Content Marketing: Self Expression and a Brief History

It can be hard sometimes to remember what life was like before the internet. Some of you reading this may not have even been around for those “prehistoric” days. When we think of content creation our minds go to videos and creators on social media platforms, but there was a time when content creation was something else. Content creation at is core is the ultimate form of self-expression. Before the internet self-expression was embodied through photography, written and spoken word. In reality, content creation goes all the way back to the 1800’s. Some argue that it may even go back to Ben Franklin in 1732 when he created Poor Richard’s Almanac to promote his printing business. No one really knows exactly what moment content creation began, but in the 1900’s it started to take hold. Printing presses made content creation main stream. Michelin Guide was printed in 1900 and Jell-O release a recipe book in 1904. These types of content would reign until the conception of the internet.

The internet began in the 1960’s as a result of the Cold War. it was started as a means for government to share information between researchers even if under attack and was called Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET). The official birthday of the web is considered to be January 1, 1983 after much development and transition to widespread infrastructure. We cannot get into the entirety of the history of the internet because that information could fill a novel. It was in the 90’s that blogging, then called online diaries, became popular. This was the first recorded digital content creation of our time. Shortly after, in 1997, social media platforms are constructed. The first one was called Six Degrees and would be followed by the famed Myspace in 2003. We remember when Myspace first came out and you better believe we decked it out with our favorite songs, back drops and thoughts. This was the first of its kind and was the parent site of those we know today: Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. These all become mainstream in the 2000’s. Younger generations would probably find it strange that we’ve actually had our Facebook accounts since the very launch back in 2004. YouTube was founded shortly after in 2005 that created opportunities for vloggers and video editors. Thusly, the era of the digital content creation was spawn.

The first digital content creator and/or social media influencer was a person named Jeffree Star in 2003. He was known for his controversial opinions and unique fashion style on his Myspace profile. The formation of Myspace was the first time that people began to realize that they could create content as a representation of who they are. This took off like wildfire and not long after, influencers started popping up everywhere around 2009. This new era of self-expression through means of digital content was something that almost all of us would embrace. Some more than others. It was an outlet for creativity. A place for us to get thoughts out of our heads and help others in similar fields. It’s creative freedom. Content is what we do. We believe in user-generated content as a means to connect authentically. The future will be ruled by self-expression, and we’re here for it.

Social Media Advertising

At this point, you should know the benefits of social media marketing. There are billions of people on social media platforms. That’s billions of potential customers just waiting to be tapped into. Your brand can use data from users to target a certain customer demographic when using social media ads and track ROI directly. Here are some tips to get the best bang for your buck on social media ads.

1. Know your audience. Who is your target audience? This is important to know and chances are if you’re brand is on social media, you already know which channels are relevant for you. Here is a quick breakdown of who hangs out where in terms of social media channels.

   1. Facebook tends to be more boomers as well as the age range from 25-34

   2. YouTube is age 18-35 with emphasis on video content (that should be a no brainer).

   3. Instagram is age 18-34 and Millennial dominant.

   4. Twitter age 25-49 that is dominated by the educated and the wealthy.

   5. LinkedIn is age 46-55 and predominantly for working professionals.

   6. TikTok age 10-19 and predominantly female.

   7. SnapChat ages 13-17, 25-34 but dominated by teens.

2. Know your objective. It’s important to know what your social ad objective are.

   1. Are you looking to increase your brand awareness?

   2. Are you trying to increase your reach?

   3. Are you trying to tap into new audiences?

   4. Are you looking for more engagement?

   5. Looking to generate more leads?

3. Use organic posts to inform. Use current posts to see what it is that your followers like to see. Which ones got high engagement? Which one got a lot of likes?

4. Measure results. Use the insights from your advertisements. Who is seeing them? How is the response? Which ones did the best and look at the times they went out. This can help you make real time adjustments. This will also show which ones are not working.

Social media can be a great tool for your brand. Not only can it generate new business, it can help you understand your audience as well.

