Customer Engagement Archives : Page 4 of 6 : Persona Design

Brand Curiosity! Is It The Most Irresistible Way To Woo Your Customers?

March 13, 2013/0 Comments/in Advertising, Ambush Marketing, Brand Strategy, Customer Engagement, Integrated Marketing, Marketing /by Lorraine Carter

When it comes to attracting customer attention sometimes a little information goes a long way. Feelings have a critical role in the way customers are influenced and few are stronger than the pull of curiosity.

Curiosity occurs when there is a gap between what we know and what we want to know. For brands, this offers significant power when influencing customers because the drive for knowledge is not only a key motivation in the decision making process, it’s also instinctual.

Excite Curiosity to Grow Your Brand and Drive Sales

Utilizing emotions constructively can be key to increasing sales. California Pizza Kitchen created a campaign that engaged the customer by tapping into their natural curiosity. The “Don’t Open It” Thank you card was a coupon campaign with an interesting twist.

Customer’s received the card with their receipt. The card contained what they would receive on their next visit. It could be a free desert or $50 voucher for example. However they could not find out what exactly they would receive until they brought the card unopened with them on their next visit. If the card was opened before they returned to the store for their next purchase the prize inside became null and void.

The intrigue is built around the promise of something of value. Teasing with the list of possibilities is critical to arousing curiosity. The success of the campaign was built around building curiosity but guaranteeing something worthwhile as the reward.

Use the Unexpected to Gain Attention

Red Square Agency did a test campaign using Facebook Ads to examine the pull of curiosity on customer behavior. They created four Facebook advertisements. Three were real advertisements, the fourth was a picture of a large grey-haired cat called Cous Cous with the tag “This ad features a cat: it has nothing to do with Red Square Agency but we hope you will click on it anyway”.

After a month, Cous Cous had received twice as many clicks as the other real advertisements. The success of Cous Cous was credited to the advertisement exciting curiosity with the audience. Whether those click throughs translated into meaningful sales or merely attracted attention is not clear. What the campaign did highlight was that sometimes it is the unexpected that can trigger the desired response with customers.

Invoke the Pull of the Unknown

All marketing communication strategies involve a certain level of intrigue; just enough information to make it interesting. When customers are teased with a hint of what is on offer the draw of curiosity can be irresistible.

During his time at Apple, Steve Jobs became the master of exploiting natural curiosity to the company’s advantage. Jobs would hint at a product demo, would leak a product proto type and then Apple would embargo all official information between the demo and the release.

By the time the product was released the world would be a buzz with bloggers and Apple loyalists interpreting and speculating as to the latest features and design. This practice consistently sees Apple receiving expressions to buy reaching far into the millions before their products are even released.

In October 2012 Sony released a series of mysterious advertisements called “The Arrival”. With no information or hint as to whether the ‘arrival’ referred to a game or to a new Sony product, the internet became awash with speculation.

Customers and critics alike generated an unprecedented level of attention sparked by curiosity and driven by expectation. It’s not clear what Sony were releasing but either way, they certainly had people’s attention.

Pushing information at the customer gives them the tools they need to make an informed decision during the purchasing process. However sometimes withholding critical information can invoke the pull of the unknown, and draws the customer to actively seek information putting the power back in the hands of the brand.

Use curiosity to your advantage, as part of your brand strategy, by limiting information and leaving something to the imagination.

• Can you invoke the pull of the unknown with your customers?

• Have you leveraged the irresistible pull of ‘curiosity’ to underpin some of your marketing campaigns?

Why Align Your Brand to A Worthy Cause?

March 7, 2013/0 Comments/in Brand Reputation, Brand Sponsorship, Brand Strategy, Brand Values, Branding, Business, Cause Marketing, Customer Engagement, Global Branding, Integrated Marketing, Marketing /by Lorraine Carter

The benefits to worthy causes or charities of partnering with big brands are obvious. Charities, such as Oxfam, use partnerships with commercial brands as a media platform and an opportunity to get its message out to the public.

Partnering with Marks & Spencer allows Oxfam to tap into the huge influence the M&S brand has over consumers. Being able to promote their message among that captured audience via this kind of partnership is immensely beneficial to the charity and their work.

However partnerships of this nature can be mutually beneficial to both the charity and brand alike. It bequeaths the commercial brand with a deeper meaning and offers another opportunity for engagement with their customers on a different emotional level.

It can also become a significant part of the brands social contribution policy. Without wishing to sound cynical, tying up with a worthy cause or charity can be a winning formula for brands sensitive to the current climate and worth serious consideration as part of your brand strategy.

4 Top Reasons Why Brands Should Engage in Cause Related Marketing

Whether sponsoring charitable activities or committing to donate profits to a worthy cause, the benefits to brands in aligning themselves with good causes are significant

1. Build Brand Awareness

Building partnerships with charities can make a sustainable difference to the cause but it also enables the brand to raise awareness with a wider target audience. Sponsoring a charitable activity often coincides with providing the brand with significant visibility of their logo and products with an engaged and receptive audience. It also provides a platform for brands that are looking to reposition themselves in the market, and change customer perceptions, with a great opportunity by aligning themselves with the right charity associated with the desired target market.

Charitable partnerships can make the brand more accessible to a wider audience particularly if the brand engages in an experiential marketing campaign. It also enhances a company’s credibility and provides an opportunity to educate the public about their products and services. Product sampling is also a great opportunity to attract new customer attention and commonly used by brands sponsoring charitable sporting activities.

2. Corporate Social Responsibility

Engaging in a strategy of corporate social responsibility through charitable partnerships displays a brand’s desire to make a positive contribution to social issues in the community.

