Does Social Influencer Marketing Actually Work?
By finding the right influencer, social influencer marketing can deliver authentic messaging, a targeted audience, and more profits to your business. Almost everybody has made at least one purchase because somebody they knew — or at least, knew of — introduced them to a product or service. Today’s social media influencer marketing just takes old-fashioned word-of-mouth marketing online to active social platforms. After all, such social sites as Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram are one of the first places today’s consumers turn to look for advice about purchases. Learn more about potential benefits of developing an influencer marketing strategy and how to go about finding the right influencer for your brand. How social media influencer marketing works Traditionally, marketers might have found a celebrity or authority on a topic to mention or promote products. Today’s social platforms have given birth to an entire new industry filled with people who attract a large audience through their own content. Finding the right influencer means having a spokesperson who has already attracted an ideal audience for your brand. For instance, sales of your exercise bike or nutritional shake mix might benefit from the exposure a popular online fitness guru could offer by reviewing it for an Instagram or YouTube video. Similarly, a beauty company might look for a popular model or beauty expert to demonstrate their products. Since there are so many social sites and influencers online these days, you might also benefit by working with an influencer marketing agency instead of trying to handle everything on your own. These are some of the tasks that an influencer marketing agency can help with: Understanding your brand and products to determine the ideal audience Helping to develop an influencer marketing strategy, including the choice of goals and metrics Selecting and vetting social influencers and negotiating terms and rates Running and monitoring campaigns Reporting upon the outcome and suggesting the next steps According to HubSpot, an overwhelming 94 percent of marketers had a positive opinion about influencer marketings. On the other hand, almost 80 percent admitted that determining the actual ROI of their campaigns has proven challenging. That’s why you should not skip the second step that includes setting goals and figuring out how to measure them. Can influencers help drive sales? Influencers don’t always need to have massive audiences to benefit your company. For instance, some businesses have enjoyed great success with so-called micro-influencers who have less than 10,000 followers. Most important, any representative for your brand should have a good reputation and a loyal and targeted audience. In addition, your small business or startup may find that influencers with smaller audiences will work within your budget, increasing the chance of earning a profit. In fact, HubSpot highlighted one study that found micro-influencers tend to command more engagment than big-name celebrities. No matter how big of a following an influencer has, it’s important to make certain they’re credible, possess a positive reputation, and won’t engage in any tactics that can do more harm than good. According to Neil Patel, millenials still tend to trust influencers but less than they did a few years ago. He says that most campaigns tend to earn decent returns, but a little less than one in five make nothing at all or even lose money. In particular, influencers with millions of fans may charge tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars for just one post or video. This underscores the point that some businesses may want to begin by looking for microinfluencers who may lack massive reach but can deliver a good return for a few hundred dollars instead of several thousand per post. Once you’re certain you know how to use influencers to deliver your marketing message and make a profit, you can always scale up by either finding more small influencers or a big-name celebrity. As a note, Patel also agreed that marketers he had spoken with said the biggest challenge was measuring ROI. Testing with a smaller, budget-friendly audience can give you the confidence you need to pursue bigger audiences. Yes, social media influencer marketing still works A thoughtful influencer marketing strategy can deliver many benefits to your business. Some examples include brand recognition, exposure to a targeted audience, an authentic delivery of your message, and valuable word-of-mouth advertising. If you’re new to influencer marketing, you should make sure you have clear, measurable goals and choose your influencers wisely.