Holiday Advertising 2022

We’ve recently been looking into current consumer trends, such as Found Content: Recession Proofing Costs. In this article we talk about how consumers are now spending more on essentials and less on luxury in the wake of economic downturns. It is important that brands are not being insensitive with their messaging in regards to their audiences’ financial positions. This is especially true for luxury item brands. Yesterday, we posted the 2023 consumer trends from a GWI Report that shows consumers are beginning to exhibit even more particularity with their budgets going into the new year. Consumers’ top three reasons to decide to buy from a brand right now are quality at 53%, cost at 36% and trust at 32%. It’s certain that consumers are spending more frugally do to their economic hardships. That being said, in the wake of the pandemic, most consumers are still opting to spend on travel and in person experiences, despite economic situations. These luxury experiences will not be seeing any dip any time soon as everyone is ready to experience the world again. This is important to know for brands as they should focus on in person engagements for their audiences’ in order to connect with them. Another trend that is a consequence of the pandemic is that of online shopping. This trend doesn’t seem to be going anywhere either and it’s crucial that brands have an omnichannel UX for their consumers where they can get immediate attention (consumers are short on time) across any and all channels. Brands would do well to invest in their digital spend to improve their e-commerce and digital advertising. Keeping the pandemic and economy in mind, it shouldn’t need to be said that whatever brands do they need to make sure that they can shift gears easily. We now know that nothing is certain and that it’s important to be able to change your strategies quickly and without difficulty. Going with the flow is a trend of the future that everyone should get on board with. Happy Holidays and we hope this helps your brand understand consumer trends going into 2023.

Increasing Creative Control Through Found Content

Creative Control: the power to exercise the final authority over the planning and execution of an artistic medium, such as a film, commercial, a song, etc. We often think of produced shoots as having complete, immense creative control from the production and directing teams from start to finish of a campaign or project. However, here at Locomotive, we believe that when using found content in marketing and advertising campaigns, it in fact gives the team more creative control than that of a produced shoot. Not to mention it saves time, money and the environment. With an extensive and endless supply of creator content out there, this leaves the imagination with limitless possibilities. Brands create their initial briefs based on their own set of guidelines. But, with millions of new content being uploaded each day, no matter what their creative parameters may be, there will always be fresh content to curate from. You can literally take the same creative brief from two months ago and find completely new content to fit the same exact bill. The content that is found can also shift the campaigns themselves as they progress. It depends on what kind of stuff we’re finding. Maybe we find something that they hadn’t intentionally set out to include and the brand loves it, so they decide to make a slight shift in their creative direction. The beauty of found content campaigns is that the brand gets to decide which pieces of content align with their values and appeals to their particular audience. They set the tone. They choose which pieces they want or don’t. We provide our clients with a monumental list of content during the curation process. If they say they need five pieces we’ll give them twenty to choose from. Brands can also get creative with how they use UGC in their marketing strategies. The creative possibilities are truly endless.

Friday Feature

This week our feature is an entrepreneur of Hazel Coffee Co., Hailey Polidori. Her coffee shop is an all mobile coffee bar in Austin, TX. Their mission is to bring creatives and community together. They serve locally roasted beans and offer bookings for events. You can request a quote by clicking the link on their website. Not only does she own this cutting-edge coffee shop, she is a content creator, a photographer and YouTuber. We’ve had the pleasure of working with Hailey and hope to do it again in the future.

Feel Good Friday: Types of Creativity

We work with so many creative people in our industry and each one is unique in their very own way. Content creators, creative directors. You name it, we’ve worked alongside them to help make the best UGC campaigns possible. We’ve always been under the impression that you are either creative or you’re just not but apparently, and surprising, this is not the case. There are four different types of creativity, according to neuroscienctists. Did you know this? That means we’re all creatives in one way or another. The four ways of creativity are deliberate & cognitive, deliberate & emotional, spontaneous & cognitive and spontaneous & emotional. Let’s dive in to each type.

1.     Deliberate & Cognitive: This comes from the prefrontal cortex of the brain tasked with focused attention and forming connections between information. This type of creativity is associated with a scientist. It requires a lot research, investigation and problem-solving as well as a lot of time and knowledge.

2.     Deliberate & Emotional: This style of creativity requires quiet time and has to do with those “ah-ha” moments. It is influenced by our emotions and those with this creative style tend to be logical/rational as well as emotional. Located in the amygdala and cingulate cortex, these moments happen someone suddenly thinks of a solution working on a problem in a particular emotional state.

3.     Spontaneous & Cognitive: Taking place in the basal ganglia of the brain, this type in unconscious by doing an unrelated activity. “Eureka Moments” type of creativity. Your unconscious mind took over and solved the problem for you. We’ve all had this happen when we’re doing something mundane like the dishes when a big answer just comes to you out of the blue for something else.  

