Using Inclusive Language in the Workplace

We all know that words matter. It’s become a very big movement lately to make sure to use politically correct language as well as inclusive language at work. inclusive language means that it is free from particular words, phrases or tones that reflect prejudiced, stereotypes or discriminatory views. Building respect and maintaining it is crucial to a healthy work environment. DEI is now at the top of the priority list for brands. Here are some guidelines for your company to solidify that it is using inclusive language.

1.     Use the people-first approach. Center language on the individual rather than a group descriptor. Use neutral words related to gender, sexual orientation and other distinguishing qualities.

2.     Set aside any assumptions. We all know what happens when people assume right? Don’t make us say it. For example, instead of asking where a woman’s husband is you should ask her where her spouse is.

3.     Refer to theoretical person as “they.” Always use “They” instead of he or she. One may never know how a person identifies. If you’re unsure, you can always ask your team members how they identify. Also, keep in mind the use of gender terms, such as salesman. Take this term and make it ubiquitous such as salesperson or sales rep.

4.     Consider historical context and implications. Think about phrases such as slaving away or cracking the whip. These are contextual to slavery. One must keep these things in mind.

We cannot stress enough how important inclusive language in the workplace is. As a brand, you want your employees to feel comfortable working for you. You want to foster a work culture that includes everyone in order to maintain a high level of respect between employees and managers. Not only is it just right, it will make your employees want to be there and work hard for you. They’ll believe in your mission and help you grow.

The Importance of Colors in Advertising

Color psychology is the study of how certain colors impact human behavior. Otherwise known as color theory, colors impact each individual differently based on preference and cultural background. Today, color psychology is used mostly in advertising. Some brands have even gone as far as trademarking a specific color that is associated with their business. Colors are chosen very carefully in advertising because of the associations that our brains make with them. Let’s look at the basic colors and see how they invoke certain associations.

1.     Red: this color is associated with energy, confidence, passion and love. It’s vibrant and grabs the attention of the viewer. It can also invoke anger and danger. You will often see them blended with softer colors to pop. Red has been known to actually increase the viewers heart rate and blood pressure.

2.     Orange. This color is a ‘friendly” one. It has been shown to invoke a cheerful, playful atmosphere and it carries with it a sense of youthfulness and vitality. We painted our home gym a peach color to elicit feelings of energy for example. Positive emotions and enthusiasm are charged in the presence of this color.

3.     Green. This is my personal favorite color. Give me all the shades! I love it. It’s associated with health, serenity, money and eco-friendly brands nowadays. It’s a soothing and welcoming color.

4.     Blue. This color can be easily associated with water and thus, signify tranquility and relaxation. One must be careful as certain shades of blue resemble sadness but light blue is typically known as one to show dependability, trustworthiness and security.

5.     Purple. Think about something in nature that is purple. How long did it take you? Purple is typically a color not as common as the others that occurs naturally in the world. Flowers are about the only thing that came to my mind first when I asked myself that same question when writing this. It has strong overtones of mystery, luxury, creativity, and imagination.

6.     Yellow. This bright color is attention grabbing. It carries with it, optimistic feelings but one must be wary of overuse as it can become abrasive. It a cheery color and has been known to increase metabolism. 

Colors can impact how your audience sees your brand. That’s why many companies go to great lengths to test their advertising campaigns. It is most important when choosing your brand’s overall logo. This is what people will associate with your brand. Choose your colors wisely so that it invokes positive feelings from your audience.

Social Media Planning

You plan everything in your life. Your Google calendar helps you keep track of everything you do from personal to business. So, why wouldn’t you plan your businesses social media posts as well? It’s important to keep a schedule for your content in order for your social media strategy to be effective. Here is what your calendar should include.

1.     Date you will post

2.     Time you will post

3.     Social media platform it will be posted to

4.     Visuals you will use

5.     Caption

6.     Links and tags

7.     Campaign/Goal

Doing this will help you be more efficient, save time and not forget to post. It takes a lot of time and attention to stay on top of social media channels. With a calendar it helps you plan ahead and will help free up more of your time later. You won’t forget to post consistently and since you pre-planned them, the posts will likely have less mistakes. Shoot for posting at least once a week if you have just begun. If you’re more established then 3 posts per week are best practice.

