5 Multifamily Marketing Strategies to Employ on Instagram
You already recognize the power of Instagram to reach out to renters, but are you making the most of your Instagram multifamily marketing efforts? In today’s marketing environment, the incredible potential of Instagram cannot be denied. In fact, according to the independent social media analytics company Hootsuite, 7.7 billion people (a full eighth of the total global population) now have Instagram accounts. Even better, Intstagram is particularly effective at reaching key marketing demographics. Analytics data shows that 71% of Instagram users around the world are 34 years old or younger. Furthermore, Instagram use is at its highest (60%) among individuals who make more than $100,000 a year. So how can you use Instagram in the rental property sector to maximize your multifamily marketing outreach? Well, in today’s competitive market, it’s simply not enough to create and maintain a standard company Instagram page. If you want to tap into the full potential of Instagram, you need to educate yourself on what makes this popular social media site truly unique. Here are just a few multifamily marketing strategies that will optimize your Instagram presence. 1. Make Strategic Use of Hashtags Although hashtags have become prevalent across the broad spectrum of social media, Instagram has built hashtags directly into the basic search functions of the site. In other words, hashtags are just as important as keywords when it comes to driving consumer traffic for marketing purposes. By choosing your hashtags carefully, you can reach out to the Instagram users who are most likely to help you reach your lease-up goals. Precise location hashtags, for example #parkslopebrooklynapartments, can help neighborhood-conscious apartment hunters find your listings with ease. Instagram is also uniquely positioned to help you capitalize on non-industry hashtags that are already trending. By piggybacking on extremely popular hashtags such as #tbt and #nofilter you can extend your reach into a whole new market. 2. Regram Relevant Posts from Others Unlike its cousins Facebook and Twitter, Instagram doesn’t readily support reposting or sharing the content of other users. In fact, a preponderance of multifamily housing providers don’t even know that Instagram reposting is possible. But with the help of third-party digital applications such as Websta and Repost, you can gain a considerable advantage over your competitors by regramming the relevant content of other Instagram users. This strategy can help you capitalize on the perceived authenticity that goes hand in hand with user-generated content (UGC). In the realm of multifamily marketing, effective UGC might include a photograph of existing residents enjoying the apartment complex pool on a sunny day. Marketers can maximize the outreach of their UGC campaign by uniting it under a creative branded hashtag and encouraging residents to use this hashtag when posting content that relates to their living environment/lifestyle. 3. Use the Instagram Stories Feature Introduced in 2016 to compete with a similar feature on Snapchat, Instagram Stories is an exceptional way to present time-sensitive content. Briefly described, Instagram Stories allows marketers to gather a number of images and video clips into a single piece of multifaceted content that will delete automatically after 24 hours. Like the reposting of Instagram content, the use of the Instagram Stories feature is woefully underused by multifamily marketers, providing another great opportunity for you to get a significant jump on the competition. The Instagram Stories format offers an exceptional way to frame in-depth and timely information. Consider using it to tell the story of ongoing structural renovations or present the highlights of an open house or a special event for residents. To promote your organization itself and its exceptional team members, you can use Instagram Stories to post a “behind the scenes” peek at the daily activities of a top property manager, leasing agent, or administrative executive. 4. Change Your Bio Link to Direct Traffic While other leading social media sites allow users to post unlimited clickable links, Instagram restricts users to a single clickable link within the biography section of their profile. This may work great when it comes to keeping visitors on Instagram for longer periods of time, but it makes marketing on the site exceptionally difficult. Wise marketers, however, can get around this clickable link conundrum by frequently changing their Instagram bio link to lead visitors to the most important promotions of the day. This strategy can really set you apart from competitors who have adopted a “set it and forget it” bio link approach that simply sends visitors to a generic homepage, landing page, or “about us” page. Multifamily marketers can post pictures of vacant apartments on their main Instagram page after changing their bio link to an official website URL dedicated to that particular apartment. If you choose to pursue this strategy, just be sure to include a statement such as “click the link in our bio to learn more” next to the pictures that you post. 5. Pay Close Attention to the Brands Your Followers Follow To create marketing content that will truly resonate with your audience, you need to tailor it after the content that they already love. To discover the other brands and organizations that your Instagram followers follow, begin by selecting one of your followers and clicking on the “following” count of that follower. From there, you can sort through the different accounts that he or she follows concentrating solely on brands and organizations. Contact Bigeye to learn more Bigeye is taking digital marketing into the future with innovative social media strategies that have proven to drive conversions. If you’re ready to push your multifamily marketing efforts forward, contact us.