It can also have a positive effect on the internal culture of the organisation. Charity partnerships provide the potential to boost employee engagement, and subsequently improve morale, as well as raising awareness among staff.

HSBC has ties with environmental charity Earthwatch and sends employees to visit projects. ‘It is good for motivation and makes employees more likely to stay with the company and become effective brand ambassadors,’ says Nigel Pate, head of environmental partnerships at HSBC.

It can give a sense of purpose and involvement to employees. It highlights the importance of nurturing the strategy to support not just the corporate image but the wider stakeholders too. There is a sense of corporate pride amongst employees at being associated with a project that makes a positive impact in their world.

3. Differentiate the Brand from Competitors

Aligning your brand with a positive cause engenders a more caring image with customers. In markets where the variances between individual brand offerings becomes blurred, associating your brand with a significant social issue or charitable cause can give your customers a new reason to pick your brand over competitors in the market.

It is a way to communicate something about the brand that is beyond price, product or service. Brands who partner with charities or champion significant social issues often benefit from a boost in sales because, given the choice, customers are more likely to buy a brand that supports a worthy cause over a competitor who does not.

O’Egg is a great example of an Irish brand with modest resources which has aligned itself with ‘Action Breast Cancer’. They operate in a market with weak brand differentiation and yet the O’Egg White Egg product in its bright pink packaging is very much targeted at a female audience. The cause has a very obvious relevance to its target market which has helped raise brand awareness and benefited the cause too.

4. Boost Brand Equity

Championing a social issue or engaging with charities is a worthy way to boost brand equity and invest in a little feel-good-factor. Aligning marketing activity with cause related issues enables brands to build a reputation with their target market and build an emotional connection can help strengthen brand loyalty.

Linking brand support to significant social issues or charities creates an emotive response alongside goodwill. Customers feel they are extending the value of their purchase to include a worthy cause investment and are more likely to be repeat purchasers.

Flora’s support of the woman’s mini marathon shows their customers that as a brand, they care about what their customers care about. They recognize their customers concerns and actively try to support them. Brand loyalty is strengthened and brand equity is boosted when the customer’s affinity with the brand extends beyond the product itself.

(RED) is an example of a long established initiative encompassing the support of some of the worlds biggest brands who have each committed to supporting charitable initiatives in Africa. Each brands dedicates a (RED) product in their product line to the cause.

How to Beat the Cynics

For cause related marketing to work your customer must feel differently about your company and brands as a result of the association. The partnership must be relevant to the target customers in order to be trusted. The Nissan Leaf brand alignment to the issues of global warning, and its threat to the environment, is a great example of brand cause marketing, all of which is very relevant to their eco sensitive core target audience.

For the most part customers know that sponsorship of charitable causes or championing a significant social issue is not a form of corporate altruism but a strategic business move. Consequently brands need to be upfront and transparent as to the corporate motives behind the association.

Partnerships must prove its credibility with customers before making any kind of direct product links. For this to be successful the commitment to the aim of the cause must be sincere. Long-term commitment is needed to create a degree of trust, and show that the partnership is more than just an add-on to other marketing activity.

Arts and charities sponsorships are cheaper than sports sponsorships and can generate profit and brand equity while boosting corporate social responsibility credentials and employee engagement.

In an uncertain economic climate where consumer trust in major consumer brands has been damaged, partnering with a worthwhile cause could be the best investment you make in your brand strategy in the year ahead.

What local, national or global cause could you authentically align your brand with, that would be congruent with your core brand values, relevant to your target audience and genuinely make a difference – show that you really care?

De-Branding to Differentiate; Is Your Brand Strong Enough?

February 6, 2013/0 Comments/in Brand Experience, Brand Strategy, Brand Values, Branding, Communication, Customer Engagement, Global Branding, Innovation, Marketing, Retailers, Trends /by Lorraine Carter

Selfridges department store in London made waves recently with consumers and marketers alike with the launch of their “No Noise” branding project.

In an aim to address the increasingly cluttered world of 21st century marketing, Selfridges opened the Quite Shop in-store. Minimalist art and music, and a ban on mobiles and shoes set the scene for a tranquil consumer experience, but bucking the very core of consumerism, the store went beyond by launching brand-free retail.

Global brands such as Levi’s, Heinz, and Dr Dre Beats all produced products that were void of logo or product information for the project, leaving customers to experience the products without the usual assault of marketing design.

Arguably a campaign for media publicity the project did highlight two important branding issues:

1. How Strong Is Your Brand Without Its Logo?

A truly strong brand transcends its logo, as was evident from the No Noise project. Not only were the brands instantly recognizable when void of logos but critically, consumers had developed such an affinity with the brand through the intangible intrinsic values that even the un-branded product still offered value.

2. With the Prevalence of Brand Clutter, Can De-Branding be a Valuable Differentiator in the Market?

The de-branded products of the No Noise project also created exclusivity out of normal brands. Void of logos and product information suddenly made Heinz baked beans tins a desirable limited edition unique offering. In a world where branding information is bombarding the consumer, could the simple brand-free product be the one that makes the biggest impact?

Starbucks might be one of the most recognizable brands in the world but it too has started to explore reducing its brand imagery in an effort to differentiate its business and extend its market catchment.

Starbucks global reach meant that the visibility of the brand worldwide was almost having a negative effect with consumers. Over saturation of the corporate logo was almost making it uncool with consumers, with a trend towards local coffee houses emerging.

Starbucks began removing their name from their cups, and even redesigned their newer stores to fit into the local environment. In the UK no two stores are the same and the brand is focusing on less corporate branding and offering a more personalized experience to their customer. In a high street with Costco chains blatantly visible, would the de-branded Starbucks coffee house offer a more welcoming personable experience to the consumer?

