Integrated Marketing

06 Mar

Posted at 08:05h in Digital Marketing, Integrated Marketing, SEO, Social Media by
Facebook marketing and advertising have a lot to learn from SEO, and vice versa. When integrated, Facebook and SEO strategies can be a powerful combination, though it might not be obvious at first glance. Here are some tips for synergizing Facebook and SEO to create more powerful results for your IMC campaigns. 

Think Beyond Marketing Silos

Six years ago analyst firm Forrester published a report showing that 86% of marketers see an integrated campaign as crucial to their success. A siloed approach to social media, content, paid search and organic search can end up feeling disjointed. As two of the bigger components of an omnichannel approach, integrating Facebook and SEO makes sense as a marketing priority. It’s important that social media, content, and search teams are not only briefed on each other’s activities but working together. An integrated team approach will improve marketing results, and probably save you some money too. When brands don’t connect all the different elements of their marketing strategies, they miss out on the potential to engage their audience from multiple angles. Facebook and SEO can work hand in hand when you're using communication as a basis for consistency. (If you're still planning your overall SEO strategy, there's more about SEO in 2018 here.)

Evaluate The Opportunity

28 Jan

Posted at 21:03h in Integrated Marketing, Social Media by
When it comes to events, a little can go a long, long way. Here are some tips to help you maximize your event promotion budget, no matter how small.  The numbers don’t lie. Events are without a doubt still an extremely lucrative marketing avenue for any business. 80% of marketers believe live events are critical to their company’s success  and they’re proven to directly impact product and service sales. However, only 28% of companies allocate more than 20% of their total marketing budget to organizing events. 37% of businesses don’t intend to increase that budget in the next year. The largest portion usually gets eaten up by the venue and catering, leaving very little money left over for things like critical promotion efforts. If you're a marketer you may be dealing with a small event promotion budget.  Here are 5 ways to get the most out of your event promotion budget so you can have your event, and promote it too.

Integrate With Facebook Business Manager

The great thing about Facebook Business Manager is its ample organization and targeting features. You can have your entire event marketing team working within the account, helping you manage multiple assets such as Facebook Pages, Ad Accounts, and Apps. From the Facebook Business Manager, you can set up and select the ad account you want to use to create an ad for your event. Your ads will automatically be tailored to mobile. To ensure your ad spend is going as far as it can, target custom audiences. For example,

12 Sep

Posted at 14:37h in Campaign of the Month, IMC, Integrated Marketing, Uncategorized by
From a hot new band, to a boring car company, to every GenZ's favorite social network, these unconventional marketing campaigns stood out from the crowd.  Life is too short to stay in your comfort zone. That’s especially true of marketing campaigns. Not every campaign can be an innovative stroke of genius. But neither can every campaign follow the traditional general format. A well-timed unconventional marketing campaign can make a lasting impression and generate a great deal of buzz around your brand. Here are some of the most interesting unconventional marketing campaigns we've seen recently.  Marketing Campaign #1 - Subaru, Share the Love  Try to find the car in this supposed car commercial. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78z-xnLImFE And it’s not because Subaru doesn’t want to show off their cars - they won five prestigious awards in 2017. The Japanese car manufacturer’s recent “Share the Love” marketing campaign is part of a large scale US marketing outreach that accounts for 60% of the brand’s sales budget. Surely, a 60 second spot for a car that doesn’t even give a viewer a look at the car they’re trying to sell won’t work very well, right? It’s actually precisely what separated Subaru marketing campaigns from their lackluster competitors. Demand for cars has slowed in recent years, but Subaru’s unconventional marketing has been a major factor in its sales boom spanning back nearly 70 months of consecutive growth. Why did it work? Subaru has been targeting a liberal, mostly coastal audience for decades now. Words like “love,” “inclusion,” and images of adorable subjects like children and dogs tug at the heartstrings. The car industry is filled with monotony and it’s difficult to distinguish any one automaker’s ads from another’s. There are lots of sounds of engines revving and hairpin turns through mountain highways. We get it. Everyone’s got sleek designs and a cool logo. But can you remember any car ad that made you feel an emotion besides boredom? Generating an emotional response makes viewers associate positive feelings with Subaru. It helps them think more positively of the brand when it comes time to purchase a vehicle. When would a similar campaign be appropriate? Any time an industry is cluttered it’s a good idea to take another angle. Subaru proved the radical idea of ditching the product entirely is an effective way to stand out. Are you’re struggling to figure out what makes your product unique? Turn your attention to what makes your target audience unique and create new messaging from there.  