Marketing AFTER the Coronavirus
As the coronavirus continues to grip the world, companies must act now to ensure marketing campaigns are able to weather the crisis. The effects of COVID-19 on business and business marketing From the plummeting Dow Jones averages that are rocking Wall Street to the forced closures and loss of consumer activity that are devastating Main Street, businesses of all sizes are on shaky ground during the ongoing coronavirus crisis. As social distancing continues to force events to cancel and bring face-to-face interaction to a grinding halt, certain industries have already suffered catastrophic damage. And other industries are bound to follow as factories shut down and companies fall into dormancy. As they lose customers to the terrible but temporary chaos of COVID-19, business must take care to ensure that these customers ultimately return to them when the crisis is over. This typically means significantly altering, if not entirely redesigning, their marketing efforts with a dual focus on immediate risk management and long-term goals. Wise companies are already getting ahead of this issue by taking immediate and comprehensive action. Take, for example, the recently launched ad campaign of the fast food giant Chipotle. Like other major restaurant chains, it has rapidly created, produced, and distributed, television and digital video commercials that stress the safety and reliability of take-out and home food delivery. As you formulate and execute your response to the coronavirus crisis, make sure that you are retooling your marketing campaign to meet the demands of the present and look forward to the opportunities of the future. Here are just a few tips and guidelines to help you bring your business through these uncertain and difficult times. Managing your marketing efforts to survive the coronavirus 1. Put Safety First Few industries have faced as much immediate damage from the COVID-19 outbreak as the global tourism industry. This makes the words of the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) all the more urgent as its stresses putting safety first. By stressing customer safety, the HSMAI strives to protect overall company reputation as well as individual guest health. Businesses that do so earn “trust, respect, and loyalty.” A big part of putting safety first is keeping customers well-informed of relevant coronavirus facts and response protocols, particularly those that may affect your company’s operational processes and/or the goods/services that you offer. When providing this information, it is important to refer to and cite respected authorities such as the Center for Disease Control, the World Health Organization, and the various local public health agencies at work in your area. Think carefully about the ways in which COVID-19 is likely to impact your specific industry specifically as well as the greater community at large. What value you can provide as an organization to help keep people safe? As you contemplate this question, remember that this crisis is evolving rapidly and will probably continue to do so for the foreseeable future. This means that your commitment to safety will require flexible planning and your marketing plan must adapt to the moment as conditions continue to fluctuate. 2. Assemble Your Crisis Management Team If your company is exceptionally large or specialized to deal with a specific type of risk, you may already have a dedicated crisis response team in place. Most companies, however, fail to prioritize crisis management and have never even considered developing a valid crisis plan. Well, now is certainly the time to do so. Gather functional leaders from across your organization under the leadership of its top communications executive or chief executive officer. Other crisis team members to consider for inclusion might be legal counsel, human resources professionals, operations/facility managers, sales/customer service directors, and any leaders in the fields of public relations marketing, and communications. All team member should clearly understand their specific responsibilities and areas of concern. For smaller companies without a dedicated PR or marketing team, MarTech Advisor contributor Indrajeet Deshpande recommends contracting with a qualified outside agency. In any case, your business should have in-house spokespersons at the ready in case you are approached by any independent media outlet or news publication. These spokespersons must be property trained to faithfully and effectively answer any question that they are asked. 