Stand Out Advertising: How to Embrace Your Uniqueness

Trends come and go but good advertising lasts forever. We read a great article yesterday on the benefits of standing out from the crowd in the ad business or any business. We couldn’t agree more that it’s easy to go with the flow and just be like everyone else. The hard thing to do is be different and creativity should be wary of consensus. So, as humans how do we step into our uniqueness and let that shine through in a world that attempts to stifle it? Here are some steps you can take to embrace your one-of-a-kind self.

1.     Accept your flaws and imperfections: No one out there is perfect and giving yourself grace is important as you try to better yourself on this journey of life. Accepting them is the first step to improving them. Growth will happen as you attempt to better yourself.

2.     Lean into your strengths and talents: What are you good at? Are you creative with art, writing, and music? Are you more science-minded? Find those things that you are good at but also enjoy doing. The last statement is important here. Just because you are good at something does not necessarily mean you enjoy it. The two must be in tune.

3.     Find like-minded individuals: Being around those who think like you is important. People who accept you for who you are and all those little weird quirks. Those that inspire you to step into your weirdness and power forward through life.

4.     Spend time doing things you enjoy: What are some of your passions? Do you like nature? Do you like baking or cooking? It’s important to find a little time each day to do these things. They

5.     Stop compromising: Don’t be a people pleaser. Stand out from the crowd and do what you want. Real connections are those that accept you unconditionally rather than who they want you to be.

6.     Embrace your beliefs: Everyone has a different belief system based on upbringing and personal experience. Your beliefs represent a large part of who you are. It’s important that you still be open-minded but also don’t be too fluid. Find a good middle ground.

7.     Stop comparing yourself: comparison is the thief of joy. Everyone has a different path of life. You must trust yours and allow it to unfold as it should without judgment.

8.     Stop asking for validation: Self-confidence goes a long way. It’s one thing to ask for advice here and there but if you need constant validation, it means that you aren’t exactly in tune with trusting yourself.

Dare to be different. Dare to be weird. Dare to stand out. Being you is special because there is only one out there just like you. This means that what you bring to the table in the creative world is unique. Your individuality is the best thing about you. It’s why your company hired you over the other guy. Don’t let the world try to convince you that those cookie-cutter styles are the way that you should be. Being different is extraordinary.

Ben Franklin Effect on Advertising

“He that has once done you a Kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you have obliged.”

-Ben Franklin in his Autobiography

Locomotive is now based out of Philadelphia, so what more appropriate topic than the Ben Franklin effect in our home city of the founding father? Otherwise known as the cognitive dissonance theory, the Ben Franklin effect is a phenomenon when asking someone to do you a favor can make them like you more. The idea is that because that person does you a favor they are more likely to be convinced that the person is likable. Here’s how the process works inside our brains:

1.     You ask someone for a favor

2.     They agree

3.     Their brain looks for an explanation for why they did you said favor

4.     Their brain struggles to reconcile

5.     It rewires to explain the favor because they view you positively

6.     Now that person views you in a positive light instead of a negative one

 So, how would this theory work in advertising and marketing for brands? Small favors, such as customer feedback can be one of the best ways to use the Ben Franklin effect. Don’t forget to thank them for their time! Another way would be to make a game or challenge out of something, such as completing a small task or answering an easy question. This can increase the loyalty of your customers. They will also be inclined to do your brand more, larger favors down the road.

Content Intelligence

This is a new term being thrown around in the digital space but what is it exactly? It’s a technique that uses AI and software to measure the impact of content in order to give insights on what content should be used the most according to effectiveness. I mean, we do it all the time when we check the insights on Instagram from our posts. This is a human example of creating content intelligence. The beauty of using software & AI is that it streamlines the process for you. Typically, software includes metrics/reporting, analysis, automation and management tools for your brand content. Some benefits include:

1.     Understanding what type of content your audience enjoys

2.     Reduces guess work and takes less man power

3.     It makes your content user centric

4.     Predicting how content will perform

5.     Increases visitors and engagement

We know that a lot of people are sneering at the idea of artificial intelligence but for some purposes it can help businesses be more efficient. This is one of those times. So, how do brands go about finding the right content intelligence programs? Here are some things to look for when searching for software.

