Avoiding Click Fraud

Paying for your advertisements only when their clicked on seems like a pretty good deal right? You don’t have to pay someone unless people actually view and click on it. Although it seems like a good deal, there are now bots on the web to consider. If these bots are clicking on your ads then you end up paying for clicks that aren’t real people. Aka. No real views. Basically, you’re wasting your money if “click fraud” happens to you! 36% of display ads are fraudulent clicks (Lunio, 2021). As we said, PPC is a standard advertising system where advertisers pay only when their ads are clicked on. The most common being Google Ads. The process is simple where advertisers begin by signing up for an account with a platform, create their ad and set the max cost they are willing to pay per click. Then, the ad goes into an auction with others are bidding on the same keywords. The auction will then determine the order in which ads are shown on the search. Finally, the advertisers pay when the ad is clicked on. So, why does click fraud happen and how? Well, it typically happens on large scale and have multiple motivations. Sometimes companies will use it for their competitors to hurt them financially and some websites will do it for their own financial gain. Other reasons can include more clicks to increase likes or make websites appear higher in search rankings. However, the first does not pertain to this article. In 2018 advertisers were estimated to have lost $19 billion due to click fraud, according to Forbes. There is no 100% guaranteed way to avoid click fraud but we have a couple of ideas that can reduce risks if PPC is something you’re thinking about investing in.

1.     Set different bid prices. Only use website that will give you the best potential results and limit how much you’re willing to spend per click.

2.     Track your competitors. As we said above, your competitors can be someone who commit click fraud so keep an eye on them. You can do this with website that provide free tracking reports, such as Click Defense and Ad Watcher.

3.     Monitor your PPC campaign. Google has analytics that allow you to track your campaign performance. Use this to see percentage of clicks that Google shows as potentially fraudulent or invalid.

4.     Be concise with your geography. Stick with one area for your PPC campaign. Some areas of the world have higher risk so try to avoid those countries.

5.     Stick to high quality websites. Low-quality sites are places of high bot traffic. And honestly, don’t you want your brand on a top-notch site anyway? This one should be a given.

These are some risk management tips and there are some automated detection programs that will detect and mitigate click fraud from happening. These detect bots by flagging the user who just clicks on the ad and nothing else. Some of these include Shield, Click GUARD, Opticks to name just a few. In summary, if PPC is something your brand is thinking of investing in, make sure that you have a solid game plan in place in order to remain safe from click fraud. It can be a useful tool for advertising that keeps your costs low if done correctly.  

Ad Viewability

What’s more important, CTR or your ad being viewed? We’ll wait while you think about this….

What did you decide? Was it viewability? If that was you’re answer then you got it right! Think about it, your ad being seen is far more important than click through rates especially with the rise of bot technology. You could be getting false results. So, what is ad viewability? Viewability is the “seen” impressions that a video gets where 50% of the advertisement must be in view for at least one second for display ads and two seconds for video ads (Internet Advertising Bureau). Measuring views is the best way to see what kind of reach your brand is getting with its advertising and it has a positive correlation with ROI. The higher the views, the higher the ROI. There are a few factors that will affect your ads viewability.

1.     Size. Vertical layouts are preferable to vertical and some standard sizing options are 120x240, 240x400 and 160x600.

2.     Position. Side bars do well. Top of page may be the first that comes to mind because it’s the first thing you see. However, sometimes the ad does not load before the user scrolls past. Of course, you can put the ad at the top and bottom and there are standard practices to help them perform well.

3.     Channel. Where you place the ad matters. Is it social, streaming T.V., YouTube?

4.     Publisher. Each publisher will have varying rates for placements.

5.     Loading speed. DO NOT let your ad load slowly. This is death for advertisements and anything else for that matter. Even just 1 second delay can reduce views by 11% (Publift). There are technical adjustments that can and must be made in order to avoid this. Compressing files, reduce redirects and removing unnecessary tags are some to name a few.

Ad viewability is important and compliment other data for your brand but this concept is fairly new. It will continue to develop in the following years but having a score of 70% viewability or higher perform better overall. That being said, a lot are between 30-40% and still successful, according to Amazon Ads. Being able to monitor this metric is important to tracking how many real human views you are getting for your advertisements. 

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!