3. Choose the Proper Media Mix As part of your crisis response and overall marketing plan, you must remember the famous words of Marshall McLuhan: “the medium is the message.” In the wake of the coronavirus crisis, choosing the right media channel for your public outreach is more important than ever. In other words, if you fail to choose the right forms of communication to deliver it, your marketing message will likely fall on deaf ears. In his March 20 article “Why Companies Turn To Digital Marketing To Survive COVID-19,” Forbes writer Bernard Marr points out that businesses will have to become more and more reliant on digital media channels. “Without wanting to sound too alarmist, he states, “in many cases it will be the deciding factor in whether they make it through the tough times ahead.” As people continue to practice social distancing, they will connect more than ever via the Internet. This makes leveraging your online marketing capabilities absolutely essential over the comping months. Ensure that your company website and social media pages contain helpful information and present a positive brand image at all times. While emphasizing digital marketing channels that range from banner ads to email newsletters, remember to keep an appropriate amount of traditional media outlets in your media mix. 4. Practice Careful Media Buying As part of your media mix planning, don’t fail to consider the supreme importance of cost. If it is to survive the COVID-19 crisis, your business will likely need to implement some fairly austere budgetary restrictions in the short term. Simply put, you will have to use every one of your marketing dollars wisely and make it count. The Wall Street Journal reports that companies looking to mitigate immediate risk often cut advertising spending first and foremost. “With the coming U.S. presidential
Using Digital Marketing to Increase Group Dining Bookings
Group dining bookings are an essential source of revenue for many restaurants. Here’s how to maximize group bookings through smart restaurant marketing. The restaurant game isn’t for the faint of heart. Roughly 60% of new restaurants fail in the first year, and 80% fail within five years. That’s the kind of math that will momentarily subdue even the giddiest new restaurant industry entrepreneur. Developing a significant and sustainable pipeline of corporate and group bookings is one of the best methods for ensuring your restaurant beats these grim odds. Yet, many restaurant owners simply have no idea how to implement this strategy. Let’s take a closer look at how smart digital restaurant marketing can jumpstart your group bookings business. The Power and Reach of Digital Restaurant Marketing Digital technology has radically disrupted countless industries and altered consumer behavior in innumerable ways. Streaming services, for example, allow people to enjoy on-demand films in the privacy of their living room — something that has led to US movie theater attendance dropping to a 25-year low. Restaurants, however, have been insulated from this trend. While there have been efforts to let consumers have meals prepared by chefs in their own homes, these concepts haven’t gained much traction. Right now, people still enjoy eating in a communal setting. Digital tools, however, have changed the playing field for how restaurants secure business. Major platforms such as OpenTable transformed how reservations are handled; Yelp now acts as a critical guide for consumers looking for new places to dine; platforms such as Instagram are bursting with photos and videos of plated food. Savvy marketers take advantage of the new digital paradigm by doing the following: Building a robust online presence. This includes a dedicated website and accounts with major reservation and aggregation sites. Social media outreach. Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat are all critical channels for engaging with customers and advertising and marketing new menu items, discounts and specials, etc. The creation of a valuable online brand. Today’s diners are looking for experiences, rather than just meals, when they visit higher-end eateries. Digital branding plays a key role is promoting awareness and establishing cachet in a local market. Taking advantage of the latest digital marketing tools. One example is geo-fencing, a mobile marketing technique that allows restaurants to push notifications to the smartphones of people within a pre-defined geographical distance. Gobbling Up Group Booking Revenue Most of the above techniques are also useful in terms of stimulating more group bookings. Digital marketing plays a crucial role in surfacing your restaurant to the people who determine where to schedule their bookings. Another sound idea: Designating a dedicated person to help with group dining outreach. Many restaurants use a similar model for organizing group meals onsite by hiring an event planner. Should you designate someone to handle group business development, that person can use digital marketing tools to identify corporate decision-makers, and to engage with regular restaurant patrons prior to birthdays and other celebratory milestones. Taking an active approach and contacting potential group clients in advance of these milestones is a great way to increase bookings, as people generally dislike having to search for group dinner locations. By taking the initiative through digital outreach, you can remove this task from their plate. One note: When reaching out to corporate customers for holiday-related group dinners or other special events, it’s essential to do this well ahead of time. Corporations often begin planning such affairs weeks, if not months, ahead of time. Why Bigeye is the Perfect Restaurant Marketing Partner At Bigeye, we have an insatiable appetite for designing compelling group dining marketing campaigns — and we have all the right ingredients on staff to make it happen. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help your grow your group dining business.