De-branding to gain attention was a strategy adopted by VO5 last year in an effort to target the teenage boy market. The brand’s strategy focused on building brand equity through a meaningful narrative in their advertising. They wanted to be less pushy with their products and thought that un-branded advertising adds to their credibility with their target market.

An unbranded 30-second teaser on YouTube spearheaded its new integrated campaign ’Pageant’. The short trailer achieved 180,000 views in two weeks after its launch in October and was also voted one of the most popular videos on YouTube’s comedy channel. The trailer was followed by an online film and a TV spot as well as a YouTube channel and Facebook page.

The viral success of the campaign means that there might be credence to the claim that de-branding might just be the key to breaking through brand clutter and gaining the attention of the audience.

Branding and logo saturation is something that is having an impact in the luxury brand industry, an industry that once thrived on the power of their logos. Recent years have seen brands like Gucci experimenting with logo-free products where they have achieved success targeting a more sophisticated customer.

The customer’s affinity with the product was defined by their interest in the quality of the product materials and design rather than perceived status attained from the visibility of the logo.

With a logo-free product the brand has achieved enhanced positioning and exclusivity with their target consumer. By recapturing a more knowledgeable customer and developing an aspirational product, the brand was rewarded with a 25% increase in annual profit last year.

Eliminating the brand name from marketing activity is also evident in the professional services industry. While many brands strive to develop brand awareness in the market, sometimes negative brand connotations make it necessary to de-brand. Coutts private bank recently did just that, dropping the well known but unpopular RBS parent brand from their name in an effort to extend business.

The common thread in the examples above it that, before the de-branding took place, each company had developed an offering that presented value to their customers that extended beyond that tangible product itself. The strength of customer’s brand loyalty enabled the brands to experiment with the de-branding process. For obvious reasons de-branding won’t work in every case.

Tesco explored removing their brand name from some products but research has shown that the products were more popular with the Tesco name included as the customer has a better understanding of perceived quality that the brand represented.

De-branding certainly is not for every company, but it does force you to think about what elements of your brand make the biggest impact with your customer. Could de-branding be part of your brand strategy?

• Does your brand offer value to your customers that extends beyond the tangibles of the product or service?

• Do your customers have a clear understanding of your brand and its story, what it stands for?

• If you de-branded your product, what are the remaining elements that would have the biggest impact with your customers?

Top 12 Successful Blog Writing Tips to Achieve Bigger Sales Opportunities

January 29, 2013/0 Comments/in Award Winners, Award Winning, Blogging, Brand Strategy, Customer Engagement, Integrated Marketing, Marketing, Online Marketing /by Lorraine Carter

Following our Winning Best Blog Award Ireland 2012 of an SME end of last year we’ve had numerous enquiries on the how’s, do’s and don’ts of writing a compelling business blog consistently. I was also asked to write a similarly themed article for the Irish Tatler Business Annual 2013 so I thought you might find it useful if I shared with you some of the recently published tips.

The list compiled is by no means all encompassing but gives you a good reference point to get started or review your blogging activities to date.

Top 12 Most Successful Blog Writing Tips to Achieve Bigger and Better Sales

:: 1. Know and define the target audience for your blog content, be they customers or prospects. One of the major reasons blogs fail is because the content is not relevant to its readers, or the target audience needs are not properly understood. This should be an important part of your brand marketing strategy.

:: 2. Create a writing calendar, know your content, marketing, social media and blogging goals. Plan 4-6 months ahead (broadly the year) and if you have notable industry events, seasonal relevance or cultural occasions during the year that are relevant to your target business audience make sure appropriate, brand congruent, topics feature around those times. You can always adapt and change if something topical happens in the market place but planning ensures you have a defined strategy on which it all hangs.

:: 3. Post consistently and frequently and keep your content congruently on topic by ensuring you post information that really meets your customers needs and solves their problems. Apply the 80:20 rule, 80% adding value and serving your customers and only 20% about you (your products, launches, case studies etc.). It gets awfully boring visiting a blog that is ‘me me’ orientated and offers no real value to the reader.

:: 4. Incorporate your blog into your company or organizations website. If you’re using your blog to support your inbound marketing, integrating its URL into your main website address is very important.

:: 5. Seamlessly integrate you branding into your blog both in terms of voice, language used, personality, character and values coupled with corporate brand style guides and visual appeal.

:: 6. Add relevant imagery, audio and video clips to make your blog more appealing and support the story being told. Good photos, video clips and sound tracks help attract and retain the readers’ attention.

:: 7. Optimise your content for keyword search but don’t be tempted to keyword stuff. Ensure you write for the reader not the Google robots.

:: 8. Break up your content into bite size chunks and smaller paragraphs. Writing for online is very different to white paper reports or book writing. Use bulleting and bolding where appropriate. Reader attention span is much shorter online.

:: 9. Link your blog posts to appropriate products or services elsewhere on your website. Don’t assume your readers will find those gems. Make it easy for them.

:: 10. Research your content and facts but remember to respect other peoples’ intellectual property and copyright. It’s important to provide attribution or reference and links where appropriate.

:: 11. Proactively share your blog content across social media platforms as well as feeds, email and newsletters to increase your reach and draw your audience in.

:: 12. Track your blog to measure its effectiveness in terms of lead generation, traffic, sales and ROI.

Above all ‘Think Big! The sky is not the limit when there are footprints on the moon’. Make your blog a core part of your brand and business strategy and you will reap the rewards.

Feel free to get in touch or leave your comments below. We’d love to hear your feedback.

