Using the Benefits of Luxury Industry Branding To Your Advantage
If you work in the luxury market, chances are you know something about branding. You know how important it is for the brand to know its customer inside and out, and to use this knowledge to continue to build and sell products or services that create a meaningful experience for those indulging in aspirational lifestyles. Your brand is your identity – from your logo to your website to the voice in which you communicate on social media, there’s a line that offers immediate recognition. It creates that feeling that the essence is “on-brand.” Unfortunately, sometimes luxury industry branding includes making decisions that lead them down the wrong path. For instance, they may start producing lower quality goods in order to increase the bottom line.[quote]But the reality is, especially in the luxury industry, that customers can see right through this.[/quote] Making a person spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on a shoddy project is a guaranteed way to make sure they never buy from you again. And, even worse, in this social media-driven world, you can bet that the person who has a bad experience is going to log on to Facebook and Twitter to complain about the experience to friends and followers. Imagine how rough it would be to recover if said unhappy customer is a fashion blogger with a million followers! But brands do other things to dilute their brands, too, and in some cases, without even knowing it. For example, if your brand voice isn’t consistent on social media, that quickly becomes evident to your followers. People follow you because they’ve come to recognize a certain standard associated with you and your business. If you’re a high-end luxury brand that exudes class and elegance, you could lose credibility in tweeting out images of Miley Cyrus’s infamous tongue. It’s important to understand the types of things that drive your customers so you can keep your finger on the pulse of what’s relevant in their lives. And, when it comes to luxury industry branding, the team at our Orlando marketing agency knows that more followers doesn’t necessarily translate to a better brand. I don’t fully understand the practice of buying followers from so-called “click farms” in other countries, because even if it does inflate your follower count, you’ve just paid for the experience of having tons of followers who don’t actually care about your brand. Sure, the number looks good, but with no real engagement, it seems like a waste of money. But this doesn’t just relate to click farms – this experience of doing off-brand activities in order to help raise your follows and likes can actually have a detrimental effect on your brand. Sure, you may get more exposure, but if that exposure is from people who don’t represent your target audience, then this can easily dilute your brand’s value on social media. Another way you may be diluting the value of your brand is by having social media accounts that haven’t been updated in months. People follow you because they have an expectation from you, and if you don’t have the bandwidth or strategy to extend to that social media account, it’s important to assess whether you should take it down entirely. It’s my opinion that for most businesses on most platforms, having no page is better than having an inactive page. If you’re a luxury brand, you have to act like a luxury brand —this is true in brick and mortar locations, as well as in the digital space. Remember that in branding, the customer is savvier than you think. If you need some ideas as to how to better understand your brand, your brand voice and your brand vision, contact our Orlando branding agency for a consultation.
3 Questions to Ask When Creating Brand Preference in Moms
For marketers who are aimed at creating brand preference in moms, it is useful to take a look at the brand itself. You want to attract the right types of moms for the brand, as attracting the wrong type can lead to dilution of brand value. Look at what your brand has to offer the mom market, and then embellish those qualities that allow it to stand out amongst competitors by asking a few key questions: 1. Is our brand memorable? Though the brand doesn’t necessarily need to be in a mom’s face at all times, she does need exposure to the brand and needs ways to be able to find it when needed. In this era, being able to find the brand means that she can find it in the store, using Google, on Amazon, or social media sites.[quote]The harder it is to instill the brand into one’s memory, the harder it will be for brands to generate loyalty in their targets.[/quote] In order to help make the brand memorable, it’s essential to go to the platforms where moms are sharing information with one another in order to leave a lasting impression. 2. Is our brand meaningful? Whether it’s enjoying a meal together at Olive Garden or walking through the mall in attention-getting Gucci shades, the brands that have positive impacts on the target’s lives are the ones that will succeed in creating preference. Without meaning, there’s no difference between buying Huggies and buying store brand diapers; but many moms are more apt to go for the Huggies because of their variety of facets, such as age-appropriate diapers, that help ease the frustrations of changing diapers. Huggies have made a connection point not only in their marketing, but also in their appeal to make the lives of women easier. 3. Is our brand likable? Brand marketers should work to ensure that their brands are in line with the desires of mothers. A brand with a tough edge can open up it’s market to the modern mom by softening up, portraying the brand as likeable and fun. The brand marketer should embellish the aspects of their products that make moms’ lives easier, more exciting and more fulfilled. A company that sells necessities for children can better reach moms by bundling items such as diapers and baby wipes. Also, with new developments in big data, it’s easy to monitor what your users are saying about your products on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and other social media outlets. Make sure that you are listening to the conversation, engaging your audience and taking quick action to resolving any problems that may arise. To learn more about how you can market to moms in order to create brand preference and instill brand loyalty, contact our team today! We’ll share strategies for segmentation, creating appeals and assessing your own brand to determine the right moms for your business.