1.     Real time data collection

2.     Management tools

3.     Content creation assistance

4.     Automated repetitive processes

5.     Audience and competitor insights

6.     Third party integrations

There are a lot of options when it comes to choosing which one to go with. Some of them include Semrush, Contently, and even IBM has one now. Content is king in the digital space now and content intelligence will help you navigate this space more efficiently. Happy hunting.

Customer Relationship Management: Three’s Company

Yesterday we wrote about Increasing Customer Lifetime Value and customer relationship management goes hand in hand with this topic. The goal here is to improve customer service and in turn, improve relationships with the brand audience.  CMR uses technology, practices and strategies to manage and analyze customer interaction as well as their data throughout their lifetime as your customer. It allows insights into past purchases, customer data and interaction history to deeper understand your audience. There are three main types of CMR: operational, analytical and collaborative.

1. Operational: main purpose is to generate leads, create contacts with their info and capture all details about the client in order to provide quality service throughout their lifetime. Focuses on automation and uses tech to do so in most cases.

   1. Sales automation: automate sales process through acquiring new customers and deal with them by organizing their information. This helps meet their needs more efficiently.

   2. Marketing automation: helps find the best way to advertise product/service to potential customers and concerned with campaign management. Will help decide which channels are best to reach your audience.

   3. Service automation: designed to help support customers to increase satisfaction.

2. Analytical: data analysis from multiple touchpoints of customer journey, in order to gain insights about customers in order to better serve them.

   1. Gather data from different channels

   2. Customer acquisition and retention

   3. Profiling customer personas

   4. Attribution

3. Collaborative:  establishes communication from various places related in your organization or those your brand works with closely. This will help streamline workflow since it helps everyone get on the same page.

   1. Enhances interactions between departments

   2. Document management

   3. Channel management

It’s important to understand the brand’s goals when deciding which CRM strategy is best or maybe all of them. Using these will help increase customer retention through a deeper understanding of your customer as well as increased communication within the company about the audience. The more you understand your audience, the better you can serve them. Since personalization is now the norm, this is a must for your brand to create relationships that will last a long time with your customers.

When Hiring Content Creators

We all know by now that content marketing has become the top way to generate more leads, keep reader’s attention, improve loyalty and trust. The list goes on and on. Actually, a stat by demand metric research shows that 86% of businesses use B2C content marketing. As they should, it costs 62% less and the benefits are great (as mentioned above). This being said, there are a lot of content creators out there now so how do you know which one(s) to choose for your brand and its campaigns? There are a lot of things that you should look out for but we’ll list those that we feel are the most important.

1.     Drive. Hiring a content creator is no different than hiring anyone else on your team. You want someone with good work ethic. You want someone who’s excited about creating content. They will be good storytellers to create emotional content.

2.     Expertise. Are they experts in their field? If so, they can help your brand by creating the content that is best to engage your consumers.  

3.     Alignment. This one is very important. You want a content creator who aligns with your brand mission. You want their personality, values, and ethics to be similar to that of your brand. This will ensure a smooth collaboration.

4.     Good communication skills. This one goes without saying really. You definitely want a creator you can easily communicate with. Are they personable? Do they have a positive mindset? If they’re not friendly and easy to talk to it’s probably not going to work out. You want someone that you can easily communicate your ideas with and are comfortable speaking with.

5.     Metrics. What do their metrics look like? What’s their engagement? How consistent are they posting?

6.     Unique & authentic style. A unique creator style will always attract audiences. You want someone who’s going to demand attention with their uniqueness. That being said, they must be an authentic personality. People will see right through it if they’re not. You want someone who will be able to bridge that gap of trust with your consumers. Their more likely to trust the recommendations of someone who is a “regular Joe” if their an personality is genuine.

We hope that this list of traits will help you find the best content creators for your brand. We’ve worked with so many different types of creators over the years. Some were fantastic and others, well, let’s just say we probably won’t work with them anytime soon. All the amazing creators we’ve worked with have had every single one of these characteristics listed above. It’s crucial in order to have a successful and fruitful relationship that will excel your brand’s success as a team. We can find the perfect creators to help you craft your brands message. Ask us how!

