Neuromarketing

Well, we really went down the rabbit hole on this one. This topic has so many ins and outs that we could write an infinite number of articles about on the different aspects. Let’s start by defining what neuromarketing actually is. You can probably guess, it combines neuroscience and marketing techniques. Neuromarketing studies the neurological responses, including brainwave activity, eye tracking and skin changes to certain marketing stimuli in order to better understand consumer behaviors. It’s fairly new and has only been around since the early 2000’s. Once considered controversial, it is now starting to be viewed as promising, since scientifically it has improved greatly over the past five years and it can be used to test product design, UX testing, A/B testing, CTA, images in ads, rebrand campaigns etc. let’s jump into some of the techniques used to track and what insight each offers to brands and advertisers.

First, let’s talk about the technique of fMRI or functional magnetic resonance imaging. Here’s how it works. It detects changes in blood oxygenation and flow in response to neural activity and can produce activation area maps that show which parts of the brain are being used for particular processes. It can give insight into emotional responses, levels of engagement and brand recall. Although fascinating, it can be a costly and more invasive method of neuromarketing research.

The second method is through the use of an EEG also known as electroencephalogram. Say that ten times fast. The way this test works is through little metal disks attached with thin wires that detect small electrical charges as a result from activity in the brain. It’s like a light-weight mesh, metal hat worn that detects abnormalities in brain waves in response to marketing stimuli. It then prints out a graph and will shows the level of engagement and brand recall for consumers. It can be used to improve ads and branding but is also expensive. It’s not as precise at fMRI but slightly less invasive. The last four methods are much less costly and easy to administer.

Eye tracking. There are two tests that can be done through eye tracking methods. The first is the gaze. It shows exactly where consumers gaze goes and will tell what grabs their attention, what confuses them and the speed of recognition. This can be used to improve designs, ads and packaging. The second type of eye tracking is called pupillometry. This measures pupil dilatation and can show each level of engagement. It’s uses are the same as tracking gaze. It’s quite inexpensive and easy to do. The downfall is that it doesn’t measure emotional responses.

The next technique is tracking biometrics. This is the skin changes we were talking about in the definition of neuromarketing. It tracks the galvanic skin response or skin conductance. You’re probably asking yourself the same thing we were when we heard this term. What in the world is this? GSR is the variation of the electrical conductance of the skin in response to skin secretion and this is how it works. There are electrodes that are placed on the fingers that apply a low, undetectable and constant voltage to the skin. They measure how the conductance varies, which is connected to internal temperature aroused by emotional responses. Biometrics also measures heart rate and respiration. Therefore, biometrics solely focuses on monitoring emotional responses. This tells advertisers and brands whether a positive or negative emotion is occurring as well as their level of engagement.

Lastly, facial coding identifies facial expressions to denote a general emotional response, such as happiness, surprise, confusion, etc. This method really speaks for itself and is inexpensive as well. As one can see this is a fascinating field of marketing science that can be very beneficial to advertisers and brands. It can provide insight at a much higher level to expose consumer preference and tendency. The data is more reliable because the test subjects cannot provide false information and it can reveal subconscious revelations that maybe not even the consumers are aware of. We find this science quite fascinating! We would love to see what it would tell us about the emotional response of found content campaigns. Although we find it alluring, many people have concerns. Some see it as a manipulative pseudoscience that can provide no new information. That being said, we feel that it could be extremely useful to marketers, advertisers and brands if used in ethical ways.

Benefits of Influencer Marketing

We’ve all been hearing about influencer marketing trends recently. It’s expected to grow even more in 2023. But why is this trending? What benefits does influencer marketing offer? We want to touch on why influencers are the hot new thing when it comes to marketing strategy. We’ve licensed a lot of user generated content from influencers for advertising campaigns. There’s a reason it’s successful. Let’s take a look.

1.     Influencers are trusted. Gen Z really trust influencers. It’s been shown that they are more powerful than friends or family when it comes to purchase influence. This is most likely due to the fact that most influencers are considered experts in their field. That makes sense that people trust experts over those who aren’t.

2.     Emotional connections. Just like with UGC, influencers connect with their audience in a more human way. They’re not actors in a produced advertisement. They’re more like a friend who has particular expertise to recommend certain products or services to the brand audience.

3.     They build brand awareness. Influencers typically have a large following already. This will help your brand grow and get more eyes on what you have to offer. Influencer marketing is basically word of mouth marketing and that’s the best way to increase brand awareness.

