MARKETERS TO FOCUS ON CROSS-DEVICE ADVERTISING IN 2014

There is an increasing number of people using more than one device every day, including tablets, smartphones, laptops and desktop computers. This means it is imperative for marketers to focus on cross-device advertising in order to target users across multiple channels.

More and more marketers in the US seem to understand the importance of cross-device advertising, results from a Conversant poll carried out earlier this year show. Some 59% percent of senior-level marketers and agency decision-makers said that cross-device marketing is the digital tactic they intend to start using more of in 2014. Cross-device advertising is closely followed by video advertising, which was mentioned as a preferred channel by 57% of marketers.

In order to make cross-device advertising an integral part of their marketing efforts and ensure it delivers the desired results, marketers are feeling like they need to delve into the details and improve their knowledge of this marketing method, eMarketer reports. Marketers are increasingly looking to extend their understanding of cross-device advertising, with 70% of industry professionals stating that cross-device advertising is the field they want to learn more about this coming year, according to a survey conducted by Bovitz on behalf of Conversant.

Mobile advertising is a medium that 61% of US marketers want to learn more about and is also the second most widely used marketing channel in the country. Display, meanwhile, emerged as the most popular marketing technique among professionals, coming ahead of social advertising. Social, surprisingly, was not so popular and just 41% of marketers want to know more about it. This is probably because marketers have been studying the trend for several years.

Publisher: Scriptable Solutions
Source: http://www.scriptablesolutions.com/article.cfm?ArticleNumber=128

3 Ways Denny's Tumblr is Doing Social Media Right

Hopefully by now you’ve come across the famous blogging platform Tumblr- popular among teens and young adults alike. Memes, reaction GIFS and humour-based text posts are just some of the content you would expect to find on the site. What you wouldn’t expect to come across however are posts by well-known brands, especially restaurant chains.

Enter Denny’s, who are not only present on the platform but have reached ‘Tumblr famous’ status thanks to their legion of followers. Given Tumblr’s user demographics, one might scratch their head in confusion wondering what a brand like Denny’s could possibly be doing on a site like Tumblr.
Tumblr user sprawlerr found out the hard way when he posed this very question and received a witty comeback from Denny’s themselves:

A reply which garnered over 170k notes and prompted him to eventually delete his account (presumably due to playful user taunts- yes this a common occurrence on the site)
If you think Denny’s reply was a bit on the unprofessional side, then you would be absolutely correct. However, believe it or not- witty posts and comebacks are a prominent part of Tumblr’s culture. Denny’s know this and act accordingly, bringing us to the first reason they are doing social right.

1.They know their target audience and market accordingly

Denny’s have jumped aboard Tumblr’s culture of sarcasm, playful banter and general silliness in order to fit right in. Best of all, everything from their theme to the content they create markets their brand whilst remaining highly engaging and entertaining.

Since blatant advertising would not sit well with Tumblr users, Denny’s (not so subtle) marketing is done via the ever popular GIFS, images and text post format. In fact, their posts are reblogged thousands of times within minutes of being posted, vouching for how popular their content is on the site.

After all, who could resist the urge to reblog some of these gems?

Well, they certainly appeal to the tumblr demographic!

Despite advertising on the site, Denny’s are careful to avoid constantly bombarding their followers with one-way messages. On the contrary, they take the time to not only reply to questions but follow back and reblog content from users. Actions like these go a long way in making customers feel valued while make them realise there indeed is a face behind the name-which brings us to our next point.

2. They hired the right person for the role

At the peak of its popularity, Denny’s Tumblr was being managed by then 23 year old Amber Gordon (via a creative agency) Not only did Amber fit perfectly  into the age group Tumblr caters to, she had the necessary sense of humour and content creation skills to make the job truly her own. It was clear that Amber loved what she did based on the quality and the level of creativity in her posts, proving that passion is integral to effective social media management.

Delegating management to the wrong person could end up hurting your brand in the long run as followers are quick to sense disengagement and do not respond to boring, predictable content. We’ve all come across Facebook pages that resort to posting those unrelated ‘inspirational quotes’, tired humour memes that have been around for ages or even worse, automate their Facebook page so their Tweets are automatically reposted on Twitter. Please don’t be that page, tweets belong on Twitter, no one wants to see them rehashed on their news feeds.

If you get the right person to run the right marketing channels, you’re half way there!

3. They cross promote and repurpose content

What do you do when you’re famous on Tumblr and the content you post goes viral within hours? You cross-promote your other platforms of course! And that’s exactly what Denny’s do on Tumblr.
Their tumblr page prominently features links to their website as well as their other social media channels.

