5 MYTHS OF B2C MARKETING
Business and sales are influenced by customer opinions, trust, awareness and perceptions which makes implementing B2C strategies into your marketing plan an important component. This is why we have outlined 5 common myths of B2C marketing so you can build a strong plan of action to get customers on your side and build brand ambassadors to do the dirty work for you.
Myth 1: Branding Works Better for B2B than B2C
Strategic branding is as important for B2C marketing as it is for B2B marketing. It doesn’t matter if you’re selling rainbows or mufflers, branding influences the decisions of customers and what they know about your brand. Yes, branding is good for B2B because it sets you apart from your competitors and allows you to put a stake in your claim, but customers want to do the same. What your branding tells them is your values and if it fits their values and beliefs.
Myth 2: LinkedIn Isn’t For B2C
B2C marketers aren’t confined to Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. The Content Marketing Institute reported that 71% of B2C companies use LinkedIn as a marketing platform. There are a few ways to use LinkedIn strategically:
- Consider if it works for your business. Is your audience made up of young professionals or C-level executives? If your product is best for those in the workforce who can be found on LinkedIn, leverage this access to them because your products will most likely be of natural interest to them!
- Market wisely. You should market your product as helping individuals be successful in their personal and professional lives.
- Form strategic partnerships. It’s not just people on LinkedIn who signed up to connect. Companies also have pages and even if you are marketing directly to consumers your business may still need to work in partnership with other businesses to grow. You can build and cultivate relationships with key influencers.
- Find Suppliers and Staff. Since companies are on LinkedIn it’s natural that they would offer jobs there as well. You can use LinkedIn to find new staff and find suppliers for your own business.
Myth 3: Content Marketing for B2B is the same as for B2C
No way! Consumers prefer shorter content and content with pictures, content that evokes emotion and personality from the business and trendy information. Businesses want How-to type of articles and informative pieces that are also actionable. They want to be able to read an article, apply its advice to their businesses, and see some sort of change.
Myth 4: You Need a Big Budget to be a Big B2C Brand
Content marketing is affordable and can take your company far. Many small sized companies are finding content marketing to be a really successful tool, at a lower cost than more traditional forms of outbound marketing. In fact, 60% of B2C small business marketers are planning on increasing their content marketing budget over the next 12 months. Why? Content marketing is an effective strategy for building brand awareness and lead generation, so get on the content train! In addition to improving your SEO (when done right), content marketing is far less costly than many other traditional marketing practices but can provide the same if not better outreach.
Myth 5: They Love Us, Why Change?
People love your product but that shouldn’t stop you from evolving with technology. The information you put on your site and your social media needs to make sense to your readers and hold their attention. If you keep marketing your product or service the way you did a year ago, or at the pace we’re moving, a few months ago, you may be falling behind. Stay ahead of trends to stay on top of the industry as a thought leader.
What myths have you busted? What are you best marketing practices with consumers? How has content helped you engage your audience?
ARE BLOGGERS MORE INFLUENTIAL THAN CELEBRITIES?
A new study developed by BlogHer and Ketchum PR suggests that blogs are more influential than celebrity ads when women make purchase decisions. The popular community for female bloggers has put out studies of online interaction for the past four years, but this one has profound significance and a provocative outcome. According to the 2011 Social Media Matters Study, 20% of women are enticed to learn more about products through blog promotions from bloggers they follow, versus just 13% from a celebrity ad. Given the cost comparison between the two, this is huge! Think of the rise in efficiency if national advertising dollars were spent on blogger promotions rather than celebrity endorsements, and then think of all the american households that could be supported by that income- it’s truly intriguing.
Other interesting figures from the study- Blog usage is up 14% from last year and 55 million women read blogs at least once a month. 24% of the total US population online say they’ve made a purchase decision based on a blog’s recommendation, and that 24% represents 53% of active blog readers. And the 53% of the US online population who trust information and advice from blogs represent 88% of active blog readers.
Why is a blog’s recommendation so powerful? People feel like they know bloggers as if they were personal friends, and in any case with advertising a word of mouth endorsement from a trusted friend is the best commercial you can get. Plus, people are satisfied with previous purchases made on a blogger’s endorsement so they continue to use them as a source for consumer reviews.
So what should you take away from this? If you’re trying to launch a new product or build a brand, look to blogger outreach as a way to attract new customers to try you out!
WELL PLAYED: OLD SPICE AND THE SCENT OF SUCCESS
I can’t refresh my Twhirl/Tweetdeck/Twhatever without seeing people rave about Old Spice today.
My favorite commercials as of late have been the Old Spice “Man your man could smell like” ads, starring Isaiah Mustafa as The Old Spice Man. And he’s the BEST.