4.     They save brand money. Just like with UGC advertising, influencers will save your brand budget when it comes to marketing and advertising. Influencer marketing has high ROI but it also costs less than spending your budget solely on produced marketing. Put these two together and you’re saving mor coin with them. Big bang for your buck.

There are many levels to influencer size and how each can help your brand grow will vary depending on many factors. No matter how you shake it, any influencer of any size will offer your brand many great business benefits. On top of those listed above, you will create a lasting relationship with them just as any business partnership and will increase brand creditability. Investing in influencer marketing is worth the time and the money.

Found Content in Holiday Marketing & Advertising

We recently read an interesting article from AdAge about the state of holiday marketing this year and according to them, “promotional tops emotional.” Honestly, it makes sense with the state of the economy being what it is right now. The financial uncertainty during these times makes for a more discretionary consumer. That being said, we firmly believe that you don’t have to remove one to use the other. Why not use promotional and emotional messaging? You can have your cake and eat it to.

This is where incorporating user generated content and/or real-life situational moments into your marketing strategy comes in. Think – a bunch of friends enjoying a Friendsgiving around a dining room table. Nothing says holidays like emotional connections. It’s that time of year we foster our relationships with family and friends. We get nostalgic. We find kindness in our hearts to help others in need. Found content in your campaigns is one of the best ways to achieve this emotional bond with your consumers and gain their trust. Mix that in with some good promotional discounts and you’ve got yourself a customer for life!

Another reason to adopt found content into your marketing and advertising campaigns this season is your brand budget. Brands are not immune to the economic downturns and find themselves in financial uncertainty as well. Using real moment content campaign costs significantly less than traditional advertising.

Now you see how promotional and emotional advertising working in unison to not only increase revenue, but close the gap between your brand and your customers. It’s time to create a marketing and advertising strategy that includes found content.

Best Social Media Sites for Video Content 2022

Over 58.7% of the global population is on social media and uses it as their primary source of information. That’s roughly around 4.65 billion people. When it comes to social media marketing though, a one size fits all approach does not work. It’s important to know which audience hangs out where so you can know what kind of video content to make and where to put it. According to a HubSpot survey, YouTube is still in the lead with 35% of people watching social media videos. This is followed by Facebook, TikTok, Other and Instagram. TikTok is on the rise as it now surpasses Instagram but this is just according to one small survey done through HubSpot. Other sites show different data. So, who’s right? Who’s wrong? Well, they’re both right. It all depends on who your survey group is. Different groups that are different ages or from different regions will alter the results. The real take away here is that you make sure to market and advertise over a range of platforms, young and older. As social media evolves, so will the need to change strategies.

Good Reads for Marketing Businesses

Did you know that reading will reduce stress by 68%!?!?! We love learning and reading new things here at Locomotive so we thought we would put together a quick list of some books for marketing that we recommend.

1.     Truth, Lies, and Advertising

2.     Confessions of an Advertising Man

3.     Join or Die

4.     The Psychology Influence of Persuasion

5.     How Brands Become Icons

Happy reading!

Artificial Intelligence & Marketing

Well everyone, it seems that the future is here. No flying cars just yet but that doesn’t change the fact that artificial intelligence has now become a part of marketing. Strange times we live in, now right?! Seriously though, AI is becoming more important for the improvement of marketing and real-time engagement. Think about the chat box that helps you when you have a question on a website. This is AI but this isn’t all it’s doing now. Now it’s helping brands predict future behavior. But how does it do that. Well, AI creates real time models by using algorithms from reading data on recent trends on the internet. It also helps predict patterns this way through huge amounts of data to see consumer behaviors as well as their interests. It does so with a data analytics system that operates in real-time as well. Blowing our minds over here! This brings us to the last point of pattern recognition. It uses the data about demographics, browsing behaviors and purchases. It can group people into segments that tend to have similar behaviors.

To be honest AI sounds scary. We all go to that place in Terminator where the machines have taken over but once you begin to understand the benefits and how it truly works it seems a whole lot less scary. We found this information to be very useful and are intrigued on how it can propel the marketing industry in the future. To read more on how AI is changing the industry check out this Quantcast blog that dives a little deeper than we did.