Marketing Campaign #2 - Snapchat, Spectacles

Snapchat has made it a very exclusive privilege to use one of its new features. The photo-messaging social media app has made its first foray into technology of its own with camera-equipped sunglasses called Spectacles. Spectacles are only available through distribution carts which appear for a fleeting amount of time before disappearing—mirroring the app itself. Drumming up excitement through scarcity has worked, and it shows. Some Snapchatters are eager to pay a pretty penny for the glasses through resale sites like eBay, to the tune of about $250, roughly double the retail price. Why did it work?

23 Aug

Posted at 12:05h in Digital Marketing, Integrated Marketing by
[caption id="attachment_13545" align="alignright" width="300"]personal brand Your employee's strong personal brand can be a huge boon to your company .[/caption]

Don't be afraid to help when it comes to your employees personal brand. Here are some benefits and ways to help them build a stronger reputation both off- and online.

Just a few years ago, the concept of branding was limited mostly to businesses, and how companies cultivated their image. The concept has expanded to encompass individuals. Now it’s not a question of whether you have a brand at all. It's what your personal brand says about you. For most companies, the concept of personal branding is one that has been left primarily to employees themselves. The prevailing notion has been that it’s an individual’s responsibility to find ways to differentiate themselves from others and cultivate a particular perception. Never mind that employers consider a personal brand when making hiring decisions and may actively encourage candidates to demonstrate their personal brand when applying for a job to set them apart from others. Most companies still want to focus solely on the company brand. The tide is shifting and many organizations are beginning to see the value in supporting employee efforts at personal branding. Strong personal brands help grow the business. Supporting personal development and growth among employees can lead to a happier, more productive workforce. [pullquote]Helping your employees establish and strengthen their own personal brand should be an extension of your business marketing strategy.[/pullquote] The Benefits of Personal Branding You may be asking yourself, “How can supporting an employee’s efforts to become a marketing thought leader actually help my business? It’s really only going to benefit them - and eventually spur them to leave.” [Tweet "When your employee has a strong personal brand it reflects positively on your company."] Consider these specific benefits of helping your employee build their personal brand:
  • Supporting branding efforts can increase exposure for your business. When employees are allowed to represent your company at events, engage in learning opportunities, or attend conferences and networking meetings they are developing skills that can support their own personal growth. They are also getting your business’s name out there and giving you more exposure.
The Bangor Region Leadership Institute (BRLI) in Bangor, Maine is a great example of how this works. Sponsored by the local chamber of commerce, this year-long course brings together individuals from 25 to 30 different companies in the region. Participants develop their leadership skills in monthly, day-long seminars led by executive and other leaders in the area. Not only do the attendees gain new perspectives and skills they also have the opportunity to network with others in the community. This also helps provide exposure to their employers, both during the program and after graduation. Touted as one of the best programs of its kind, completing the BRLI program helps support personal brands.
  • Supporting a personal brand contributes to employee satisfaction. When employees feel supported by their employers, they tend to be happier. Happy h employees are productive employees, making them less likely to leave. According to one study of about 1,200 managers about 95 percent of the employees considered “high achievers” leave their jobs every 28 months. These folks are constantly on the lookout for new opportunities. The majority of these employees noted that a lack of support for personal development was the key driver of their dissatisfaction and desire to move on.
  • Supporting personal branding can improve customer outreach. When your employees are respected thought leaders, visible in the community, or simply viewed as knowledgeable and trustworthy experts in your industry, that positive perception can extend to your company. It can bring in new business and help keep existing business loyal. Not only that, when your employees have a strong online presence that you support and encourage, with social media profiles, blogs, and other content associated with your business it extends your marketing reach.
  • Supporting personal branding strengthens your team. Giving your employees the opportunity to grow not only helps support their brand. it also expands their knowledge and skillsets. Obviously this can only benefit you as a company.
How to Build Personal Brands