If you have any questions or need some brand direction for your blogging strategy then please don’t hesitate to get in touch E: [email protected] or T: +353 1 8322724

Wishing you growing success as your blog and your brand become No.1 in your target market.

*This is part of an article written by Lorraine Carter, listed as one of the Top 1,000 Women of Influence in Ireland, and published in Irish Tatler Business Annual 2013.

6 Top Customer Trends in 2013 and How To Leverage Them Effectively

January 22, 2013/0 Comments/in Brand Reputation, Brand Risk Management, Brand Risk Mitigation, Brand Strategy, Brand Values, Branding, Business, Communication, Customer Engagement, Cyber Threat, Facebook, Integrated Marketing, Interactive Marketing, Linkedin, Marketing, Online Marketing, Social Engagement, Social Media, Twitter /by Lorraine Carter

With so many emerging marketing trends impacting 2013 the opportunities are plentiful for brands to really make meaningful connections with their customers.

Never before have we had such easy access to copious amounts of data about our customer’s online behaviour. This gives brands invaluable insights from which leverage their brand strategy and capture market share together with increased profitability.

Equally, now is the time to identify challenges, which if left ignored, may leave your brand lagging behind its competitors, not to mention lost revenue. Seize your opportunities and be proactive in the year ahead!

1. Social Media Accountability

Social Media has been getting a bit of a knocking at the moment and seems to be making a regular appearance in mainstream news due to the increased prevalence of cyber bullying. This in turn has made online accountability and a heightened awareness of transparency in both engagement strategy, and quality content creation, a bigger issue for brands in the year ahead.

The need for proper social media training with clearly defined policy and procedures has never been more critical for brand custodians. Online risk management needs to be a top priority in 2013 for all brand owners.

2. Customer Power

The rise in crowd-sourcing and the increasing might of social media means that the balance of power is continuing to tip towards the customer. Brands need to really understand the difference between owned content and earned content. Brand engagement on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter is largely earned content through engagement with your customers.

The key for brands in the coming months is to leverage the collective voice of their customers and turn content and interactions into marketing opportunities. Don’t shy away from your customers voices, listen to them, value their needs and let this be the year your customer gets heard and becomes central to your brand strategy.

3. Brand Experience

Continuing the trend of recent years, 2013 will continue to be about building a truly meaningful brand experience for your customers.

Build a narrative around your brand and create content that reinforces your brand story and what it stands for. Emotive content has the greatest impact in the market. Structure your branding content so that each touch-point forms a memorable brand experience that engages your customer.

Focusing on your customers’ needs and creating a seamless customer experience between online and offline branding can significantly impact your bottom line. Develop a focused content plan with clear objectives tailored to your core target audience, make it more about them this year – be truly customer centric.

4. Brand Adaptability

Mobile device usage and m-commerce domination are set to make significant leaps in the year ahead. They will become a customer expectation rather than addition to the brand experience. Be the brand that drives change and adapt your brand strategy to embrace these changes. Don’t run the risk of struggling behind your competitors in 2014.

5. Data Convergence

The buzz words of digital marketing in 2013. With so many digital channels with which to reach your customers the need to analyze, interpret and translate the data into meaningful insights and actions has never been stronger.

The move on the web into predominately mobile and social media means that multi-channel reporting should be adopted so that your brand can identify the effectiveness of your multichannel mix. Use the data to determine the real contributors from each channel; refine your segmentation and get more specific with your targeting.

6. Relevance

At the end of the day we are not trying to reinvent the wheel. The core values of your brand should still provide the direction and remain the driving force behind your business. Digital demands attention but it must stay true to the core essence of your brand. It’s a tool that enhances the marketing mix and expands connection opportunities.

The strongest brand experiences are those that are created when the brand is relevant to the customer in every context. To really benefit your customer you need to align your offline and online marketing campaigns.

Harness their synergy by creating a seamless brand engagement for your customer through all your touchpoints. Stop dividing your strategy into online and offline and start offering a fully integrated brand experience.

The returns will be evident with increased brand awareness, enhanced brand equity, more solid brand longevity and increased profitability.

How are you going to change, adapt or fully integrate your brand strategy to harness these trends to increase your revenue and grow your market share?

The Secret Way to Boost Brand Loyalty and Increase Your Profitability

January 3, 2013/0 Comments/in Brand Champions, Brand Loyalty, Brand Strategy, Branding, Customer Engagement, Innovation, Market Insights /by Lorraine Carter

Here is a question for you: how many loyalty cards do you carry with you in your wallet? If you are like us your wallet will claim loyalty to supermarkets, pharmacies, service stations, the local coffee chain…to name a few. The list of businesses offering loyalty schemes to customers seems to grow year on year, with brands working to increase repeat purchases and enhance customer brand loyalty.

As most of you are well aware, the cost of maintaining a customer is far less than the investment required acquiring a new one. The most valuable customers are not the ones that make the most expensive purchases but rather those that come back again and again over their lifetime. Loyal customers not only drive profitable returns, they are more likely to come to you, buy more often, try new products, recommend you to others, and become brand champions for your business.

Loyalty Schemes

When first introduced, loyalty schemes were intended to inspire customers to become truly loyal to a brand. It was presumed that rewards of discount, bonus points and special offers were enough to encourage repeat purchases from customers. It quickly became apparent however that customers carry multiple loyalty cards and simply collect rewards wherever they shop.

The true benefit of loyalty scheme cards lies in the valuable customer insights they offer businesses: who are the most profitable and least profitable customers, what do they most want and what changes or offerings would be most likely to make them truly loyal. However while the customer benefits from small discounts, traditional loyalty schemes on the most part fail to achieve their intended purpose of enhancing the customer lifetime value by creating a truly loyal customer.