Seasonal Campaign Marketing

Every year we watch as department store decor changes looks as summer fades to fall. Then, fall turns winter that eventually circles back to summer. Every season or holiday comes with its very own promotions. This is an opportune time to connect more with audiences through emotional marketing strategies. It can also help reach new audiences. You can appeal to seasonal excitement as it gives people an excuse to spend their money. One way to start developing a seasonal marketing strategy is to work backwards. Mark the big holidays and seasonal changes on your work calendar in order to not miss them. Once this is done you can start to create timelines on how long you think these marketing campaigns will take. Now you have a start date. Don’t forget to think about how much time will be needed to promote before the actual holiday or seasonal event. Second, use sourced content in your campaigns to increase your emotional connection with your audience. We cannot stress this enough! It’s important to bridging that gap between advertisers and their audiences. Emotional connections are what make UGC (user-generated content) so special. It organic. It’s heartwarming. It’s a funny fail that makes you laugh so hard you cry. We connect with this type of advertising because of its realness. Its rawness. Shoot us a message if your curious about adding it into your marketing and advertising strategies.

Email Marketing Stats 2022

We recently did an article on The Power of Email Marketing. We thought it only fitting to follow up with some recent statistics for 2022 to back it up. We like to talk the talk and walk the walk. Here is a list of some of what we consider to be most important. 

1. 77% of marketers have seen an increase in email engagement over the last 12 months (Not Another State of Marketing, 2021)

2. Nearly 55% of global website traffic is generated from mobile devices (Statista, 2022)

3. 59% of people say that marketing emails have influenced their purchases (Salecycle, 2022)

4. 99% of people who have email check their inbox every day, some doing so 20x’s daily. Of those people, 58% check their email first thing in the morning (OptinMonster, 2020)

5. Audiences will reward brands with higher open and CTR if there are no. more than 5 newsletters send per week (GetResponse, 2020). And honestly, who is sending more than 5 newsletters per week?!?! That’s insane! 

6. Nearly 1 in 5 email campaigns is not optimized for mobile devices (SuperOffice, 2020). Don’t be that guy. Seriously… we’re living in the 21st Century. 

7. That being said, 41% of emails are viewed on mobile devices (HubSpot Research, 2021). 

8. 64% of B2B marketers said that their email marketing strategy was effective for meeting business goals in 2021 (HubSpot Research, 2021). 

9. 37% of brands are increasing their email budget and just 1.3% are making cuts (Litmus, 2021)

Well there you have it folks. Email marketing trends in a nut shell. There are millions of email users. Millions of opportunities to connect with your brand’s audience. Finding that sweet spot for your business will take some trial and error. You don’t want to bombard them with unnecessary email marketing if you want to keep your CTR’s high but you want to have them see your logo just enough to purchase your product or service. 

Generation Alpha

Generation Alpha will outnumber the Baby Boomer generation within the next four years, according to Mccrindle. These numbers are significant as the Boomers were listed on Pew Research Center at about 72 million in 2019 and, according to HubSpot, Gen Alpha is expected to grow to over 2 billion by 2025. Why does this even matter when currently the oldest Gen Alpha is merely 12 years old? It matters because when these little guys and gals grow into adults, they will be the ones that advertisers will be trying to appeal to on top of Gen X, Y, and Z. it will be important to understanding what things makes this generation unique in order to properly advertise to them.

Generation Alpha is anyone born from 2010 to 2025 and is also known to be called the “Mini Millennials,” since they are the children of that generation. They tend to idealize with their parents’ values since it’s believed that they have a tight nit relationship with them. This generation will be the first to be born entirely in the 21stCentury. Therefore, they will have grown up in a fully digital environment. This will contribute to even shorter attention spans and their digital literacy is how they will stay informed and connected with others. Like their parents, they will also care about environmental issues, be health conscious forward, fight for social justices and lastly, it will be crucial to them that brands that they choose to purchase from will have values aligning with their own. It will be important going forward for marketers and advertisers to take these considerations into account. Here are some things that can be expected from Gen Alpha.

1.     They are visual. Video content will remain as the top way to advertise. Games also play a large role in learning for them. The rub here is that their attention spans will suffer even more than the previous generations before them. Think about it, the average attention span of a Gen Y is 8 seconds. What does that mean for Alpha? How much shorter can it get?

2.     Hyperconnected and tech savvy. They will be experts in technology and social media outlets. This is how they will want to connect with others. The downfall here is that they will not make real in person connection as much and there will be less creativity and imagination.

3.     They will require authenticity and transparency. Just like their parents, they will only support brands who are honest! They will only support brands who are conscious about their impact on society and climate change.