Three Personal Branding Tips To Inspire Your Branding
It hits all of us at some point – the latent feeling that we’re missing something, lacking inspiration in the work that we’re doing. Maybe it’s because we spent all night up with our sick children, or it might be because we’re burned out on the day-to-day minutia of running a successful business. Even though these moments are unavoidable, there are numerous things people can do to help boost inspiration in moments when it might not seem so easy. The ideas I’m about to share not only apply to finding inspiration in business, but also to finding inspiration in everyday life. The goal should be to put your mind at ease, because as you will learn, the most creative, logical solutions often come when we’re relaxed, at ease and inspired. If you’re feeling a bit bogged down in your work or life, follow these personal branding tips from our Orlando marketing agency to help add a bit of extra positivity and inspiration to your world. 1. Create a Mood Board A mood board is your own personal art project, and it’s really easy to create one. I typically use corkboard, but some people may find that using tape and a piece of cardboard works better. Use this as a guide, and post only things that speak to you and inspire you. If you’re designing one for your business, use it to add images, textures and articles that speak to the brand you aspire your business to become. If you’re designing it for yourself, find things you love and add them to the mood board to help develop a sense of who you are as a person.[quote]There’s no right way to create a mood board — it’s all about how you feel in the moment.[/quote] Creating a mood board can be cathartic, and going forward, it can offer you a moment of zen when hurrying through an otherwise busy world. Keep it by your desk, and look at it each time you find yourself drifting off. Simply adding an image of a beautiful sunset can remind you of your inspiration to work long hours so you can enjoy that upcoming vacation you’ve planned. 2. Explore Your Surroundings You’ve probably heard this advice before, but it’s always worth repeating. By taking a stroll to explore your surroundings, ideally though a setting in which you are in touch with nature, you have time to clear your mind and focus on the present, a practice called mindfulness. Rather than thinking about that next deadline or project, instead take time to focus on your breathing and enjoy the aromas of the world around you. This type of relaxation can be a great way to stimulate creative thinking. 3. Have a Healthy Snack If you haven’t been eating right, then you’re certain to crash at some point. [quote]This can lead to a lack of inspiration or, even worse, severe headaches or crankiness.[/quote] Rather than going for the candy bar, coffee or energy drink, instead try munching on nuts or fresh fruit. It’s all the good stuff with a lot less of the bad, which can help you feel better, have more energy, and help you sort out your thoughts as well. Try to make this a daily, lifelong habit, as people who eat and live healthy tend to be more relaxed, calm and focused, which can do wonders for your both your personal life and your business life. Following these tips from our Florida ad agency can help you relax, allowing you to unleash maximum potential for your business and your life. Contact us today for more personal branding expertise!