4.     Spontaneous & Emotional: This type of creativity is associated with musicians and artists and comes primarily from the amygdala that deals solely with emotions. These moments occur when the prefrontal brain is just chilling. Some call these the “epiphany” moments, where rare discoveries take place. This is a style that cannot be worked on. This is the creativity we think of when we think of being creative. The, “you either have it or you don’t” kind. We all have it but some just more than others.

What’s interesting is that most of us are dominant in one type of creativity but not limited to it. Someone can be an engineer as well as a writer. Creativity is more important in business than one might think.  If you understand what creative strengths you bring to the table for your current or future employers you will be more confident and know what roles suit you best. When it comes to hiring, the opposite can be said. You need to know what type of creative style you’re looking for each role you are trying to fill.  You want the right type creative people working for your brand in the right roles. So ,it’s key that you understand which type creative individuals you are looking for.

History of User Generated Content

Did you know that the first massive user-generated content composition was the Oxford English Dictionary? Yep, that’s right! It was composed solely of contributions aggregated by the public in 1857. To look back throughout the history of UGC in the media however, one would have to go all the way back to 1840 with the first U.S. patent for photography. Because if you think about it, this was when the rise of photography and film began. You can’t have user-generated content without users having access to cameras and although, it won’t become publicly available until much later this was the when the birth of UGC would be. After this, in 1990 there were several electronic bulletin board systems based on UGC, which would then later be converted to websites with the creation of the internet. For example, IMDB, Flickr, and Wikipedia are a few. These sites were basically informational and still images. Later, video content would be publicly popularized with sites such as YouTube in 2005. Also in 2005, BBC set up a UGC content team in response to a London bombing that bolstered “citizen journalism.” A year later in 2006, CNN started a similar campaign called iReport. This was the same year that Time magazine published “Person of the Year: You” that hailed to the rise of user-generated content due to YouTube and other up and coming social media platforms, such as MySpace. This is quite a brief history but it gives an idea on how far user-generated content has come since its inception. Now, we have influencer marketing and customer reviews. Literally, UGC is everywhere. Advertising now harnesses it because it has great ROI for campaigns, higher conversion rates and it builds overall trust between consumers and brands. With the technological advancements happening everywhere, UGC isn’t going anywhere and it’s just getting started. It’s our specialty!

Neuromarketing

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

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

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

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

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

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

Multitasking: Jack of All Trades, Master of None

Did you know that only 2.5% of people can multitask efficiently? The rest of us, however, although we may think we’re good at it, are not. A study done by the University of London found that multitasking during cognitive tasks actually decreases your IQ to someone who has stayed up an entire night with no sleep. Another study conducted by the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance showed that it lowers your brain’s efficiency as it forces it to change gears while switching between tasks. Multitasking divides our attention and requires brain power to switch back and forth. The more complicated the task, the longer it takes our brains to make the adjustments, lowering its performance as brain cells respond slower and slower each time.

Most of us have grown up in hussle culture, where we’ve been told that getting more done in a smaller amount of time is how we should work. This type of thinking couldn’t be further from the truth. To produce quality work over quantity of work, undivided cognitive attention on a single job is necessity. Unfortunately, you cannot have your cake and eat it too. Quality will always suffer in quantity and quality can only be obtained without quantity. Monotasking is what we’re hardwired for. When the attention is focused on a single duty, the left and right prefrontal cortex work together in unity. Scientist from Paris have discovered that our brain will literally split the left the right prefrontal cortex when performing two separate workloads at once. This causes us to make up to three times more mistakes and makes us to forget details of all work done simultaneously. Of course, we’re talking about complex tasks here, not listening to music while washing the dishes. To top that off, we only have a limited amount of attention that we can give to things in a day so, attention fatigue is the real deal. Guard it with great regard.

While multitasking is necessary to some degree in the tech savvy world that we live in today, we can take steps to improve our focus throughout our day. Start by dedicating specific chunks of time to each particular task. Take 30 minutes for one thing before moving on to the next. If you have to schedule each slot out in your calendar, do it. It will be worth it. Second, stop constantly checking your emails. Studies show that you’ll be less stressed and able to focus for longer periods of time. You’ll also get less screen time in and work more efficiently. As business leaders it’s important to teach and nurture your teams’ monotasking abilities. Organization, communication and simplicity will make for a more productive employee. Help them prioritize their work tasks and give them small breaks throughout their day to stay refreshed. Face to face communications are key to explaining expectations clearly. Be the kind of boss that promotes less multitasking and high-quality work! Advocate for masters of their craft, not the jack of all trades.