CTV

In 2020, 80% of homes have at least one connected T.V. according to MediaPost. We’ve all heard of CCTV from British crime dramas but what is CTV and what makes it different from OTT? What is OTT? All these acronyms are making us dizzy. Let’s look at the difference between OTT and CTV. OTT stands for over-the-top and is defined as content delivered over streaming services or apps. Examples are Netflix, HBO Max and HULU. CTV, otherwise known as connected T.V., is the actual device that is connected to the television used to stream these services. Roku, Amazon Fire and Apple T.V. are examples of this. What does this mean in terms of advertising though? Well, CTV allows for advertisers to insert their ads into the streamed video. This helps brands reach wider audiences. In OTT services, such as HULU, you can even decide which ad you would rather watch. This one or that one. This helps brands reach the eyes of the people that they actually want watching their ads. This aids improvement of their target audience since this experience is user controlled. The cost of CTV advertising is also much lower than traditional T.V. broadcast. Marketers and advertising agencies should be looking into this style of campaigning. It’s worth the time and what little money it does cost.

Friday Feature 10/7/22

We’re taking you to the sunny beaches of your living room. Wait what? That’s right! You heard us. This surf video went viral back in March of 2020 of Sailah Nicol and her brother surfing on the rug in their living room. Their father is pro surfer, Yadin Nicol who is also featured in this video pulling the rug up into a wave. This video is probably up there with one our favorites that we’ve licensed over our years here at Locomotive. Head over to Instagram and show the families page some love and support with a follow.

Short Form Video Trends 2022

1.     UGC. Consumers LOVE it! It influences their purchasing choices. UGC offers very high ROI of 40% according to HubSpot. It’s trusted more by consumers than traditional advertising.

2.     Influencer Ads. We’ve written about this trend already. Working with influencers can increase your brand awareness for new audiences and build trust with the one you already have.

3.     Product Teasers. This one kind of speaks for itself.

4.     Challenges. #Waterbottle challenge anyone? This trend became popular with TikTok and they are ranked highly among marketers for effective social media.

5.     BTS. Behind the scenes videos give people a sneak peek into the process for your brand.

These are our top 5. There are more out there that are expected to be trending this year. All of these video styles are easy to throw together. Be creative and focus on the audience instead of the product. Plan your strategy and make sure editing looks professional. We recommend utilizing Instagram and Facebook for your short form video content.

Psychology of Advertising

An average person can be exposed to over 6,000 advertisements per day! This number is staggering but not surprising it today’s digital world. There are psychological principles that advertisers can use to improve sales.

1.     Reciprocity. This psychological phenomenon is held fast in the fact that we are instinctively hard-wired to automatically feel indebted to someone when we receive a gift from them. in business, this can be giving your audience something for free and in return they may sign up or purchase more. For example, maybe you get a first-class trial for free. You love the class so you end up buying the membership.

2.     Consensus. This is where others put their trust in a brand because others have demonstrated proof of trust in them already. This is where customer reviews come in handy.

3.     Liking. This can be ingrained with physical traits, similarity, association or contact with the brand in a positive experience. You will need to know your audience. What are their wants and their likes? Once you know this you can reflect it back to them in advertising messages. 

4.     Scarcity. This is an effective tool that makes something seem like it won’t be around for long at all. Say a promotion with a deadline, such as, “for limited time only.” This creates a sense of urgency and leads to irrational, emotional decision making.

5.     FOMO. Or fear of missing out. This is a two-part process. First, the user feels like they’re missing out. Two, they follow up with compulsive behavior to maintain the connection.

6.     Authority. Establish authority as an expert in your field. People tend to trust those in charge, such as credible source, thought leaders and experts.

This list is far from extensive and the psychological principles that can be utilized in advertising are vast. The two fields go together like peanut butter and jelly. To read more on what types of techniques your brand can use to benefit from psychology in your advertising and marketing campaigns visit:

·      Crobox (techniques)

·      Relevance (examples)

·      USC (overall information)

Good Reads for Marketing Businesses

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

1.     Truth, Lies, and Advertising

2.     Confessions of an Advertising Man

3.     Join or Die

4.     The Psychology Influence of Persuasion

5.     How Brands Become Icons

Happy reading!

Artificial Intelligence & Marketing

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

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

Friday Feature

This week we turn to a producer and director, Christin Baker. She is co-founder of tellofilms.com and proud creator of lesbian content. We worked with her on a Rapinoe spot many moons ago now. It’s our pleasure to showcase her talent. She was great to work with. To read more on the amazing work she produces, visit her IMDb page.