Explanation of Terms in the UGC Space

UGC. User-generated content. Sourced content. Found content. What do all these terms mean? People get confused by what it is and how they are different. We thought we’d clarify a few things for you. They’re not different. All of these terms are literally synonymous with one another! They all mean the exact same thing. It’s anything on the internet. Organic, non-organic video and photos. 720,000 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every day. That’s 500 hours per minute. It’s not shocking really. Everyone with an iPhone can record high-quality content and that number is roughly 6.6 billion people worldwide. About 83% of all humans inhabiting this wonderful planet. The only reason to call UGC “sourced” or “found” is when you come to a service, such as ours, to find it for your advertising campaigns. Hence, why some change the name of user-generated content to those terms instead. We hope this cleared up any confusion for you and hope to work together on your next campaign. Unlike our competitors, at Locomotive we personally hand pick every single of content that comes through our screens for each specified creative brief for our clients. Compounding content, steam powered forward.

Friday Favorite 9/16/22

This week turns to women’s retirement inequality awareness for TIAA. The ongoing campaign, #retireinequality coined this powerful piece, “The Dress.” In a collaboration between The Martin Agency and fashion designer, Fe Noel, they constructed a dress made of paper bills. The dress totals up to $1.6 million dollars, which is meant to represent the amount that women will lose for their retirement over their lifetime due to the 30% wage gap. Not only do women earn less, they often have to take more time away from work for maternity leave and caring for older family members. The dress was showcased on social media for fashion week and is now on display in NYC’s SOHO neighborhoods on Broadway and Grand until the 18th of this month. TIAA hopes to raise awareness so that others will start conversations for these issues to be addressed. We’d also like to give some appreciation to our friend, and the Director of Business Affairs on this project, Angela Eddlemen. We’ve worked with TIAA before, but this is a YES to the dress, for sure.

Ensuring a Great Brand Reputation

While in our personal lives, we agree that Joanne Jett got it right, from a business stand point your brand’s reputation is everything! Building your brand is hard enough and ensuring that its reputation remains intact requires work, but the stronger it is, the more your audience will trust you and become ambassadors for you for a lifetime. So, what influences brand reputation? Reputation is a culmination of the appearance, the words, the voice and the actions that you use for your brand. All of which will be represented through your website, your social media, consumer reviews, customer service, product/service quality, Google and if applicable, Wikipedia. It’s also important to note that in today’s cultural climate, it’s crucial to take stances on socioeconomic and environmental issues as well, especially with the younger generations in mind. That being said, here are some ways that your brand can increase its reputation and keep it there for years to come!

1. Make customer service priority #1. This is your chance for face to face interaction with your audience so make sure it’s a positive experience for them. According to Microsoft, 58% of customers who feel their experience falls short will sever their relationship with them. It takes only one person’s negative experience to ruin potential business and if you make a mistake don’t be afraid to own up to it! People appreciate honestly and trust those who hold themselves accountable.

2. Actively listen. It’s important that you apply feedback from your customers now that they have given it. Whether positive or negative. Who’s talking about you? What are they saying? Make sure to stay on top of this and respond to every review. It will show others who are looking to work with your brand that you do care and listen in order to resolve problems that may have arisen.

3. Create high-quality content and be consistent on social media. The speed at which news travels on social media is insurmountable. It’s also important that people see you post consistently with relevant content in your field. Answering any comments or direct messages in a timely manner is crucial to keeping your reputation high with your followers. Here are some more key tips for social channels:

   1. Schedule posts when they perform best

   2. Have a developed and consistent brand voice

   3. Amplify positive reviews and testimonials

4. Search engine results. Improving your SEO on Google, Bing, Yahoo, Amazon, and YouTube are all important. Google is king nowadays and is the most convenient. People tend to choose the one with the best search profile and think about it, there are only about 10 or 11 on that first page. This forms first impressions for those that are new to your brand. People will form opinions quickly from these top listed, relevant brands.

Character is defined as moral or ethical quality and this is the foundation of your brand, so make sure that what people see online is what they get in real life. Having this cohesiveness between brand character and reputation will protect you. Although it may seem that the way that others view your brand is outside of your control, you can remain focused on those things that you can control that will ultimately affect the opinions of the public.  