Branding Strategy Tips That Make an Awesome Impression
If you have any sort of introverted qualities, you probably understand that it can take quite a bit of work to muster up the courage and energy to take that first meeting or introduce yourself to someone new. According to the team at our Florida advertising agency, the first impression you make on a person is the first impression they will carry with them for the rest of their lives. So, if you want to make it anywhere in the business world, that first impression has to be a good one. Luckily, I’ve learned to beat that introversion, and you can too. All it takes is a little bit of practice and as much confidence as you can muster, using a few of our recommended branding strategy tips that make an awesome impression: Tip 1: Address Your Appearance You might be the best tech entrepreneur in the world, but no one is going to know that if you don’t look the part. Get a haircut, trim that beard and wear your nicest jacket if you want to leave a strong impression. While there are exceptions to this rule (think of Mark Zuckerburg and his infamous hoodie), wait until you’re already at that level until you decide you can start dressing down. Looking like a million bucks will also help you feel like a million bucks, so don’t be afraid to splurge just a little in the name of good style. Tip 2: Stand Up Straight Years of sitting in front of a computer may have left you with an awkward slouch. Make a conscious effort to stand up straight. Doing this will not only make you look more confident, but will psychologically make you feel more confident as well. Along the same lines, be conscious of your actions and try to avoid fidgeting, as this comes across as anxious and excitable. Tip 3: Get a Good Night’s Sleep You ever have any of those days where you’re sitting in a meeting and you started dozing off because you’d been working until 2 a.m. the night before? In our culture, we’re taught to value hard work, but that doesn’t mean you can’t sleep and can expect to get through the day on coffee and M&Ms. Getting a good night’s sleep will give you a clear head, which will keep you bright eyed for your important meeting with the person who might just hold the key to your future. Tip 4: Smile and Make Eye Contact Smiling is another one of those psychological tricks a person can pull to make himself or herself and those around him or her feel better.[quote]Even if you have to force it at first, the act of a smile can help trick the mind into establishing feeling of happiness.[/quote] Also, making eye contact establishes rapport, and excellent rapport is ultimately the key to leaving a great first impression. Tip 5: To Leave a Lasting Impression, Always Follow Up This is by far the easiest thing a person can do. You had a great meeting, so within less than 24-hours, make sure you’re still on the person’s radar by shooting a quick note to thank the person for their time. It’s as easy as pie, right? But you’d be surprised how many people neglect to take this vital step. For more ideas on how to impress those around you, contact us today to be wow’d!
4 Tips for Understanding Social Media Marketing ROI
It’s not easy to determine a dollar-for-dollar return on investment for social media. The good news, though, is that a company needn’t find itself buried in this task: there are numerous ways to track whether social media marketing ROI investments are paying off in big ways. Recently, a marketing consultant told me how when she first came on board with a new client, a large corporation, the CEO told her repeatedly that they should cut their social media because he couldn’t see a return on investment. So, she suggested they run a test that involved taking social media away for a period of a few weeks. Perhaps surprisingly, sales dropped throughout the course of the test.[quote]Circumstantial evidence led the marketers to deduce that the social media activities were, in fact, driving at least some sales.[/quote] Luckily, brands are coming up with more effective ways to measure social media ROI. It begins with looking at analytic data, and using that to determine how that relates to financial data. Our Orlando ad agency has a few tips that may help you in determining social media ROI for your business. Tip One: Think Carefully About What You’re Measuring It’s nearly impossible to measure direct sales from social media engagement, just because someone saw or “favorited” your company’s tweet, it doesn’t necessarily mean that alone is what drove them to a conversion. However, most sites have built-in analytic dashboards that allow their users to see which links are leading to hits for your site. (If you aren’t already collecting data through Google Analytics, sign up for a free account today). If you have evidence that someone clicked through an ad and landed on your site, it’s effectively telling that you that it was good for that, and if they’re not converting, there may be some other reason for it. Tip Two: Think About the Quality of the Interaction Itself It’s great when someone retweets your post, but it also makes a difference if the person sharing your content has one follower, or one million. In this way, companies can think more about the reach of a certain post than simply about the interaction itself. People with many followers often act as influencers not only online but in the real world, so social media managers can tap into influencer activities by having continuous conversations with these fans. Influencers can help companies build sales over time, so look at the investment the company is putting into engaging with fans and monitor whether sales increase over time. Tip Three: Consider the Benefits of Social Media Beyond Marketing While Twitter is a great place for people to share their thoughts and comment on things they find interesting, it’s also a great way for them to reach businesses directly through their social media accounts. Many people report that their problems are answered more quickly when tweeted than when they try to call on the phone, and as such marketers should be prepared accordingly. As such, take into account how much money your company is saving through using social media as a customer service alternative. Tip Four: When You’re Not Seeing a Return, Reassess Your Strategy When it seems to your marketing team that your social media isn’t offering a significant return on investment, it’s time to address your strategy. If your company sells a product that’s visually appealing, like gourmet food or luxury clothing, make sure you’re posting images on Pinterest that click through directly to your site. If you’re an author trying to market a book, consider doing a live chat with your fans about subjects related to the book, which can be informative and interesting and, in some cases, can even become a trending topic on Twitter. For more ideas about how to successfully generate social media marketing ROI from creative social media efforts, contact our Orlando marketing agency for a free consultation.