Staying Focused at Work During the Holidays

The holiday season is a time of year when we’re all enjoying parties, gift exchanges, travelling and shopping. It can be difficult to stay focused at work until your holiday vacation actually begins. It’s very easy to get overloaded in your personal & professional life. In fact, a study done by Ladders found that 50% of U.S. employees start losing focus at work in mid-December. Here are some tips on things you can do to combat that FOMO at work during the holidays so you can finish your professional year out strong.

1.     Get your day started with a workout: This might be our number one. There’s nothing like that energized feeling you get after your morning workout. It’s a great mood booster. If you find yourself having a hard time getting started with this one, lay your clothes out the night before and only commit to doing 2 minutes to start. Chances are you’ll do more than 2 once you get going.

2.     Minimize distractions & don’t multitask: Break your time into blocks for focused attention on one task at a time. If you try to do too many things at once your work quality will suffer. You may think that you’re getting more done but studies have shown that multitasking actually reduces your productivity by 40%, according to Psychology Today. Also, it’s important to reduce distractions when you’re trying to focus your attention on one task. Put your phone where you can’t see it. Don’t think about personal life obligations while you’re working.

3.     Make lists: We love lists! We have a To Do list, a holiday gift list, a wish list, a social media list. Every time we have an idea we right down immediately on one of those lists located in our Notes on our iPhone. When it comes to work, prioritize your tasks and see which ones can wait until the New Year.

4.     Know your holiday schedule and communicate it: Most of us have a lot of commitments during the holidays. It’s important to know your schedule and communicate it to your co-workers and superiors in order to get the time you need without getting bogged down with unexpected work tasks at the wrong time. Also, let your boss know that you can’t work overtime during the season and take early days when you can. Most employers are understanding as long as you communicate with them your expectations in advance.

5.     Take some time off: If you have some time left to take at the end of the year, take it! Go spend some time with friends and family doing something fun and festive. This will help you stay motivated in the office if you’re feeling refreshed from a few days of festivities here and there.

6.     Get end of year projects done early: Be aware of the end of year projects so you can get a head start on them. Try to get them done early so that when it comes time to take those days off you’re not stressed out and panicking to get everything done at the office. Aside from this, start your personal tasks earlier as well. Bake those cookies early. Get the shopping started in advance. This way you’re also not feeling a sense of overwhelming anxiety at work spilling over from your to do list in your personal life!

It’s important to remember what the holidays are all about. It’s about a time of joy spent with loved ones. It’s a time to do kinder things for those who may be in need. Once we leave the office we leave our work there so we can fully enjoy this time of year and the nostalgia that it can bring. That being said, as we wind down the year, we always find this is a good time to reflect on the past year behind us. What went well this year? What didn’t go well? What can we do better? But, once we leave the office, we leave our business there so we can fully enjoy the season.

Feel Good Friday: Sparking Creative Inspiration

 It’s time to spice things up again here at Locomotive. Every Friday for the next few weeks (maybe months) we will be focusing on topics that will inspire you. Today, our first topic will be ways to spark inspiration for all our creatives out there. Let’s face it, we all suffer from lack of inspiration here and there so it’s always nice to have something you can fall back on when these creative blocks hit and the deadlines are creeping in. What in the world is inspiration anyhow? Let’s define it. It has been defined by psychologists as a motivation from external sources that cause someone to have an idea and/or creatively produce something. We’ve done some digging on ways to spark creativity when you’re in a rut.

1.     Journal. Seeing your thoughts written down can offer insight into new ideas. Free journaling is recommended. Just grab a pencil and get going. Don’t think about what you’re writing just let it flow. We like to use the laptop since it’s faster to get our thoughts out than with typing than actually writing. Not only does this help spark new ideas, it clears your mind and lets you see a clearer picture of things. We highly recommend doing this not only to spark creative inspiration.

2.     Mix up your routine. Doing the same thing over and over day in and day out can feel like you’re living in the movie Groundhog Day. No wonder our creative juices stop flowing here and there. It’s important to shake it up in your personal and professional life. Try a different order in your routine. Go for your run in the morning instead of after work or try to change the order of your daily work flow. Maybe take a later or earlier lunch. Things that may have worked for you in the past may not be working now. We adapt quickly and become complacent. We get bored. You can’t expect different results doing the same things you have always done. 