4.     They want personalization. They do not want to be “sold” to. They want interactive experiences with meaningful content. UGC is a great way to do this. Interactive advertising is another. They want connections to brands virtually.

As we look to the future, it seems brighter as this new Alpha generation is more conscious of issues that have needed addressing for quite some time. It seems that the way brands will have to go about marketing and advertising will require positive changes company wide. It will not merely be enough to say you care about social issues and climate change, but brands must act to show their audience that they can not only talk the talk but walk the walk. Gen Alpha might be just what this world needs!

Outbound vs Inbound Marketing

Outbound marketing: traditional form of marketing in which the company/brand initiates contact with potential customers. Inbound marketing: attracts customers by creating valuable content and experiences personalized for them. Both have a place in the marketing world but we do favor inbound over outbound in today’s world. Outbound marketing would be considered the traditional way of marketing, such as cold-calls, emails, tradeshow presentations, T.V., radio, print, and online ads as well as person-to-person contact IRL. Everyone knows all too well the annoying pop up online ads. It’s that kind of marketing. The uncomfortable, disruptive kind. This style of marketing is produced with a wide spread reach in hopes that it will gain new leads through putting their brand in front of lots of people repeatedly. “Spray and Pray,” as they call it. Inbound marketing strengthens the relationship you have with your customers and increases your brand’s reach through valuable content. It empowers your customers with information that helps solve problems and can be applied through attracting, engaging and gratifying.

1.     Attracting: providing valuable content that establish trust and create conversations. This can be done through blogs, social media, etc. You can offer them how-to guides or testimonials.

2.     Engaging: solving problems and key tips for your niche that align with their goals. Selling solutions rather than products is a good way to think about this. Deal with potential customers communications to entice them to want to build a relationship with your brand.

3.     Gratifying: supporting and empowering your audience to find success with purchases of services or products. We all love to feel that dopamine kick in when we’re satisfied. This can be achieved through listening on social media through providing feedback, asking questions, or sharing customer experiences. Making sure your brand responds to each individual. Also, it’s important to assist customers through every part of the journey. Using surveys can help your brand get an idea of what your audience wants and needs from you.

 Now that you understand the difference between the two, let’s look at the pros and cons of each type of marketing strategy.

Inbound Marketing

Pros:

1. Non-invasive

2. Educational/Valuable

3. Quantifiable

4. Organic reach

Cons:

1. Continuous maintenance

2. Much time and effort required

3. Holistic strategy

Outbound Marketing

Pros:

1. Promote brand awareness

2. Immediate results

3. Consumers are used to it

Cons:

1. More generalized

2. Consumer blindness

3. Less quantifiable

4. Costlier

Inbound marketing has long-term solutions while outbound is more short term. You can see that inbound benefits outweigh the cons and vice versa for outbound. It’s easy to see why inbound marketing is the way to go in today’s world. It produces longer lasting results in an organic way. Being a user generated content agency, we will always favor natural connections with audiences to create stronger bonds that will last a lifetime!

Content Marketing: The Why, The How and The Where

What in the world is content marketing exactly? What makes it different than traditional marketing? Well, “it’s a strategic approach that focuses on creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience” (Content Marketing Institute). Think of it this way. It’s much less spammy than traditional ads and doesn’t really pitch your product or services. Instead, it presents your audience with content that helps them solve their issues through the use of videos, blogs, social media, infographics, etc. with the intention of stimulating interest. But why is this type of marketing more prevalent now than it was 20 years ago? Well, for one thing, the internet has changed the market drastically since the 90’s, but another reason is that people cannot stand pop up advertising anymore on the web. Today, over 200 million people have installed pop-up blockers that, in turn, reduces the number of eyes on paid advertisements online, according to The Content Marketing Institute. Content marketing gets your brand out there without having to produce online pop-up ads. Here are some other key reasons why content marketing is on top today.

1.     Higher website traffic. Content marketing leaders get 7.8x’s more site traffic than non-leaders (Neil Patel)

2.     Increased Brand Recall. 56% of marketers believe that personalized content promotes higher engagement rates (IMB Digital Experience Survey) High-quality content that is relevant will increase the amount of time that consumers spend on their sites. Thusly, increasing engagement as well.