When to Send an Email

First off, please stop sending work emails on the weekends. Not only is this bad practice but you will receive an extremely low response rate. Let’s talk about what times of the day are best to send emails for high open and response rates. There is no one size fits all for this but data shows that there are some optimal times that people will open their emails. Of course, work emails sent between 9-5 have the best open rate but it should be noted that 47% of emails are opened outside of work hours on mobile devices. However, between 8-10am seems to be the sweet spot on the best time to send an email. You should never send an email during lunch time and early afternoon between 1-2pm are great times to send. Let’s look at the best days to send an email. Studies show that sending emails on Monday is really bad. Tuesday through Thursday are the best for open rates. Some studies say that actionable emails may do better later in the week but newsletters and educational should be sent earlier in the week. In regard to response rates, the data shows something different. Response rates tend to be highest between 8pm-4am. All this data is interesting and can be used a guide to help you find when the best time for your business is to send emails. Remember, 60% of emails are opened within the first hour of sending.

Brief History of Advertising

It all started with newspaper. Someone wanted to place an ad in the paper so they reached out to an agent who represented newspapers. They compiled lists of papers and placed ads in them on behalf of brands who wanted to advertise. Newspapers would negotiate with the agent who would get on the list. The agent also contracted with the newspaper for large amounts of space at discounted rates. They would then resell these spaces to advertisers at a marked-up rate. They worked on commission from the media outlets for the advertising that he gathered for them. The first agency was created in Philadelphia in 1841 by Volney Palmer, who was brought by Francis Ayer. Francis published an annual publication listing newspapers from which agencies sought business, their rates and their circulation.  As the industry grew brokers began to offer more than just ad placement services and branched out into research, promotions and marketing strategy. They worked on behalf of the advertisers rather than the publishers. This conflict of interest in payment led to the later shift of fees over commissions. Ad agencies became the experts in the mid 19th century. During the 20thCentury ad agencies grew and became more creative with elaborate “brand personalities” and drama in the 50’s and 60’s. It was in this era that agencies became global giants from mergers, such as Ogilvy, WPP and Omnicom. By the 1980’s measuring results became increasingly important from clients and have continued to get more sophisticated. Information brought to you by The SAGE Handbook of Advertising.

Customer Retention Strategies

Almost 65% of a business comes from repeat customers. That’s a big chunk of revenue. It’s also cheaper to retain customers than it is to get new ones. Customer satisfaction is greatly linked to retention numbers but there are some strategies to consider on top of this.

1.     Offer a loyalty program. I don’t know about you but we love loyalty programs! We love those little stamp cards to fill up so we can get something for free. This may not be the type of service that your brand can offer but think of some fun ways to start a loyalty program for your die-hard customers. They’ll appreciate being appreciated and WOM will increase even more.

2.     Build trust. We’ll say it again for those in the back. UGC builds trust with your audience. This will begin a good relationship with them that can be fostered for a lifetime.

3.     Personalize their experience. Use data to understand where they are on social media. Shout them out personally. Answer their messages and tags directly. No one wants to get a cookie cutter bounce back response.

4.     Ask for their feedback. I personally always fill out the little survey for a chance to win something. Sometimes I actually just do it because I had a not so great experience in hopes that someone will actually take it seriously. I do this more for the brands that I love.

5.     Referral programs. Offer incentives for referrals. Again, who doesn’t like to get something for free. All they have to do is put in a little work and share with family and friends. Most will go the extra mile to try to help you to help themselves. This is a BIG one. Your brand will expand while offering a loyalty to those that are already your customers.

There are so many ways to improve customer retention rates. These are but a few but it’s a good place to get started. A happy audience is crucial. Happy audience means word of mouth referrals will increase and so will your reputation and revenue.

Ad Fatigue

We all know what fatigue is and many of experience it often but what in the world is advertising fatigue? Think about it like this. You know that new song that you love and can’t get enough? Yea that one. Then, your favorite radio station plays it over and over and over and over. You get the idea. Now, it’s become your least favorite song. You’re sick of hearing it. This is what ad fatigue is except that it’s for advertisements that we’ve seen one too many freakin’ times! What’s the first thing we do when that once favorite, now annoying song comes on the radio? We change the channel. Same thing applies here for ads or your audience will become “blind” to them. As an advertiser how do you know if your ad is causing ad fatigue? Here are a couple of signs.

1.     Drops in CTR

2.     Increasing ad frequency

3.     Increasing cost per click

4.     Decrease click through rate

Once you see these factors come into play it’s not too late to fix it. These are early warning signs and can be fixed before the problem becomes a real problem. Here are some ways to decrease ad fatigue for your audience once it’s identified.