Tips for Increasing Brand Awareness

90% of organizations say that their goal is to increase brand awareness, according to Hootsuite. But why is brand awareness important? I think that’s obvious really. It helps your audience know who you are. They can recall your brand off hand and the more people that can do that, the more revenue you will receive. If your brand is at the top of their mind, they are more likely to buy from you than another. Ok, so it’s definitely important but now how do you go about achieving it? There are many ways but we will start with a quick guide of the ways that we feel are top priority to help get you there.

1.     Optimize your SEO. Find out what are the keywords in your industry. Incorporate these into your website content. If you blog, make sure to include these keywords in there. This will help your content get seen by search engines, such as Google.

2.     Increase your social media presence. Once you have your brand voice it’s important to express it on your social channels. Be consistent with that and posting high-quality content.

3.     Native advertising. This is the kind of advertising you think of when we say advertising. Print ads, billboards, magazines, hosting websites, etc. When you put your brand out there in front of people that are interested in the industry you are in, you’re surely going to get some awareness. These types of ads tend to be less intrusive as well to the consumers so they are received positively.

4.     Run ads on social media sites. This can help reach the audience that you want and help get around algorithms that may otherwise be hurting your views. Video and carousel ads are the top content styles to go with as of now. When you use targeted ads you can quite literally choose every single demographic to reach the right people.

5.     Partner with influencers. This has been quite the hot topic lately as it’s expected to grow exponentially in the coming years not only with B2C but also B2B. This is a great way to create partnerships with someone who has a much larger following than you. Of course, it’s going to cost you. However, typically brands earn an average of $5.78 for every $1 spent, according to the Influencer Marketing Hub.

6.     Referral programs. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, people love getting free things. Offer something to your current customers for referring family and friends to you. This will broaden your audience. According to HubSpot, 49% of U.S. consumers say friends and family are their top sources of brand awareness. People are more likely to trust a brand that is recommended by someone that they know.

This guide can help you know how to get started. Once you do, you need to track how your new efforts are going. It will depend on each category how you will track it. For example, if you’re trying to increase your social media presence then you can use the dashboard tools for business on Instagram and Facebook. If you’re tracking SEO than you can use your Google analytics to measure website traffic. You get the idea. It’s important to constantly keep evolving these tactics and trying new things in order to continue to grow and remain successful. Once you find what works, do more of that. If something isn’t working like you had hoped, it’s time to pivot. Remember… a successful leader is an innovator who’s not afraid of change.

Calculating Risk vs Reward

“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”

-Albert Einstein

We all make mistakes, especially in business. But to repeat those mistakes is another story. Making mistakes are important. It is how we learn and improve as business owners. In business there will always be risks involved. But sometimes you must weigh the risks vs the rewards to see if that risk is even worth taking. But how do we do that? How do you discern whether those decisions foolish or calculated? Let’s first define a calculated risk. A calculated risk is a carefully considered decision that sheds light on the degree of personal and financial risk involved counterbalanced by the possibilities of benefits. Basically, is it worth it. That’s a big oversimplification though. Here are our tips on how to make calculated risks.

1.     Research. You will need to know every single minute detail of an opportunity.

2.     Evaluate opportunities critically. How can this new venture lead to new leads or revenue? Is the timeline reasonable? It’s important to also set ROI that is reasonable. Step outside of your emotions and evaluate these opportunities as if you’re giving your friend advice. What would you tell them?

3.     Healthy boundaries. It’s ok to say NO. Sometimes it won’t make sense to accept a really good opportunity if its pros don’t outweigh its cons and that’s ok. Saying no to some so that you can say yes to the really perfect ones is key.

4.     Set goals. If you don’t track how your new ventures are going, how will you know if they’re succeeding? The answer is that you won’t. it’s important to set milestones and over goals for your risks that your taking. This will also help you understand where you may need to pivot.

5.     Have the right attitude. It’s important to be able to roll with the punches sometimes as an entrepreneur. Stubbornness will get you nowhere in any business. If something isn’t working you have to try something new. It’s important to understand when to act and when it’s time to walk away.

Knowing that there is nothing wrong with making mistakes is business is part of understanding what it is to be an entrepreneur. Good leaders do not let fear get in their way of exploring uncharted territories. You shouldn’t be so conservative that you play it too safe and never take any chances. This is a good way to go out of business. Innovation breeds success and therefore, requires that you stay on top of current events and trends in your field. This will also help you see where new business opportunities may lie. No matter what way you spin it, if you follow these tips to calculate your risks you’re at a good starting point. Make sure that you do ample research to know exactly what the calculated risk versus the reward will be. The more prepared you are the better.