The ads are hilarious and great on their own, but today Old Spice started filming Isaiah responding to YouTube commenters, celebrities, Twitter followers and prominent bloggers with individual videos, all of them around 30 seconds apiece. Some of the best:
So many things work about the video series- the Old Spice guy is consistently funny, the writing is snappy, he’s not hard to look at, etc. But let’s talk about efficiency here- Old Spice is uploading a new video response from the Old Spice guy a few times an hour. Same guy, same background, every time. Really, it’s only limited by the time it takes to find a question, craft a witty response, and record an acceptable take. With preparation, you could create dozens of these videos in a day. Less than a day. Old Spice Man made a response video to a tweet from Lisa Barone within a matter of hours. That’s efficiency. That’s brilliant marketing.
By creating these individual responses, they’ve come up with the viral ad version of microblogging. It’s taking a public conversation and making it a party line. These videos have made Old Spice the most-viewed YouTube channel today AND the #4 most-subscribed channel of all time. Before this campaign, Old Spice was just my grandfather’s brand. Now they’ve come roaring back to relevance in a big way, and our belly laughs are all the better for it.
Well played, Old Spice. Well played
WELL PLAYED: HOBBY LOBBY STREAMLINES MOBILE COUPONS
In this economy, coupons are coming back in a big way- popular websites like LivingSocial and Groupon offer one-day-only savings on things like spa packages, restaurants and tourist adventures, and iPhone app Yowza!! offers mobile coupons based on your location for stores like The Finish Line, Pier 1 Imports, and The Container Store. But it’s a hassle to get coupons in your email, then print them, then remember them when you go out, then remember them at the point of purchase. Groupon now offers an iPhone app, but you still have to buy the coupon to use it, thereby adding steps between downloading the coupon and making a purchase. Yowza!! coupons can only be used once or twice, unless it’s a department or store-wide discount, which would be available to everyone without a coupon, so what was the point?
Hobby Lobby, on the other hand, offers coupons directly from their mobile site. Since it only takes a four-digit code to get the discount, it’s unnecessary to print out the coupon before going to the store so purchasing decisions can be made on the fly. Plus, the coupon can be used several times, meaning people can go back to the store over and over again, increasing the likelihood of repeat purchases and improving customer retention. People can effortlessly bookmark the site into their mobile browser and keep checking back to see what new coupon is offered.
The website also offers their weekly sales flyer and geolocation, thereby streamlining the process from identifying the need to purchasing the product. There are very few steps between accessing the coupon, finding a way to use the coupon, and then making the purchase. It’s a well-designed system that ensures ease of use for the consumer and, thankfully, for the cashiers. There’s nothing to scan, no app to download. Hobby Lobby’s mobile coupons are easy to use, and offer significant savings with just a scroll of a thumb. Other retail outlets, especially coupon-friendly establishments such as grocery stores, would do well to mimic their system.
Well played, Hobby Lobby. Well played.
WELL PLAYED: REAL THREAD T-SHIRTS AND VIDEO DONE RIGHT
This is the first in a series of blog posts where we showcase companies doing great work with social marketing.
It’s not everyday you see truly educational material on YouTube, and I wasn’t expecting as much when I was researching screenprinting techniques, but when I came across video content from Orlando-based t-shirt printers Real Thread I was completely hooked on their content.
Real Thread prides themselves on being eco-friendly, using water-based printing methods. In a world where it’s cool to be green, one can easily set themselves apart by showing their commitment to environmentally sound business practices rather than merely talking about them. For example, their videos educating consumers about the differences between water-based and plastisol ink are highly informative, and the way they’ve demonstrated their discharge-print process shows their quality print techniques quickly and effectively.
Aside from being totally fascinating to fashionistas, their videos are well-edited and concise. They’ve taken complicated printing processes and condensed them into fun, informational clips that can be repurposed not only for sales, case studies and branding, but education too.
Take notes from Real Thread on how to create interesting and relevant video for your audience, but make sure to embed video content on your website rather than send them directly to YouTube for more effective conversions. High-quality video + a simple path to your company’s contact information = your business moving forward.
Well played, Real Thread. Well played.
BLOGGING YOUR BRAND: ARE YOU POSTING ENOUGH?
Whenever I work with a company who complains that they don’t get enough traffic, my first question is “How often do you post?” Because if it’s not at least once a week, then you’re not posting enough. No one routinely checks websites that never change. If you establish a pattern of new content cropping up every week (more than that is even better), people will learn to check your blog more often, bringing you more traffic. Keep it somewhat unpredictable though, that way you keep your readers on their toes.
If you don’t know what to write, look through your inbox. Do you consistently get the same questions over and over about a particular product or service from your customers? Your blog is a perfect place to spotlight that with an informative and useful post. Take a look at your analytics: does one of your main keywords need a rankings boost? Create a blog post with optimized links and anchor text back to your website. If you have an interesting take on a current event related to your industry (i.e. a software company’s opinion on the iPad) that’s a great topic too. You have a lot to say, but you may not have considered blogging as a marketing/PR channel for your brand. That should change.
If you simply haven’t got the time each week to sit down and blog, consider writing a few posts in one sitting and then using your Content Management System (what you use to manage your self-hosted blog, but we’ll get to that) to schedule the posts and stagger out the days they actually publish. That way your readers keep coming back all month long for new content, even if it only took you one morning’s work. If you’re just not the writing type, consider an audio podcast or video blog/vlog. These mediums can be used to great effect and can easily go viral if the content behind them is solid. Get creative! Post consistently on your company blog and new visitors and potential clients are sure to come your way.
