's marketing, climate, first, we'll look at General Electric's unambitious. Campaign. In, 2016. Ge released, a series of videos, that challenged. The wisdom of common, sayings, in one, video GE, engineers, prove. That a snowball, does really have a chance in hell in another. They show audiences, how to capture lightning in a bottle a third, example illustrates. That you can in fact fight. Fire with fire, these. Short YouTube videos, were accompanied, by empowering. Brand, messages, like, we love doing things that supposedly can't, be done or, imagined, all of the other impossible. Things that we can do to. Produce these projects, ge marketers, not only had to come up with a fun concept, but, also enlist the knowledge, and talents of their engineers, the. End result made for viral, ready conversation. Starters, that both humanized, the brand and demonstrated. Their ingenuity, and value. As a company, next, let's take a look at an integrated, CO branding, campaign, between Audi and Airbnb. Also. In 2016. Audi and Airbnb, teamed. Up for a video called desolation. In it you see a family, living out in the desert, realizing, they're out of coffee so, the father gets in his out er age sport coupe and zooms, off to a tiny coffee stand in the middle of nowhere, just. As the husband realizes he's, forgotten, his wallet another. Audi pulls, up the. Window lowers, his wife says, forget. Something George and they, speed off toward, the home the, commercial, ends by informing, viewers, that, this could be reality, they. Can actually book the house in question and drive, the Audi's through Airbnb so. Here's what you can learn from these examples. Don't. Blow your budget on paid media just. Like a quarterback, can't, keep going to the same play, brands. Just can't buy ad time and, hope for the best data. Shows that customers. Are increasingly. Willing to, pay a premium to avoid ads, brand. Choreography. Helps, vary your PlayBook. Optimised, own channels. GE. Ot and Airbnb, used blogs websites. And, social media to, engage their audiences, coupled. With a good content, marketing, and social, sharing strategy. Own. Channels. Can generate more attention, and better, engagement, than paid channels earned. Media is word-of-mouth, on, steroids. The, videos in these examples, are short fun, and ready to share this. Is great because research, shows that people trust, peer. Recommendations. Such as shares, retweets. And user reviews, more, than any other form of media while. Paid media certainly has its place a strategic. Focus on owned and, earned, media can. Inform. You. What's. The best mode of transportation, a bike, a horse, or, a car well. The answer depends on your needs a bike. Is great for exercise, and running, small errands around town, horses. Are great for wandering, the countryside on. A sunny afternoon while. Cars are certainly your best bet for a cross-country, vacation. Traditional. Media works much in the same way there's. No single best way rather. There are several, potential best, ways depending. On your budget marketing. Goals and target, audience here. Are 10 tips to help guide your traditional, media decisions. Number, one how, do your customers like to be reached not, sure just. Try asking them you'll, be surprised, at how many are happy to tell you as former. Ford CMO, Jim Farley, once said customers. Are spending as much time with the mobile smartphone. Or, online. As they are watching TV now so. Our advertising. Dollars have to flow to where the people are number. To match your message to the media a, one-size-fits-all. Messaging. Approach is risky. In any era but. Especially so since, the rise of social media whether. You're designing ads, for TV radio, or print make. Sure you're playing to the inherent, strengths, of the, format, for, example the power of TV is sight, sound, and motion radio. Brings the theater of your mind into play number. Three be creative, a big. Ad buy during the Superbowl, won't, amount to much if your commercial, fizzles, on arrival.
