Digital Storytelling

Which One Is Better – Digital or Old Fashion Marketing

/ nancyrubin

One of the questions that concern the majority of modern marketers the most is the one regarding the ROI of traditional marketing in the digital world. Most importantly, what they want to know is whether it’s worth it to invest in the old fashion marketing in 2018, in the first place. Unfortunately, this is not a question that has a straightforward answer. Why? Well, because it all depends on your industry, the nature of your business and the specific situation/effect you need to deal with.

For instance, there is a speculation that about 50 percent of all small businesses don’t even have a website. Now, characterizing all of these business owners as non-tech-savvy or stating that all of these businesses are non-profitable and non-efficient would be outright wrong. In fact, about 41 percent of them claim that this decision doesn’t come from the fact that they can’t conduct a proper digital marketing campaign (or couldn’t at least outsource this function) but due to the fact that they don’t really need it. Nevertheless, it’s impossible to dispute the effectiveness of digital marketing in 2018.

1. Digital marketing has better analytics

The first thing you need to understand is that digital marketing has much better analytics than its traditional counterpart. John Wanamaker, one of the titans of the industry back in the day claimed that half the money he invested in marketing was wasted, yet, that he could never reliably know which half. Nowadays, this is no longer the truth. You see, through various platforms and tools, you can reliably know just how many visitors your website received, how long were they there, as well as where they came from. Aside from this, you can also study separate demographics and, in this way, figure out which methods give the best results on which demographics.

On the other hand, with the introduction of concepts such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and the increasing influence of biometrics in the digital world, this might soon change. What we mean by this is that we could soon have a similar insight into the effectiveness and properties of the old-fashion marketing tricks and methods. Needless to say, exciting as this may sound, this is still quite far down the line.

2. Traditional marketing is mostly non-intrusive

The next thing you should understand is the fact that the traditional marketing tends to be quite non-intrusive, especially when compared to a digital marketing. Think about it, every time you receive an email from an unreliable source, you feel like your privacy has been violated. After all, how did they get your email? This happens even if you did give them your email and then forgot about it soon after. With traditional marketing, such a thing doesn’t really happen. A person walks by a billboard or receives a leaflet, which is something they consider normal, even mundane. This means that their defense mechanisms are still down, which, directly influences your potential success rate.

3. Specific scenarios may mandate specific needs

Another thing you need to keep in mind is that there are some scenarios in which you can’t apply to a certain group of marketing methods. For instance, imagine hosting a stand at a show and being forced to decorate your stand. Without promotional materials like flyers, brochures, signs or a durable mesh banner, you wouldn’t be able to do much in terms of on-spot branding and customization. You don’t even have to have banners and signs specifically made for the occasion. You’re bound to have some extras in the storage room or, if the need arises, you can remove them from one location in order to display them in another. It really is that simple.

4. Reach is in favor of the digital

One thing everyone has to recognize is the fact that digital dominates when it comes to the reach. Even when it comes to retail and offline sales, it’s inevitable to mention the power of digital marketing. According to one statistic, about 78 percent of all offline sales come as a direct result of local mobile searches. Even when it comes to regular stores, you have no way of knowing how many people checked prices online before deciding which store they should visit. Therefore, even the smallest and the most localized of businesses can benefit from an online presence. Not only that but they might even find local SEO to be incredibly cost-effective.

5. Digital provides a customized user experience

Probably the most significant advantage of the digital marketing lies in the fact that it offers every user a customized experience. Just compare TV to services like Netflix (or even YouTube). The reason why the first is on the decline while the latter two are on a rapid growth is due to the fact that they give their audience full control over the content they browse.

Sure, some would argue that online ads may act in a more “traditional” sense (with a strong negative connotation), yet this is easily solved with a plugin such as AdBlock which is something that about 30 percent of all internet users resort to. When it comes to content marketing, on the other hand, the only reason why someone would click on the link is if they’re genuinely interested in the topic discussed. Once again, one could argue that this is not the case with click-bait and black-hat, in general, yet, with the current state of Google algorithm and anti-black-hat measures, this is no longer as big of a problem as it was in the past.

In conclusion

As you can see, the question of whether you should go for digital or traditional marketing is an absurd one, to begin with. The successfulness of your digital marketing campaign can be enhanced by promoting it through traditional means, while a giveaway of promotional materials can be multiplied by doing so online. In other words, each of these methods gives by far the best results when multiplied, meaning that it’s by far the best to go with both. The best thing is that there’s literally no reason for you to choose. Just make sure that your marketing budget can take it.

Building Your Brand With Content Creation

/ nancyrubin

We all know how important our branding is. It’s more than just a fun novelty, it’s integral to your business’ success. Treat it as an add on or a box checking activity and you will deprive your business of its myriad benefits. A brand is far more than a catchy tagline, a pretty logo or a unified color scheme in your physical presence. Sure, branding incorporates all of those elements but it goes much deeper than any of that… or at least it should. Branding has its cosmetic considerations but it is also an encapsulation of everything your business is, everything it does and everything it stands for.