3.     Cost effective! Content marketing costs 62% less than outbound marketing and generates 3x’s as many leads (Demand Metric)

4.     Higher conversion rates. It’s nearly 6x’s higher than traditional marketing, according to Julia McCoy.

Now that it is obvious why content marketing has taken a seat in the front row, let’s talk about where your content marketing strategy fits into your business plan. Try to think of content marketing as something that sits alongside your other tactics, not separate from them. Therefore, there is no place that content marketing does not fit in. Some examples of what I mean are social media, inbound marketing, outbound marketing, pay-per-click, PR and even SEO.  All of these strategies should include high-quality content marketing that is relevant for your audience.

We’re sure you’re starting to understand why and where content marketing fits in, so let’s now talk about how to develop your content marketing strategy. According to The Content Marketing Institute there are 3 key questions to ask yourself before you begin.

1.     Who will be viewing the content?

2.     What benefits does the content give the viewers?

3.     What content experience can we consistently deliver?

Once you have the answers to these questions, it’s time to set your SMART goals and determine Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s). For your goals, are you trying to increase brand awareness or boost engagement? There are so many goals to choose from so your brand will need to determine the main reason why you’re creating this content. This will also determine what KPI’s will be important to track based on the initial goals of the content. For example, if your goal is to increase engagement, then a good KPI would be looking at the engagement numbers for the campaign. Now that you’ve set your goals & KPI’s, it’s time to decide what type of content to create. What does your audience need from you and what problem are you trying to solve for them? After you have determined this, you must decide where you want your content to go: social media, print, etc. Most importantly, what is the budget for this content marketing campaign? This can alter what you create. For example, if your budget is smaller, then you may consider using a user generated content ad to save money while still getting a great connection with your audience. Once this has all been determined it is time create, distribute and track the analytics. Some things to look out for in a good campaign are:

1.     It receives a lot of engagement

2.     It provides worth within the framework of your field

3.     You haven’t lost your brand voice

With an effective content marketing campaign, you can increase your conversation rates through building lasting relationships with your customers. Providing value with something other than just your service or products will create a sense of trust with your audience and will engage them with your brand. Also, using this inbound way of marketing are much more effective as a more organic way to gain new customers. And let’s face it, natural is always better!

Pareto Principle

I’m sure you’ve all heard of the 80/20 rule but probably not in the way we mean for this article in terms of economics. The 80/20 rule states that 80% of your results come from 20% of causes. It was observed by a man named Vilfredo Pareto in 1896. This principle explains the correlation between effort and outcome. So, how can this be applied to business? Using this technique can help prioritize tasks that are of highest impact throughout your work day. Here are a few detailed ways that you can use the Pareto Principle in your business.

1. Prioritize your day. Complete 20% of the most important tasks on your to do list for the day will result in 80% of the impact. Therefore, you must first make the list and prioritize the highest impact at the top. If any of these tasks involve collaboration or if there any that have been keeping projects from moving forward, these are to be done first.

2. Decisions decisions. This will assist with problem solving by helping prioritize the solutions.

   1. Identify problem.

   2. What are the causes of the problem.

   3. Break up problems into smaller groups

   4. Assign value to each problem

   5. Develop a plan that focuses on top 20%

This principle, in practice, can help your business become more efficient by identifying its top priorities. It will get the maximum impact with the least amount of work, therefore, increasing productivity. It will also make your day seem less daunting by breaking things up into more manageable parts. It’s time to work smarter, not harder.

Marketing Myopia

You might be asking yourself right now, what in the world is myopia let alone marketing myopia. The term originated at Harvard Business School by Theodore Levitt who was a professor there in the 1960’s. The term, coined by Levitt, is defined as a short-sighted and inward approach to marketing that has little imagination, foresight, intellectual insight while focusing on the needs of the business rather than on the needs of the customer. There are a few key reasons why this happens within a business. First, there is a disconnect between the brand and their customers. A business can get so caught up in what they’re doing that they forget why they are in business in the first place. What you do for your customers is what keeps you in business. Second, a brand will focus too heavily on the past instead of the future (short-sighted) and are unwilling to change when their audiences’ needs’ have changed. A good example of what “not to do” would be the locomotive industry. They thought they were in the train business and not the transportation business and fell into steep decline when their travelling customers went elsewhere for their transportation needs, such as cars. So, how does a brand stay away from the pitfalls of marketing myopia? First, they should stay away from these unreliable ideologies:

·      That an increasing population means increase growth industry

·      That their products cannot be threatened by competition

·      Mass producing because they think the supply will lead to demand

·      Lack of proper research that can cause them to misjudge the quality of the product/service

Now that we’ve discussed what ideology to steer clear of, let’s talk about some ways to avoid marketing myopia all together.