Content Creation

We’re a content agency. We love good, quality content. This is a given. We’ve written about content creation in the past but directed it toward the creators. This article will focus on why quality content is important for brands. First, if the content is helpful and insightful, customers will trust you and begin to view you as an expert in your field, according to Forbes. Second, ROI is very high for quality content. 88% of marketers are happy with their return on investment of content. Third, SEO will increase with the right key words to promote your brands website. Lastly, it helps your brand get new leads, especially if the content has a CTA placement. We could go on with a million reasons why good content marketing helps your business grow but we know you get the point by now. Let’s look at how your brand can go about having a good content marketing strategy.

All the same rules for creators apply for brands, except now you have a specific audience to keep in mind. This is where creating a buyer persona comes in handy. A buyer persona is created through research to make a clear picture of the person you want to market to. Think of them as a created character for a story that represents your whole group of target market audience. Here’s a handy tool to help you get started from HubSpot if you’re unsure of where to start with this. Second, your strategy should include goal setting. Use the SMART method to determine them. Now, you have to keep the buyer’s journey in mind. Where are they in their buying process? Is it awareness of the problem? Are they considering a solution (the consideration stage)? Or… are they in the decision-making stage where they’re aware of the solution and ready to solve? You want to make sure that you have content for each stage of your buyer’s journey. The format of the content must also be considered. Is it easy for your audience to view, read, etc.? This brings us to the last topic: the different types of content.

There are many different types of content to consider when creating. There’s content just like the one you are reading: a blog. There are social media posts and stories. Infographics with short bursts of information or GIF’s. Video content is king in today’s world but podcasts are also on the rise. Lastly, there are webinars/seminars for your viewers as well. Which type of content you choose will be brand specific. While all brands will benefit from social media posts and stories, it may not make sense for them to conduct webinars. The type of content that your brand chooses will also determine the style. Blogs and podcasts tend to be conversational whereas webinars and seminars are in more formal setting.

Whatever way you shake it, a quality content creation marketing strategy is key for your brand. Honestly, creating content is super fun, so with the right creative minds behind the work you cannot fail. Collaboration within your company when creating content will ensure its success. Having multiple sets of creative eyes and minds on each piece will make sure that what your team comes up with will be the absolute best through great communication and teamwork.

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.

Silent Video

“Silence is a source of great strength”

-Lao Tzu

Imagine that you’re in a quiet work environment. You get on your phone to look something up. As the page finishes loading, a loud blast of sounds starts coming through and you fumble to get your volume button pressed down to zero. We’ve all had this happen to us. It’s disruptive and it affects people negatively. Turns out that 66% of people hate it when ads automatically play with sound on according to an article by Teads. In response, advertisers are trying to mitigate this by producing ads that begin to play automatically without sound. Since outstreamed videos are going to become a thing of the future, advertisers should focus on silent plays with captions. According to Facebook, captioned video ads increased views by 12%. Ads should be able to convey an emotional message without the use of sound. This can be done with the use of motion graphics and text within the campaign. This new trend will be a way for advertisers to use their creative license to make videos impactful despite not having any sound.  We’re certain your team has the creative abilities to do this but here are some quick tips to get you started on ways to make your silent spots stand out and perform well.

1.     Use bold visuals and/or animations. This will help catch the viewers eye and keep them engaged. It’s also very visually striking to see good fonts and animations that blend well together within your brand’s signature look.

2.     Use Call to Action buttons. Make sure to insert in a way that it is natural flowing. You can even run tests before it launches to see where it receives the most clicks. CTA buttons are imperative to getting conversions. Using a download button seems to yield the best lead results (HubSpot).

3.     Subtitles. If your brand feels it won’t be able to get its point across 100% without sounds then subtitles can offer a lot of relief. Facebook now offers a feature where you can automatically add captions to videos.

4.     Write unconventional scripts. This is always a fun way to entice viewers to keep watching your campaigns. They’ll want to know what is about to happen next. I know I always appreciate a good creative ad that keeps me on my toes or just completely blows me away with how unconventional it is! A prime example would be the recent OutHorse Your Email Campaign for Visit Iceland.