Branding makes a promise to your customers. It sets out your stall and demonstrates the values and ideals upon which your business was built. As such it is represented in every aspect of your business; operations from the way in which your employees interact with your customers to the layout of your website and the speed with which you pick up the phone. It’s in the quality of the raw materials you use in your manufacturing. It’s in the appearance of your physical premises on the outside as well as the inside. Would you want to hang your sign on damaged or rusty steel pipes? Heck no! That’s why you go to VarnerPipe.com. It’s in the ingenuity of the creative solutions that you come up with to solve your customers’ problems. Think about when you meet someone special wither in the world of work, friendship or romance. What qualities make them attractive? Sure, their physical appearance may play a part but there are plenty of beautiful people with whom we’d rather not associate. It’s their deeds, their actions, their sincerity, their beliefs or their ideals. All of these things represent that person’s character and your brand is just that… A character for your business.

Character development

So… how do we go about giving our business character? Do we give it a cute mascot? Sure, that could work. Do we build the business around ourselves, tailoring its image to fit our own? That can also work, but be aware that if you take this step, your personal fate will be inextricably tied to that of your business. If something happens to tarnish your business’ reputation, yours will inevitably be tarnished as well. A big part of lending character and personality to your business is giving your brand a voice. That’s where content marketing comes in. here we’ll look at how content creation can help to build your brand while also improving your visibility by creating an organic boost in your Search Engine Optimization.

Quality or quantity… You pretty much have to invest in both

In order to boost your SEO and improve your online visibility it’s essential that your business posts regular content. And by regular we mean daily. Does this require care, effort, dedication and attention? It sure does! However, far too many small businesses including bloggers looking to turn pro place too much emphasis on quantity over quality. As such they outsource to dirt cheap overseas content farms for generic filler content written by writers for whom English is an additional language. As such the content you post on your site may be poorly researched, inaccurate, misleading or just poorly written.

In order to get content marketing right and ensure that your brand has a consistent, authoritative voice your content needs to be entrusted to someone with an intimate working knowledge of your business and familiarity with the principles behind your brand. That means paying a member of your staff to create content in accordance with a clearly defined content strategy. You should also make the time to generate some content yourself every now and then. After all, your unique experience, knowledge and insight are your USP, and the one thing that no competitor can ever replicate. Not only will you add depth and dimension to the voice of your brand, you’ll also establish yourself as an expert in the field. If you do choose to outsource, at least entrust your content to a company that hires talented writers who will write accessible yet factually dense content specifically tailored to the voice of your brand.

Tell a story with your social media

We human beings are psychologically predisposed to love stories. We literally can’t get enough of them. We lap them up on TV, in books, in movies and even in video games. As such, your social media presence can really win over prospective customers or clients if you use it to tell a story. Instagram stories are a great example of this. By using short vignettes of video clips and / or images you can give those legions of leads out there an insight into your working processes, life on your shop floor or the testimonials of happy customers. Instagram stories in particular are great tools for small business because they are short, easy to digest and rely on economy of narrative to tell a story that resonates with the viewer.

Lights, camera… traction!

Video may have killed the radio star, but it can breathe a whole lot of new life into your business. In an era where more and more of us consume digital content through mobile devices in short bursts, video is the perfect medium for gaining traction with decision makers who may not have the time to sit and peruse a lengthy blog post.

While video creation  may require a little more in terms of time, effort and resources than writing a blog post, now’s the time to get in on the ground floor. It’s estimated that by 2021 video will account for 81% of all internet traffic. Already, there are 100 million hours of video consumed every day on Facebook alone. If you expect to retain the attention of your audience now and for the next decade, video is a medium that you’ll need to learn to embrace.

When you create great content on a regular basis, users will get a clearer idea of what (and even who) your business is. When they invest in that persona, they’ll come back to you time and again!

Why Use Instagram Stories For Business

/ nancyrubin / 1 Comment

Instagram Stories is quite popular Instagram’s feature for boosting authentic engagement with followers. As over 300 million people use it daily, it’s easier to turn this engagement into sales with a great call-to-action and to expand your reach. The 20% of Stories posted by brands leads to direct interaction with customers.

Moreover, over 50% of businesses are already using Stories, while 88% of brands plan on start using them in 2018. Hence, your business needs to catch on or risk being left behind.

Stories offer businesses the chance to take their followers behind the scenes to see what it takes to organize an event or launch a product, thus building much engagement.

Brands can also run campaigns to reach a certain audience. For instance, Tiket.com, an Indonesian online travel company, used Stories to reach a younger audience and increase its app downloads. As a result, 26 million Indonesians were reached and the app recorded 239,000 downloads.

More so, with a widespread reach, Instagram ads provide a high ROI. For example, Country Road, a retailer, used them to market Capsule, reach a wider market, and increase its return on ad spending. It managed to reach 409,000 people and earned 18 times return on ad spending for an average website purchase.