Momo Was a Hoax, Making a Bigger Challenge for Today’s Brands
Work with a media planning agency today to keep social media trends, like Momo, from negatively impacting your brand’s trustworthiness. Momo — an exceptionally creepy Japanese sculpture — was likely responsible for thousands of terrified PTA meetings over the last few weeks. Yet brands have reason to worry as well. While Momo may not have been all she was cracked up to be, the viral sensation is indicative of a larger problem confronting social media platforms and brands — one that a good media planning agency can help address. Let’s take a closer look at the hysteria behind the Momo Challenge, and what businesses need to know about the content issues plaguing today’s platforms. The truth about Momo mania Momo is the frightening but harmless creation of Japanese special effects artist Keisuke Aisawa. Momo gained a second life on the Internet, however, after someone posted a photo of the fright-faced sculpture on Instagram. This sculpture’s creepy aesthetic encouraged the creation of a hoax called “The Momo Challenge,” wherein children viewing the sculpture online were (allegedly) encouraged to harm themselves or others, either via embedded messages or a link to a phone number. The concept piggybacked on the idea of a social media challenge, an online format that has grown wildly popular in recent years. The only problem? None of it was actually real. But that didn’t stop school administrators and sheriff’s departments around the globe from issuing the standard warning fact sheets. In the end, thanks to media coverage and authority figure overreaction, parents everywhere began worrying about their children being exposed to the Momo Challenge while watching the latest episode of “Peppa Pig” on YouTube. YouTube and Instagram received significant criticism for enabling Momo Mania. In response to the blowback, YouTube released a statement saying “contrary to press reports, we’ve not received any recent evidence of videos showing or promoting the Momo Challenge on YouTube. The content of this kind would be in violation of our policies and removed immediately.” So YouTube was the victim of a global hoax and overzealous news reporting? Not so fast. While the Momo Challenge might be strictly fantasy, plenty of other objectionable content has been delivered to unsuspecting children via YouTube. One example: YouTube hosted a doctored version of a real episode of the popular children’s show “Peppa Pig.” Nine seconds into the video, Peppa Pig’s mother yells “smoke weed!” Things get worse from there, with the beloved children’s show characters engaging in homophobic and racial slurs and rampant drug use. The doctored video, which had no age restriction, was viewed 1.5 million times, with a large number of those views undoubtedly originating from unsuspecting kids. It’s also just one example of a pervasive problem on the platform, which uses algorithms to suggest videos to viewers, and has no reliable mechanism to weed out objectionable content. YouTube made an effort to wall off this sort of content by creating YouTube Kids, an app that contains only child-approved videos. However, YouTube Kids remains vastly less popular with children than the original platform. And, perhaps even more worrisome, it has also proven to be just as vulnerable to the uploading of inappropriate content masquerading as children’s fare. This isn’t just a problem for YouTube and other platforms–brands need to pay close attention as well. How a media planning agency can protect your brand’s reputation Posting content on YouTube, Instagram, etc. is an essential part of brand building and messaging for most businesses. However, it’s also easy for brands to become tainted by association if something objectionable occurs. One example: A YouTube viewer could post offensive content within a comment under a brand’s video, or splice that content directly into a brand’s video. The right media planning agency can help ensure that any damage is mitigated immediately while offering crisis management services and media outreach should the incident prove damaging. Media planning agencies can also assist with commercial placement, helping identify the right ad partners and ad placement within distributed content. This helps maximize both awareness and ROI — while ensuring that advertisers reflect the values of the businesses they’re partnered with. The takeaway At BIGEYE, we understand that a brand’s reputation needs to be zealously protected. If you’d like to hear more about the impact media planning services can have on your business, please reach out to us today.
Mobile App Marketing Agency: A Game-Changer for Your Brand
If your business isn’t devoting resources to in-app advertising, you should take note of the following number: 77% of brands have asked their media or mobile app marketing agency to make an investment in this category. And, frankly, we believe that number should be closer to 100%. If you’re not willing to explore making a similar — or even greater — investment, your business could find itself playing catch-up to competitors and missing out on a booming market. Why in-app advertising works We live on our phones. At this point, that notion has crept into the realm of cliche, but that doesn’t make it any less true. People use mobile devices for just about everything and spend nearly four hours per day interacting with them. By 2019, mobile devices will surpass televisions in terms of daily use. Apps, in turn, account for more than 90% of all time spent on smartphones. You don’t have to be a marketing savant to draw the conclusion. People spend enormous time within mobile apps, which means that in-app inventory should be a key focus for media buyers and brands. A recent study by Fyber, a firm specializing in app monetization, paints an interesting picture of the in-app inventory landscape. According to Fyber’s global research, in-app inventory will account for 43% of overall digital ad budgets within the next five years — a nearly 30% increase from today’s numbers. Currently, 68% of brands use in-app ads to foster awareness, while 52% of brands are using in-app ads to generate new sales. One of the most popular environments for in-app ads is gaming; 60% of brands favor advertising within games for their scale and reach, while 59% cited high user engagement. Roughly 78% of brands have used in-app ads within games, while 91% of agencies and 87% of brands say they plan to do so in the future. The benefits of in-app advertising The explosive popularity of apps allows brands to reap a variety of benefits from advertising within this format. These advantages include: More sophisticated and accurate targeting Deeper user engagement Higher return on investment According to Fyber’s research, brands and mobile app marketing agencies report that certain types of ads tend to perform better than others. The ads that have performed best for study participants include playable ads, video ads, and opt-in ads. Firms located in the U.S. and the U.K. have found the most success with in-app ads with nearly one-third of U.S. firms reporting that their in-app ad spend is at least 50% of their digital marketing budget. Meanwhile, 82% of U.S. firms say that they have asked their agencies to focus on in-app ads specifically, rather than the broader category of mobile advertising. These numbers reflect the growing interest in the in-app advertising space. People are using apps more often, they are spending more time inside these apps, and in-app advertising is — by a considerable margin — the fastest-growing form of digital advertising. Apps are used throughout the day, often during periods when users cannot access other media. This means that in-app ads can reach audiences in a way that other marketing channels cannot. One study showed that in-app ads are 13 times more valuable than mobile ads. While they generate similar numbers of impressions, in-app ads more than doubled the CTR of mobile ads while generating 13.5 times the revenue. What a top Florida mobile app marketing agency can do for you Our team understands the power of mobile marketing — and we have the experience and insight needed to help our clients deliver maximum return on their investments. Please contact us today for more information about how our mobile app marketing agency can help your business.