5.     Share your offers/discounts early in the ad. Since attention spans are shorter and shorter each year, you want to get the most important message out first. Research suggests that you have about 10 seconds to hook, line, and sink em’!  

6.     Be short and concise. Again, for those in the back who didn’t hear. Attention spans continue to lessen so it’s important to make your campaigns shorter than 60 seconds. The ad must also grab the attention of the audience immediately in order to keep them engaged in watching.

7.     Don’t ditch the audio. Sometimes people do still listen to ads with sound on. Be able to convey your message without it but really drive the point home with the audio on. Make that emotional connection deeper with your audience.

In the words of the infamous Will Rogers, “Never miss a good chance to shut up!” This is definitely one of those times! A time for advertisers to harness the opportunity to creatively grow through the rise in popularity of silent ads is here. Let your campaigns say a lot through saying nothing at all! Happy creating!

Brand Recall

Content is Queen! “Did you know that 65% of people are visual learners and 94% of all communication is visual?” (Vennage). There are many benefits of visual marketing versus pure text as we all now know, but it’s important to make your brand memorable through your visual content advertising. People remember things visually so brand recognition is vitally important. Customers are more likely to remember your brand’s advertisements if they’re associated with something that they can recall easily because it caught their eye in some way. Was it different in some way? Did it make them think and use some brain power? Were they connected on an emotional level? One way to increase brand memorability is to localize your visual content for specific audience areas. For example, in Philadelphia they use the word “Jawn” to describe any person, place or thing. Yes, I know it’s a strange word to describe literally a vast array of anything. Anyway, back to our story… we pass by a billboard every morning for a lawyer named John Morgan. I’m sure you’ve all heard or seen his commercials at some point since he’s America’s largest cliché injury law firm, Morgan & Morgan. On this particular Philly billboard his name is advertised as Jawn Morgan.  This is a prime example of localized advertising at its best and it will make locals remember the brand. The second way is to tell a story. Be sure to have a beginning, a middle and an end. Throw in some emotion and/or humor and stay in your brand’s voice. People love a good story. Especially if it’s one they can relate to. Another fun way to improve the memorability of your ads for your brand is to employ engagement with the viewers. Make them work something out. Use their brains. They’ll eventually have that “aha” moment when the conclusion is realized or given. People tend to remember things more when they have to problem solve. You can use enthymeme’s to achieve this type of recall as well. “Aristotle calls the enthymeme the “body of persuasion ….because we are most easily persuaded when we think that something has been demonstrated” (Aristotle’s Rhetoric). These are only a few ways to improve memorability of your brand and its advertising. It’s interesting to note that if a brand’s advertisement can be remembered after 60 days, “13% of those people are likely to buy the product or service, 38% will think more positively about the brand, and 25% will become ambassadors of the brand, according to a new study done by HAVAS. This goal can be achievable with the right tools and team!

Creating Value Driven and Empathetic Content in Advertising

Why is empathy so important right now to consumers? The pandemic was absolutely dreadful BUT… it did drive some good shifts and this was definitely one of them. People want to feel some sort of connection with the brands that they decide to support. Now more so than ever. According to Harvard Business Review, “25% of people are healthy first, 16% planet first, and 15% are now society first.” This means that consumers are now trying to choose healthier products, minimize their impact on the environment (thankfully/finally) and want to purchase from brands that they feel are transparent and trustworthy. These new shifts are especially true for the younger generations as well. So, what does this mean for advertisers and marketers? First and foremost, agencies will have to change the way that they do things so that their strategies are focused on a customer driven marketing strategy. Discovering new ways to understand their consumers motivations and needs is key. Brands can use customer feedback and take actions based on the results and do research to see what their audience likes and doesn’t like with other brands. This will take a little digging but the payoff is worth it. A CMIresearch study found that, “the top -performing marketers focus 88% of their marketing programs on prioritizing their audiences’ informational needs.” Next, brands need to be transparent and focus on the value of their content. Less is more and keeping it simple will assist the brand in creating trust between them and their consumers. Be conversational with your content. No one wants to feel like their being talked down to or have information shoved down their throat. Lastly, DEI is at the forefront of societal needs today. Diversity, equality and inclusion. Just in case you weren’t sure what the acronym stood for. Make sure that your marketing strategy is focused on everyone! Be the brand that says, “you can all sit with us!” Personally, we believe that this is why user generated content marketing has exploded in the past few years and it’s here to stay. Nothing says I can trust you like a real person, who’s not a paid actor. People trust “real” people. This type of content advertising creates an empathetic connection as well. It’s easier to feel a connection with videos that were created without any advertisement in mind. Just organic emotions from every day people like you and I. 