Ways to Incorporate UGC Into Your Marketing Strategy

It’s no secret that we love UGC. It’s what we do and we’re passionate about it! We deal with UGC in the advertising campaign spaces mostly. However, there are some other areas of marketing that you can use this powerful tool. First, let’s talk about UGC in advertising since that’s what we specialize in. This is a great way to get consumers to trust your brand seeing real people in real-life situations that your audience can relate to. This type of UGC marketing will increase your ROI immensely. Let’s dive in to the other ways your brand can use it for marketing strategies.

1.     Promote your next product launch. UGC influences purchases so using it promote a new product is a great way to get new customers.

2.     Highlight your customers. Everyone likes to be appreciated. Highlighting your top customers through UGC photos and videos will not only make them feel great but it will increase your brand awareness through reposts and reshares. This is great for increasing brand awareness.

3.     UGC in advertising. As we listed above, UGC is one of the best ways to create an emotional connection with your audience. People trust real people in real-life situations that they can relate to.

If you’re interested in learning more about how UGC can help your brand grow contact us today. The benefits of UGC marketing and advertising just keep growing. Every campaign that we’ve ever done for advertising agencies has been successful to say the least. Don’t wait to get UGC into your marketing and advertising strategies. Trust us. We know a little something about this one.

Friday Favorite 9/9/22

 This week we turn to the fashion industry. Did you know that, “every 25 minutes, an Olympic size swimming pools worth of crude oil is used in the production of synthetic clothing?” We knew that the fashion industry was terrible for the environment but had no idea that it was this bad! The ad favorite of this week brings light to this situation by bringing that fact to life in a real-world depiction scenario. The ad was done by Woolmark, “Wear Wool, Not Fossil Fuel” ad promoting their 100% natural clothing line. It is also 100% biodegradable and renewable. At the beginning of the spot, there are people swimming in this Olympic-sized pool of fossil fuel and trying to escape the grip of its grimy substance. As they struggle, they eventually escape by pulling off the top layer covered in oil to reveal the clean outfit that lies beneath. You can really see their metaphors through the visual aesthetics of the ad. What starts off as a dark and grim beginning turns into one full of lush green spaces and light moods. The ad is expected to run in the U.S., the UK, France and Australia this month. It was created in collaboration by Park Village, Studio Birthplace and 20Something.

UX Design

What does UX and UI stand for? UX stand for user experience that refers to how people interact with a product or service as well as their over journey engaging with your product or service. UI stands for user interface and is relates to the aesthetic visual properties of a digital product, such as a website. These two terms are not the same, but yet work together to create a seamlessly enjoyable experience for the consumer. It should be understood that UX is conceptual and the designer is responsible for how the users will interact with its audience. Here are some key points on what the user experience is about and how to design a solid one.

User Experience:

1. It’s about what users think and feel

2. It will depend on context of product

   1. What value does it ad?

   2. What function does it have?

   3. Is it easy to use?

   4. What impression does it give?

Core principles of good user experience:

1. Usable: is the product/service created valuable

2. Useful: ease at which someone operates

3. Desirable: consumers should want to have your product/service

4. Findable: easy to find

5. Valuable: must add some value to customers’ lives

6. Accessible: must be accessible to everyone  

7. Credible: the company must be trustworthy

Creating a good user experience is not a one size fits all but, there are some steps to follow to help you get started. Stanford uses a 5-step process that starts with empathize, define, ideate, prototype and test. This will entail understanding what your customers will want through buyer personas. Make sure to really dive deep and do research to confirm assumptions about your audience. Understand what their challenges and expectations are. Mapping out their journey from start to finish is a crucial next step since each will be different. It’s the UX designers’ job to prepare for any step a customer may take. Once you think you have it, then you can prototype your design, begin to test, evaluate and improve as needed. The user experience has to be a pleasant one in order to ensure the success of a product or service. The more research and time that it is put into the design, the better the result will be.

Price Change Discussions

Ah, money. The uncomfortable topic that everyone avoids like the plague in our relationships, at work, with friends. Pretty much anywhere, really. Many businesses have had to make pricing changes and/or increases these past few months with the skyrocketing economy. Aside from this, there are other reasons that your business may have to raise pricing, such as vendor/subscription price hikes and increasing service demands to name a few. So, we thought we’d chat about the do’s and don’ts of doing this. Let’s start with the things that you should do when changing pricing.