1.     Use new images or colors to freshen things up.

2.     Exclude audiences that have already engaged

3.     Decrease frequency

4.     Use multiple ad sets and put them into rotation. A good example would be the Oreo campaign we sourced content for. 2 were long and they created shorter version of them. They rotated them out often.

Don’t be a brand whose audience suffers from ad fatigue. It’s not fun for either party. Keep your ads fresh and dynamic to ensure excitement from your consumers. This list is just a few ways that your brand can dodge ad fatigue so make sure to dive in deeper to understanding how to combat it. 

Friday Feature

This week’s content feature goes out to talented movie character, Nick Darnell. We loved working with him to license his dancing video of the #sugechallenge. Not only can he act, he can definitely dance too! As we are watching this video shot in front of a Circle K gas station with the caption, “They kept tryna gas us up all weekend,” you see the gas prices on the sign behind them. WOW! This may give you an idea of how long ago we sourced this video. Give him a follow for fun content.

Seasonal Campaign Marketing

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

Instagram’s Nudge Feature

Instagram’s new(ish) nudge feature “is designed to encourage teens to discover something new and excludes certain topics that may be associated with appearance comparison,” according to The Verge. This is a serious step in the right direction since the Facebook whistle-blower, Frances Haugen, outed them for choosing profit over safety back in 2021. The trial that took place revealed documents of internal research studies resulting in data that it negatively impacts young users. Specifically, the negative impacts on teenage girls who see constant images of ideal bodies and how teens felt addicted to the platform. An external study showed that “58.2% of people agreed that these new nudges made their social media experience better.” This is step in the right direction in helping guide young women away from negative body imaging.

Business Podcasts for Advertisers

Did you know that listening to podcasts can stimulate multiple parts of your brain, such as an adrenaline rush or releasing endorphins? (UC Berkley, 2016). Podcasts have been quite the popular topic recently and we know that we listen to one every morning. It’s a great way to learn, cut down on screen time and support small businesses. Whether you’re looking to learn something specific, meditate or just be entertained, there is something out there for everyone. This short will comprise of our top 3 recommended advertising podcasts.

1.     Yeah, That’s Probably and Ad. This podcast hosted by Adweek talks about everything from marketing and media to tech and creative.

2.     The Glint Standard. Dives into issues of branding, business development and advertising. Advice from starting and running their agency.

3.     The Science of Advertising Show. Coming at you from Australia this show chats about current ads and why the influence human behavior.

There are an insanely large number of podcasts out there today for the advertising world. We could go on with many more but decided three is enough to get you started if you were looking for something new to listen to in your field. However, for more in-depth lists of advertising podcasts visit PlayerFM or Feedspot. Happy listening.

Block(chain) Party

It’s time to get down… down with blockchain that is. NFT’s are a hot topic right now along with the metaverse, bitcoin, cryptocurrency and yes, blockchain. We’ve touched on the first two of these but not these last three. When we started down this rabbit hole our first question was, what is the difference between cryptocurrency, bitcoin and blockchain? This is what we found. Blockchain is the technology that enables cryptocurrency. It’s the tech that also facilitates NFT’s. The formal definition of cryptocurrency is: “the medium of exchange created and stored electronically in the blockchain, using encryption techniques to control the creation of monetary units and to verify the transfer of funds. Bitcoin is the most common” (PWC). These are the differences between the three to clear up any confusion. According to Harvard Business Review, block chain could solve problems for record keeping since they are protected from deletion, tampering and revisions. These records could be kept as embedded digital codes that are stored in a database, called the blockchain. Basically, blockchain could be the future of record keeping, so it’s not just all about the cryptocurrency here. Blockchain is transparent since every single transaction in its history can be tracked. The blockchain can even be automated with algorithms removing the need for certain parties to be involved externally. It is quick and efficient as well as extremely secure. It seems that there are a ton of benefits to blockchain technology so why haven’t we switched over yet? Well, it’s a lot more complex. There are some barriers that will take time. Peer to peer networking was introduced in 2008. It could take decades to take hold and evolve into a place where it changes the landscape of transactions. Until then, keep an eye on this topic in an everchanging system as it evolves.

Friday Feature

This week our spotlight goes out to a fitness trainer, Kari who specializes in women’s weight lifting. Also known as @thedonuttrainer, this Canadian woman is a certified personal trainer and gym owner in Sarnia, ON. It was a pleasure working with this creator on one of our previous campaigns. Her social media account focuses on fitness, nutrition and weight lifting. She posts often about nutrition information, workouts and fitness tips. Give her a follow for healthy lifestyle info and proper workout techniques.