Why Digital Marketing Agencies Encourage the Use of Pinterest
While Facebook and Google have long been the twin titans for any digital marketing agency, savvy marketers know that size and reach aren’t everything. In terms of selling products and services, a small — yet inspired and motivated — audience is often much more valuable than an audience that’s large but indifferent. When it comes to social platforms, Pinterest (and Instagram) dominate that visually inspired and motivated market. While people might peruse Facebook for funny cat videos, news articles and political rants, they visit Pinterest to find visual inspiration. Pinterest (and smart brands) understand how valuable this kind of inspiration is in a marketing and advertising context. That’s one reason why the platform is rolling out new tools to help brands monetize visual inspiration. How promoted carousel helps create more meaningful ad experiences Pinterest’s latest move is the introduction of a new self-service ad format called Promoted Carousel. This new feature allows digital marketing agencies and Pinterest advertisers to use, for the first time, up to five images in their ads. The process works like this: Brands can use Carousel cards to feature five distinct images, titles, descriptions or landing pages, something that allows businesses to take a varied and creative approach. All while giving users more reasons (and avenues) to engage with their ads. Carousels then appear in feeds just like any other pin, and users can swipe through, or tap, the cards inside the feed. Carousel ads can be purchased three ways: By using Pinterest’s ad manager suite, by the use of an I/O or via programmatic media trading through Pinterest’s API marketing partners. These ads are designed to help consumers gain a more detailed understanding of the products and services being offered. Major firms, including REI, Toyota, Cheerios, Cover Girl, and Everlane, have used Pinterest Carousel in beta. According to Pinterest’s internal numbers, the results have been encouraging: Cheerios saw an eleven point increase in ad awareness and a nearly nine-point lift in message association. Meanwhile, Everland reportedly tripled the clickthrough rate it achieved with standard Pinterest ads. Why Pinterest carousel provides brands with a competitive edge Pinterest has long maintained an important edge over its rivals in the social/digital advertising space: Its users are “closer to the point of purchase” than users on other major social platforms. People use Pinterest to find items to buy and things to do, to plan their purchases and activities and to share them with others. That’s not the only reason why Pinterest Carousels are positioned to carve out a significant niche in the shoppable ad category, however. Observers also note that the technical specifications of the new ads will allow brands to tell more meaningful stories. Pinterest Carousels – and the new Max Width Video format — will allow marketers to “use the full real estate” of users’ phones by delivering more content across a larger space. Additionally, formats such as these are a natural fit for some of Pinterest’s most popular content categories, including travel, food, fashion, and beauty — all subjects that lend themselves to visual representation. By telling a multi-image story, brands can create more immersive ad experiences, while using the natural advantages of the Pinterest platform to their benefit. How BIGEYE helps brands derive max value from digital advertising We firmly believe that a modern digital marketing agency needs to combine extraordinary creative work with a nuanced understanding of markets and technology. If your business could benefit from that approach, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our team of experts today!
