Generate traffic to your resort website with content marketing
Resort marketing still continues to largely hinge on a flawless content strategy: you have to have the photos, the reviews, the descriptions, and some seriously intriguing copy that makes website visitors want to become real visitors. In addition to the obvious benefits of engaging and converting web traffic, content marketing can generate even more traffic to your resort website by boosting SEO rankings and viral traffic. Here are some tried and true industry insights that’ll be sure to help pump up your SEO rankings and generate more traffic to your site. CONTENT MARKETING MEETS SEO RANKING: We’ve all heard the same ole’ song that content is king – well, it is. Strong, relevant, and consistent website content boosts your SEO ranking on two fronts, branded terms (i.e., your resort name) and non-branded terms like geo-specific data (i.e., Jamaica resort, tropical hotel, etc.). Working with a marketing agency to develop a better understanding of the right terms for your brand, which is always based on your search budget and competitive set, will give you a crystal-clear roadmap to success. Use those terms to tag your photos and build out your property descriptions, and as search engines crawl your site, having these terms in your copy will ensure your resort appears relevant and pops up when tourists are searching for related terms. Of course, the more your resort appears in search results (and the higher it ranks), the more traffic will hit your website. Within your site, you can also link to deeper pages within your web ecosystem or link outwardly to relevant website authorities such as bloggers and review sites to encourage better search rankings. Although SEO efforts aren’t as tangible as other agency marketing efforts, they can absolutely make or break how much traffic your website receives. Which in turn, has a huge effect on your business. And remember, you multi-million dollar resort and its respective website are only as good as the traffic that finds it. OUTWARD BOUND – CONTENT MARKETING AND VIRAL TRAFFIC: Although it can feel incredibly time consuming, blogging is one of the single most important content marketing strategies to boost traffic to your resort website. By actively blogging about relevant content related to the resort industry, you become an authority on your travel destination. Blog as a guest expert on other sites, publish your posts in an email newsletter, share them on social media, get the word out. The more shareable your content is, the more likely it is to be … well … shared. If your in-house team is too small, consider working with a content marketing agency to generate and post blog entries. Not only can these agencies write on your behalf, but they can help you determine where to post your content and who to reach out to, ultimately ensuring your articles are seen. Regardless of your budget, most agencies will work with you to build a successful strategy. A good rule of thumb is that you should post at least one to two articles per week that include approximately 500-600 words and several instances of your primary keywords. The added bonus of creating highly shareable content is that it also supports your SEO strategy. And that my friends, is what we call a two-for-one. We can’t stress enough that content helps potential customers understand your brand and drives new visitors to the top of your exploration funnel. Keeping this content up-to-date is important to ensure your site stays relevant to both your audience and search engines. Your website is never “done” and there is always more content to be written, fresh news to share, and new traffic to entice by updating your content on a regular basis. So get to writing – go ahead, unleash your creativity – and don’t plan to stop! Click here to see how we take on the world of content marketing.