The Secret Society

Cue the emergence of the ‘secret society’ customer loyalty schemes. How would you feel if you were one of the select few who knew about a secret pop-up-shop sale in a retail store? What if you were given access to stock that wasn’t available to the ‘average customer’ off the street?

Giving loyal customer’s exclusive access to items, menus, locations, particularly when they are not advertised to the general public not only develops fierce brand loyalty but also delivers a unique enhanced brand experience, at little extra cost.

Fast Food restaurants and coffee chains have long prospered by making their service a scripted experience, managing costs by offering customers a restricted menu option. Now what if we told you that McDonalds, Burger King, Subway and Starbucks were some of the many brands who have a secret menu known to only fraction of their customers?

These are not simply made-to-order items for the picky customer, these are a list of options known to staff which have been allocated valuable prep time, inventory management, and storage space to make sure they can serve the item. These secret items are based on loyal relationships between the brands and their regular customers.

In–N–Out Burger in the US is the most famous ‘outed’ secret menu story. The company always had a ‘desire to please its guests’ as a core value of the brand. When regular customers began ordering variations of the standard menu with such frequency that they were given names by the staff, the ‘secret menu’ was born.

The Secret Strategy of Special Treatment

The essence of the “secret” strategy is the word-of-mouth by regular customers. The item can’t be marketed through other means or it quickly looses its appeal. Customers like to feel that they have almost VIP access to things their peers cant get. They develop an affinity for the brand and are often willing to share their ‘insider’ information with a select friend who too will be eager to claim access to this secret society of special customers. Nothing boosts loyalty like a little special treatment.

Big brands such as Starbucks can handle when their secret menus are shared publically. Once the item is not on the menu and the majority of customers are not aware, loyal customers still gain a sense of exclusive treatment. The brand benefits from greater customer awareness of the ‘secret’ menu because it lends a fun or intriguing element to the brand image. For smaller brands, having a more tightly guarded secret offering could inspire prolonged loyalty from valuable customers in the know.

Reward your loyal customers with access to special offerings. Make the offering worthwhile; something they want based on their purchase history. Remember, it should be a bonus not a burden for the customer; do not require them to fill in forms etc to gain access. Knowing what to ask for should be enough.

When you let your loyal customers in on the secret make sure they know its not for everyone, but not so much of a secret that nobody knows; while keeping the secret offering to a select few is necessary for its success, the more people in the select group the more loyal customers you develop for your brand.

• Could a secret offering boost brand loyalty with your customers?

• Could a little mystery enhance your customer’s brand experience?

• How could you introduce ‘secret’ rewards for your ‘loyal’ customers as party of your brand strategy in the year ahead?

4 Top Tips in Social Media Trends and Brand Strategy Planning for 2013

November 20, 2012/0 Comments/in Brand Strategy, Brand Voice, Branding, Customer Engagement, Facebook, Integrated Marketing, Interactive Marketing, Linkedin, Marketing, Mobile, Online Marketing, Pinterest, Return On Investment, Smart Phones, Social Engagement, Social Media, Twitter, YouTube /by Lorraine Carter

It is hard to believe there are only a number of weeks remaining in 2012. Harder still to understand how in the months since 1st January 2012 the business world has had to adapt and react so rapidly to the ever-evolving social media whirlwind.

The increasing sophistication of the applications themselves was expected but the new ways in which they have be utilized by brands and how it has impacted on the very nature of brand and customer behaviour has surpassed even the most optimistic forecasts.

That said, even social media brand champions don’t have time to be complacent with new trends in social customer behavior and applications already emerging for 2013.

In an attempt to stay somewhat ahead of the curve, brands needed to recognize the shift in consumer behavior on social media sites and be proactive in adapting their own online activity accordingly. Here are some social media trend tips that will increasingly affect brands in 2013.

1. Image Heavy Content

From image specific social networks like Pinterest, to image uploads on the likes of Facebook, pictures are sparking engagement by audiences of all ages and demographics.

Although relatively new to the market Pinterest is now the 3rd largest social network, followed by image-centric Instagram. Brands need to respond to online audience behaviour. Engage your customers by making brand congruent image-content a focal element of your strategy.

Free People clothing capitalized on their customer’s interaction on Instagram to create an engaging social campaign that transferred into offline sales. The brand attached individualized hashtag cards to its jeans. On the cards, customers were encouraged to take a picture of themselves in the jeans, post the photo on Instagram, and tag it with a specific hashtag.

The brand ended up with significantly increased brand engagement as hundreds of great customers photos appeared not only on their own feed but on their follower’s feeds too. The brand selected some of the images to appear on their website, turning its customers into models and engaging with its community in a creatively impactful way, all of which converted into increased sales.

2. More Authentic Voice

By their very nature social network profiles, even those of brands, should reflect the social element of the communication tool. Brands who respond to customers with a tone that reflects that of an actual person, and not an automated system, not only initiates a much better response with customers but can actually enrich the brand experience. Use of humour by brands in their posts has shown to elevate the level of engagement with customers too. A cautionary note though, humour should be used judiciously and congruently with what your brand stands for and is associated with.

3. Evolving Platforms

You might feel that your brand has got a handle on some of the more prominent social networks, and then they evolve, requiring a shift in social content element of your brand strategy.

The last few months has seen significant changes for Brands who utilize Facebook as a tool for brand development and customer interaction. When brands post on their page, it may only reach a limited amount of the people that Like that page. Facebook have now launched Promoted Posts which help increase the people you reach, for a fee.