Video Advertising

92% of B2B prospects consume online video (Whiteboard Animation). This isn’t surprising since the rise of social media platforms that push video formats in the recent decade. In today’s society, banner advertising is a dying art form and the rise of digital video content advertising is here. There are many reasons for video format being at the forefront of the advertising space and,  one of these being that little device that fits in your back pocket. 50% of users watch videos on their mobile devices making video streaming easier than ever (BRID.TV). Here is a list of some of the top reasons to use video advertising.  

1.     Attention spans are shorter and a video can get brand messages across in a shorter amount of time. Keeping the video between 15-30 seconds is recommended so you don’t lose the attention of the viewers. “73% of consumers decide in less than 30 seconds if they will watch to the end of the video.” (Social Sorted)

2.     Video gets the message across better than other formats. A picture is worth a thousand words all of which can be determined by the creative mind of the viewers. A video is better in conveying particular brand messages because it takes the guess work out of it for the viewers. Emotional impacts of videos are important. 

3.     Videos engage the brands target audience. Most people are more apt to buy a product if they are able to watch a video on it. Videos are easy to share and are suitable for different purposes. Stay tuned for our blog on the different types of marketing videos coming soon. 

4.     Videos help generate new leads. 93% of businesses reported getting new customer leads on social thanks to video according to Hosting Canada.

5.     Videos raise brand awareness and increase website traffic. Google favors videos on the search engine results page. 

It seems like creating campaigns in video format is the way to go in today’s day in age. Making sure that the beginning of the video has a “hook line and sinker’” cadence to catch consumers attention immediately is key to success. With attention spans that are shorter and shorter the video has to reel in the viewer in the beginning to be an effective marketing tool. Videos create an emotional connection with consumers and should be in the forefront of every businesses marketing strategy. 

Harnessing Influencers for Marketing

Influencers… we can all name at least one in this day in age. Jake Paul for example has set out and created a great business for himself through YouTube and now in the boxing arena. Although, let’s be honest the guy can’t box. They just feed him poor old men who were once previously good Mixed Martial Arts fighters. Big difference from real boxers. Nonetheless, he’s made millions through his marketing strategy as an influencer. But how can brands harness the power of these influencers and what are the reasons they would even want to? Influencer marketing has been shown to produce great return on investment (ROI). It delivers 11x’s that of paid media (Sprout Social). As the digital world continues to expand, it becomes more difficult for brands to reach their target audiences and influencer marketing can close that gap through locating influencers in their market (FORBES).

The first step in this process would be to conduct research to find what type of influencer best suits the needs of the brand and which platform you should be using. If you’re a vitamin supplement company you’re probably not going to reach out to a fashion model for influencer marketing. It’s also important to know which social media channel your brand’s area of expertise is dominated on: YouTube, Instagram, etc. Fashion and beauty tend to be more YouTube centric whereas other industries may be dominant elsewhere. Once you do this, you will also need to decide on a budget that can determine whether or not you go with a microinfluencer (less than 2K followers), someone between 5-10K or higher. The more followers the influencer has the costlier it becomes, naturally. Once you have decided on the budget you will need to know what the goals are for the brand through the influencer marketing. Is the reason for breaking into the Gen Z audience that your brand hasn’t yet? Are you trying to increase brand to consumer trust? Are you looking for more credibility in your industry? Deciding on this early on is crucial. Finally, it’s time to reach out and start making relationships with influencers. 

Marketing Challenge Predictions 2022

Since the unforeseen pandemic, the marketing and advertising industries will be facing their own new challenges as a result. There are many different opinions of what types of hurdles will come this year but we’ve put together a list of the top 5 that seem to be on every bullet point list out there right now. 