Why Your Brand Should Consider Using App Development
It’s a new year, and people around the country are working hard to keep their resolutions. Be it trying to smile more, have more fun or save money for that big vacation, resolutions are typically admirable goals that, if reached, can grant more positivity and joy to a person’s life. At our advertising agency, we think one of the most awesome things about living in a world of smartphones and digital technology is that there are tons of apps to help us reach our goals. These are apps that help us manage our budgets, our fitness goals and our work-life balance. The great thing about the digital economy is that marketers are able to use app development to find creative ways to tap into these tools to help integrate digital products with their marketing strategies. When brands pick up on a need for their audiences, they can effectively develop apps to help provide a service while also marketing their own brand. Take, for instance, Mint, which is a great tool for helping budget and save. Because it is able to provide a useful service to users, it can also strengthen its brand by partnering with major banks to help provide recommendations and advertising. Anyone resolving to save money in 2014 can use Mint to help plan for the future, and can also get tips on personalized banking options and experiences. Those who’ve resolved to lose weight this year can use help from a number of apps, but none is as highly regarded as the Nike Fuel Band app and it’s partner device. Nike, a company once known only for its shoes, spent significant time and money on research and development to become a lifestyle brand. In doing so, it created a device that acts as a pedometer that syncs with a smart phone app, allowing people to easily monitor their progress and share with friends. This innovative technology goes far beyond what a shoe company has to offer, but at the end of the day, more people working out also equals more shoes sold by Nike. Plus, that doesn’t include the massive amounts of data Nike is capturing about its users. This is why Nike will remain a leader in the athletics and fitness space for a long time. [quote] Want to check out a success story in the mobile app market? BIGEYE teamed up with The Daily Mom to develop a unique and sophisticated app that reached the Top 25 Downloads Position on iTunes. [/quote] Finally, there are numerous apps that help people with education. For instance, language companies like Rosetta Stone compliment their foreign language programs with immersive apps. In doing so, they not only provide a service to their users, but are also accessible to beginners who might be interested in partaking in the full program at a later date, but for the moment simply need to learn where to find the bathroom. Take a tip from our brand marketing agency: Marketers should look to this these inspirational ideas for app utility to figure out what kinds of apps might help their users and their audiences. Doing so not only acts as great marketing, but also helps provide a service to users. In turn, those new products can help the brand grow into something bigger than itself. In search of a little more expert advice to strategize app development for your brand? Contact us today to schedule a consultation!
Six Ways You Should Revamp Your Personal Brand in 2014
Here at BIGEYE’s Florida ad agency, we spend a lot of time working with brands to help them define their voice and vision. We strategize every day, with the goal of implementing ideas and technologies that help connect brands with their audiences. But as the year begins, we think it’s important to remind our readers that there’s one brand that also takes time to cultivate and grow: your personal brand. As we resolve to improve ourselves in 2014, it will make sense for many of us to reevaluate our personal brand: the message we put out there in the world about ourselves. Every day, through each of our interactions, we tell stories of who we are as people, and through these interactions, our audiences – everyone from family members to casual acquaintances – decide how and why they should want to work with us. Here are a few tips to help you revamp and grow your personal brand in 2014: 1. Do a Brand Brief – For Yourself BIGEYE consistently develops brand briefs for our clients, but did you know that you can also use this idea to help brand yourself? Doing a brand brief for yourself helps you to think critically about your own vision and mission: who you are, what you represent and what that means as part of the bigger picture. 2. Get Social People who aren’t using social media are at a distinct disadvantage behind competitors. Social media offers an easy way to stay connected with people, and to share content that friends, business associates and acquaintances may find interesting. People who don’t feel comfortable posting personal information online can use social media in a purely professional context. Those considering taking that route might start with LinkedIn, which also allows users to connect through networking groups and by sharing interesting content. 3. Create Cohesion Across Channels This is a simple marketing idea that also applies to individuals.[quote]People recognize brands because they recognize the brand voice and imagery, be it logos or other elements of design.[/quote] By making sure your personal letterhead matches your email signature and Twitter handle, you’re effectively branding yourself across channels in much the way a big brand like Nike or Pepsi does on a continuous basis. 4. Keep In Contact The major reason brands send promotional emails at regular intervals is because they are extremely effective in helping them to retain customers. Therefore, sending out a monthly email newsletter with updates about various projects may help keep your personal brand in the forefront of peoples’ minds. However, if the newsletter email route doesn’t seem to work for you, try instead setting aside time each week to send out personal emails to old friends and colleagues. 5. Make Time For Others With only so much time in the day, it can be compelling to spend more time working and less time meeting in person for lunch or coffee. However, taking the time to meet with old colleagues and acquaintances is a great way to keep up the networking mojo – and consequently, to help improve your brand. 6. Improve Your Business Mind Investing some time and money into career improvement is a great way to help strengthen your personal brand. Taking online or in-person courses through companies like Coursera, Skillshare and General Assembly is an excellent way to help improve your personal brand. With these personal branding tips, you can be sure that 2014 will be your best career year yet.
