Separating the 'what' from the 'how' in digital marketing

Marketers that align messages with the right communication platforms and take a multichannel approach to campaign strategy can ensure that their content will reach targeted audiences.

All too often, when I meet with marketers, I find out they are planning a new campaign and making a huge assumption that they are going to solely focus on email to get their message out. If I have done my job in this column, then you will step back and no longer make that assumption.

There are lots of ways to get your message out there. Taking time to assess the right channel for each message could pay off handsomely with improved engagement and results.

Remember when you were in elementary school and while learning new vocabulary you had to learn to say the words, write them down, use them in a sentence, and even work them into a story?

Although we really didn’t know it at the time, these multichannel approaches really helped us learn the material - not just for the weekly spelling test, but (hopefully) for a lifetime.

Well, the same applies with campaign offers and content: the more methods and approaches that are taken with marketing tactics, the more memorable campaigns will be. 

If you’re launching a new campaign, a multichannel approach that integrates snail mail, SMS messages, infographic-based ads, calls from reps, social posts, a Web-based diagnostic tool, a call center (outbound or inbound) - and yes - also a few emails, will reinforce your offers and appeal to every learning style.

What are your overall campaign objectives, and who is your target audience?

The first step in any campaign plan should be to determine your overall objectives and target audience specifications.

• Which personas make up your core audience?
• What roles make up the other segments that you’d like to influence?
• What is your audience's current state of mind?
• Do they already know about your company, product, or solution - or are you starting the awareness process from scratch?
• What is your time frame for executing the campaign?
• How will you measure activity, influence, and results?

An engagement scoring model can help you automatically assign points to track activity and influence, giving you a real-time view of your progress.

What content will you use?

Build a content matrix to name all the content you’ll need for each persona and each stage in the customer journey. Note what photograph, design, or other assets you will need, so you can give your creative team a head start on their own strategy and production work.

So often we leave those elements to the last minute, causing our digital agency or in-house creative teams huge amounts of stress, and I have rarely seen stressful creative teams perform at their best.

Will you use in-house or external writing talent?

Now is the time to tee them up for your project. Know that if you give your creative team free reign to choose the channel that might work best, they might have some great ideas about the optimal channel on which to deploy what they have created.

Make sure you are collecting other channel information. You might realize that SMS would be a fantastic way to reach your audience, but if you don’t have many mobile numbers it will be hard to leverage that channel - the same goes for physical mailing addresses.

A great way to make progress is to enlist your call center representatives to help you complete your audience’s profiles. If you have your call center integrated with your digital marketing platform, then any cell phone numbers and snail mail addresses should port over to your digital platform.

Conclusion

Only when you have your campaign targets and objectives, key personas, content framework, and a creative strategy in place, should you begin to think about which channel is best for each tactic. Of course a few will be email, but by adding in other approaches you’ll create a richer experience for your clients and target audience.

Source

Read More

Why the Social Platforms Should Not Kill Their Golden Goose

We are all aware that advertising is the main monetization strategy of the social media platforms. Facebook, Google, and YouTube all rely heavily on their ad sales and ad ecosystem to generate revenue.

Up to this point, the model for running ads on a social platform was quite simple: you create an ad-exchange, allow your users to purchase ad placements at different rates, and those ad placements would then be injected into the feed of users.

The model is straight forward, highly scalable, and fully controllable as a result of it being programmatic. Simply put, if you wanted to advertise on Facebook, you had to go through Facebook, and Facebook had full transparency of every transaction made.

A new world vs. an old model

When the platforms matured, a new model began to sweep across the social landscape, the follower model. Though YouTube had subscribers, Facebook had its fans, and Twitter had, well, followers early on, the talent pool was limited to a handful of celebrities who made the early acclamation to social media, and a few viral sensations.

As YouTube continued to mature, you had lots of talent emerge, but that ad buying was still done programmatically, and YouTube and their ad partners, were for the most part simply selling pre-roll ad spots on content creators’ pages.

As the follower model over took social, talent started to emerge from all directions. No longer were there a handful of celebrities or creators, but now there were thousands. And, as new follower-based platforms like Instagram and Vine emerged, new creators began to emerge before the platforms themselves could formalize their ad model.

Social sponsorship was no longer a tiny ad spend, but was quickly chipping away at advertisers’ digital budgets due to the new available supply of influencers on the market.

Blurred lines: Why monetizing influencer posts isn’t so straight forward

Unlike an ad exchange, the platforms have no visibility of the actual transactions that happen between influencers and advertisers. Even more challenging, assuming that a platform was able to sift through and identify influencers when they talked about a brand, how could they decipher if that influencer got paid to feature that brand?

Even more challenging, how could that platform know exactly how much that influencer got paid and verify the amount? The social platforms have successfully fulfilled their mission of empowering the individuals, and in doing so have made their revenue model moot. Now they are competing with their own users to monetize their own platform!