1.     Gaining new leads

2.     Using multichannel marketing strategy

3.     Reaching the brand target market

4.     Complying with GDPR 

5.     Keeping up with fast changing market needs

There are many solutions presented to each one of these issues that brands face that require a personalized approach. Here at Locomotive we believe that the needs of every business vary greatly and a “paint by numbers” approach will not work across the board so we’ve added some links here to help you navigate the waters of these obstacles. To read more about marketing problems and possible solutions visit any or all of these websites. 

Linkpin | PYXL | Ignite Visibility | StrategiQ

What is the Metaverse?!?

 This term metaverse has been popping up everywhere as of late and if you’re like us, you’re still a little confused as to what this actually means and how it will affect businesses. It seems that people are being urged to grab their spot in this virtual world. But why? And to what benefit would one gain from this? We decided to do a little research of our own to better understand what this new virtual world really means. According to an article written by VICE magazine, “the metaverse is an all-encompassing digital world that exists parallel to the real world.” The term was actually coined from a sci-fi novel, Snow Crash written by Neal Stephenson in 1992, which is very interesting. This is 3D world of the internet. My thoughts first go to Simms World but most say it’s much like games, such as Fortnite. In the metaverse, users will be able to create, sell and buy goods. Some argue that creating this digital economy will boost our economy IRL. However, the question on our minds and I’m sure you’re thinking the same thing, “why would I want to buy a house, clothes and the like for an avatar in a world that is technically not “real?” Don’t we all have enough to worry about financially in reality? Well, ROI or return on investments. This is the largest driving factor in the argument for purchasing digital properties. These properties aren’t limited to real estate. It can also include things like art, music, graphic designs, etc. Purchases must be made using NFT currency in the metaverse. NFT’s have a specific unique blockchain for each one created. They give the investor ownership of the virtualized asset. This was spawn from cryptocurrency that is created in a similar fashion. “Cryptocurrency is a form of digital asset based on a network that is distributed across a large number of computers. This decentralized structure allows them to exist outside the control of governments.” (Investopedia) This is another blog all in itself but I need to touch base a bit in order to fully understand NFT’s. it has been described as like purchasing a domain name. The purchasers of the NFT’s in the early stages of the meta are seeing the costs of the same properties increasing in value substantially. To be specific roughly 500% since Facebook transitioned to meta (CNBC). The potential financial gain also lies in the fact that these virtual worlds can be rented out. Say Nike wants to rent a space in your virtual mall for their metaverse line. Yes, this does exist already. They have monopoly on the shoe commerce as of now in cyberspace. Basically, the metaverse still has a long way to go in terms of development. Some speculate about 10 years before it’s fully developed. Business owners are seeing potential profits in the future for their properties in the metaverse and thus, the reason for businesses to break into this space now. It is up to each business to decide if the metaverse is right for them. It depends on a lot of factors. What type of business it is, does it financially make sense, and does the company believe that the metaverse will be the future. Some are still skeptical. Bottom line, it’s important for businesses to do research into this new world and decide if being part of it is right for them. One size does not fit all. 

Cost Effectiveness of UGC Marketing & Advertising

To source or not to source? That is the question! We all know the many benefits of sourced content advertising in terms of brand authenticity, loyalty, customer engagement, etc. But what about the pricing of this type of marketing over traditional forms of marketing? When we say traditional we mean production team, actors, studio. You get it. The whole nine. Traditional forms of marketing tend to be more polished and present mostly information about a product. It can also be very time consuming where user generated content marketing has a much faster turnaround time. Of course, like all businesses, there is always going to be a budget involved for every single advertising campaign that they do. Statistics show that content marketing costs 62% less than traditional and will generate 3x’s as many leads (Demand Metric Report). Also, the risk of traditional marketing forms is in the fact that the brand won’t know the end result or its impact it will have with their consumers. Whereas, sourcing user generated content that is already made, the brand will already know what the emotion the clips incite and how it may fit the final edits. Already knowing the emotional response will also give the brand insight as to how how it will impact their audience before it even goes into market. Often times, these agencies will come in well under project budget utilizing a sourced content agency such as Locomotive. Of course, it’s not feasible to use sourced content for every single ad campaign. However, it is extremely beneficial to blend a mix of traditional and content marketing together in order to get the best use of a company’s advertising budget. 

