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

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. 

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.

Building Brand Trust with Sourced Content

Building trust in any relationship is the key most fundamental aspect for success. Having a business that provides quality products and services in today’s society is not enough to keep it afloat for the long haul. Building brand trust is important in keeping your customers satisfied and keep your business thriving. It will provide loyalty to your brand, which in turn will drive new business. It will also create public backing of the brand and increase overall marketing receptiveness in the public eye. Being authentic is the second most influential reason to trust a brand next to pricing (PwC’s 2018 Global Consumer Insights). Other reasons include fulfilling brand promises, the impact it has on society and product/customer experiences. So how does one go about navigating this space in today’s society of social media overload? The answer… Sourced content! A published Journal Study conducted in 2019 found that, “there is a positive relationship between the use of UGC, brand trust and purchase intention.” Organic user generated content is the most relatable form of influence in the world. “Consumers are 3x more likely to say that content created by a consumer is authentic compared to content created by a brand (Stackla). This is where brands can take the opportunity to create an increased connection to their audience through emotional relatability and, in turn, increase brand trust with their consumers. The use of sourced content in advertising is on the rise for this reason as well as many others. In a world where every person with a smart phone can now be a content creator, there is an infinite library of sourced content available daily. I mean, who do you actually know that doesn’t have a smart phone in their pocket right now?!?! For this reason, new content is uploaded perpetually to social platforms. So, let’s recap this. People trust sourced content, otherwise known as user generated content, more than traditional advertising. Real people stimulate real connections. It’s necessary for a business to create trust with their audience in order to remain relevant and successful. Sourced content is also a never-ending tap that keeps on flowing and changing daily. Integrating sourced content into marking strategy therefore, seems like a no brainer to heighten a brands trust with their consumers.