Do’s of Price Changing:

1.     Communicate early. The earlier the better. A general rule of thumb is roughly one month before the increase begins. They will be glad that they can take advantage of the current prices before it goes up.

2.     Stalk the competition and emphasize your value. What are your competitors charging? Make sure that your rates are comparable. Show customers why your product or service is more valuable. Providing check ins to see how things are going will help you stay on top of how you’re doing. Keeping an open line of communication will not only be appreciated, it will be easier to discuss price increases.

3.     Be clear. Use facts and numbers. Discuss operations of the business and how they have had to change. Let them know that you are doing your best to minimize the need for pricing increases. Being transparent here ensures your customers’ trust stays intact. Explaining the justification of the price increase to your customers is very important. And remember, the higher the price, the higher the quality. 

Don’ts of Price Changing:

1.     Send generic emails. Make sure to personalize your emails to each customer when increasing prices. Address each customer by name. Small businesses can even notify by phone.

2.     Not offering additional options. You can add something to your product or service to make them feel more comfortable with the price increase. Another option is to offer discounts or bundle options to offset price increases. It’s also crucial to make sure to offer support for your customers when price increases happen. They will most likely have questions and will want them to be answered in an efficient and timely manner.

3.     Not notifying all staff. Aside from customer support, your entire staff should be fully briefed on price increases especially those that have face to face contact with customers. If there is any confusion surrounding money, you risk losing customers to the competition.

These are some very important things to do and to avoid when raising pricing within your business. With this knowledge you now have the structure breakdown to announce it to your audience. First, announce the price increase in a timely manner and provide a clear context as to why it is happening. Second, you must emphasize your value and thank them for choosing you. A grateful mindset creates abundance and your consumers will remember this appreciation for their business. Lastly, make sure to offer those additional options and customer support for their follow up questions and/or concerns. Communication is key for any successful relationship. Keeping it open with your audience will keep that relationship striving throughout their lifetime as a loyal customer.

Work Schedule Flexibility

 The pandemic literally changed how we all view work. It increased the work-life balance by 43% of people surveyed by Qualtrics. We all know that the old-school mentality bosses are terrified that people will take advantage of this flexibility. However, there is this cool little thing called gift exchange theory that is responsible for 55% of people working more hours remotely than at the office. This is where people feel grateful for the gift of flexibility, so they feel obligated to work longer and harder for receiving it. They also want to keep their work schedule this way since they like it, so they work harder to prove that they can still get the same job done at home, maybe even better, then being at the office. We thought this little tid bit was useful and interesting. It seems like all sunshine and rainbows, right? Well, no, it’s not that simple. There are pros and cons to every situation and this one is no different. Let’s first talk about the pros for employees and employers.

Advantages for Employees:

1. Better work-life balance

   1. Self-care is easier (mental and physical)

   2. Pursue passions outside of work

2. Reduced commute/lowered carbon footprint

3. More control over schedule

   1. Work in the hours where you feel most productive

4. Child care isn’t a problem

5. Autonomy

Advantages for Employers:

1. Boosts employee morale

2. Build trust through employee autonomy

3. Lower turnover

   1. Recruit and retains better talent

   2. Positive brand image

   3. Employees will take fewer sick days

Disadvantages for employees:

1.     Work life and personal life boundaries are blurred

2.     Difficult to bond with other employees

3.     Disconnect between at home employees and in office staff

4.     Less structure

Disadvantages for employers:

1.     Some employees are not self-motivated without supervision

2.     Compressed work schedules decrease client availability

3.     Difficult to create a work culture

4.     Harder to arrange meetings

While there is no right or wrong way to approach flexible work scheduling, we believe that there are more positive results that come of it. Locomotive is a fully remote team that gets it done in many parts of the world. Our employees are happy, able to work on other things and they make sure that every job gets their maximum effort! This may not work for every company and we understand that so we hope that this list can help you decide if that style of business is right for you! 