Don’t kill your golden goose

The seemingly simple response to this would be for the platforms like Facebook to push their own ads harder, and take preventative measures against the influencers and parties acting on their behalf to keep them from excluding the platforms from the transaction.

However, its not so simple. The major platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Pinterest are not the only social platforms out there. Everyday, new social platforms emerge, so the influencers have other options. Most importantly, we are living in an information economy and content is the currency that this economy relies on.

A platform, like Facebook, Instagram, Vine, Twitter, or Snapchat is only as valuable as the content that it hosts. Influencers, are professional content creators and are the ones creating the highly valuable content that us consumers consume. To block, or inhibit an influencer from creating content on your platform is the equivalent of killing your golden goose.

It’s a mad mad multi-platform world

All of this begs the question, why don’t the platforms just manage the influencers themselves? Well, unless the platforms want to get into the near impossible to scale and not-so-clear cut business of talent management, then managing influencers isn’t a viable option.

Even if it was, that would mean that the platforms would have to monetize and manage influencers profiles on other competing social platforms. It is easy to see how this strategy comes apart.

Harmony in monetizing a democratized ecosystem 

I believe that empowering individuals is a good thing, and that if incentives are aligned everyone can win. For example, if Facebook took an approach of leveraging influencers and their agents to conduct sponsored posts, by giving the brands a higher ROI through a new feature, then they can use that extra value created and influencers and brands would gladly pay.

For example, if Instagram allowed for links to be placed in influencers’ captions, which would give brands a more direct path to a purchase and therefore a higher conversion, I strongly believe that influencers and brands would gladly pay for that feature on a per click basis or a flat fee. Either way, Instagram would be able to leverage its users to generate revenue the way they like to generate revenue, programatically. In that case, partners could now sell ads on behalf of Facebook and influencers.

Eric Dahan is the CEO and Co-founder of InstaBrand, one of the leading mobile influencer platforms that connects brands with millions of people in an authentic and meaningful way across all social media channels.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.

Source

Read More

33 Social Media Facts and Statistics You Should Know in 2015

Social media is starting to take off its short pants.

It’s becoming all grown up. In fact, Facebook is now over 11 years old and heading towards platform puberty and is still the standout leader of the pack.

Google with its Google+ platform (with a development cost of over half a billion dollars) tried to take Mark Zuckerberg on, but it has become an incidental social network that isn’t taken seriously by many marketers.

They play there but don’t want to work there.

There are even rumours that Google is going to break it up into separate digital products by segmenting the components that got traction… like Google hangouts and photos.

The emerging trends

The biggest trend over the last 12 months has been the move from earned marketing attention (sometimes called free) to “pay to play”. Another is the impact of social messaging platforms such as Snapchat and Whatsapp that have become “quasi social networks” in their own right.

It’s a social web shift that is driven by a connected generation. If your Mom joins Facebook, then maybe it’s time to play somewhere else. Teenagers don’t want to be dancing with their parents. Right!

In fact the the instant services and chat apps now account for 3 of the top 5 global social platforms.

Facebook tried to buy Snapchat for $3 billion and was snubbed. But then they pulled out $20 billion out of the back pocket and bought WhatsApp. You just have to love deep pockets and a vision of what the future looks like. Mobile,social and alternative messaging.

How does the social web look like in 2015?

The quick truth is that it can be summed up in one word, “mobile”. Smartphone penetration has soared as it the devices have become more affordable and the wireless networks more ubiquitous and faster.

There are now 7.2 billion people on the planet and of those the following numbers make interesting reading.

• There are just over 3 billion active Internet users (45% of the world’s internet users)
• Nearly 2.1 billion people have social media accounts
• 3.65 billion mobile users have access to the internet via smartphones and tablets
• Close to 1.7 billion people have active social media accounts

Source: Wearesocial.net

The rise of non English speaking social networks in China and Russia, such as Qzone, are producing large social networks that exceed Twitter, Instagram and Google+. The traditional social networks as we know them are not the only games in world wide social web town!

So what are the social media facts and statistics in 2015 that are worth checking out?

Mobile social media facts

The developing world has not had the luxury of fixed wire internet from poles and wires. To provide access for the aspirational masses the mobile wireless networks are a fast track to a global world. Put up a tower rather than build an expensive fixed infrastructure.

So the mobile phone has made the web accessible for almost everyone.

• In India mobile devices account for 72% of all web site traffic
• There are 1.65 billion active mobile social accounts globally
• 561 million active mobile social accounts are located in East Asia

Facebook facts

You may scream at Facebook for its dominance and arrogance. But it can’t be ignored.

Tall poppies are easy targets but the reality is that Facebook has cracked the social network code. It’s the ultimate beta business. Testing features in real time and snapping up online apps that push the boundaries of  use experience in a world that is about digital disruption.

• There are nearly 1.4 billion Facebook users
• 71% of all Internet users are on Facebook
• 4.5 billion likes are generated daily
• Nearly 75% of Facebook’s revenue comes from mobile advertising
• Direct uploads of user videos to Facebook now exceed YouTube 

Twitter facts

Twitter is an accidental social network but don’t be fooled. It’s a great brand awareness facilitator.