1.     Prioritize customers' needs!!!!! We cannot stress this point enough no matter what industry you are in! Never forget why you are in business and what you have to offer your customers. Your customers’ needs will not always remain the same so it’s important to constantly do brand research to meet them where they are.

2.     Research research research!! Review data and take the time to gain insights. This can help you come up with ways to improve and see what is also going well. Don’t get too comfortable! You can always optimize and grow. The use of first party data will come in very handy here.

3.     Know your competitors. Like we stated above, if you believe that your brand is not at risk from your competitors, you are really at risk for marketing myopia. There is always someone out there who is trying to be newest and next best thing! Understanding your competitors will keep you on top of your game!

4.     Innovation. To be doing something just because that’s the way it has always been done is an outdated mindset. It’s important to create innovation within your company. Don’t be afraid of failure and taking risks. If you stay open-minded as a leader, you can create an innovative team that helps lead your brand to success.

If you’re a business, chances are you want to be successful. I mean, isn’t that the point? Avoiding marketing myopia is one way to help your brand stay on top in its industry. Will it happen overnight? Probably not. Will it happen without mistakes? Most definitely not. But if you keep an open mind and strive for greatness, then your company will overcome any obstacles. In time, it will be an innovative leader!

Importance of Mobile Optimization

We assume that your brand wants to reach every consumer that it can! If this is true, then your business must adopt a mindset that has the mobile experience in the forefront. In our previous article we talked about how different generations require different marketing techniques. Many of these reasons are due to technological preferences across generations. According to the HubSpot State of U.S. Consumer Trends, 56% of people surveyed stated that they use their mobile phones for searches and 44% of those people discover new products through these mobile searches. You’re probably reading this article on your phone right now aren’t you? It’s important that whatever your brand is putting out there not only looks great on desktop format but also on a smartphone. The more user-friendly things are the more likely they are to stay and discover what your brand has to offer them. It should be noted that mobile optimization and mobile friendly are not the same. Mobile friendly will display on smaller screens but mobile optimization will actually reformat itself for a mobile device. Websites should not only be clean but simple to navigate as well. Improving your brands mobile optimization of its website, newsletters, etc. will get you higher search engine rankings, increased positive audience experiences and in turn, more business.

Email Marketing: Avoiding the Spam Folder

Spam filters are a great invention! It saves you from looking at unwanted emails constantly. However, as a brand or business owner, it can be a tough challenge to bypass in order to make sure your newsletters and other forms of email marketing are getting through. Spam filters work by using certain methods to identify potential red flags, such as checking the IP address against a black list of known spammers, deceptive subject lines and content within the email. These are all good things but when it comes to your marketing campaigns not so much. So, what are some solid ways to keep your emails out of the spam folders? Here are some of our tips.

1. Avoid spam triggers by:

   1. Always using an unsubscribe button

   2. Avoiding subject lines with all caps or exclamation points

   3. Staying away from attachments

   4. Adding too many images

2. Proof read people! Phishing emails tend to be laden with grammatical errors and can send your email to the spam folder if it contains to many typos.

3. Always get permission. This one goes without saying but let us reiterate. Make sure that your newsletter email list is full of people who have consented to receive them.

4. Email your subscribers regularly. This will help the spam checker to weed you out as a real person and not spam since your regularly sending emails to their addresses.

5. Whitelist your emails. All this means is that your recipients will add your email address to their contact list. Then, the spam checker will tell your emails to go into their inbox instead of the graveyard.

6. Use spam checkers. This system helps assist you in checking your emails for potential spam-like content. GlockApps and Mailmeteor are two great systems.

We hope this helps you on your email marketing journey. “41.5% of brands state that email marketing is critical to business success,” according to Litmus and we couldn’t agree more. Here at Locomotive we are always looking for more ways to improve our marketing and grateful to share our findings.