3 marketing myths that make millennials hate your brand
The holy grail of marketing to millennials has been debunked! Not that you should be surprised – millennials love to break (bend, change, or influence) the rules. Slapping a few digital ads on social media and running deep discounts to hook and book today’s largest emerging consumer demographic is no longer enough. To create a successful millennial marketing campaign that will engage and grow this audience, it’s important to understand what they value and how they like to interact with brands. On the flip side, it’s equally – if not more – important to understand what doesn’t work for this group. As the Baby Boomers retire and Generation X continues to take a backseat to the very visible, loud and proud “x, y” generation, unpacking the marketing psychology that drives millennials will become increasingly important. We’ve debunked three of the most common millennial myths that plague brands and drive this critical demographic away. Marketing to millennials myth 1: They are cheap and narcissistic With the advent of “cheap chic” fashion trends, thanks in large part to popular discount brands like Target and H&M, it’s not surprising that the general population believes millennials are overly consumed with the appearance of wealth and trendiness (minus the price tag). A solid marketing agency often translates this into either discounts and rebates, or campaigns that imitate luxury brands while visibility toting their lower prices. Although many millennials struggled to find post-graduate employment after the recession in 2008, they are bouncing back with the economy and finding themselves with a sudden influx of disposable income thanks to booming startups, fast-paced tech agencies, and non-traditional employment opportunities. Almost 50% of millennials are more willing to buy a product if it supports a good cause. The critical emphasis on this research is that millennials are not only more willing to buy a product that contributes to a greater cause in some way, but to actually choose it over more expensive alternatives that don’t support similar initiatives. This type of research suggests that millennials are neither cheap nor narcissistic, but in fact are more than willing to pay for the right product and the right brand. Take Love Your Melon, for example. They are able to charge a premium cost for a simple product because they speak to millennial ideals, not their vanity or bank accounts. Love Your Melon is an apparel brand dedicated to giving a hat to every child battling cancer in America as well as supporting nonprofit organizations that lead the fight against pediatric cancer. Pretty inspiring, right? Love Your Melon has built their business on millennials and their mission is the reason why they’ve been so successful at it. Maybe it’s time to consider ditching the promotion in favor for a buy one, give one (to a community in need) campaign. Marketing to millennials myth 2: The best way to reach them is social media Marketing to millennials has long hinged on social media campaigns, pop up or in-app advertising, and digital outreach. However, this hyper-connected generation finds great satisfaction in discovering the world when they are unplugged and engaging with it. This is an untapped territory for brands looking to break through the clutter. 48% of millennials say they would (and could) happily function without their smartphone or digital devices according to Retailing Today. While many millennial myths want you to believe that this generation can’t (and won’t) interact with a brand unless it’s bombarding them online, many millennials discover brands at the top of the funnel when they’re unplugged, exploring, and experiencing. This type of organic discovery leads to deeper brand loyalty and longer lifetime value. We aren’t suggesting getting rid of your digital marketing campaigns, we’re just simply advocating that you add in a few guerrilla or grassroots tactics that reach this audience in the real-world environment they so crave in today’s hyper-digital world. Think: Coca-Cola’s happiness phone booths or Redbull’s partnership with extreme sporting events. Marketing to millennials myth 3: They can be somewhat transactional One of the most deadly millennial myths results from the culmination of the previous two myths. Marketing to millennials should, first and foremost, hinge on expressing your brand’s value proposition and ideals. Contrary to popular belief, millennials are not transactional shoppers. According to Medallion Research, millennials are not nearly as concerned with money and status as they are with relationships and experiences. This dovetails from the idea that millennials are not cheap or narcissistic. They don’t care about the product, they care about the brand and lifestyle it’s associated with. When selling consumer packaged goods or services, this may seem difficult to surmount, but when you step back and look at the success of Apple’s “Think Differently” campaign, it becomes clear that products – whatever they may be – are simply an expression of this generation’s values. So make sure your brand values speak loud and clear. As was the case with Apple, you may need to expressly spell this out for the new generation. But, the results will be well worth the effort. Simple, right? Marketing to millennials really comes down to two things: Say something about your brand and make sure it’s authentic they’ll sort out the rest. Contact us today to learn how we can help you reach your target audience!