BLOGGING YOUR BRAND, PART 1: WHY BOTHER BLOGGING?
One of the easiest ways for your company to enter the social media sphere is through establishing and maintaining a company blog. This is an excellent communication channel between you and your customers, your investors, or the general public. In a rapidly shrinking world, thought leadership is the most important product you have. With a company blog, you control the tone, topics, and style of your company’s voice online in a way you can’t with a third-party site like Facebook or Twitter, an important consideration for image-conscious industries like law and finance.
While they require regular attention, don’t be intimidated by starting a company blog. A good post should be about 250 words, and in that short span of text you have opportunities for optimized links for SEO, viral content possibilities for Social Media, and new material for increased traffic. Blogging adds humanity to an otherwise stuffy, static corporate website, and generates goodwill toward your brand because readers connect with your company.
Google loves blogs. In an effort to provide users with the best search results Google will often rank blog posts and news articles higher, equating their time-sensitive nature with having the most relevant and up-to-date information. If you write more, Google will notice and index your site more often, improving your rankings. There are so many benefits to starting a blog that the effort to maintain it should only be a minor consideration. However, social media is a marriage, so be prepared to stick with your blog once you start.
This series will look at how you can start your corporate blog, but will also incorporate tips to improve current corporate blogs and hopefully answer some questions you might have about your own company blog. If you have a question you’d like covered, please feel free to contact us.
GEO-TARGETED SOCIAL MEDIA
If Twitter was the social media platform of 2009, Foursquare may very well be the social media platform of 2010. It hasn’t quite hit its tipping point yet, but I’m predicting that 2010 is going to be the year of geo-targeted social media.
What is geo-targeted social media?
When you use this new type of social media, it factors your current location into a social media platform. As with other platforms, you develop a network of friends, but in this situation, your location plays a large part in your interaction. The probable leader in this field, Foursquare, is primarily used on the iPhone or other smart phone device. Foursquare notes your current location, and then displays nearby businesses. You can then “check in” to those businesses, earning points and badges, especially if your friends have recently visited those locations as well.
You can use geo-targeted social media to develop a large network of friends who enjoy the same sort of location and activities. When you walk into a coffee shop, for instance, you can see which of your friends have been to this coffee shop recently. You can find out which visitors frequent the shop, even if they aren’t your friends — yet. You may learn that someone likes the same coffee shops, clubs, bars, etc., and request to become friends. If you are in a new city, you can look up nearby places recommended by your friends. You can even play games, such as treasure hunts, by going to different locations that your friends have marked or suggested. All and all, the concept is to utilize your location in your social interactions.
How does this relate to your business?
Using geo-targeted social media, businesses can set up different rewards or incentives for customers to come to their locations. Consider this scenario: A Foursquare user checks their account on their phone, and sees that your business is nearby. Then they notice that you’ve given them a special incentive to visit, be it an in-store discount or a badge on Foursquare or other geo-targeted platform. You’ve just plugged into their social life, and most likely gained a visitor. It’s exciting and fun for the user, and a great opportunity for businesses to interact directly with potential customers nearby!
TOP THREE SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIES FOR SMALL BUSINESS
Social media can be a valuable tool for your small business, if you make sure to develop a value proposition for your customer. People lead busy lives. Spending time on your business Facebook page is the last thing on their mind—unless they get some sort of value out of their interaction. If customers see that what you offer has real value, they will not only spend time on your site, but they will pass on your information to their friends.
Include Exclusive Offers
The most common and effective way to utilize social media is to provide valuable content, or to present special and exclusive offers to followers and fans. The more exclusive and immediate the offer, the more powerful! “Facebook fans can get a free coffee today only by mentioning this offer!” is a much stronger incentive than “We have a special running this month.” Your offer should immediately drive people to your store, be it your website or physical location, and encourage them to regularly check your updates on the social media platforms.
Provide Valuable Information
A second common tactic is the distribution of valuable information. For example, a home improvement store might regularly post “how to” and “do-it-yourself” tips. Globe Runner’s Twitter account frequently includes posts about technology news, as well as links to informative blog posts and videos that Globe Runner followers may find interesting. Providing valuable “insider” information can help to make you an authority on certain topics, especially in a specialty field, and can be very effective in generating referral business.
Organize Local Events
A third technique: If your business has a physical location, (i.e. a restaurant, coffee shop, bar, or even a retail store,) you can use social media profiles to organize live events, meet ups, or special happy hours. You can coordinate local events, as well as sponsor existing social media organizations or fan groups who are interested in your business’ subject matter. This can create loyalty among your existing customers, and serve as an incentive for them to mention your business or service to others.
These strategies can sometimes be used in conjunction with one another: you might organize a special event where there will be an exclusive offer, for example. The key to a successful social media campaign is to ensure that visitors to your site or social media page can clearly see the value you offer.
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