Tips for Starting a Skincare Company
As the skincare market continues to expand, the time is right for starting your own company. You’ll never reach the level of success you desire, however, without establishing a disruptive brand that stands out from the completion. A 2019 study by the independent market research company the NPD Group singles out the prestige beauty market as one of the fastest-growing sectors in United States retail sales with an annual growth of 6 percent. And, with an annual growth of 13 percent, the skincare category stands out as a particular achiever, comprising a full 60 percent of the prestige beauty market’s total industry gains. “If I had to use one word to characterize the state of the U.S. beauty industry today, it would be disruption,” says NPD Group executive director and beauty industry analyst Larissa Jensen. “Whether we look at categories, brands, or retailers, there are sweeping changes taking place in the market landscape.” Jensen proceeds with a warning to skincare entrepreneurs everywhere, stressing the fact that “brands and retailers must not only be cognizant of these transformations and act upon them, but identify new white space opportunities to captivate consumers and further differentiate themselves from the crowd.” Leveraging Areas of Disruption in Skincare Industry Prospective skincare company owners and chief executive officers should pay close attention to the specific growth areas within the skincare industry if they want to capitalize on areas of disruption and establish a distinct, unique, and valuable brand. The booming popularity of natural beauty products, for example, represents a dramatic sea change in terms of the qualities and characteristics that customers have come to expect. Reflecting this change, the top contributor to the $5.6-billion skincare industry are natural skincare brands. The NPD Group reports that natural skincare products accounted for more than one-quarter of annual skincare sales, up 23 percent from the previous year. The NPD Group report goes on to identify lip treatments, toners/clarifiers, facial sprays, and alphabet creams as the fastest-growing skincare product classifications. Customers are also increasingly purchasing skincare for the body, protective sunscreens, and self-tanning products. Legal Requirements to Operate a Skincare Business Before starting a skincare company, it is absolutely imperative that you understand all the licensing and regulatory issues that you will face. In general, the legal requirements that you must meet to operate a handmade cosmetics business are similar to the legal requirements that other small business must meet. However, as part of the cosmetic/beauty industry, you must ensure that your skincare product(s) pass muster with the US Federal Drug Administration (FDA). Regulated by the FDA under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, all skincare products must be deemed safe for consumers for indicated conditions of use prior to their release. They also have to be labeled properly. It isn’t against the law to make cosmetics in your home, but it is your responsibility to ensure that this is accomplished safely. In his article “How to Start Your Own Line of Skin Care,” Houston Chronicle contributor Michael Flanagan suggests accessing the FDA’s Good Manufacturing Practice Guidelines/Inspection Checklist before designing your manufacturing space. This is the best way to prepare this space for its required FDA on-site inspection. Manufacturing Your Skincare Products The Houston Chronicle article goes on to offer a number of skincare product manufacturing tips including cutting down on overhead costs by looking for bulk suppliers to secure all necessary raw ingredients. It recommends accessing online distribution networks such as MakingCosmetics and Admix to meet both your supply and equipment needs. If you choose to start your business with a manufacturing space on your residential property, you can often use your kitchen as your main hub of activity. The equipment that you will need depends entirely on the type(s) of skincare product(s) that you want to make. Skincare companies that plan to make clay facials, for example, can probably begin by using existing household mixing bowls and spoons. Those who want to make soap, however, must first buy soap molds and a few other essential pieces of equipment. Skincare Company Marketing No matter how great your skincare products happen to be, you won’t get far in the skincare sector without a comprehensive and outstanding marketing campaign. Here are just a few elements that you’ll want to include in your unified skincare company marketing efforts. An official website – In virtually any industry, a high-quality website is absolutely essential. Your website should reflect your company’s core values and commitment to excellence. Even if you don’t plan to sell your skincare products online, customers will inevitably turn to your website for answers to important questions as well as information about your company and what it does best. A strong social media presence – Reach your target consumer base on the social media platforms that they already frequent. Depending on your target demographic this might mean maintaining compelling, informative, and up-to-date company pages on multiple platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat. Social media outreach is a great idea for a wide range of reasons, but its ability to engender both consumer-to-company and consumer-to-consumer