Welp, Super Bowl is over: Crush 2017 using 3 ad campaign ideas
People all around America celebrate the Super Bowl in approximately one of three ways: 1. The over zealous football fan throws a party for all of his best friends. He smears paint all over his face, wears his favorite (“lucky”, probably smelly) jersey, stocks the refrigerator full with beer and makes so many chicken wings it seems impossible that they will all be eaten (but don’t worry, they will be). 2. You have the neighbor/friend/spouse etc. that knows nothing about football. But they follow the crowd, go to the party for the free food, and pretend they know why, exactly, grown men are running into each other. 3. The best people (we like to include ourselves in this category) may go to the party, or they may not. Favorite game-time snack and beverage in hand, these people watch the game patiently. Anytime now, they think. Leaning forward in their seats, they hush everyone in the room. A commercial break has finally arrived. It’s Super Bowl ad time, and the real game is about to begin. The Super Bowl, with one of the highest ratings in all of U.S. TV history, the lure of high, and often engaged, viewership is too strong for advertisers to ignore. The Super Bowl has seen some of the best – and worst – ads in its 50 year history, creating a great database of success stories for advertising during both the big game and every other day of the year. Alas, let’s take three lessons from the game changers of the ad industry and answer the question, “what should we do for our next ad campaign in 2017?” DO: Involve your consumer Doritos’ ‘Crash the Super Bowl’ campaign is one of the best examples of this idea. A 10-year campaign, Doritos made the risky decision to outsource their most important ad dollars of the year. The ‘Crash’ campaign consists of consumer-generated content, something that was nearly unheard of — and hard to swallow by the Doritos marketing team — until 2006 when the strategy turned out to be a success. Widely accepted among consumers, the amateur home-videos shined a light on the potential creative of everyday consumers and created valued engagement and connection between the company and its most-valued target audience. In its 10th and final year, Doritos’ ‘Crash the Super Bowl’ campaign is sure to be a highlight of this year’s game day. DO: Try new things in your ad campaign A must watch in any intro to advertising course and widely considered one of the best ads ever, Apple’s ‘1984’ broke boundaries. The ad, a play on George Orwell’s popular dystopian novel, was the first of its kind and set the standard for Super Bowl advertising to come. Despite the fact that the ad almost didn’t see the light of day and faced much pushback from Apple executives, the ad made a lasting impact on both the industry and the consumer. Long gone were the days of mediocre Super Bowl advertising. Apple, a pioneer on many fronts, also became the pioneer of high-quality, large scale ad campaigns. The ad only aired one time but created a buzz so strong that people are still talking about it more than 30 years later. DO: Use social media as a supplement to your ad campaign Volkswagen’s ‘The Force’ is possibly one of the cutest (aww) ads ever, featuring a little boy dressed as Darth Vader attempting, with little luck, to use the force on any and all things around his house. Surprised, he is (see what we did there), to find his powers work on his parents’ new VW, aided only by the remote control start his dad secretly uses from inside the house. While this ad did wonders to capture the consumer and hit a solid 10 on the cuteness scale, that is not the reason it caused buzz in the advertising industry. VW had only bought a 30-second spot in the Super Bowl, but they were convinced their best work was the full 60-second version. With no way to air the 60-second version during the game, VW made the decision to post ‘The Force’ on Youtube days before it was set to air on TV. Up until this time, Super Bowl ads were kept well under wraps and locked behind bulletproof glass (maybe not, but seems likely) to prevent early viewing and what was considered a loss of impact. VW’s early release of ‘The Force’ opened the door to social media teasing and an entire new layer to the Super Bowl ad campaign frenzy. Well, your 12 month countdown begins NOW! We hope these lessons from these game changers will help drive an awesome 2017 campaign. For more info on how the experts at BIGEYE create Ad Campaigns, click here.
