Marketing Trends – Part 7

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Welcome to the latest installment of our weekly blog series, Marketing Trends. Each week, we will identify a key trend in the world of marketing. We’ll discuss the trend, why it’s important, and suggest ways that you can take advantage of this trend in your company.

Last week’s trend was Marketing Partnerships.

Today’s Trend = Marketing Specialists

The jack of all trades is dying out in many companies. The best way to get what you need from your marketing team, according to recent hiring trends, is to find someone who specializes in exactly what you want to do.

If you want to start advertising on search engines, bring in a search engine marketer. If you want to improve the conversion rate of your website, bring in a conversion optimization guru. If you want to create a more active social media following, bring in a community manager.

The marketing generalist, the person you rely on the manage all of your marketing, is more a manager than a marketer these days. He or she should be sure to put the right specialists in the places they are most needed.

That does not mean you have to expand your marketing team by ten extra people. It means prioritizing and working smarter. What activities will you do this year that will have the greatest impact? Once you determine those, you can figure out how to get the right people in place to execute on your vision.

You might hire people. You might bring on someone part time. You might use a consultant or agency to fill in the gaps. Or you might train someone already on staff so that they become more specialized.

There are a number of options you have at your disposal as a manager. But the important thing to remember is that whatever you want to do, there are experts out there who can help you do it right.

What marketing trend should we cover next? Now accepting submissions for marketing trends that we will cover in an upcoming installment of this series. Submit your ideas via our contact page or in the comments section below.

Marketing Trends – Part 6

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Welcome to the latest installment of our weekly blog series, Marketing Trends. Each week, we will identify a key trend in the world of marketing. We’ll discuss the trend, why it’s important, and suggest ways that you can take advantage of this trend in your company.

Last week’s trend was Remarketing.

Today’s Trend = Marketing Partnerships

Pairing with other companies to market your products or services is becoming more popular across a wide variety of industries. We call these marketing partnerships.

Why are companies partnering to market themselves?

First, it can be a great way to save money. You can reach the same number of people for half the price if you agree to share costs. You can do more with two budgets than you could do with one.

Second, it can give you exposure to a new market. When you team with a company that has a built-in audience, you are introduced to that audience in an advantageous way. Now your brand is associated with one they already know and trust.

How can you partner with companies as part of your marketing strategy?

Companies can work together in any number of ways. And the key here is to be creative. Think outside the box and come up with something that few other companies have thought about.

For example, you might partner to put on an event aimed at building awareness in a specific location. You might work to develop branded videos or television commercials that feature both companies and split the cost of production and distribution. You might trade “locations”, offering to promote them in exchange for them promoting you. Or you might develop a branded product, where one company gets the revenue and the other gets “free” publicity among those who buy it.

There is an endless supply of ideas. It takes someone to come up with them, pitch them internally, and get on the phone with the right person at those other companies you wish to partner with. Most times, the head of marketing or promotions at a company will give you a chance to pitch an idea that offers true value.

What marketing trend should we cover next? Now accepting submissions for marketing trends that we will cover in an upcoming installment of this series. Submit your ideas via our contact page or in the comments section below.

Marketing Trends – Part 5

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Welcome to the latest installment of our weekly blog series, Marketing Trends. Each week, we will identify a key trend in the world of marketing. We’ll discuss the trend, why it’s important, and suggest ways that you can take advantage of this trend in your company.

Last week’s trend was Featuring Customers.

Today’s Trend = Remarketing

It’s a long-told fact that it costs less to keep a current customer than to acquire a new one. Marketers are taught that very early on in their professional careers.

Marketing acquisition costs are high. And that’s why remarketing is an important trend.

Remarketing means marketing to people who have already interacted with you in some way. You can remarket to existing or past customers. You can remarket to people who visited your website. You can remarket to people who downloaded your app or followed you on social media.

Essentially, you are taking someone you have already acquired and trying to sell to them. And new tools and technologies are making this easier than ever before, which is why this trend is catching on.

How can you take advantage?

You should test out a couple of different remarketing solutions to find out what works for you.

First, test out website retargeting. Depending on your website traffic, this can be a very cheap way to test out remarketing. All you have to do is sign up with a company like AdRoll or Retargeter, install a piece of code on your website, and create some ads. Then people who visit your site and do not purchase from you will see your ads across the web.