Brands can now promote their posts so it gets better placement in its Facebook fans’ news feeds. They can also target posts based on specific location or language, and will be able to keep track of how many people saw the post. Your promoted posts will be seen by a larger percentage of the people who like your Page than would normally see it.

While this feature is a benefit to those who have a budget to support frequent sponsored posts, it also requires brands to change their posting activity in a way that encourages increased engagement from the customers that view the posts. Running competition apps encourages customers to engage and share brand content; increasing the visibility of brand posts without having to pay for attention.

Mobile strategy will not be merely an additional option for brands but should be fully integrated into the communication strategy. As more touch points emerge between brands and their customers, your brand strategy needs to be flexible enough to incorporate new technologies and tools that enhance the customer brand experience.

4. Quality Not Quantity

When it comes to online fans, brands are starting to realize that it is not the quantity of fans that counts, but rather identifying who are the quality fans that truly engage with the brand’s online activity.

Brands need to start understanding who, what, when, where, how and why your community engages with the brand page. Which fans are engaging with the brand’s online activity? What content gets the most interaction? And what communities are the fans sharing posts with?

Use insights and analytics to help you understand your actively engaged fans and followers so you can develop the best social marketing strategy for your brand and customers. Identifying, recognizing and rewarding your engaged fans and followers can be far more beneficial in developing brand loyalty and turning online engagement into offline sales.

The quality and use of the content created by brands online will also need to be reexamined. Brands need to stop marketing at their customers and instead increase the dialogue with their fans.

Increase brand affinity by listening to and learning from your customers. There will also be a higher demand for integrating the entire marketing process. The analysis gleaned from fan interaction online should be used to educate sales and customer care departments.

Its time to amplify your brands impact through a fully integrated brand strategy which seamlessly encompasses on and offline – marketing, sales, analysis of customer behaviour through both social media and traditional channels so you can drive your business forward successfully.

Maximize the ROI of your efforts by listening and responding to your most engaged customers and applying what you learn to generate growing sales in the year ahead.

• Are you learning from your social media analytics?

• Are you adapting to the changing online behaviour of your customers?

• Have you adapted your brand strategy to include the rapidly evolving world of social media?

How to Use Social Media to Launch Your New Product Successfully

November 12, 2012/0 Comments/in Brand Launch, Brand Strategy, Branding, Customer Engagement, Facebook, Integrated Marketing, Interactive Marketing, Marketing, Online Marketing, Pinterest, Social Engagement, Social Media, Twitter, YouTube /by Lorraine Carter

Promoting, marketing and launching products to mass audiences are no longer restricted to companies with large budgets. Brands are increasingly turning to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest and other social networks to instigate a buzz around the launch of a new product, and it’s not hard to see why.

The popularity of social media makes it the perfect platform to support a product launch. A successful launch requires an engaged audience, a platform for displaying the product that enables comment and feedback, and the facility to share the product information to as large a customer base as possible. There are few channels that can offer these elements for such a minimal spend as social media.

However the product launch should not be your brand’s first introduction to Social Media. To maximize the effectiveness of social media in launching your product your brand should already be engaging and interacting with your customers through social networks.

Consistently posting, sharing and conversing with your customers not only builds your following but it helps bring credibility to the brand. When launching the product through social media you not only want a large following, but a following that feel a genuine affinity with the brand and what they offer.

Pre-launch, build a community of online followers; customers, bloggers, market influencers and maintain active engagement with these followers leading up to, during, and post-launch. They will be key to maximizing the product reach.

Like any marketing strategy, using social media as part of your product launch requires a plan with goals and objectives. Identify each social media tool you plan to utilize and treat each one as a separate promotional entity.

4 Tips – How to Use Social Media to Maximize the Impact of Your Product Launch

1. Create a Buzz

Creating a buzz around a new product launch to market provides a strong platform on which to launch the product and develop customer interest. Word Of Mouth is one of the most powerful means of advertising and social media capitalizes on this like no other tool.

Before launching a new product the brand should engage with their biggest supporters; from industry experts to fans, followers, retweeters and commentators.

Build anticipation by giving them a sneak peak of some element of the product. If companies are able to get people talking about a new product and the upcoming launch across their own social media profiles through shared and likes then this leads to an increase in awareness among existing and potential customers. Promo videos, behind-the-scenes photos, product-specific twitter hastags, and competitions can be great forms of pre-launch buzz generators.

Not limited to just products, the NBA uses social media to generate buzz and introduce new players to NBA fans such as Damien Lillard this year who now has a substantial following and raised profile that wouldn’t have been possible several years ago.

2. Product Testing

When launching a new product it is important for the brand to listen to feedback from the fans and customers. By its very nature social media is perfectly suited to gauge customer and fan opinions and react to and adapt the launch strategy accordingly.

Facebook polls, hastag and YouTube commentary can all be valuable sources of feedback enabling the brand to build a targeted launch with maximum impact on the target market.

Aedle is a Paris based company who have used their blog and facebook page to inform potential customers about the development of their new product and get feedback as to its look and the materials used. They even shared video clips on the machinery used to create the product

They have created an audience of brand ambassadors that not only wait in anticipation for the product launch, but also feel they have been valuable contributors to the products development.

3. Expand Brand Equity

In today’s market social media is essential for a successful product launch but it is at its most effective as a complimentary tool to traditional marketing and advertising. Online video and web documentaries, bonus features and behind-the-scene extras can offer extended information and enhanced brand interaction to online brand enthusiasts.

4. Competitions and Rewards

Competitions, discount offers and give-aways reward loyal brand followers and act as an encouragement for their continued participation in spreading the word for your new product information. Early adopters and fans of a brand are always more likely to share information about a new product or promotional campaign with their own friends and followers.