Applying Lean Methodology On a Corporate Business Scale
In his book The Lean Startup, Eric Ries discusses iterative product design, development and launch, which he describes as “lean.” But, as many businesses are seeing, lean methodologies don’t just apply to startups. Even big businesses have plenty to learn by acting with a bias toward action. You see, many larger, more established businesses quickly become stuck in a “behind the times” holding pattern. They have the newest, most up-to-date technology in place when they start building the company, however, these technologies change quickly. By the time a Pinterest profile is created, the company’s target demographic may have already adopted Snapchat, or some other buzzed about social media tool their audience is already excited about. [quote]One of the ways marketers may be able to avoid missing the technological mark is by incorporating lean marketing methodologies into the process.[quote] The goal with these methods is to get the company moving forward, so that the business doesn’t stall at the dozens of rounds of approvals it takes to get a project off the ground. Instead of waiting for the stars to align, lean marketers are constantly introducing new ideas, performing ongoing tests and iteration until the project or campaign reaches peak performance. In some cases, this may mean forgoing rounds and rounds of ad review, and instead moving forward and then monitoring performance. For instance, the marketer can A/B test an ad and further optimize its performance. Of course, following this school of thought means a company may be subject to mistakes. Sometimes these can be embarrassing, such as the social media fails we hear from big brands in the news from time to time. But remember, most of those brands are still in business, some with sales revenue that remain as high than ever. Save for a few outrageous errors, most customers are willing to forgive a company for a bit of a blunder. But that’s not the point: many of these massive fails are the result of hundreds of million dollar campaigns – so surely making a couple of tweaks isn’t going to destroy your business forever. [featured] For more ideas as to how your company can implement lean marketing methodology, contact us today to see how we can help! [/featured] The benefit of testing and iterating process in marketing is to initiate a learning experience. In launching a massive campaign with a huge budget, you might have some indication that it’s going to be successful based on field research and a plethora of other factors. But, you can never really be certain. Just ask the team behind New Coke or any of one of a number of other major marketing blunders. So, by starting small, lean methodology allows a company to begin by testing, and then moving full-steam ahead with a campaign once results have afforded the marketing team with enough data to further drive the campaign. By setting smaller goals and iterating in the moment, companies may work more efficiently, and can have successful programs to hit the market more than once in a blue moon. This lean marketing methodology is catching on all over the world, as businesses realize the impact of starting small to then go big. If you’re looking for a business breakthrough, why wait when you can start right now? Let us help you apply lean marketing methodologies within your company – contact us today!
The Seven Best Black Friday Marketing Practices You Should Know
Black Friday is the biggest sales day of the year with a record $59 billion spent in 2012. Retail stores are seeing more and more people, lined up earlier and shopping later than ever. There’s just something about a nice Thanksgiving dinner that makes people comfortable spending cash on their loved ones (and themselves!) the day after. Marketers who work for retail companies can expect sales upticks on Black Friday, but what can they do to make the most of it? Here, the marketers (and shopaholics) at our Orlando marketing agency share the 7 best Black Friday marketing tips for your company: 1. Start Early, End Late: Years ago, Black Friday was limited to just that. However, a Black Friday summary from CNN Money showed that 10% of Black Friday shoppers were at stores by 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving night, while 28% were there by midnight, showing that businesses can make even more profit with longer Black Friday hours.[quote]In the digital space, ecommerce companies also focus on Cyber Monday, which encourages deals for people who shop from their computers, tablets and mobile devices.[/quote] 2. Look at Trends: What sold well last year? What types of discounts helped the most? Looking at data form past promotions can help marketers tailor their sale strategies to consumer activities. Evaluating these trends also helps with the next item on our list… 3. Set Goals: For most companies, the Black Friday goal will always be to increase revenue. But perhaps the company also harbors secondary goals of increasing social media engagement or pushing products that haven’t been selling as well. Looking at previous trends can help marketers set attainable goals, and can also help them tailor their strategies to insights regarding consumer behavior. 4. Promote Where Your Potential Customers Are: When determining where to place your ad dollars, try to assess your customers’ personas to figure out where you can most likely reach them. Internet savvy businesses may get more out of investing in social media campaigns, while department stores with older clientele may have more success with advertising in print publications. 5. Seek Publicity: Each year, hundreds of media outlets report on Black Friday – not just the people lining up to be the first to snag a deal, but also months after the event to recap sales and trends. Businesses can seek to be part of this publicity storm by offering unusual deals, selling packages designed just for Black Friday and advertising unique offerings. 6. Encourage Return Visits: If one of your company’s goals is to increase sales between Black Friday and Christmas, it may be wise to offer coupons redeemable only after Black Friday. This can help incentivize people to return to the store and spend more money throughout the holiday season. 7. Reward Employees: Though more of a management tip, it is highly applicable to all business owners and CEOs who are running Black Friday campaigns. This time of year can be extraordinarily stressful, so incentivizing and rewarding hard work is one of the ways to help ease this stress for everyone. Marketers who follow these tips can look forward to seeing success with their Black Friday campaigns. In the retail industry, it can sometimes be difficult to differentiate oneself, but with targeted marketing and advertising, the team at our Florida advertising agency believes good marketing can turn Black Friday into lots and lots of green. Contact us today for more retail strategies to ensure you’re prepared for a bevy of new customers!