Do You Know How the best way to Advertise on Twitter?
Fresh on the heels of an IPO, there’s plenty of speculation about the future value of Twitter and how it will sustain revenue over the next few years. Certainly, it’s been proven that Twitter is around to stay, with a sizable base of users who constantly check their feeds for more content. Plus, there’s significant buzz around the value of Twitter, given its decision to close off its API and keep tracking data internal. Regardless of how investors feel about Twitter, there are real opportunities for businesses of all sizes to advertise on the social media platform. There are three different ways to advertise on Twitter: Promoted Hashtags, Promoted Accounts and Promoted Tweets. The team at our Florida ad agency thought it would be helpful to break down Twitter ads to figure out the best ways to help businesses lever Twitter marking for their businesses. Promoted Trends Promoted trends are the true moneymakers for Twitter. Companies can purchase a Twitter hashtag for 24 hours, starting at about $200,000, for the exclusive right to be featured prominently as a trending hashtag throughout the course of the day. Obviously, this requires a huge marketing budget, but large businesses that can afford a promoted trend can typically expect to see a massive return on investment. Sponsored hashtags appear in the trends section of the desktop site and have featured placement on Twitter mobile. On a recent Tuesday, the evening’s promoted trend was #TuesdayNightFootball. The hashtag appeared in a sidebar for every person who used Twitter on his or her computer for that entire day. The success of that marketing effort wasn’t just massive Twitter appeal; much of it was in the fact that people were consistently using that hashtag in their own Tweets, creating a network of posts and retweets to help create awareness of Tuesday Night Football. It also became a cross-promotional effort, with TV viewers being encouraged to tweet with that hashtag and attracting new viewers to their televisions to watch Tuesday Night Football. Companies who opt to go with this type of advertising often do so through agencies, and do it in order to promote events or product launches. Only one promoted hashtag will run at a given time, so it is given a premium spot at a premium rate. Promoted Accounts Business owners can promote their accounts for much cheaper than they can purchase promoted hashtags. A promoted account features the advertiser’s account prominently on the desktop under “Who to Follow,” and reach only people who fit a particular profile, as determined by the advertiser. Promoted accounts works best for people looking to grow their user base over time by cultivating user engagement. These seem to be a longer-term strategy. Also, advertisers only pay for users who follow their accounts as a result of the promoted account. Promoted Tweets [quote]Most small business Twitter success stories come from promoted Tweets.[/quote]These are easy to implement and geotarget, or, small businesses can choose to relay such tweets to niche populations who are interested in specific subject matter (which is based on the accounts a person follows and tweet topics). These are best to use to drive immediate traffic. Recently, a friend of mine who had a recently published book decided to take a shot at Twitter advertising. Her efforts garnered more than 2,000 impressions and hundreds of new followers. And, this all cost her a mere $5. With careful planning, this tactic can be an effective strategy for engaging with potential customers. Increasingly, businesses are learning to leverage Twitter to help grow their user base and engage with them more. People who are not getting the results they want from simply tweeting may wish to investigate Twitter advertising as an additional source of awareness. Business owners who have yet to experiment with Twitter advertising can contact our Florida marketing agency for help with creating the perfect Twitter ad campaign.