Launching products online gives brands the opportunity through social media to reward fans and followers that are liking, sharing, posting, re-tweeting and ultimately talking about the new product.

Audi launched their new A1 in Ireland with an online and social media campaign that created huge buzz and customer engagement beyond any offline campaign. Rather than simply announcing the launch of a new model through traditional channels, they decided to actively engage their target audience and encourage campaign interaction and participation of the campaign idea ‘The Chase’.

A first for the auto industry in Ireland, this interactive campaign comprised of a range of different puzzles and clues to solve, utilizing online and offline media. The A1 Chase challenged its audience to solve every clue and track every lead with the aim of locating a missing Audi A1. The eventual winner of the Chase got to drive away in the missing Audi A1!

Social media provides brands with a fantastic opportunity to extend the impact of their product launch far beyond that of traditional marketing. That said, for a truly successful market launch your launch strategy needs to be a comprehensive plan that integrates all marketing tools and not just social media.

Whether you have a product in development or plan on extending your product line in the future start by beginning with expanding your social media presence. Create engagement, boost interaction and generate customer buzz. It could be the first step for future launch success.

• Have you utilized your social media to support a product launch?

• Does your product launch strategy include social media?

• Have you developed your social media presence to a strong enough level to be able leverage a potential launch in conjunction with the rest of your marketing brand strategy?

How to Use Pinterest to Inspire Your Customers and Increase Your Sales

November 5, 2012/0 Comments/in Customer Engagement, Marketing, Online Marketing, Pinterest, Social Engagement, Social Media, Target Market /by Lorraine Carter

Now the third most popular social network site behind Facebook and Twitter, the interest in Pinterest continues to skyrocket. The visual social networking site yields 2.3 billion page impressions per month and receives 4 million unique visitors per day. But what benefits does it offer to brands?

What is Pinterest?

In case we are getting ahead of ourselves lets back track and look at how Pinterest differs from other social networks.

How it works

Pinterest is a visual social discovery network. Users create online pinboards (like virtual corkboards) for various themes or categories and “pin” items to the board by;

Uploading the image straight to Pinterest from their computer, phone or tablet
Using the “pin it” bookmarker button located on websites to pin the item to your pin board.
Using the “pin it” button that can be added free to your bookmark tab at the top of your search engine
Re-pinning other user’s pins to your boards

On your Pinterest page you can create as many boards as you like and people can choose to follow all, some, or none of them.

Each pin posted from a website will automatically be pinned linking back to the website URL it was pinned from making it easy to locate the original location of the image. It is possible to link all your pins back to a particular URL. For instance, your pins could all link back to your website.

Users use Pinterest to explore and discover new products to buy, to search for inspiration and tips, follow VIPs and celebrities they admire and to create virtual representations of their own interests and lives.

5 Tops Tips – Pinterest for Brand Growth

Unlike other social networks Pinterest is not a platform for obvious self-promotion. Brands, be they a product, service, organisation or VIP, who fill their boards with images of just products or services they are selling, are not offering customers anything special that couldn’t already be found on the company’s website.

The true benefit of Pinterest to brands is enabling brands to convey a sense of the brand’s personality, values and shape the brand image, all of which, through increased engagement, can drive loyalty and sales growth.

1. Promote Brand Culture

For most consumer brands it is the idea behind the brand that makes sense on Pinterest. Brands should pin images that capture the essence of the brand. It can be more effective or engaging than traditional advertising because it allows consumers to understand how the brand fits into their lives.

Use the boards to show off your brand culture. Pin only what you really love congruent with your core brand values. Show the people and spaces that inspire your brand and not just the end product.

2. Pinterest: The Consumer Focus Group

Pinterest users create boards filled with items that give you an insight into their lives. By looking at their follower’s boards, brands can learn a huge amount about their customers; their hobbies, the food they enjoy, their inspirations, what matters to them etc. Users are effectively volunteering a lot of information about what they like. This enables brand custodians to get a clearer idea about who their customers are which in turn empowers them to be much more specific in their brand targeting, armed with the insights and information learned.

3. Extend Brand Value

Pinterest offers brands scope to enhance their relevancy with their customers. Because Pinterest is not about self- promotion, brands who successfully engage with their customers do so by changing the dynamic that may exist on other social media applications.

Brands such as yoghurt brand Chobani use Pinterest to solve customer’s problems and deepen their relationship with them. They use their posts to inform and educate about their products and ingredients. They offer recipes and, without over-selling and have become a valuable source of information for their customers which in turn generates lots of customer engagement.

4. Increase Brand Loyalty

Coupled with adding brand value, posting images from around the web and repining images from other users helps to personalize your brand and allows customers to identify with your organization or company more strongly. This leads to stronger engagement and increase brand loyalty. Repining content from other users helps to grow awareness of your brand’s account and attract new followers.

5. Drive Sales

While the boards themselves are about inspiring customers and shaping brand identity, each of the pins can be linked back to your website or e-commerce site where you can up sell or target the conversation.

While it is not always advisable to include prices or logos on your pins, including key words in the pin description will help customers find your pins.

The tone of the pin description should be authentic to your brand voice and consistent with other marketing communications and brand collateral. Including “pin it” buttons on your website will enable your customers to help drive traffic to your website. Jewelers Boticca found that Pinterest drove more sales and customers to their website than Facebook, and accounted for 10% of overall sales.

Doing it Right

Like any new marketing tool Pinterest takes some forward planning to be successful. Create a profile of your ideal target customer and keep that in mind when your start pinning. Ask yourself if your ideal customer would find that pin useful? Interesting? Inspiring? Entertaining?