Grassroots Marketing Ideas for Small Business Owners
Almost every day, I see a campaign and think of how, if I’d had that marketing budget, I could make it bigger, better and more engaging. But unfortunately, the reality is that small businesses often have tight marketing budgets, and are unable to undertake the elaborate marketing efforts that someone with a multi-million dollar budget can. Recently, the team at our Florida advertising agency has been consulting smaller businesses about ideas that they can put into play with small marketing budgets, in order to see big returns. While every business has its unique strengths and weakness, there are a few universal tools that marketers can put into play at a grassroots budget in order to help market their businesses. Celebrity Endorsements: Okay, so we realize that not every person is friends with a celebrity, or even if you are, it might not be the type of celebrity who is willing to endorse your brand for free. But recently, a friend of mine gained headway on her brand’s social media page when she posted images of her fashions appearing on a popular network prime-time sitcom. It was a huge draw for her brand’s target demographic. Though it wasn’t technically a celebrity endorsement, it showed celebrity affiliation, which was great self-made PR for the people who purchase from her store. Go to Your Target: If you specialize in vintage silver, and your products are available online, why only reach out to your current “followers” when you could be gaining new ones? Though it’s sometimes hard to believe, the types of message boards that were popular years ago are still popular with thousands of people, people who identify with a given community. Additionally, sites like Reddit and Craigslist feature bulletin board systems, allowing people to involve themselves in conversations based on niche topics. You can also use social media monitoring to reach out to people who love your products or services to engage with them and reward them for posting. Establish Yourself as an Expert: If your business is the leading website that offers realtime information about finance and interest rates, you can establish yourself as an expert in these fields by writing about these topics. You can start your own blog, post informative slide decks on SlideShare, or can actively post in forms such as Quora to show off your expertise. Expertise in a specific field is great publicity and marketing. It helps lend credibility, not to mention helps your search engine ranking for people who organically search for keywords related to your terms. [quote] Speaking of experts… Our marketing expertise is through the roof. Contact us to get your free quote! [/quote] Connect with Potential Customers Online and Offline: If your digital followers are also real-life customers, it’s important to make them feel as though they are part of your community both onscreen and off-screen. A friend of mine incentivizes people to come into her store by offering exclusive discounts for birthdays and other life events, which she keeps track of through constant communication and a host of social media tools. Though it can be difficult for her do this with every one of her hundreds of followers, the ones who do receive treats or discounts from her almost always react positively or share their finds. If you’re looking for more ways to stretch your marketing budget, our Florida advertising agency can help introduce you to fun, interesting and innovative campaigns to help sell your product or service by connecting with your audience.