Which Social Media Channels are Best for Brands

According to Statista the leading social media platform for brand marketers is Facebook at 93%, with Instagram coming in second at 78%. Even if you’re a content creator, you want to get more engagement and turn followers into customers. We couldn’t agree more with this statistic. Let’s think about why this is. Look at YouTube for example. Sure, you can monetize to make money here but, you can only engage with your followers if they leave comments on your videos. You can’t really build a relationship with your audience. What about TikTok? Oh man, do we have lots of thoughts on this platform. It’s great for viral videos but you don’t really get served content from people that you follow. It’ good for discovering new content creators but not so much for building good connections with your current followers. Aside from this, it’s important for content creators to know that anything filmed within the TikTok platform is the property of TikTok and that the creators do not actually own the rights to those videos. Furthermore, if a creator films inside the app, they cannot monetize their content in any way.  Personally, we believe that it’s best to generate revenue from your followers on Instagram because there are so many ways to connect with them through all their different features. The algorithm on this platform is also set up to give you more of the content from the people and brands that you love. It’s important to having a multifaceted approach to social media marketing. Using stories, feed, live, reels, polls, etc. this keeps your audience engaged and it will build stronger relationships with them.

Neilson Global Marketing Report 2022

The 2022 global annual marketing report was released recently. This report surveys marketers across various industries in media globally to understand the behaviors with data. Here are the key pain point take aways from the report.

1. Expected budget changes:

   1. High increase of social media to 53% of budget

   2. 50% increase of display online/mobile budget

   3. 49% increase of video on online/mobile

   4. 37% increase on OTT-TC/connected-TV

2. Top marketing objectives:

   1. Brand awareness as most important

   2. Customer acquisition falling in second

   3. Customer retention third most important

   4. Customer advocacy

   5. Competitor conquest

   6. Churn reduction last

3. Beliefs on what positively influences campaign performance:

   1. Audience targeting comes in at the top

   2. Ad creative second

   3. Audience reach is third

   4. Data quality

   5. Personalization

4. Importance of diversity and CSR initiatives:

   1. 67% of DEI in marketing efforts

   2. 65% in content where ads are purchased

   3. 65% in vendor selection

   4. 68% in marketing effort as a company

   5. 68% environmental and social governance in marketing efforts

Brand awareness efforts, social media spend increases, DEI/CSR initiative importance and audience targeting are the ley take aways from the report. To read the full report click HERE.

Connecting Authentically with Black Americans

Do you know the difference between race and ethnicity? A lot of people are unaware that there is a difference between the two. Race is the division of different groups of people based on physical characteristics, such as skin color, eyes, etc. Ethnicity is a social group of people that share a common and distinctive culture, religion, language, etc. For this reason, African American is no longer an accepted term for people of color. Actually, 1 in 10 Black Americans are foreign born from many countries around the world and therefore, black is a more inclusive, widely accepted term now. Brands are now actively pursuing to reach their Black consumer market more than ever before. It is very important to be able to connect with Black audiences on an authentic level while remaining respectful to their culture and communities. We’ve gathered a list of ways to do just that. Although, not extensive, it will help you get started.

1. Cultural immersion. Do research. Hire experts to guide your choices. Using social media channels to gather information on things that are trending within that group can also provide good insight.

2. Avoid stereotypes & microaggressions. A microaggression is a back-handed compliment that feeds into a stereotype. For example, referencing that it is amazing that all Black Americans are good sprinters. Avoiding stereotypes all together is very important. Let go of any preconceived ideas that may exist in order to remain open to view the world through the lense of different cultures.

3. Know that systemic racism is real and understand it. Look up the “school-to-prison” pipeline if you’ve never heard of this. We’re sure you have but just in case… it states that boys of color are systematically disciplined more harshly. They also receive less support through counseling and police are more likely to be called on students of color that misbehave. This raises the risk of incarceration for these children. “60% of incarcerated people, are people of color,” according to a research study on systemic racism by Health Affairs. This is only one small example of systemic racism among many. Knowing that this is real and how it causes harm/trauma to the Black community will be essential to connecting.  

4. Remember that people are multifaceted. Again, this also implies DO NOT stereotype. Understand that Black cultures (as well as other cultures) consist of many types of people. Doctors, engineers, teachers, etc. They can often be disproportionately portrayed as entertainers, criminals, you get the idea. Also, intersectionality exists for everyone, including you and I. Really anyone for that matter. For example, a woman also follows a certain religion, she falls within a particular income bracket and a certain nationality. Therefore, sexuality, income, citizenship and ability all must be considered.

This is just a couple of main points, of many, that will help brand connect with their Black communities. It is in no way considered to be a comprehensive guide but mainly a starting point. If your brand was looking for help on ways to connect with their Black audiences we hope this helps. Personal connections are key to understanding all of your audiences and should be considered top priority.