• Twitter has 284 million active users at last count
• 88% of Twitter users are on mobile
• 500 million tweets per day

Google+ facts

Google saw the writing on the wall but turned up to the party a little too late.

• Google+ cost over half a billion to design and develop
• 363 million users
• The +1 button is hit 5 billion times per day

Instagram facts

This network is owned by Facebook. They saw that social and mobile was a powerful intersection of synergies. They were right!

• Instagram has 300 million users
• 70 million photos and videos are sent daily
• 53% of internet users aged 18-29 use Instagram

Pinterest facts

Pinterest has made the pinboard a virtual activity. It’s female centric and very visual.

• 80% of Internet users on Pinterest are female
• 70 million users are on Pinterest
• 88% purchase a product they pinned

LinkedIn facts

LinkedIn dominates the professional social network segment. It is one of the oldest having started in 2002. Almost the grandfather of social networks.

• LinkedIn has 347 million registered members
• Total revenue at the end of 2014 was $643 million (a growth rate of 44% over the previous period)
• There are over 39 million students and recent college graduates on LinkedIn

Other social media facts

Facebook maybe the biggest and baddest but there are many other social media facts and networks that shouldn’t be forgotten. Both niche and non-English speaking.

• Viber has over 200 million users
• There are 639 million users on Qzone (China)
• 600 million users on Whatsapp
• Facebook messenger has 500 million users
• Wechat is close behind with 468 million users (China)
• Snapchat has been valued at close to $20 billion at the last valuation
• Snapchat has 100 million monthly users
• Russia’s “VKontake” has 100 million users
• Social networks will earn $8.3 billion from advertising in 2015

Sources: Growing social media, Pewinternet.org, LinkedIn.com

What are you going to do?

Social media started with a few players that have now  been empowered by another obsessive technology. Mobile.

The game is changing.

How can you use visual, mobile and messaging in your marketing? Instagram, Snapchat and Whatsapp are disrupting the game.

Looking forward to your comments..

Podcasting provided by Odovox.com

Source

Read More

How To Choose The Right Social Media Marketing Sites For Your Small Business

One of the most important social media marketing tips I’d like to share with you is that you don’t have to be on every single social media channel. In fact, it could work against you to be on certain channels. Why? Because it takes time to do them right, you could spread yourself too thin and – most importantly! – if you’re customers aren’t there, what is the point?

Here are three steps to help you choose the right social media marketing site for your small business.

1. Examine your business needs

With so many social media channels out there, it can be difficult to decide where to list your business. As mentioned above, planning to do every social media channel is not the best strategy. (Having said that, however, you may want to secure your name on the many of the channels, just in case things change.) The important thing is to choose the social media platforms that best fit your business.

As you make this decision, it will be important to look at a number of factors. Taking these factors into account can lead to better engagement with your marketing messages, and better outcomes for your products and services.

Look at your business model as a whole, then determine what social media marketing will suit your business needs. Consider:

• Demographic — Find a social media site where the demographic matches that of your targeted customers
• Messaging — Determine the frequency and depth of messaging you want to provide
• Type of Content — Decide if you want to post text, images or videos
• Advertising — If you have a budget for social media advertising, some sites may serve you better than others

2. Identify your social media goals

Once you know what types of social media will work with your business model, take a look at the goals you have for your business. Social media sites can provide a range of benefits to your business, but if those benefits don’t align with your goals, you may miss out on a key opportunity.

Here are a few questions that can help get you started:

1. Do you want to use social media to reach current customers or attract new customers?
2. Will your posts include a lot of visual content, such as photos, infographics, videos or marketing ads?
3. Are you looking for a social media site that allows you to interact with business partners or other organizations?
4. Are you interested in established social media platforms that have the most users or are you looking to reach audiences who are flocking to trendy, new social media sites?
5. What kind of staying power do you want your messages to have?

3. Choose the right social media platform

Now that you have an idea of what your goals are for social media, you can choose a social media site that works for your business. There are many different platforms to choose from, but often companies prefer to build their brand on established social media channels.

Here is a list of the top social media sites:

• Facebook — Facebook has the largest audience of any social media platform and it gives you the most versatility in the type of content you post. It is enabled for advertising campaigns.
• Twitter — Twitter is a great tool for informing customers with short, catchy messaging. It’s ideal for reaching a discriminating audience, and for promoting partner organizations. It is also enabled for advertising campaigns.
• Google+ — This social media network, which allows for engaged discussion, appeals to a more technically-minded audience.
• Pinterest — A favorite among brands that can offer attractive photos and graphics, this social media site appeals largely to a female audience.
• Instagram — A rising star for companies and organizations, this social media site appeals to a young audience. It requires visual content, such as photos or graphics.
• YouTube or Vimeo— If your company can provide short, engaging videos, a channel one of these video sites may be the right fit.

Source

Read More