The Pope’s Election as a successful Marketing Campaign
The way everyone is talking about it, it could have been an announcement from NASA about life on another planet, or a miracle performed on earth in front of thousands of witnesses. It’s all over newspaper outlets, television, social media sites, mobile phones and popular blogs (including this blog from your favorite Orlando ad agency!). More than the Superbowl, the Grammys and the Oscars combined, Twitter feeds are lighting up with revelry about the big news. Yesterday, the Vatican announced a new pope. Jorge Mario Bergoglio from Argentina will succeed Pope Benedict XVI as the leader of the Catholic Church. Adding another layer of excitement to the announcement, Bergoglio is the first non-European leader in more than 1,000 years. While it’s always big news when the Vatican announces a new Pope, the reveal has special significance in the digital era. Because of the lightning-fast speed at which information travels, anyone can witness the digital behaviors that drive the spread of the big news throughout the Internet. To be able to latch on to these digital behaviors is a marketer’s dream. If any product or service launch gained the same traction as the announcement of the new Pope, then the marketers behind the announcement would certainly secure their places as leaders within the industry. The ways that people share things have shifted dramatically in the past eight years, which was when the Vatican announced Pope Benedict XVI. With the advent of social sharing, so too have come ways to reach millions of people instantaneously. It starts with buzz. People are excited about something new, and they want to share their excitement with others. They may not even know what, exactly, it is that they’re excited about – that’s certainly often the case with the launch of items such as the iPhone and the upcoming Google Glass. The buzz is that whatever it is, it will be revolutionary. A new pope has the potential to shift the direction of the Catholic Churh, an organization that has members in countries around the world. The buzz leads to anticipation. More people are talking, and more media are covering the big announcement. People around the world are sharing messages, reeling in anticipation, and covering every breaking bit of information from every angle (white smoke versus black smoke). Just before the Vatican introduced the new pope, masses of people were in St. Peter’s square, eagerly awaiting the announcement. From afar, people around the world tuned in via their televisions, mobile devices and laptops. Who will it be? When will they announce it? Why does it matter? [quote] Ready to create your own buzz and anticipation? Check out all of the services we have to offer including a range of video and digital services. We’ll be expecting your phone call. 407-839-8599. [/quote] Then, once the team is ready to share the big news, it’s time for the big reveal. The audience’s attention is focused, as they are eager and ready to share their thoughts. The big reveal is an almost majestic experience – highly ritualized, and offering a spectacle for everyone waiting to witness history and hear the news. For the announcement of the new pope, the ceremony is as old as the Catholic Church. For Apple, it’s a press conference attended by only the most highly-regarded technophiles. And finally, once the big reveal is completed, it’s the time for media reporting and social sharing. The people who’ve bore witness to the main event are tweeting, Facebooking, posting on LinkedIn, blogging and engaging in all types of digital sharing. The momentum lasts as long as people keep talking about it. It’s big news, and in the age of digital sharing, anyone can contribute to the conversation about the new Pope. The cycle operates in a bell curve, with the highest point being the big reveal. Eventually, the excitement tapers off, and it’s up to the marketers to keep their product fresh and innovative. For marketers, the entire scene is familiar. The team at our Florida advertising agency wishes the new pope the best of luck in his endeavors in helping to guide the Catholic Church to greatness. What do you think about the coverage of the new Pope? Would love to hear your comments below.
Looking for a creative way to get your foot in the door?
So—after weeks of searching and qualifying, you’ve found the perfect prospect. All you need now is a short face-to-face meeting to make this work. But after multiple calls, e-mails, and visits, you just can’t seem to get your foot in the door. You need a way to stand out… A way to make it worth their while. BIGEYE, a Florida advertising agency and Orlando video production company, has been excited to work with this revolutionary new sales company called Complete the Pair. With Complete the Pair, you’re a shoe in—literally. Here’s how it works! Simply visit their website and place an order for a pair of brand new shoes. Complete the Pair will send one shoe to your prospect and the other to you—both beautifully shrink wrapped in clear plastic. Try to get that lost in a stack of mail! Attached to the prospect’s shoe will be a unique code and instructions directing them to the Complete the Pair website. Once the code is entered, they’ll see a personal message inviting them to “complete the pair” simply by attending a short meeting with you. More than likely, they’ll agree to it for two reasons—one is they’ll be excited to meet with someone like you who creatively thinks outside the box, and the other is to support a great humanitarian cause. Because once the shoes are reconnected and returned to us, Complete the Pair will provide a free pair of shoes to a person in need through Soles4Souls, a charity that has distributed over 19 million pairs of shoes in over 130 countries around the world. When the cycle is complete, it becomes a fresh start for you and your new colleague and a new beginning for a person in need. And don’t worry—you won’t be violating any gift-acceptance policies. Nothing of value is left behind once the shoes are returned to their headquarters. Attracting attention while making a positive difference has never been easier. So, step up! Visit and make an impression that goes further than ever thought possible. Clever, right? See other videos that BIGEYE has created for some amazing clients. To learn more about the latest video production trends, contact BIGEYE today at 407-839-8599.