Get feedback and evaluate brand ROI. Once you start using Pinterset use Google analytics or other analytic tools to identify how much web traffic is driven by Pinterest. You can use http://pinterest.com/source/ADD_YOUR_OWN_URL_HERE to see what has been shared from your website or blog to other users boards.

In a nutshell Pinterest is about currating different kinds of ideas from across the web into one space. For brands it is an effective tool for enabling social shopping, crowdsourcing and generating engagement.

Most importantly there is plenty of referral traffic to be had for the early movers who wake up to Pinterest’s potential and extend their online community.

• How does Pinterest fit with your online brand strategy?

• Are you using social media to effectively drive sales?

• Do you know how to enhance customer engagement using social media?

Who Controls Your Brand Online? 8 Online Mistakes to Avoid

September 28, 2012/0 Comments/in Brand Reputation, Brand Risk Management, Brand Risk Mitigation, Brand Strategy, Communication, Customer Engagement, Facebook, Linkedin, Online Marketing, Social Engagement, Social Media, Twitter /by Lorraine Carter

From revenue generation to brand equity development, online activity is at the forefront of brand strategy and the need to control and safeguard your brand’s online assets has never been more critical.

In this post-digital world the value of having an online presence and using online social interaction to enhance the customer brand experience are undisputed.

Irish brands in particular have made significant leaps in embracing digital technology to widen their market reach and strengthen their brand voice.

Brands need to examine who is really in control of their online property, and analyze whether their online activity is meeting the goals of their brand strategy.

We spoke before about the dangers of misuse of social media on a brand’s reputation. However, by its very nature digital technology is evolving all the time and with it brings new challenges for brands looking to maximize their return on online investment together with mitigating any potential brand risks.

8 Online Mistakes that Puts Your Brand at Risk

1. Posting Automatically

Social Media Management tools certainly have their place and provide managers with some breathing space when it comes to updating social media posts. However, in order to maximize their effectiveness these tools should be used sparingly.

Customers who follow your brand on a variety of social media channels will become irritated rather than enriched if they see identical posts from a brand appearing on all communication channels. It can also be detrimental to your online strategy as Facebook may prevent your posts from appearing on newsfeeds if they decide that they appear ‘spammy’ as can be the case using social media management tools rather than your authentic unique voice.

2. Posting on Twitter or Facebook Without Comments

Many spammers or accounts that have been hacked will simply post links without the inclusion of comment or introduction. Brands who post images or web links without including some comment risk being blocked as spammers or reduce the likelihood of customers clicking the link for fear of virus exposure.

3. Websites are Not a One-Time Investment

Websites, like shop windows, need to be constantly refreshed and updated to reflect the changes in products, markets and customer needs. Your website is often a customers first interaction with your brand and therefore the management of your website should include a constant process of refining and optimization.

4. Ignoring Analytics

Tracking and analyzing the performance of your brand’s website and social media engagement is essential to ensure you are maximizing your ROI in these areas. Use tools like Google Analytics, Facebook insights, Twitter Counter and other such applications to track how your customers engage with your posts.

Which post sparked the most comments and shares? How long are customers spending on your website? What pages are they spending most time on and what pages are they ignoring? If you are investing time and resources on your brand’s online presence then make sure your activity is as effective as possible.

Align the analytics with your brand strategy goals. If certain elements are not working them drop them, re-evaluate, and if necessary re-structure, your communication approach.

5. Not Owning Essential Brand Assets

Your website and its domain name are valuable brand assets. Protecting them from competitors and fraudulent entities should be a priority. Make sure you brand’s domain names are registered to your business and not to your web developer or another third party. Keep a back up copy of any custom web design work. Relationships between your company and the web developer may come under strain and it is crucial that your brand is safeguarded and that your assets stay in the control of your company.

6. Not Protecting Your Intellectual Property

Just because your business has registered its name or the brand name does not mean that it is entitled to the matching domain name. If you have the brandname.com domain name for your brand, there is nothing stopping others from registering brandname.ie, brandname.co.uk etc. Buying and registering your company’s brand name across a variety of domains will protect your brand from potential large costs should third parties register alternative domains and force you to pay high prices to buy control of them.

7. Facebook Pages – Who Owns What?

Most brand Facebook pages are linked to the personal Facebook profile of someone within the company. Make sure that the page owner is also a senior member of the company management team/board and that more than one person has administration control of the brand Facebook page to safeguard against potential issues that may arise with the social media community manager. You also need to manage the level of administrative rights granted to your social media team members and safeguard your brand against the potential departure of a disgruntled employee who has administrative access to your account. Take inventory of every page your company owns, identify pages that may be set up by fans or other third party and monitor these pages consistently.

8. Leaving Online Content Control to One Person

Social media should be a team effort within your company. No one person can truly represent the brand voice and have the answer to all queries. Brand leaders, managers, front-line staff, strategists, web developers etc should all play a role in creating online content for the brand. Their collective input and combined knowledge means that, as a team, they are best equipped to optimize social media interaction and maximize the brand experience for your customers. It also means you mitigate risk if a key team member leaves your organisation.

Embrace and leverage your online activities to grow your brand engagements and relationships positively but always underpin those activities with a well thought out and executed brand strategy. Ensure your social mediea activities are congruent with your core brand values and what your brand stands for. Be consistent in your level of online activity, respect good practises and social media etiquette and you will see your brand benefit and grow over time.

Does your company have full control of its online and intellectual property?

Is the online element of your brand strategy maximizing your ROI?

Do you track and analyze your online activity and adapt your brand strategy accordingly?