3.     Spend time with artists or other creatives in your field. Everyone thinks and creates differently. Spending time with other creatives will allow you to bounce ideas off one another and potentially spark new ones. It’s not only good for this but important to spend time with like-minded individuals in your field, so it also benefits your networking practices. 

4.     Rearrange your space. Look up some basic Feng Shui. What usually gets your inspired n the physical sense? Imitate that and attempt to recreate it. Add some living things to the area. What better to inspire thoughts than vegetation? If you want to get really deep with this, certain plants possess certain properties. For example, mother-in-law’s tongue acts as an air purifier. There’s no better way to provoke creation than something that does just that.

5.     Branch out into new styles of music. Who doesn’t like to discover new jams that they vibe with? We enjoy all styles of music but of course, we have our favorite go to’s. Switch up the style of music that you find yourself listening to often. Throw in some bluegrass or dive into something cultural, such as Afro-Caribbean. Get crazy!

6.     Meditate. The benefits of meditation reach far beyond promoting creativity. It reduces stress and allows you to see new perspectives. It increases self-awareness by focusing on your breath and letting go of thoughts. It’s a great way to clear your head. Again, something we recommend doing not just to motivate creative thought.

7.     Try something new. We love trying new things! Adventure tends to spur new thought processes. Typically, you’re learning something when you try new things. It gets your mind working and, most likely, unlocking potential brain power in new ways.

These are just a few ways to inspire creativity when you’re stuck. Adding on to this and creating your own list is a great way to combat blocks. Think back to some times when you felt your most creative. What were the circumstances? Write them down. What were you doing when you had that really brilliant idea? This will give you insight into what works for you. You can use that. Happy creating!  

Found Content: Recession Proofing Costs

Americans feel terribly about the state of the economy right now. We can’t say we disagree. Just this week we wrote an article  on holiday consumer spending trends during times of financial distress this season. Advertising agencies and brands are not immune to the economic hardships that we are all currently facing. Everyone is navigating budget cuts for advertising spend. This is yet another reason how found content in your marketing and advertising strategies can help recession proof your brand’s budget this year. The cost effectiveness of UGC makes for a good plan to combat these budget cuts and rising cost of production.

Let’s break it down for you. Most produced commercials can cost anywhere between $5,000 and $20,000. But, depending on the resources used, it can hike up to $50,000-$100,000. That’s seriously a lot of dough for something that’s going to last a roughly 60 seconds! UGC campaigns can run anywhere from $3,000 to $25,000. Starting costs are much lower for UGC campaigns than a produced one. Even the highest amount that you could possibly pay is way under top dollar production shoots. Of course, there will be editing costs and some others associated with them in post, but it still won’t rack up to what a production team would cost you, plus actors, plus post. You get the idea.

There is also evidence that the ROI on found content campaigns is very high in comparison to money spent, according to case studies conducted by Pixlee. So, not only do you spend less of your budget, you see higher returns. This means higher engagement, high click through rates, high return to site visitors, more credibility. We could go on for a while. We love found content. If you think that your brand would benefits from found content campaigns, please don’t hesitate to reach out this holiday season and let’s get a conversation started. Happy Holidays!

Competitive Analysis

Who are your competitors? We’ll wait while you think about it….

Have you thought about this before? If not, you should be. Knowing your competitors is important to your brand’s success. You need to know what your advantages and disadvantages are. What makes your brand different? What do you have to offer that they don’t? Conducting regular competitive analysis will keep your brand at the forefront of your industry. You should first know who your direct, indirect and substitute competitors are. Once you know this, you can begin to gather information about them. How do their products and services compare to yours? What about their pricing? What is their reach and where do they engage their customers? Once you have done this it is time to move on to the next step. Review their website and online presence. Is their target market the same as yours? What type of reputation do they have and how does it compare to your brand? How big is their brand compared to yours and who do they work with? This can give your brand insight into future partnerships for yours. Lastly, what are their strengths and weaknesses as a company?

Once you have done all of this and answered all of these questions, you can determine your position relative to your competitors. What’s your advantage and disadvantage? This can help your brand improve on areas of weakness and increases your strengths. Areas of opportunity will become apparent and your brand can grow. So, have you done a competitive analysis lately? If not, it’s time to finish out the year strong with improvements going into the new year!