interactions is simply unparalleled. Email newsletters – As a skincare company, you’ll want to turn each buyer into a repeat customer. Email newsletters are a great way to drive consumer loyalty. Although you don’t want to bombard customers with constant messages of little value, occasional newsletters can be a great way to make customers feel valued. Share content that will command attention, announce the release of new products, and motivate consumer action with various sales and promotions. Non-digital marketing efforts – Don’t forget that the majority of people still buy their skincare products in brick-and-mortar stores. Consider visiting regional beauty salons, spas, and health/beauty stores to offer free samples. If these establishments express an interest in buying your products, you should provide them with attractive wholesale pricing. Other traditional sales techniques that continue to work well include the staging of at-home skincare parties. Skincare Branding While all of the techniques outlined above can effectively reach
How CBD is Gaining Traction in These Five Industries
The CBD gold rush is in full effect, with new businesses and new uses appearing for the compound. Read where CBD products are gaining the most traction. Say “CBD” to average consumers, and they’ll probably tell you about tinctures, balms, and gummies — and maybe the CBD-infused beverages they see retailed at the local gas station or pharmacy. That’s a massive leap over just a year or two ago, when the letters CBD would likely just elicit a puzzled stare. Today, CBD products are being developed in a variety of new verticals. If you’re the owner of a company in this space, it pays to know which sectors are transforming into true CBD industries. Let’s take a closer look at some of the newest industries where CBD products are beginning to reach critical mass, and how the right CBD product agency can help your brand take advantage. CBD and the Pet Industry The rate of growth of CBD-infused products in the pet industry is nothing short of staggering, surging from virtually nothing in 2017 to $125 million in 2018. The industry is projected to reach $1 billion by 2022 recording compound annual growth of roughly 57%. Today, CBD-infused pet products are omnipresent and marketed to address some of the most common problems that plague pets (anxiety, pain and inflammation, etc.). This makes the pet industry a perfect match for CBD products, as pet owners who suffer from many of these same issues may choose to treat their pets with CBD after finding success with it in their own lives. CBD and the Beauty Industry The beauty and cosmetics space is a natural home for CBD brands. The reason why is simple: CBD oil has a variety of benefits in terms of skin care; it reduces swelling and inflammation and promotes healthier skin by facilitating collagen production. Reducing inflammation is critical in terms of good skin care, as inflammation is one of the key processes involved with acne breakouts and other skin issues. Given these benefits, it’s hardly surprising that beauty is one of the most popular new CBD industries. The CBD cosmetics market is projected to reach $1.7 billion by 2025, outpacing even the CBD pet market. The CBD Beverage Market Drinks infused with CBD have taken the market by storm over the last year. In total, CBD-infused beverages are projected to reach $1.4 billion in annual value by 2023, a figure nearly 20x higher than the market’s value in 2017. CBD is being infused in beer, wine, soda, coffee, tea and many other beverages, giving this space the potential to be among the most lucrative and largest of all CBD industries. Beverages are popular because they are one of the easiest forms by which to consume CBD. People who do not wish to apply or inhale CBD can simply ingest it by ordering one of the many popular new CBD beverages. Drinking your CBD has a few added benefits: The dosing is more precise when dealing with water-soluble CBD, as most cannabinoids are absorbed by the body Soft drinks are retailed almost everywhere, making them convenient There is some evidence that CBD can counteract the effects of caffeine if you’re over-stimulated CBD and the Restaurant Industry While CBD within prepared dishes isn’t as popular as CBD infused into common beverages, it is a fast-growing trend. Many higher-end eateries are experimenting with adding CBD to popular recipes. In fact, a National Restaurant Association survey found that three-in-four chefs believe CBD will be among the top new restaurant trends in the near-term future. While some municipalities have outlawed the addition of CBD into plated dishes, the practice has been widely adopted in places such as Colorado and California. CBD Tampons and Other Wellness Products Given its reported ability to staunch the flow of common body pain, it’s unsurprising that CBD is finding its way into feminine care products. CBD tampons are being marketed as a “20-minute cure” for the cramps that often accompany menstruation. CBD protein powders, muscle rubs, and other wellness products are also taking the industry by storm, becoming a popular option for people seeking pain and inflammation relief without having to resort to pharmaceuticals. Why Bigeye is the Leading CBD Marketing Agency You can’t market effectively if you don’t understand the industry. At Bigeye, we’ve been creating compelling CBD marketing campaigns for CBD industries nearly as long as the market has existed. Contact us today to learn what Bigeye can do for your CBD brand.