World Health Day 2022

 The theme of World Health Day this year is “Our Planet, Our Health.” The first thing that comes to mind with this how we should treat our bodies is how we should the planet too. Changing the world begins from the inside out. Mental health directly affects physical health. This is why stress management is so important inside and outside of the workplace. Did you know that we spend 1/3 of our lives working and also, 80% of workers feel stress on the job (American Institute of Stress)? Makes sense then that we should be happy in what we choose for a career as well as the work environment we end up in. From a management standpoint there are so many benefits to assist in preventing work stress for employees. Some of these are but not limited to: reduced poor mental and physical health, reduced sick leave, increased productivity, job satisfaction, increased work engagement and overall improvement of employee health (Better Health). Here at Locomotive, our Founder & CEO, Dustin Pagliughi has always been an advocate of creating a work environment where all employees feel comfortable in their roles as stress free as possible. He believes that employees should be managed in a way that is nurturing and supported in their roles in a way that doesn’t involve micromanaging or making constant demands. If the work load is too much, he’s never afraid to step in and get his hands dirty and do the work. It’s easy since he loves what he does. Since the inception of Locomotive, all of its employees have been able to work remotely in order to promote a better work-life balance. In fact, all of our employees are spread out in many parts of world. Employee and client satisfaction were two of the reasons that the company was born from many years spent in an industry where they were overworked, all while they overdelivered. 

As advocates of proper employee treatment, we will leave you with some ways to support employee stress reduction in the workplace that we find helpful at Locomotive. 

1.     Give credit when credit is due. Make sure to give recognition to employees for their good work performances. This will boost morale at the office.

2.     Offer flexible work from home options. We realize that you may not be able to do this for every day of the week, but some find it helpful and are still productive away from the office, if not more. This gives employees more of a work-life balance. 

3.     Let them grow! This one is a huge! Make sure there are equal opportunities for growth within the company. If there isn’t much room to move up, offer incentives, such as holiday bonuses and raises. 

4.     Walk the walk like you talk the talk. Make sure that your organizational values align with your actions from management.  

Circling back, you should treat your mind the way you should treat the planet. Litter free. Mental health is physical health. Stress will manifest its way out of the mind into physical forms throughout the body. Since work stress is one of the largest mental strains for adults it should be supervised properly from the top down in businesses. Our bodies are connected to everything on this planet. The air we breathe, the water we drink. When we begin to take care of ourselves physically and mentally from the inside out, our planet’s health can be an extension of that as well. Let’s all keep working together towards positive changes at home, at work, and on this large rock spiraling through space that we all share as one. 

Increasing External Brand Engagement with Sourced Content

Let’s talk about why brand engagement even matters but first, it’s important to know that there are two types of brand engagement: internal and external. Internal is that within the company through engaging with employees. External is engagement with the brand audience and what we will focus on in this article. External customer engagement is all about the emotional connection to the brand itself. This helps drive customer loyalty and word of mouth business. And let’s be real, word of mouth business is the best kind of business. People trust the people they know to steer them in the right direction. Brand engagement will also increase overall customer retention and help a brand improve on their products and/or services through getting feedback from their audience. “Literature found that customer-brand engagement exerts significant effect on organizational performance, particularly growth of sales, reductions of cost, products/services development, customer commitment, satisfaction, and loyalty” (Harrigan et al. 2017; Kumar et al. 2010). In an ever-increasing social media space, CBE (customer brand engagement) has never been easier. There are many types of ways to engage consumers with a brand, such as email newsletters, surveys, polls, contests and, most importantly, in-person customer interactions. However, in the digital space, sourced content is one of the most beneficial ways to increase customer engagement. An in depth, scientific study concluded that UGC has, “functional and emotional values (that) exert positive and significant effects on customers’ brand engagement.” But why? Why does this type of content advertising increase engagement between brands and consumers more than traditional advertising? Well, it’s simple really. People trust people. Not logos. “UGC is created by a fellow consumer for their friends and online followers. This content gives viewers a sneak peek into people’s lives and daily habits, which deepen the audience’s connection to the product.” (Forbes) Younger generations want brands to be aligned with their own personal beliefs and values. With social media channels the way they are now, people can voice their own opinions through likes, comments, shares and even direct messages to a brand on social media platforms. Therefore, since there is a positive correlation with UGC and increased brand engagement, companies should be mixing in this form of user generated content marketing to increase overall productivity.