Are advertising rules really made to be broken? You decide!
Experience has taught us that when it comes to advertising rules, there are no advertising rules. How can a lawless community of creative bandits be so brash as to force their incorrect grammar and offensive imagery upon us? Because it works! History has proven that those thought provoking, eyebrow raising, finger-point worthy ads are just doing their job. They get our attention, and they keep it. How far you’re willing to bend the bar in order to raise it simply relies on your brand and the image you wish to portray. Thinking so far out of the box that it’s become a mere dot on the map of your marketing strategy probably won’t fly high when you’re an assisted living facility reaching out to prospective clients. However, a cute little car company (sounds like farksnoggen) can probably get away with unleashing a “Lemon” of an ad to prove their passion for quality to potential car buyers. And what about “and?” We were all raised to strictly adhere to the rules of the written word. Never begin a sentence with “And!” And so what if you do? When using your discretion, and a reputable advertising agency, breaking the basic rules of grammar can keep a better hold on a budding market. Americans average being exposed to between 1,600 and 3,000 ads per day. That’s a lot of salespeople diving for your dollars. Breaking through the clutter by going against the grain might be what brings your brand to the front of the line. And that’s all we have to say about that. Talk to us, we’ll show you how to bend the rules.
Mom rules the roost, but don’t discount what Dad’s got to say
Savvy marketers know that online moms are a powerful, vocal group that should be nurtured when they are the target of a brand. But recent research shows that we shouldn’t be putting all of our attention on mom—dads deserve a little bit too. Consider this recent study from Edelman and The Parenting Group: Millennia dads tend to have more online connections than millennial moms (96% compared to mom’s average of 70%), and 56 percent of new dads post family photos on social networks at least a few times per week. Surprised? Don’t be. One in six dads is now a stay-at-home father, and it’s a sign of the times that fathers are taking a more active role in raising their children. So what’s the lesson here? Marketers should be careful when defining parenting roles. Yes, moms are the major decision makers in most families, but today’s “father” is changing. Today’s fathers view themselves differently from the way fathers of earlier years once did. They aren’t afraid to push the stroller while mom is at work. They’re going to the grocery store and spending time in the park with their kids. They’re part of daddy groups. Gender roles are evolving. On top of that, today’s families are no longer the cookie-cutter portrait of mom, dad, 2.4 kids, and a golden retriever. America’s families are becoming more and more diverse. Recently, Huggies was forced to revamp their “Dad campaign” after online complaints from men across the country surfaced, saying that the advertisements stereotyped fathers as hands-off parents. Ouch! Here was Huggies’ response through their Facebook page: “We’ve heard the feedback from moms and dads alike regarding our recent ads, so we’ve taken steps to immediately update our TV advertising, Facebook page and online advertising…” So don’t discount dad. He’ll speak up if you forget about him. Do your research to determine if he could be an important target for your marketing efforts. Mom still holds the torch, but dad’s right on her heels. To learn more about how you can market to moms in order to create brand preference and instill brand loyalty, check out our Florida marketing agency’s recent whitepaper on marketing to moms, which discusses strategies for segmentation, creating appeals and assessing your own brand to determine the right moms for your business. At BIGEYE, we make sure our research supports our work. Take a look at what our research skills can do for you.