The Benefits of Geo-Fencing for Apartment Marketing
Among the countless advantages that digital marketing has over traditional media marketing, geo-fencing ranks near the top. Briefly defined, geo-fencing establishes an invisible perimeter (or “fence”) that covers a particular geographic region, allowing digital marketers to specifically target the audience that lies within it. Countless industries and business sectors have benefited from geo-fencing, but its value to marketers within the residential real estate sector cannot be underestimated. Geo-Fencing Explained As the old cliche goes, the three most important criteria for determining real estate desirability are location, location, location. Renters in search of a new apartment almost invariably look within very specific areas and have little interest in properties that lie outside of those areas. Geo-fencing allows you to make the most of your marketing efforts by reaching out to apartment-hunters inside a precise geographic region that you are able to define and alter at will. With geo-fencing, you can program automatic alerts to launch to smartphone users who happen to stray close to your apartment community. Prospective tenants who are using Zillow, Yelp, Pandora, or any other mobile app that supports geo-fencing are instantly identified through technologies such as radio frequency identification (RFID) or the Global Positioning System (GPS) and can receive one or more instant alerts when they enter your targeted area. 3 Key Benefits of Geo-Fencing Unsurprisingly, more and more apartment marketers are employing geo-fencing to specifically target individuals who are most likely to engender conversions and, ultimately, fill property vacancies. The majority of prospective tenants also benefit from geo-fencing. After all, what apartment hunter wouldn’t appreciate a tip or a special offer regarding a great place in an ideal location? Here are just three key advantages of apartment marketing and hunting with geo-fencing: 1. Optimized search operations based on location Real estate websites and online rental databases that employ geo-fencing technology do much of the legwork for apartment hunters by automatically and instantaneously sorting through a nearly infinite number of listings to show only the properties that fall within the parameters of a specific geographic location. In addition to targeting only the most likely future tenants on an individual basis, geo-fencing allows apartment marketers to send them relevant sale suggestions at the most opportune moments. 2. The delivery of key apartment information in real-time In addition to sending relevant listings to a localized audience and vacancy alerts to individuals who are close to your various listings, geo-fencing technology can aid with prompt apartment showings and spur-of-the-moment apartment applications. More generally speaking, it can do wonders when it comes to helping apartment complexes and other real estate organizations build their brand and engage with the most relevant audience possible. After all, why spend the money and energy on an extensive and protracted branding campaign that will reach thousands or even millions of uninterested people? 3. Convenient, value-added apartment hunting assistance Geo-fencing goes a long way toward placing the power to find and obtain the perfect apartment in the palm of any smartphone user’s hand. In addition to optimizing the online apartment hunting process, geo-fencing allows even the least tech-savvy Zillow, Redfin, or Realtor.com users to schedule relevant apartment search alerts that do most of the hunting for them. By setting specific rental interest criteria within a particular geographic area, they can let their favorite real estate app do the work, notifying them of key apartment prospects while they concentrate on career, family, and other important matters. To Learn More If you have any questions about geo-fencing for apartments, contact the real estate marketing leaders at BIGEYE today. The professionals at BIGEYE offer a broad spectrum of marketing services that can benefit anyone in the property rental sector.