To Help, ensure you have a winner on your hands revisit. Your brand value, proposition. Focus, on what makes your brand unique, and above, all be authentic. Number. Four test. Test, and test, in an, era of crowdsourcing. Testing. Your marketing, message is in a matter of how but, a matter of how much mix. Things up as much as you can and feel free to use social media channels, to test, your ideas, concepts. Logos. Visuals. Layouts, and messages. Number. 5 attention. Spans are fleeting the, average person, is exposed, to hundreds, of marketing. Messages every day we, decide quickly to engage those messages or, to ignore them your. Goal is to be engaging, but. Don't be intrusive, number. Six don't, be taxing. Paid. Media is becoming a tax that many consumers, don't, want to pay remember, it's, better to leave audiences, wanting, more than, the overstay, your welcome, number. Seven paid. Media complements. Own media, while, your paid media should be strong enough to stand on its own it should, also invite customers to learn more and own, media sources, such as your website blogs. Or, social channels. Number. Eight make. An emotional connection, whatever. The media choice your audience needs to connect, with your message to, strike the right emotional, note tell, a story and focus. On what makes your brand unique, number. Nine know, your options we. Live in what some call the tread digital, world remember. That your traditional, ads don't exist in a vacuum and work. To balance your message across channels, and, number. 10 know, your audience the, marketers, goal in an IMC, world hasn't, changed, you still need to know who, you're selling to this. Is why it's so important, to have a strong brand value, proposition. And develop. Action. You. Who, are you marketing, to people or, robots I know, the answer may sound obvious but, you'd be surprised, at how many brands, overlook, this in their digital marketing efforts, in a, digital economy we. Cannot forget the human side of the customer, says, Cheryl Burgess CEO of blue, focused, marketing, the. World is becoming increasingly digital. And as, traditional, media struggles, to stay relevant brands. Are realizing, that the digital movement, isn't, just some fad it's, the future so, how can you embrace digital channels, to build a dynamic brand, and foster. Rich customer. Experiences. Here, are three suggestions. Number. One know, your audience think. Of it this way if, you set up a hotdog cart at the bottom of the Grand Canyon you might get some foot traffic now and then but, who really wants to buy a hotdog in 100, degree weather anyway. Recently. The auto industry, realized, that customers, were spending, less time at, dealerships and more, time researching cars online. Specifically. They found that while YouTube, powered, a huge, percentage, of customer, research, automakers. Represented. Only about 5%, of industry. Related content, knowing. This made the goal simple, for leading automakers, share. Relevant content, on YouTube, and guide, prospects. To, interactive. Sites that, combine both product, features with, local, listings it. Wasn't, rocket science just. Smart marketing, number, to go, visual, the. Brain actually processes. Images. 60,000. Times faster, than text, to, get your audience's, attention get. Visual, after. All you've got plenty of options. Infographics. 360. Panoramas. Virtual. Reality, and augmented reality, memes. And animated, gifs of course, let's, not forget both live and prepackaged. Video which, remain, a brand's, most important. Source of visual, content recent. Data shows, that while online video revenue, is growing, faster, than any other form of advertising only. A quarter, brands, actually use video, to market their, products, further. According. To Cisco about. 75%. Of mobile traffic will, be video by, 2020. And speaking. Of mobile traffic, number. 3 it's.
Time To embrace mobile. Did. You know that roughly, two-thirds, of all digital activity. Occurs, on mobile devices. Further. According. To eMarketer about. 20%. Of mobile, use takes, place on apps a number. That has risen sharply in, recent years. App. Use is generally concentrated. Around five, key activities. Listening. To digital audio social. Networking. Gaming. Watching. Videos and messaging. Consider. Which of these categories might. Be a good fit for your brand and then, work to design content. That is eye-catching and, relevant. But not intrusive, recently. Campbell's teamed up with IBM, Watson, and The Weather Channel to, deliver targeted AI, driven. Ads to, mobile weather apps, through. This mobile platform, Campbell's. Delivers, customers, interactive. Soup and food, suggestions, and pairings that are perfect for any weather even. More integrated. User generated, recipe. And food, suggestions, create. A broader, range of suggestions, for customers to try. You. Well, the possibilities. For good social media marketing, are just about endless, here. Are some proven approaches. For making the most out of your marketing efforts, number. One so. What you stand for, stakeholders. Don't follow you on social media to learn what you do instead. They, want to know what, you're all about, in, 2015. Hershey's, realized, they weren't highlighting. Their, social, responsibility. Efforts, they. Knew that social media was a great way to do this but, they didn't want to just jump into the fray without, a plan so. Over several months they coordinated, their efforts they worked with HR on platforms. Like LinkedIn, to. Create a unified, voice and released their first campaign, which, focused, on the efforts, to supplement. The, daily diets of over 50,000. Schoolchildren. In Ghana the result. Better. Visibility, for the brand and better support, for the humanitarian, efforts. Number. To focus. Your content, strategy as, we. Always tell our clients, at blue focus marketing, the brands with the best plans, create. The best content. Intel. Is always improving their b2b, content, marketing game, one. Way to do this is by ensuring that the content, fits the platform. Then. They let the day to do the talking if an unpaid, organic, piece of content, is performing, particularly.