Labor Day 2022

Every year, the first Monday in September is set aside as an annual celebration of the social and economic achievements of American workers. Today we take a pause from our regular broadcast blog to talk about Labor Day: its history, its founders, etc. it has been recognized long before it became an official holiday on February 21st 1887 by the state of Oregon. Before that, in 1882 New York City had the first Labor Day celebration on September 5th. This included a parade. President Cleveland signed the law to make it nationally observed on June 28th 1894. The original founder of Labor Day is unclear. Some say that it is Peter McGuire of Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners. Others believe it to be Mathew McGuire of the International Association of Machinist. We find it a bit odd that they both have the same last name, but that’s beside the point. You can find a list of America’s labor leaders at the Labor Hall of Honor. Enjoy your holiday today celebrating the fruits of all your hard work!

Friday Favorite 9/2/22

With the recent release of the prequal to Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, we felt compelled to feature one of their newest advertisements for the show. We’re not going to lie, we’re really big fans of both! This ad was featured on Official Media Samosa. This interactive ad was located in Brazil and features a black, melted bus stop billboard as part of the piece. The half rectangular, half melted transit shelter display is smoldering from beneath, as if melted by dragon fire as it sits alongside the Targaryen house emblem placed behind the local bus stop bench. We love a good interactive advertisement as one of the top creative ways to advertise. They’re truly one of the best ways to get your audience engaged and remember your name. This ad had the desired effect. It was creative, catchy, memorable and fun!  

Anniversario di Quattro Anni

And just like that, our boutique, white glove service content agency turns 4 years old today. There have been so many ups, downs, challenges and rewards. If I were asked what the most beneficial times were for us in the past 4 years, I would have to say the hard ones, or the downs. They've helped us navigate through obstacles, face challenges head on, and most importantly, they've helped us learn how we can be better for our partners. I mean, we've all gone through a freaking pandemic together. My passion for content has only grown. I’m not just the Founder, I’m also intimately involved in every single detail from discovery to distribution, and I'm proud of that. Content licensing is my energy source, my DNA. With nearly 20 years of experience searching, acquiring, clearing, and helping create projects with unidentified internet content, our partners have a direct line to me every single day. To those of you that have trusted us to help you create, we are extremely grateful and we hope that our passion and dedication to your needs have shined through on every single project that we have touched. To those of you that we have not had the pleasure of working with just yet, we look forward to earning our place with you and fostering those relationships. Here's to the next 4 years... 

— Dustin Pagliughi, Founder & CEO Locomotive Content

B2B Influencer Marketing

We all know what influencer marketing is at this point. But how does business to consumer influencer marketing differ from business to business influencer marketing? First and foremost, it must be understood that B2B influencers must be an expert in the field of business that you are recruiting them for. This means that they may not have the social media skills as most B2C influencers do. It’s also important to think of them as a partner in your B2B influencer marketing campaign together as you build a relationship together for brand credibility. Let’s note some similarities between the B2B and B2C influencer marketing strategies.

1.     Expertise in a particular field. Both types of influencers will be experts in the field they are collaborating with.

2.     Social media presence. Both will have a good amount of reach on social media. Although, B2C will be much larger. 

3.     Appeal. They will both be people that other people are interested hearing. They have a charm about them that intrigues or call others to attention.

Some key differences:

1.     Type of content. Where B2C influencer are photo and video content heavy, B2B influencers will generally be more text based

2.     Scale. As noted above the B2B influencer will have a smaller scale following on social media.

3.     Decisions making versus influencing. B2B influencer will share insights and opinions that are for buying teams doing research.

Influencer marketing is on the rise and B2B is not immune to how well this strategy works. Some examples for B2B influencers would be analysts, journalists or those that work for brands in a particular field. HubSpot expect to see B2B influencer marketing grow exponentially as it is currently, “underdeveloped and largely unmonetized.” They also found that B2B clients consider sponsored third party or co-branded content more trustworthy than content straight from a vendor. It’s clear that this style of B2B marketing has its benefits.

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!

Friday Fun Favorite 8/26/22

This week is a fun one from European Legal Group ARAG called, “Legal Needs Are in Your Future.” Featuring the infamous Sanderson sister, Mary from Hocus Pocus, Kathy Najimy, as she acts as a comedic fortune teller giving out legal warnings to her clientele. In the spot, she has three different couples at her table for a reading. Each reading is composed of legal situations that happen in everyday life instead of the typical high-profile types we usual see represented on T.V. with crime shows. Each video is only thirty seconds long. They are titled, “Red Convertible,” “The Dog” and “First House” promoting the importance of legal insurance for everyday folks. This ad was created by Barkley Agency.