Taking the Pulse of Health and Wellness Trends
If you’re engaged in health and wellness marketing, you need to stay apprised of the latest trends. Here’s what’s happening in the health space. Appetite-suppressing lollipops, goat yoga and the desire to replace every food with cauliflower — there’s no question that health and wellness trends are sometimes a bit over the top. Yet this industry also represents serious business, given that it is worth $4.2 trillion and growing at more than 12% annually. Companies in this space need to stay on top of evolving trends to ensure that they derive maximum value from their health and wellness marketing. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at what’s happening within the health and wellness space. The Lowdown on Health and Wellness Trends Why are people spending more money on their health, diet and general well-being? Technology plays a sizable role. Social media — and the trend toward optimizing each aspect of our lives — has created intense interest in self-improvement, as shown by the following trends: Growth in the wellness travel space. You’ve probably heard about culinary travel — now meet health and wellness-themed vacations. Instead of lying on a beach and sipping cocktails, more consumers are seeking health-focused holidays. The wellness travel space , which is worth $563 billion annually, encompasses everything from yoga retreats, to spas, healthy cooking holidays and spiritual retreats. Why are such excursions becoming so popular? Instead of gorging themselves on food and drink and returning to work heavy, groggy and out of sorts, consumers instead are using vacation time to pursue physically and mentally refreshing activities — and returning to work glowing, fit and ready to move full steam ahead. The line between wellness devices and medical devices has become increasingly blurred in recent years. Wearable technology now allows us to use connected consumer devices to collect actionable health data — heart rate, sleep quality and other key biometric feedback data. This data, which was once siloed inside consumer health apps, is now being ported directly to health care providers, allowing them to make more informed treatment decisions even at a distance. This trend has the potential to unlock vast efficiency and cost improvements in the medical sector. If patients begin to feel poorly at home, their physician can review their health data remotely and possibly make an assessment and diagnosis — something that might prevent an unnecessary trip to the ER or doctor’s office. Modern medical device marketing plays a critical role in helping educate the public about this trend and the brands that are driving it. The democratization of health and wellness. Like many new trends, health and wellness began gaining traction among wealthier demographics. Today, however, Goop subscribers and new age enthusiasts are no longer driving the health and wellness train. The cost of gym memberships has decreased, the App Economy has helped make physical training of all sorts more accessible and put digital health and wellness tools into the hands of almost anyone who needs them. This is a critically important development, as healthcare costs are outpacing economic growth in many countries. The WHO predicts that there will be a shortage of tens of millions of healthcare workers, so ancillary health and wellness services can help mitigate these gaps. Smart health and wellness marketing can also help reach and activate these audiences. Finding the Right Healthcare Marketing Agency If you’re seeking help with health and wellness marketing, it’s imperative to connect with the right agency. At BIGEYE, we have the domain expertise to create deeply authoritative campaigns and content — and the technological skill to execute them effectively.
Marketing Health Wearables for Seniors
As wearable digital health and wellness devices continue to improve, wearables will be the new frontier when it comes to health and wellness for seniors. Wearable fitness trackers are all the rage, but they aren’t finding their way onto the wrists of elderly people. But, considering their ability to measure and record a whole host of health and wellness criteria, can’t your Fitbit be used as a medical monitor to care for your grandfather? According to the international industry association Wearable Technologies, even the new Fitbit Care simply doesn’t have the precision or reliability to track the health of a senior living or home care patient. However, that’s all about to change with the introduction of a whole new generation of health wearables for seniors that are approved by the FDA for tasks that range from monitoring daily activities, sending real-time alerts, and even preventing dangerous falls. The Vast Potential of the Senior Health Wearables Market Economic predictions for wearable health devices that further health and wellness for seniors are incredibly bright. In fact, a national news outlet that serves an audience of senior citizens, McKnight’s Senior Living recently declared, “FDA-cleared wearables are the future of senior care.” Considering that the number of Americans over 64 years of age will more than double by 2060 and that 80% of these senior citizens will live with one or more chronic illnesses, McKnight’s predicts that wearables will prove indispensable as the next step in the technological evolution of remote patient monitoring. Key Wearables Marketing Messages That Speak Directly to Seniors Considering that the fitness wearable sector of today is clearly dominated by younger consumers, how does a wise wearables marketer begin to reach out to the geriatric demographic? Here are just three key marketing messages that are bound to resonate with seniors when it comes to wearable devices for health. 1. Feel better and live longer with wearables As the daily business and tech newsletter Trends points out, health wearables for seniors will go far beyond the capabilities of the fitness wearables of today. In addition to “measuring heart rates, blood sugar or other important markers” these new wearables “will signal to users how to improve health and longevity on a daily basis,” going the extra distance to manage and treat chronic illnesses as diabetes and heart disease. 2. Increase and maintain mobility By encouraging stretching / exercise and helping ward off physical ailments, wearables can do wonders to keep seniors mobile. An independent authority on digital apps and gadgets, Tech Crunch stresses the many ways that wearables can boost mobility by helping seniors cope with vision loss, explaining how these devices can send signals via headphones and bodily vibrations to warn sight-impaired individuals of obstacles that appear in their paths. 3. Live independently For many seniors, living independently is the ultimate goal. Wearable technology can do wonders to make independent living a safe and sensible reality by allowing seniors to monitor their own health and wellness. And, perhaps more importantly, wearables can transmit this same health and wellness information in real time to family members and / or healthcare professionals. For More Information A digital marketing agency working in a number of market sectors, BIGEYE specializes in capitalizing on evolving trends with a forward-thinking approach. Contact us today and let us help you hone a marketing campaign with a specific focus on health wearables for seniors.