Digital Marketing Trends 2022

Trending

Trending

Now that we’re at the end of the pandemic we can thankfully say that overall, this year been increasingly better than the previous two. Don’t you agree? Although we’re well into the summer, we’ve put together a quick list of things that are expected to be trending all year. They’ve been gaining steam and aren’t going anywhere. Here are our top 5.

1.     Influencer marketing. This one takes a top seat! Many sources say that influencer marketing is here to stay and not only that, it’s growing every year. People trust people more than they trust brands. We’ve known this for years. It’s why we do what we do. Harness the power of influencers to connect and engage with your audience. It will increase your sales, ROI and build trust between the brand and consumers. Watch this video to understand how to choose the right influencers for your brand.

2.     Organic content. At Locomotive we can’t stress this one enough. We thrive on organic, user generated content. We source all of our content with real humans to see what organic emotional responses our videos invoke for our campaigns with agencies.  Organic content improves the algorithm and according to Forbes, this is now everything!

3.     Humanized Marketing. The previous bullet brings us to our next trend of humanized marketing. It’s less about buttoned down professionalism now and more about conversational outlooks. People want to be treated like people. They don’t want to be sold anything and they want personalization.

4.     Live streams. According to Hubspot, “52% of marketers who invested in live streaming said it performed better than expected.” If you’re not live streaming for your brand, it is considered a BIG social media mistake. Make sure to take advantage of engaging with your customers in real-time to get feedback.

5.     Responsible Marketing. Being conscious with the environment in mind as well as socioeconomic issues. This includes diversity and transparency. Consumers want to support brands that aligns with their own values. Especially Gen Z.

These are only a few of the top digital marketing trends that are expected to be important this year. Staying up to date with current trends in the digital world will keep your business thriving. 2022 has been an interesting year so far in terms of economy and social issues but we’re optimistic that we will all finish out this year better than we began!

The Power of Email Marketing

Here’s a question for you… do you think that most people check social media or their email first in the morning? We’ll give you a second to think about what it is that you do…

If you said check your email you are correct. Most people check their email first in the morning before anything else. This is one of many reasons why email marketing has the top ROI of any marketing strategy or channel. A study done in 2015 showed that for every $1 spent an email has an ROI of $38 according to DMA. Therefore, it’s important to draft a great email campaign for your readers. Not only can it be great return on investment it can help your business grow. Here are just a few ways that it can do just that.

1.     Increase your brand recognition and awareness. Every time someone sees your brand logo in their inbox their recall will improve. Talk about things that your company values, its products/services, its mission. Help your audience understand who you are. Help them connect with you as a brand.

2.     Customer engagement and retention. Add interactive content such as videos, infographics, etc. Feature some of your customers in your email marketing. For example, perhaps you have worked with an influencer or done an affiliate program. Extend your thanks by featuring them in your email marketing campaigns.

3.     Customers are enticed to act. Put call to actions in the emails. Make them stand out with brightly lit colors. Keep them short and send them to a landing page rather than your home page.

4.     It’s personal and builds relationships with customers. Everyone hates mass emails. They feel spammy. Personalizing emails to your customers so that it resonates with them. Create connections that will build relationships that last by giving them information they want.

5.     Increased website traffic. This one is a given. Your email should have links to your website listed for a number of reasons. It could be to a blog on your site. Some work you’ve recently done. A sale you have going on. You get the idea. People may not always be looking at your site so this is a way to drive traffic.

6.     Optimized time and budget. As stated above, ROI is insane for email marketing. Email marketing is cheap and some is even free. By putting effort into the emails and using the 80:20 rule you will increase your revenue with little budget spent. The 80:20 rule states that roughly 80% of your sales come from 20% of your clients. Focus your energy on that 20%. This is where personalization can come into play as well.

Now that we know why email marketing is a powerful marketing tool, do you have the proper criteria to create a stand out email marketing campaign? Here are some basic rules of thumb to follow to create a killer email.

1.     Personalize, personalize, personalize! Same as we stated above and this couldn’t be more important.

2.     Make it visual! This increases engagement and motivates people to take actions.

3.     Promote action! Make sure there are plenty of calls to action in your email. This will also allow you to track how the email is doing.

4.     Write a catchy subject line. We would say that this is second most important next to personalization. This is where you have one chance to hook your audience into reading. Also, email marketing should have short excerpts so make every word count!

Email marketing is one of the most efficient ways to grow your business and see great returns. It can help build your audience and increase sales if done correctly. To sum it up, don’t slack on your email marketing. The benefits far outweigh any cons.