Next, you can test out the same thing, with Facebook. Using Facebook’s custom audiences tool, you can create a group of people on Facebook who have visited your website and serve ads directly to them.

You can also work with Google and their remarketing solutions, allowing you to target ads to people who have searched for terms relating to your business, or target ads to people who have previously seen your ads.

Finally, you should develop a remarketing program for your current customers. Make sure you have a way to get in touch with them, such as email. And reach out on a regular basis with exclusive offers and news about your products and your company. This will get your customers used to hearing from you and will allow you to sell to them in the future, creating a more loyal customer base.

What marketing trend should we cover next? Now accepting submissions for marketing trends that we will cover in an upcoming installment of this series. Submit your ideas via our contact page or in the comments section below.

Marketing Trends – Part 4

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Welcome to the latest installment of our weekly blog series, Marketing Trends. Each week, we will identify a key trend in the world of marketing. We’ll discuss the trend, why it’s important, and suggest ways that you can take advantage of this trend in your company.

Last week’s trend was Negative Calls to Action.

Today’s Trend = Featuring Customers

You, as a marketer, can spend all of your time and energy telling people how great your brand is, how many people you’ve helped with your products, how crappy your competitors are, and how you’re the answer to the ills of the world.

But there is just one problem, it’s coming from you. It’s coming from your company. Of course you think you’re great. We’d expect you to as consumers.

And in the new age of advertising, it’s not enough for you to think you’re great. Other people, real people, not on your payroll, need to think you’re great too.

Review sites like Yelp, and social media have changed the landscape. Nowadays people do a lot more research before any buying decision. And they want to find out what other people have to say about you, people like them.

That’s the genesis of this week’s marketing trend, featuring customers in your marketing.

It’s not a new thing, but it’s gaining in popularity. More and more companies are actively recruiting brand enthusiasts, customers who can promote on your behalf. Those customers are being featured in everything from social media posts to TV commercials. And it adds a new level of trust between the company and the marketplace.

How can your company take advantage of this trend?

You can start by actively recruiting your own ambassadors. Reach out to loyal customers and make a connection. Find out who they are and why they purchase from you. Pick some of the most representative customers and get their permission to use their likeness and their words in your promotional materials. Testimonials, written or video, are a great place to start. And begin to build your brand around the people that really matter, your customers.

What marketing trend should we cover next? Now accepting submissions for marketing trends that we will cover in an upcoming installment of this series. Submit your ideas via our contact page or in the comments section below.

Marketing Trends – Part 3

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Welcome to the latest installment of our weekly blog series, Marketing Trends. Each week, we will identify a key trend in the world of marketing. We’ll discuss the trend, why it’s important, and suggest ways that you can take advantage of this trend in your company.

Last week’s trend was Peak Google.

Today’s Trend = Negative Calls to Action

We all know what a call to action is. In marketing, we use calls to action in our ad copy or on our landing pages in order to get people to take the desired action, whether that be submitting a form, clicking on a button, or any number of other actions.

But a new trend is rising through the marketing ranks that has people talking about calls to action as if they are brand new. And it’s the use of “Negative Calls to Action”.

Here’s how it works. Instead of just presenting the call to action, you give the person an option. If you want them to click on a button, you present a Yes button and a No button. You force them to choose. But on the No button, instead of just saying No, makes the person feel like No is the wrong choice.

Consider this example:

A landing page with a subscription form for a free newsletter has a place for the person to enter their email and a submit button. But below the submit button is a second button that says, “No thanks, I am not interested in free stuff”.

The change is subtle, but it forces the prospect to take notice. They must actively choose to say no, even in the face of the value being offered, made even more obvious by the way you have presented it.

This may not drastically improve your business, but if conversion rates are an issue for you, this is one test worth trying. It has been shown in testing to improve conversion rates or click through rates when applied properly.

Think about all the different calls to action you use in your marketing. They may be on your website, in your ads, promotional materials, etc. What changes can you make to highlight the value being offered from the “no” stance? What are people turning down when they say no to your company?

What marketing trend should we cover next? Now accepting submissions for marketing trends that we will cover in an upcoming installment of this series. Submit your ideas via our contact page or in the comments section below.