What Changing Seasons Mean for Apartment Complex Marketing
If you want to win in the apartment marketing game, you need to be a “brand for all seasons”. Here’s what that designation means. Perhaps you’ve heard the old joke about auto mechanics telling new drivers that they need to add more “blinker fluid” or replace the “summer air” in their tires with “winter air?” If you tell someone who doesn’t understand the apartment rental space that you need “summer marketing” and “winter marketing,” they too might feel that you’re having a bit of fun at their expense. The truth, however, is that apartment marketing is highly seasonal. To do it effectively, you need to be a brand for all seasons. Let’s take a closer look at why apartment marketing is seasonal, and some relevant strategies you can employ each time the weather changes. Why Apartment Marketing is Seasonal If you’re wondering why marketers need to vary their approach by season, the answer is simple: Because buyers vary their behavior. Most leases end in the spring and summer, which means that the market experiences its highest volume of prospective buyers during the warmest months. If you’re a savvy marketer, you prepare for this influx of interest. It’s also important to understand why rentals peak in warmer months. The start of a new college year, for example, results in a rush for new rental accommodations. Marketers need to be aware of this and tailor some of their offerings to the college demographic. Other reasons rentals spike from May to September include: Wedding season Better weather Higher birth rates, necessitating new living spaces Marketers who are ahead of the curve consider all of these elements and calibrate their campaigns accordingly. Additionally, when interest drops off in fall and winter, marketers can adjust their approach as needed. If too much inventory remains unrented, marketers can design campaigns with special incentives to encourage prospects to move sooner than they were planning to. Some On-trend Ideas for Apartment Marketers 360 degree videos and virtual reality. Today’s apartment renters are extremely tech savvy. They use popular real estate platforms to explore properties and neighborhoods from the comfort of their couch, taking full advantage of tools such as Google Maps and Street View. Smart marketers understand that “couch browsing” has become an unofficial national pastime. 360 degree walkthrough videos show off a property in a way that static photography simply cannot match. By providing 360 degree videos and VR/AR walkthrough content, you can differentiate your offering and give browsers exactly the type of experience that excites and intrigues. Offer seasonally targeted marketing initiatives involving your complexes. Is it spring? Then partner with a local college to co-sponsor a gardening class. Is it fall? Then organize pumpkin carving or trick or treat experiences within your complex. Is it winter? Then build a massive snowman outside of your complex and add an advertising sign to go with his corncob pipe and button nose. No matter what season it is, be fun, creative and relevant. Create a YouTube channel with interesting content and do-it-yourself tips for renters. This is a great way to engage with people and build awareness, but it’s important to make a commitment to produce strong content on a regular basis. Additionally, you should make an equal commitment to optimizing your video content so it’s seen by large (and geographically relevant) viewers. Finding the Right Apartment Marketing Partner At Bigeye, we’re the apartment marketing specialists. Contact us today to learn how we can help you maximize your marketing potential — in any season.