What is it Exactly That We Do?

We always get asked what it is exactly that our company does. It makes sense. It can be very confusing for those not familiar with this type of advertising space. Let’s first start by explaining what UGC is. UGC is short for user generated content. It is content that maybe you or your sister upload to your Instagram feed or maybe your friend started their own fitness YouTube channel. Any videos and photos found online on some sort of social media platform would be considered UGC. Also, synonymously called sourced content. This is where we come in. We get those videos from creatives (users) for advertising. Yes, we just called you creative! Wink wink! This is the way that it works. An advertising agency comes to us since we specialize in this space. They are typically looking for very specific kinds of videos or photos for a commercial. Technically we are the third party in this transaction. The advertising agency is hired by a brand to create the commercial. The advertising agency then comes to us to find the sourced content they’re looking for. You’re probably asking yourself right about now, “well why doesn’t the ad agency just find the content themselves?” and the answer is that it is very difficult to do! Imagine shuffling through hundreds and maybe even thousands of videos per day trying to find very distinct videos that fit a particular brief. Agencies do not have the time or man power, especially when sourced content is a fairly new field. Some may not even know where to begin. We also take care of rights licensing legality with creatives. There are only a handful of companies in the entire world that know how to navigate the space efficiently and effectively. We are proud to say that we are one of those unique businesses. Our CEO and founder Dustin Pagliughi has been around this type of content since VHS was still a thing. He originally began sourcing videos for T.V. shows such as Top 20’s Most Amazing, Pranked and Ridiculousness. It began there and evolved into where he is now. There was a lot in between but you can sort of call him an OG in this type of sourced content. To sum it all up, sourced content is a fairly new a niche field. Brands go to advertising agencies to create commercials that need user generated content. They then hire us to find that content. We find it. The ad agency decides which content they wish to use. Then, we get the rights for the content by purchasing usage for a specified term, wrap it up all nice a pretty and sent it on back to our clients. 

The Continued Rise of UGC

As we are finally seeing the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel we can’t deny that this worldwide crisis changed us all in more ways than one. It shifted our mindsets and priorities in ways that most of us never saw coming. Some for the good and some for the not so good. In any case, it put most professionals from every background in a position of sink or swim. Adapt and evolve or face the consequences. This is also true for the advertising industry. As production shut down we saw a spiked increase in the use of user generated content in ads due to its accessibility and cost effectiveness. I mean, what better way to make the best of a bad situation when you can’t hire a team to shoot your next commercial. Brilliant really. Use what is already there and as an added bonus, people really resonate with content they can share an emotional response with. Think back to all of those “we’re in this together” commercials with clips of people banging pots and pans on their balconies and seeing family through the windows of their homes. All shot by someone who just wanted to capture a moment in time from their life. Every single person on the planet can relate to this content as we were all in the same boat at the same time. Let’s face it, the first time we all saw these commercials we probably all felt the same heartwarming emotions. Although, this type of content marketing was not new, it now took the spotlight. According to Forbes this sourced content marketing is now here to stay and not only that, it is on the rise. This makes sense as companies begin to reap the benefits of this type of advertising. So many in fact I’m not going to name them all here. That’s another blog all in itself. However, I will say that some of the top reasons to utilize UGC is that it is literally everywhere, it is for everyone, and it is authentic (ADAGE). This translates into an unlimited library of freshly uploaded content often. According to an article found in Hubspot, 31% of consumers actually find it more memorable than traditional forms of marketing. Finally, authentic content that is relatable will resonate with consumers. In short, UGC isn’t going anywhere. In fact, it’s the opposite. As the number of social media users continue to increase (Statista), it seems only natural that digital marketing will turn to sourced content from these platforms for their audiences.