Five Marketing Tactics to Drive More Profit for Your Business
If you’re the owner of a small to mid-sized business in Florida, you’ve probably thought deeply about how to make your enterprise more profitable. In most cases, this can be accomplished one of three ways: You can improve or expand your product or service; you can develop more efficient business operations and processes or you can execute on these five marketing tactics to drive more profit for your business. Fortunately for most business owners, the third option is often not only the most effective, but also the most feasible. By understanding a few essential concepts — or by working with a top Florida marketing agency — you can put together a comprehensive marketing plan that wins new customers and generates more revenue. To help you get started with this process, let’s take a closer look at five foundational marketing concepts that, when taken together, can form the basis of an effective overall marketing strategy. Media Buying Put simply, media buying is the act of paying for exposure for a product or service. This exposure can be through a TV commercial, a newspaper or magazine ad, or any other medium that connects businesses with their intended audiences. This process is often handled by an outside media buying agency that coordinates the process of buying media. This can be done by buying billboards, paying for TV programming slots or taking out space in print publications. The act of media buying is typically part of a larger, overall media strategy that outlines how businesses — or the media planning agency they work with – can optimize the process of getting marketing messages in front of audiences. These strategies generally involve a detailed mapping of the media environment and a review of existing media content and distribution channels. By engaging in the processes of media buying and media strategy — either internally or by contracting services with a digital media buying agency specializing in media buying services — companies can target audiences with marketing content more effectively and at lower cost. This means that any business seeking to generate more revenue from its existing operations should strongly consider optimizing its overall media strategy — and a top Florida media buying agency can help you formulate the proper plan. Digital Marketing Digital marketing can be simply described as the marketing of products and services through digital technologies, including mobile phones, the Internet, display ads and other digital sources. Businesses typically handle their digital marketing efforts one of two ways: By devising and executing a digital strategy internally, or by contracting with a digital marketing agency — sometimes also called a “digital media buying agency,” “Internet marketing agency” or “digital marketing consultant.” Digital marketers use a variety of tactics to market products and services to consumers. These tactics include Search Engine Optimization (SEO) services, content marketing, influencer marketing, social media marketing, email marketing and search engine marketing. A top digital strategy agency also often specializes in high-level marketing techniques such as attribution modeling or data analysis. Given the massive growth in digital content over the last two decades — with television networks and publishers migrating online and smartphones becoming a preferred method of content consumption — businesses that make digital marketing a priority have been well-positioned for success. Digital targeting and retargeting growth has tracked closely with this proliferation of digital content, with trillions of digital ads now being served each year. Companies that make a priority of working with an expert digital marketing consultant, or top Florida digital marketing agency, can help generate profits by leveraging the wide reach, low cost model offered by digital ads. Branding Branding is a critical discipline within the marketing and advertising fields, as it differentiates the products and services offered by a business from its competition’s products and services. Businesses seeking to create a powerful brand story will often seek out the services of a top branding agency, one with the skill and experience to to execute a complete brand strategy from the ground up. This may include aspects such as brand naming, designing a product or service (or its packaging), brand logo design, taglines, symbols and other graphics and generating compelling brand messages. Once branding is developed, businesses must focus on brand positioning. This refers to the process of positioning a brand within a certain market niche. A technology company, for example, may wish to position its product as the most sophisticated in its category and also the most refined, going after a target demographic that is both tech savvy and style-conscious. By partnering with top creative agencies to assist