How to Make Brand Videos That Move Audiences
If you aren’t taking advantage of the power of brand video, then you’re ceding an important edge to your competitors. Here’s what you need to get started. Let’s say you’ve got an exciting new product and you want to introduce it to consumers in the most impactful way possible. How would you go about it? If you’re not immediately thinking “brand videos,” then we urge you to keep reading. Why Brand Videos Have Become an Indispensable Marketing Tool Right now, you’re reading a blog — and there’s nothing wrong with that. Blogs are a tried-and-true medium for short, informational content. Yet the blog should be merely a single arrow in your quiver. Audiences don’t always have the time or inclination to read, yet they can almost always find time to watch a short video — provided it reaches out and wrests their attention away from the other dozen things competing for it. That’s one reason you’ve likely been deluged lately with explainer videos and all other sorts of branded video content. Videos simply work. People engage with them at higher levels than seen with ads or written content. There’s another factor motivating the brand video proliferation: The learning curve and production costs associated with professional video creation have declined radically in recent years. This means that brands have no reason to avoid joining the revolution. So How Do I Tell My Brand Story Through Video? Here’s the good news: Connecting with audiences via video is relatively simple, provided you can follow a few smart practices. When creating brand videos, here are some key things on which to focus: Story is paramount — and so are people. Creating brand videos simply because “everyone says people prefer video” won’t accomplish much. You still need a compelling narrative that audiences will relate to. Think about a simple yet effective way you can frame your brand story around human characters. Any newspaper editor or photographer will tell you that images of static buildings or landscapes don’t reach people or move copy. As humans, we are naturally drawn to each other, and this extends to our engagement with photos and video. Forego the facts, figures, and product features (or at least consign them to secondary status) and put people front and center in your videos. By focusing on one person, brands can make larger and more complex issues more relatable. Forge an emotional connection. Savvy brands have long known that a true emotional connection with audiences is the gold standard in advertising and marketing. Nothing converts and builds long-term loyalty like sparking a visceral, emotional reaction. Fortunately, brand videos are a fantastic format for forging these kinds of connections. By using images, dialogue and music to full effect, a great brand video can tell an emotionally resonant story in as little as 30 seconds. Reach for the original. Remember how we mentioned that proliferation of video? That’s why it’s essential that you take creative risks and push for something original. Audiences today are extremely savvy and cynical about brand messaging. Yet you can penetrate their defenses by delivering something that delights or inspires. Here’s one great example. It’s important, however, to understand your limitations — nobody is looking for an avant-garde HVAC brand video. Maintain your messaging. Your brand videos are ultimately an extension of your overall brand messaging. They should speak with your voice, project your values, and be calibrated to appeal to your specific audience. While it’s important for your content to reach for creativity and originality, this must still occur within the larger context of your brand messaging. Don’t skimp on video production. This one is easy — there’s no excuse for a cheesy (unintentionally, at least) or cheap-looking brand video. The cost and skill needed to produce respectable content has plummeted. The Benefits of Working With the Right Brand Story Agency At BIGEYE, we’re experts at both brand story and video production, and we can help you take your brand videos to the next creative level. Contact us today for more information.
Bigeye Enhances Property Marketing Expertise with Hiring of Industry Specialist Matt Cummings
ORLANDO, FL (October 8th, 2019) – Bigeye (www.bigeyeagency.com), an audience-focused, creative-driven, full-service advertising agency, has hired property management marketing professional Matt Cummings to further solidify its position as a nationwide leader in the property development space. An industry specialist, Cummings has a wide range of experience that includes marketing responsibilities for off-campus student living, self-managed developer communities, and third-party managed multifamily assets. “Matt was previously a client, so we got to know him well and saw that his skills and his background working with successful property developers would make him a valuable contributor at Bigeye,” said Justin Ramb, Bigeye founder and CEO. “We’re thrilled to have him join our team, but the real winners here are the multifamily, active adult, student living, and co-living clients that will be the beneficiaries of Matt’s extensive property marketing expertise.” Before joining Bigeye as an account manager, Cummings was a regional marketing manager for Greystar Real Estate Partners in Orlando, FL, where his duties included business development, brand development, client relationship management, and acting as the project manager for all marketing-related efforts for regionally-managed assets. Prior to that, he served as a regional sales and marketing business partner for Aspen Heights Partners in Austin, TX. “I was always incredibly impressed with the quality of the work that Bigeye did for me when I was a client,” said Cummings. “Now I get to introduce other property development and management companies to the agency’s passionate and collaborative approach to advertising and marketing, and oversee engagements that are critical to their success. It’s an honor to be joining a firm whose unique focus on audience insights is changing the way developers market their properties. I look forward to working with this immensely talented and highly regarded team.” With nearly two decades of experience in audience research, marketing strategy, creative design, video production, and media buying and placement, Bigeye collaborates with local, regional, and national companies in a wide variety of industries. About Bigeye Located in Orlando, Florida, Bigeye is an audience-focused, creative-driven, full-service advertising agency that crafts deeply compelling brand experiences and the strategies that ensure they reach the right people, in the right place, at the right time. The Bigeye team of creative directors, copywriters, artists, programmers, and account managers works closely with clients to better understand the needs of their consumers and deliver measurable results.