Benefits of Influencer Marketing

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

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

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

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

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

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

Found Content in Holiday Marketing & Advertising

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

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

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

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

YouTube Stats 2022

We deal quite a lot with content creators on YouTube for our projects. It’s one of the things we’re most grateful for this Thanksgiving day! It’s by far one of the best places for user generated uploaded video content. It’s importance in the UGC advertising industry is quite considerable. Just in case you don’t believe us, we thought we would throw together some interesting stats that may change your mind.

1.     YouTube is used by 55% of marketers (Social Media Examiner)

2.     84% of people bought from a brand after seeing it on YouTube (Optinmonster)

3.     78% of people agree that they use YouTube because it serves them with content that is personally relevant to them (YouTube)

4.     56% of marketers say that YouTube offer the biggest ROI (HubSpot Blog Research, 2022)

5.     YouTube is the world’s second largest search engine after Google (Search Engine Journal)

a.     Search engines drive 93% of all website traffic (SEO Statistics)

6.     50% of all social media users are on YouTube. There are 2 billion users (Omnicore Agency)

We could go on for hours on the many amazing stats of the YouTube platform. It’s hard to believe that it launched only 17 years ago by a guy named Jawed Karim. It provides content in all genres of topics. Pretty much anything you can think of is on there. If you can think of it, someone will have a channel for it. This colossal giant is worth 180 billion when writing this. Make sure your brand is harnessing the potential of this platform, whether it be for sourcing user generated content or promoting your brand via advertising. It is not to be disregarded. 

Where do People Seek Product Information?

You want to buy a new jean jacket. What’s the first thing you do to get started in your process of finding that perfect jacket for you? The answer to this question is going to be different for everyone reading this because research says it depends on what generation you are part of. It also depends on which populations we look at around the world. For the sake of this article we will stick with the states. Let’s start by taking a look at each form of product discovery and how each generation takes part. According to HubSpot research, the most popular forms today, in order of usage are: web searches, retail store, television ads, word of mouth, online reviews, social media, and YouTube ads. It’s interesting to note that Boomers are the highest percentage in each category followed successively in the order of younger generations. However, once you reach the social media category and YouTube ads this trend changes. Gen Z takes the lead for highest percentage in each category followed by older generations successively (HubSpot). Looking to other statistics of overall sources of information on products in the U.S. this year, search engines still top at 55% of all people, customer reviews & online stores tie at 33%, 30% of people in the store, followed by 29% on brand websites and apps (Statista). There is some overlay here. Both contain that search engines at the number one spot. They both include online reviews and retail stores. Focusing highly on these for your brand to increase product awareness is a good way to for new products to hit the market. We could dive much deeper into this topic but the rabbit hole is quite long. We will leave you with this concise snippet of the top ways that people discover new products.

Is Brick-and-Mortar Retail Still Relevant?

Times have changed for retail. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, which increased ecommerce by staggering amounts with brick and mortar shops having to close their doors. Now that this unprecedented time is over, what does it mean for brick and mortar retail stores? Are they at risk or are they here to stay? Those who made the proper adjustments during the pandemic were able to keep their locations afloat and now they have areas for expansion in their business. Actually, in 2021 store openings topped store closures for the first time in five years, according to Coresight Research via CSNBC. There are a few key reasons why this is happening. First, not all customers buy online. Older generations tend to lean on retail location for their purchases. Second, it provides a better face-to-face customer experience. Millennials turn to spending money on experiences rather than material items and retail locations can offer both. Also, customer service in this setting gives the buyer the option to speak with a real person about the products or services they will purchase. Third, it provides a convenience that may not be available with recent supply chain disruptions. While older generations, such as Boomers and Gen X prefer retail stores to learn about new products, 14% Gen Z still use brick and mortar stores to learn about new products as well, according to HubSpot. The future looks bright for brick and mortar retail but they should adopt an omnichannel strategy in order to fulfill a seamless customer journey as well as offer options for their audiences of all generations.

Best Social Media Sites for Video Content 2022

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

Friday Feature

This week we turn to one of our furry friends. Our feature this week is of Max the dog from Vancouver, Canada. This fun-loving pup goes on all types of adventures and is absolutely adorable. We previously worked with his owners to license a piece of content during the COVID pandemic where his owner used him for leg presses while the gyms were closed. Captioned with “Only got to do 2 reps of my 40lb leg presses before my makeshift weight gave up.” What a fun way to get creative with your workouts! Big shout out to them for helping make one of our campaigns fun and exciting!