with product branding or brand style guide, companies can help carve out a competitive edge in their marketplace, while also cultivating a loyal customer base. The right brand consultant or branding agency can help develop brand messaging that connects with audiences on a personal level. Consider, for example, the case of Apple. While the company certainly makes great products, that’s not really the secret to its success. Apple’s devices don’t always have the most advanced features; yet they do have a very distinct, fully-realized aesthetic and a deeply compelling brand story. Apple’s most dedicated customers buy their products because they perceive themselves to be an “Apple person” — one in line with the company’s very refined branding. They personally identify with the brand they are patronizing. That kind of loyalty is priceless to businesses — and an excellent illustration of the power of branding. Video Production There’s no doubt about it: If you’re the owner of a video production company Florida is one of the most attractive markets in which to operate. After all, sunny weather makes for fewer missed photo and video shoots. That’s not the primary reason Florida has become synonymous with video production, however. Florida is home to some of the most talented creative agencies in North America, some of whom specialize in the kind of compelling digital video production that moves the needle in a marketing campaign. Why is digital video production such
Orlando Marketing Agency Learns from the Masters of Marketing
If you own or work for an Orlando marketing agency — or you just love advertising — it’s the most wonderful time of the year. And we’re not talking about the holiday season. The 2018 Association of National Advertisers (ANA) Masters of Marketing conference recently wrapped up in Orlando — and there was plenty to discuss, both at the event and afterward. Let’s take a minute to review some of the highlights of the event, and some of the most important takeaways for advertising and marketing professionals. The buzz around in-house agencies is mostly noise You may have heard recent chatter about the reported trend of brands developing their own in-house agency capabilities — a conversation that dominated much of the discussion at this year’s Masters of Marketing Conference. At least one observer, however, believes there is less to this than meets the eye. Speaking in an interview with Ad Age, Avi Dan, an advertising consultant with decades of experience on the brand side, said he hadn’t seen “a single brand-building campaign” that originated from an in-house agency. Dan added that while some work may be best handled internally, the notion that in-house agencies would become a significant player in the near-term is groundless. Other presenters at the conference pointed out that many brands simply lack the expertise and resources (particularly in areas such as programmatic buying and data analytics) to effectively handle operations in-house. The latest on the FBI and media buying Another eyebrow-raising topic at this year’s conference was the FBI’s probe into the media buying practices of certain ad agencies. The topic was the subject of a talk given by the ANA’s top attorney, Doug Wood, during the conference. The probe is exploring allegations that a handful of agencies engaged in deceptive and non-transparent practices, including collecting cash rebates from media vendors and not passing them along to clients. The ANA released a white paper on the topic in November to better explain the issue to the advertising community. Wood said that the result of the probe (which could potentially spark reforms toward greater transparency in the industry) should be known in six to twelve months. The word of the week was “purpose” One buzzword made repeated appearances during conference presentations: Purpose. Marketing execs from FedEx, eBay and Ancestry repeatedly hammered home the importance of “brand purpose” during presentations. Vineet Mehra, Ancestry’s Global CMO, defined brand purpose as the ability to “enable journeys of personal discovery that collectively inspire a world of greater understanding and belonging.” Meanwhile, Rajesh Subramaniam, FedEx’s Chief Marketing and Communication Officer, concurred, saying that marketers are only just beginning to “unlock the power of purpose.” Suzy Deering, EBay’s North American CMO, called brand purpose “incredibly important,” also adding that it’s “is not going away.” As Ad Age, cleverly pointed out, it seems that Orlando marketing agencies can already safely predict one of the key themes for next year’s conference. Looking for a top Orlando marketing agency? Our agency makes it a priority to keep our finger on the pulse of the advertising and marketing business. If your business is in the market for the kind of fresh, creatively inspired campaigns that win converts, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us today.