To learn more about why your business needs to use Instagram Stories, check out the infographic below:

May-6-2018-Infographic-Instagram-Stories-1

Digital Togetherness Is The Only Factor Of Success

/ nancyrubin

There is no denying that the Internet revolution has brought us together. People from all over the world can get in touch quickly and in real time, while in the pre-Internet days, letters and long-distance phone calls where the only ways to maintain contact – and these were not effective, as they were either time-demanding or too expensive to maintain. But today, people from all over the world can interact online in a variety of ways, through transactions, messaging and video conferencing. Additionally, the digital world has enabled individuals to combine their skills and voices to deliver a product, or even create a viral reaction. The TV show Lucifer that has been canceled by Fox in May was saved by Netflix as a result of fans coming together on social media to discuss their favorite show. Without the social media buzz, it’s fair to say that the show might not have been saved. Ultimately, digital togetherness creates success. But from a business perspective, the art of digital together is more complex than it seems.

Step 1: Spread your online presence

It might sound counterproductive at first, but to build a strong digital front, you need to scatter your presence via a variety of platforms. Indeed, a website is not enough. Customers, however, tend to interact positively with blog posts that answer their queries. In other words, you need not only to establish a blog but to ensure that this blog is regularly updated with relevant and useful information to your potential users. Self-promotional articles simply don’t work anymore. Social media platforms are, naturally, the other essential factor of your online presence. Target platforms that are meaningful to your audience, such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. The more you spread your presence online, the easier you will be to find. A partnership with a business that shares the same or a similar audience can also give you a presence boost.

Step 2: Bring it together

With each digital platform, you gain a detailed data collection report that informs you about the performance of platform-related interactions. However, to achieve a unique overview, you need to partner with an ETL solution that can extract, correct, transform and load all your data together. Instead of working with multiple tools to gain an overview of your whole digital presence, you can use a solution that combines the information for you. It’s not only easier to read, but it also saves you a lot of time in the long term.

Step 3: Make sense out of it

Finally, when all data are together, the most crucial step for your business is to determine which informations are relevant. Indeed, relevant data support business decisions based on facts. You can react to changes in the market or the audience, if you know which KPI to monitor, for instance. For small businesses, where a professional analyst does not run the analysis of data, it can be challenging to differentiate meaningful data from the rest. As a result, data-based strategies can appear weak.

In conclusion, going digital doesn’t mean your business will thrive. The art of building togetherness through your digital presence and data is what paves your way to success.

How to Rebrand your Brand

/ nancyrubin

Your brand is the first and foremost image of your product, and the perception of your company in the mind of everyone in your surrounding, be it your customers, investors or your competitors. It is implied that the brand image holds great value. However, this reputation is extremely fringe, and there is nothing more disastrous than the brand image is tarnished and caught in a controversy in this world of digital media.

It takes years to build a brand image and seconds to destroy it. Although, even if you find yourself in such turmoil, there are ways in which you can revive your brand and re-establish its image. So here are a few ways that you must consider while you are rebranding:

  1. Plan ahead – Planning everywhere is one of the most essential things in any aspect. If you have planned ahead of the effect of any such misfortune, it won’t be that damaging. You should prepare a backup strategy beforehand in order to cope with the ill effects of any such thing that happens. Once such event has occurred, you can imply the plan that you have made and refurbish the brand image gradually.
  2. Acknowledge the issue – The very first step that you are supposed to do after an unfortunate event is to take ownership of the event and acknowledge it publicly. If it was a mistake that you made, then you must issue an apology in order to state that there was a mistake and by issuing this apology we are accepting the responsibility for the error. This will lay a basic trust foundation for your rebuilding process.
  3. Let the dust settle – You must realize that once your mistake has turned up, it will be spoken upon a lot, and today’s social media sites are famous for making a huge mess of a smaller matter. Do not lose your calm. Just wait for some time and let the controversy mellow down a bit. Once people are done talking about it only then try to intervene, else the situation might turn even worse for the brand.
  4. Identify your allies – Even in the event of your brand image being spoilt, there will be a particular section of your customers, and some of your business partners, etc. who will stay along with you. Recognize these well-wishers and ask for their further help, as they will be one of those links which will spread positivity for your company using their means. Thank them and reward them suitably.
  5. Start the rebuilding process – You need to assure your customers that you care about them. Seek sympathy by telling your customers that mistakes do happen and that you are trying your level best to re-adjust for the error that occurred. You must deploy various strategies and tactics that will enable you to regain the lost trust. You can hire rebranding consultants as they are experienced in their field and will help you fare through.
  6. Share your progress – Once you are on the road to rebuilding your brand and you are engaging all sorts of strategies and tactics to regain that lost trust, a better idea would be to share your actions and corrective measures affluently. This way people will realize that you are working hard to gain back your reputation. They will be ready and more acceptable to the fact of giving you a second chance, which is all that you need.

Rebuilding your brand after a PR disaster is not an easy task to perform. You must have a positive mind throughout the process, and you must make sure that you will not lose hope and your patience. Slowly with time, you will see your brand is regaining its image and is flourishing, with your reputation rebuilding again.

Author Bio: Neil Quiddington is the Managing Director of Simplify Branding, a reputed branding agency in the UK. Neil is passionate about turning small and big businesses into successful brands, through innovative strategies and unswerving hard-work.​