From time to time, they post screenshots of their Tweets (many of which have gone viral) promotions on Facebook, as well as links to their Youtube channel. Expecting the same quality of entertainment, their tumblr fans are quick to follow them on other channels and Denny’s certainly don’t disappoint. One of their most famous Tweets, which spoke to the controversy surrounding cultural appropriation at the famous Coachella festival, garnered over 10k retweets.

The key to cross promotion however is finding the right balance. Different content works well on different social media channels, however if you can find a way to repurpose existing content, especially visual content, you can boost their reach through cross promotion.

So take a leaf out of Denny’s book, thoroughly research your audience, use each social media channel as intended, ensure the right people are running your accounts and if your audience love your content, feed them more great content from your other channels!

Publisher: Scriptable Solutions
Source: Teal Digital

What Marketers Need To Know To Thrive In Today's Market

Last week's BMA14, the annual conference of the Business Marketing Association, featured useful presentations about b-to-b marketing, business growth and storytelling. Here are just a few highlights from the conference, addressing how marketers targeting businesses can better position their brands in today's markets.

1. Don't use yesterday's playbook to define tomorrow. The key to being different and continuing success in markets is to constantly change. This means innovating, reconstructing and rethinking ideas. Build on previous successful strategies so those can become even more effective, and challenge yourself to disrupt the patterns of the past to differentiate your material for clients.

2. Disruption should be relevant and unexpected, but not loud. Disrupting a market doesn't need to be loud and obvious -- it needs to be relevant to your target audience and unexpected. It should give a new lens and insight for the client to rethink the product. Disruption should respect the target audience while continuing to expand the brand and brand values. Disruption should be personal and aim to give people what they want.

3. Use snackable bites. Think about your target audience and give them what they want. Don't bog them down with long pages of words and tons of information. Use small phrases and key terms as "snackable bites," which are more digestible for your audience. Let these bites facilitate the audience's engagement with the information and entice them to read further.

4. Push the envelope. The biggest benefit of disruption is differentiation. Creating something unique and effective by disrupting current standards will pay off. Don't be afraid to take risks and challenge yourself; the best disruption often starts out as an unpopular idea. Continue to develop your brand by pushing the envelope and trying new things.

5. Go mobile. Today is the best time to be marketing because businesses have the capability to be in the right place at the right time -- in people's pockets. With the rapid technological advancements with mobile devices, people are now spending more time on their mobiles than anywhere else. This means incorporating mobile development into marketing because that is where the customers are. However, just because people are on their mobile does not mean they want your message. Targeting a specific audience is the key to being successful with a mobile marketing plan.

6. Quality is paramount. People carry mobile devices almost everywhere, making them a great way to connect with the clients and gain feedback. Ratings and comments are crucial to business because they can show your company exactly how you should improve, what is working and what isn't. This facilitates a speedy turnover of information, pushes constant innovation and allows you to represent your brand well. Use the consumer's feedback to increase the quality of your product and allow for changes and development in the brand. Constantly look for ways to continue to redevelop the product for better quality and service.

7. "Respectation." The idea of respectation is to respect the expectations of your client. Understand their needs, concerns and values so you can give them the best product and most satisfaction. Remember that price is what you pay but value is what you get. Consumers return to your brand for the experience and service you provide them, rather than cheap prices. Make an experience different and unique in order to keep clients returning for business. Define the brand value that best exemplifies the needs of the consumer.

8. Count Numbers and Emotions. In marketing, there is an emphasis on numbers and data, which is important for business but it isn't necessarily the most important thing. Don't discount the emotion of marketing and the importance of customer experience. Being focused on the metrics may cause you to miss the emotional impacts of your product and the emotions are what draw people in and keep them with the company. Phil Clement (CMO of Aon) discussed how cognitive science is driving modern marketing research, which means marketing needs to appeal to both the head and the heart. Things that touch the head and the heart are the things that stick. Build two marketing plans: a qualitative, articulate marketing plan and a back-pocket emotional plan.

Publisher: Scriptable Solutions
Source: http://www.scriptablesolutions.com/article.cfm?ArticleNumber=104

New Posts, Tweets, & Pins for Bibbens Sales and Service

Bibbens Sales & Service, a leading powersports dealer located in Central New York, has commissioned Scriptable Solutions to handle their Social Media Marketing!  Our social media team is geared up and ready to get folks talking about the quality products and services that Bibbens has offered for over 45 years. Look out for tweets being sent your way!



View our web design portfolio to see some of our work.