Hacktober: Why Social Media Networks Can’t Keep You Digitally Safe
If a social network shuts down — but nobody’s on it — does it make a sound? In the case of Google Plus, the answer is “yes” — and that sound you’re hearing is outrage about subpar security practices. Given its paltry user numbers, Google’s decision to shutter its little-loved Google Plus social network was hardly surprising. Yet Google Plus’ status as a digital ghost town appeared to be only part of the search giant’s rationale for the closing. The company admitted a security bug may have caused 500,000 Google Plus accounts to be breached. Although Google discovered the leak in March 2018, they initially decided against public disclosure — a move that may have them in hot water with regulators across the globe. With new and vastly tougher consumer data privacy laws now in effect in the European Union, businesses are contending with greater scrutiny at a time when hacks continue to surge to all-time highs. In other words, October has now become “Hacktober.” Staying digitally safer on smartphones, social and search Google is, of course, no outlier when it comes to security issues. Fresh of the massive Cambridge Analytical scandal, Facebook is now struggling with yet another hack, one that has exposed data associated with tens of millions of accounts. Facebook, too, is under the withering gaze of regulators and could face a fine in excess of a billion dollars. If sophisticated, innovative companies such as Google and Facebook can’t keep your information secure, then no third party is safe. Responsibility for digitally safe storage of personal information on social media and in the cloud is incumbent on users. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at some security tips you can use to help keep your data as digitally safe as possible. Upgrade to IoS 12 Smartphones are our primary conduit to the digital world. As such, they need to be zealously protected. If you’re an iPhone owner, updating to the latest version of the IoS operating system is one of the simplest things you can do to protect your data. The new update offers some very useful security features, including the ability to create longer passcodes and a built-in password manager that makes creating and using multiple passwords much easier. IoS 12 also has a new USB restricted feature that allows you to prevent cords, cables, and other accessories from accessing your phone and stealing your data. Two-factor authentication This is the gold standard for security. If you’re not using two-factor authentication to secure your log-in information and other data, you’re making it vastly easier for hackers to compromise your account. Two-factor authentication works by requiring you to punch in a six-digit numerical code along with your password when you access websites, apps, and accounts. These codes are typically generated by an app (such as Google Authenticator) or via an SMS text message, though the latter option is much less secure. Smart social sharing Social media isn’t just a goldmine for digital advertisers; it’s also a treasure trove for hackers. The personal information we share over social networks often makes breaching an account trivially easy. To avoid this, be very careful with what you share. Make sure your account settings are secure ones. Don’t accept friend requests from questionable sources. Never click links you’re unsure about — and always use different passwords for different platforms. The takeaway With new security breaches popping up seemingly every day, “Hacktober” is a reality. We strongly encourage you to follow the suggestions outlined above to stay as safe and secure as possible this fall season. Fail to do so, and you run a serious risk of financial losses, reputational harm, and other serious problems. Contact our team of social media & digital experts today to make sure your information is safe and secure online!
Work with a Social Media Strategy Company for Instant Engagement
Instagram is scorching right now. No other platform has its mix of cultural cachet and daily traffic (Instagram has doubled its user base in the last two years, and posts on Instagram receive more engagement than on any other platform). This means that it’s become a hotly-contested digital battleground for today’s brands, all of which are seeking to grow and cultivate their audience. To get the most out of Instagram, it’s imperative to understand and optimize your metrics — and partnering with a social media strategy company is often the best way to do that. Instagram metrics: The basics If you want to maximize the resources you devote to Instagram, skillful use of analytics is essential. By understanding these metrics, you gain deeper insight into what people truly like and respond to, plus get a better grasp on the effectiveness of your strategy. As a social media strategy company, we want to help you refine your approach. Let’s take a look at some basic metrics: Impressions This metric shows you how often your post, profile or story has been viewed during a specified period of time. If one person views the same post three times, that counts as three impressions. Reach Though similar to impressions, reach only measures the number of people who have seen the content. The percentage of your followers who have seen an individual post is referred to as the “reach rate.” Engagement This measures all the ways someone interacts with content (likes, comments, etc.). The number of interactions divided by your follower number is your engagement rate. Engagement-on-Reach This metric takes the number of comments, likes etc. and divides them by reach rather than follower number. The subsequent number is your engagement-on-reach rate. These are four of the most frequently used metrics on the platform — all of which are easily accessible when using the “view insights” button on an Instagram for Business account. Other available metrics include follower growth, website and email clicks, as well as exits and swipe away (the latter two show you how many viewers exited a story without watching all the way through or swiped to another piece of content). When taken in total, all of these metrics provide a fairly deep window into the relative performance of your Instagram content. It’s important to view metrics such as reach and engagement for what they truly are: Not a popularity contest, but an opportunity to leverage engagement for the direct benefit of your business, ultimately creating more sales. Using a social media strategy company to help optimize your approach Engagement on Instagram is a staggering 15 times higher than engagement on Facebook. Instagram is also perfectly suited to brand cultivation and audience building. There is no better digital platform on which to tell your brand story and build an audience. Working with a digital marketing agency like BIGEYE can help you better understand and optimize your metrics, and tell your brand story in the most effective and compelling way possible. If you’re not getting the most out of the resources devoted to Instagram, we urge you to contact our social team today.