Well They'll. Pay to boost its reach knowing. That it's something the target audience wants to see and speaking. Of target, audience. Number. Three know, your audience and respect. Them, when Wendy's rolled out its line of premium beverages. They. Knew they wanted to reach a millennial, audience but, how the. Answer, get, more specific. As, Brandon. Wrote and VP, head of advertising media. And digital at Wendy's, noted, when, you say millennial, it's, the laziest, way to define, your target, to. Find them by what they actually care, about beyond. Their age with. This in mind they took a right person right place, right, time approach, creating. Hundreds of different pieces of content each. Were the message tailor-made. To specific. Kinds of buyers with, different kinds of likes and interests, why. All the effort well. They knew that if they were to earn their audience's business, they first had, to earn their respect. Ultimately. It, is that final, component, respect, that, will make or break your brand in the world of social media as, hal, connick wrote for the American, Marketing, Association. Customers. Trust must, now be earned at every, turn, these, days when someone doesn't like your service, they're more likely to tell the entire internet than to write a letter, good. News travels fast, on the social web would. Be careful, bad, news travels even, faster, always. Navigate social, channels, responsibly. Focusing. On two-way, exchanges. Shared. Experiences. And authentic. Messages. You. Do, you know how your customers experience, your brand more. Importantly, do you know what they want their experience, to be the, best experiences. Don't happen by accident, but through a process, we call customer. Choreography. Mapping, which, aligns your business goals with, customer, needs and behaviors. While. Customer, choreography. Mapping, is a dynamic. Ongoing, process, it begins with the following, five steps. Step. Number one, assemble. A brand choreography. Task force. Marketing. Is everybody's, job your. Task force should reflect that, fill, your team not only with marketers, but, also with expert, employees, working. In areas such as product, design IT. HR. And customer, service, next. Setup, a 1-day customer, mapping, session. Customer. Engagement, starts with an engaged team so. Do what you can to enliven the meeting by setting, up shop somewhere fun. Then. Define your sessions, vision, goals and objectives, identify. The days deliverables. And get, started, step. Number two, mapping. Session, use. Updated, buyer personas, to help your task force get to know your target customers. Questions. Your team can ask include, the following, what, kind of buying strategies, do your customers often use how. Well is your brand set up to accommodate, them how. Can you support customers. Through, research purchase. And post purchase phases. As you, begin to map out the buying process, remember. That modern buyers move. An increasingly, nonlinear. Path your. Customer, choreography. Maps should, reflect this branching. Out in a variety of roads that, all ultimately, lead back to a purchase, decision, step. Number three, the current state experience, let's. Say you're a hotel, chain that. Offers a host of helpful amenities, to your business minded, guests, such, as comfortable, workspaces, free. Wi-Fi and, complimentary, refreshments, these. Are all great points of difference but, now you must determine whether, they're helpful do, your guests know about, these Amana. Is it easier for them to learn the. Guests enjoy these amenities and. What, would make us more likely, to recommend your, hotel, remember. Good ideas, still require, good execution, your. Job in this phase is the target, areas for improvement, step. Four the ideal. State experience. Now. Comes the detective work. Market. Research social, listening and internal, data are all useful in designing the. Ideal, state experience, at, your hotel let's say that you've learned that, while your business guests, do in fact enjoy, your amenities, three. Out of five weren't, even aware of them this, is an avoidable experience. Gap now. It's up to you what. Can you do to make these amenities, more visible, and to encourage guests, to share the benefits with others, perhaps. Your confirmation, emails or content marketing could highlight the amenities, perhaps. You need better signage, on site or, perhaps your check and staff can, help play these amenities up step. 5. Testing. Your ideas to. Create the best customer. Experience, test. And validate, your ideas by seeking both customer, and employee feedback.
Next. Perform, a cost-benefit. Analysis, to, prioritize, the most helpful and cost-effective. Changes. Finally. Remember, to create accountability. You.
2019-04-06