Author: Scriptable Solutions
Source: http://www.scriptablesolutions.com/article.cfm?ArticleNumber=78

How Long Will It Take To See Results From Social Media Marketing?

Six months. Just kidding! The real answer of course is “it depends.”

It depends on your strategy, what “results” means to you, what you’re willing to pay, what your audience wants (and where), your commitment, and your consistency.

1) Developing a Strategy

It’s pretty obvious, right? If you have a good strategy, you will see results faster than if you had a lousy (or no) strategy. Part of a good strategy involves clearly identifying your audience and where they get their information. If, as a provider of software solutions for lawyers, your ideal customer is a 45 year old man whose hobbies include golf and boating, Pinterest is not going to be your first platform of choice. Not if you want results.

Knowing that he’s in the office from 8am-6pm weekdays will impact the scheduling of your updates. Understanding his concerns and frustrations (keeping track of billable time, etc.) helps you determine WHAT to share. Experimenting (yes, all good marketers experiment) and watching results will help you refine your strategy over time.

This is where the “six months” answer has some relevance. Six months in, you start to have a feel for what is working and what you should tweak for better results.

2) Defining Your Results

“Seeing results from social media marketing” needs to involve more than a vague feeling that it’s working. Start seeing results immediately by keeping track of follower/fan counts, traffic referrals, calls to your special “social media-only” phone number and by using discount codes only shared via social (if these make sense for your business). Expect to see a slow but steady rise over time. Make sure you’re taking advantage of all the ways you can track social media ROI.

Engagement and lead generation can take a little longer and are highly dependent on your strategy and the quality of your content.

If you are looking for more followers, fans, shares, comments and likes (or +1s), focus on creating content people want to share. People share things they feel will either amuse their friends or make them appear “in the know.” Share a mix of both. You should start to see some action within a month or so.

On the other hand, if you hope to generate leads from social media, you need to make sure your website is well optimized for lead generation and that you regularly share links to your landing pages or to blog posts with effective CTAs. Share powerful visual updates that entice your fans to click through to see your site and download your offer. If one image and set of teaser text fall short, try another one! If you’re doing this well, once you’re over a couple hundred fans or followers, things should start picking up.

3) Your Budget

If you are willing to pay to boost or promote updates, you will see faster results – immediate results, in fact. A word of warning, however – no matter how anxious you (or your boss) is to see results now, do not resort to buying fans or followers.

You may want to give your strategy a chance to run organically before you start paying to promote updates. It will allow you to spend more wisely. Then again, if you’re in a rush (and you have the budget), paying for greater exposure will allow you to refine your strategy more quickly.

4) Determine What Your Audience Wants

If your business is a no-brainer for social media (ie., you work with pets, kids, humor, food), your audience may be waiting for you to give them what they want on social media, so the growth in followers, fans, traffic and sales might be very fast – and within the first month or so you might start to wonder why you didn’t do this a long time ago.

For a not-so-obvious business, like, say, business stationery, it might take quite a bit longer and involve more strategy and more adjustments to your strategy before you start seeing the results you want. That doesn’t mean it can’t be done. It just means you have to be a little more creative – and a little more patient.

5) Your Level of Commitment

When you decided to become a social business, did you jump in feet first, or did you just test the waters with the tip of your toe? Making a commitment to social by sharing your social links everywhere (email, print, website), commenting on or sharing updates to your personal accounts, and incentivizing your employees to do so will give you a huge head-start over the business working with the “just trying to find out if this will work” attitude.

6) Consistency is Key

Do yourself a favor and find out before you commit just how much time your social strategy is going to take. If you aren’t reasonably certain you can keep it up, either adjust your strategy (maybe start with one platform instead of four) or get help. Posting 15 times on your very first day on Facebook and then taking a month off is not going to give you results – not in one month, and not in six months!

Oh, and since 42% of customer complaining over social media expect a response time in 60 minutes or less, make sure someone is keeping a close watch and is responding as quickly as possible. If people start to feel like your social media channels are on auto-pilot, they’ll check out, too. Part of what you want are comments and replies – so reward them by responding in a helpful and human way. This too will speed your time to results.

The Bottom Line

So, how long will it take to see results from social media marketing? It certainly depends – and mostly it depends on you! If you’ve taken the plunge, how long did it take you to start seeing results? Please share your experience in the comments below. We’d love to know what you were measuring and what you think helped you get the results you wanted – or what didn’t work at all!

Publisher: Scriptable Solutions
Source: http://www.scriptablesolutions.com/article.cfm?ArticleNumber=41