Instagram’s “Photos of You” Feature and What it Means to Brands
Since it’s launch in October 2010, Instagram hasn’t made many major changes to their original formula. However, a couple months ago Instagram introduced the “Photos of You” addition to their application that allows users to tag friends and brands in their photos. Like Facebook, these tagged pictures will then appear on the profile that was tagged. So, how does the feature work? Instagram has made “Photos of You” easy for Instagrammers to utilize. When uploading a photo, just click the “Add People” option directly below the caption. You then tap on the person in the photo you wish to tag and select or search for their name. You’re also able to go back and add a person to a picture you have already shared by simply going back to the picture and clicking “Add People.” However unlike Facebook, you’re only able to tag photos that you’ve uploaded. Instagram will notify you when someone adds a photo of you. Worried about an unattractive photo of yourself being uploaded to your profile? Similar to Facebook, you can adjust your settings so that you can review pictures before they’re put on your Instagram. You used to only able to @mention people and brands. People mentioned weren’t able to keep track of pictures uploaded by others and photo browsers were unable to tell who was who in the pictures. What does this mean for brands? Many brands have begun to incorporate Instagram into their marketing efforts. With the “Photos of You” feature, users are not only able to add photos of people, but they’re also able to tag the profiles of brands in their posts. This gives brands the chance to see how consumers are interacting and using their products in everyday life. Brands also will have the opportunity to build stronger connections and more personal relationships with fans and followers. Time will only tell, but the ability to tag brands seems to be setting Instagram up for advertising features sometime in the near future. Be sure to check out BIGEYE’s Instagram by clicking here.
Why Follow-for-Follow Creates an Inauthentic Brand Experience
Outside of social media marketing, I hear it everywhere. “Follow me, and I’ll follow you back!” and advice suggesting that a Twitter user follow every one of their own followers. Usually, this is the type of thing said by motivational speakers, life coaches and other types of people who don’t truly understand marketing. To some people, a Twitter follow-for-follow seems like an even exchange. Or, perhaps it just seems like “the nice thing to do” in order to help please your customers and loyal fans. But unfortunately, a follow-for-follow pattern can also result in tarnishing your brand’s image and brand experience. First of all, it’s important to remember that your followers can see who you follow. If you end up being followed by a spam or ghost account, and you follow them blindly, you are, at the very least, subjecting yourself to spam. But, you’re also providing incentives for your own followers – the people you influence – to follow spam or fake accounts, which doesn’t seem good for anyone. Much in the way that it doesn’t make sense for Pepsi to follow Coke, or for Mercedes Benz to follow Kia, it doesn’t make sense for your brand to follow the things that aren’t on-brand. Sure, you may love the tweets from your friend Albert who constantly tweets funny comments about celebrity gossip, but if your company doesn’t align itself with celebrity culture, then it’s better to keep that follow to your own personal account. A good brand influences behavior, and if you don’t want to dilute the value of your brand, it’s important to realize that the brand’s Twitter page (and Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram pages) are extensions of the brand identity. In many ways, it’s like aligning yourself with the people you believe you are aligned with – and just because a million people may identify with your brand, it doesn’t necessarily mean your brand needs to cater to them. Perhaps when the Twitterverse was smaller, it may have made more sense to follow each person who followed you or your brand. But, with more than 200 million active users as of this month, it’s easy for bigger brands to get lost in the haze. Imagine being Lady Gaga and trying to follow each of your 39 million followers. Even she follows some 136,000 people, which seems to me like it would make it hard to sift through the noise. Another trend that we’ve seen marketers attempt in order to be more successful on Twitter is the practice of buying followers. All over the internet, people are eager to help businesses raise their Twitter fan bases by purchasing followers at an agreed-upon sum. However, our team of genuine marketing experts frowns upon this practice because ultimately it doesn’t matter who your followers are if they’re not quality, and are not actively engaging with you. Additionally, while some people assume that buying followers will help bolster their credibility, in actuality there are now a variety of social media tools that help shed light on fake followers. If you are looking for more ideas and ways to establish a strong brand presence on Twitter, follow our Florida advertising agency at @BIGEYEagency.