Apartment Branding: The Missing Piece of the Marketing Puzzle
Most multifamily marketers know the importance of promoting the features of their communities, but fewer fully grasp the importance of apartment branding. Multifamily marketers tend to spend a lot of time highlighting their available vacancies, touting structural and functional details that range from vaulted ceilings and granite countertops to scenic views and smart appliances. While this marketing approach is certainly valuable, trying to implement it without first establishing a solid apartment brand is like trying to put a coat of paint on a building before pouring its concrete foundation. Real estate industry statistical research firmly supports this view of apartment branding as supremely important. The Harvard Business Review, for example, reports that 64% of people cite shared values as their principal motivation for developing a consumer relationship with a particular brand. Covering the other side of the consumer/business coin, the Bank of America Small Business Owner Report has shown that 57% of small business owners regard strong relationships with consumers as the chief force behind ongoing/repeat business. In short, it is absolutely essential to create, institute, and cultivate an apartment branding strategy that says something powerful and unique about your multifamily community. Furthermore, it is vital that you continually monitor the overall effectiveness of your exiting brand to ensure that it is squarely connecting with your chosen audience. Building an Effective Brand from Scratch When it comes to establishing a brand that reflects your company priorities and values, creative and strategic apartment naming and logo design are key…but they are only the beginning. Your name and logo will serve as a launching pad for all of your subsequent marketing strategies from overall messaging style and content delivery to the development of specific promotional efforts and advertising campaigns. Want to optimize your apartment branding process to make a tremendous impact on the marketplace? By following the three steps outlined below, you can ensure that your branding efforts get off on the right foot and continue down the path to success. 1. Research Surprisingly, this important first step in the apartment branding process is one that many multifamily marketers fail to invest in. This is, quite frankly, ridiculous. In the absence of adequate preliminary research, your branding efforts will be little more than a shot in the dark, and you will have little chance of hitting that elusive branding bullseye. Key areas of branding research include consumer demographics/psychographics, consumer behavior/lifestyle choices, and geographical/financial market analysis. 2. Brand Identity After conducting in-depth research, you must give extensive thought to your proposed brand identity. Keep in mind that this identity must extend throughout every element of your comprehensive marketing efforts, from the color of your chosen logo to the tone of your written promotional copy to the videos and images that appear on your social media page. The two keys to brand identity are relevance to company values and consistency across all media channels. 3. Implementation Strategy The final step in the brand-building process consists of positioning your fully developed brand within the marketplace. This necessitates a comprehensive implementation of all brand elements (signage, letterheads, promotional messaging/events, website/social media design, etc.) with a firm focus on lead generation and positive public relations. It is absolutely essential to develop a prudent implementation strategy that fits the specific characteristics of your brand. As Executive Magazine contributor Samantha Chalmers puts it, “when promoting a LEED-certified community with composting stations and community gardens, it wouldn’t make sense to place a print ad in a Range Rover catalog” or “serve coffee or water in Styrofoam cups in the leasing office.” Brand Optimization and Rebranding No matter how much time, effort, and care you took to develop your initial apartment brand, it is important to realize when, in the words of Multifamily Executive Magazine contributor Jamie Matusek, “your brand becomes more of a liability than an asset.” When this occurs, it is time to optimize your brand or rebrand entirely. A successful rebranding effort requires marketers to follow the same comprehensive steps that drive the initial branding process. But when is the right time for your apartment complex to rebrand? Events and situations that often trigger a rebrand include planned remodeling or structural capital improvements, a floundering reputation in the consumer marketplace, and a general desire or need to expand your overall audience base. Your specific brand optimization or rebranding strategies will depend entirely on the events that necessitate them and the weaknesses in your brand as it currently stands. If your apartment complex is plagued by poor resident ratings, for example, you will want to reach out to existing tenants to precisely identify key areas of concern and then reformat your brand to address those areas specifically. In this case, your new brand should reflect a distinct break with the old brand, clearly stressing the value of a fresh start. As part of your rebranding efforts, it will be absolutely essential to communicate what, exactly, will be different about your company as you move forward. Furthermore, it will be even more important to honor those messages through conscientious action. For more information Bigeye is an apartment branding agency that places a supreme emphasis on creativity and forward-thinking business strategy. Whether you’re looking for a multifamily marketing agency to build your brand from the ground up or to optimize the brand that you’ve already developed, we can help. Don’t hesitate to contact Bigeye today.