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What is Email Marketing? Definition and Strategies

Email is considered one of the oldest forms of digital communication. This marketing method also has one of the highest ROIs, with a return on investment of $36 for every dollar spent. In order for you to achieve this, you must arm yourself with the latest email marketing strategies.

In this article, you will get everything you need to know about email marketing. You’ll learn what email marketing is and why it is important. In addition, you will get your hands on 9 proven and tested email marketing strategies that will boost the success of your future campaigns.

What is email marketing?

Email marketing is a form of digital marketing that makes your customers on your email list aware of new products, discounts, and other services. In email marketing, brands use email to promote your brand, products, or services, as well as to incentivize customer loyalty. This marketing method can be a subtle way of informing your customers of your brand value and keep them engaged between purchases and interactions. 

As 80% of Americans check their email at least once per day, this inbound marketing method is a key component of your marketing strategy. The reason for this is that it helps with lead generation, brand awareness, relationship building, and keeping customers engaged between purchases.

Email marketing strategies to build your email campaigns

Whether it is promoting a new product, sharing a discount with your loyal customers, or launching your brand new product, identifying the right strategy for you begins with knowing what you expect to accomplish. Once you have defined a clear and measurable goal, you can use one of the following email marketing methods: 

Segment your mailing list

List segmentation is the process of dividing your subscriber list into smaller lists that share common characteristics. By using this technique, you can engage subscribers with more relevant and targeted emails. In addition, recent studies show that this email marketing strategy has a better click-through rate of 8% (CTR) and drives 18 times more revenue compared to general emails. 

As each business is different, so is each audience. You can ask your subscribers initial introductory questions during the signup process to collect valuable data about your potential customers. With this information, you will be able to segment your audience faster, which will make it easier for you to create personalized experiences for them.

Segmentation criteria include the following:

  • User information – job title, age, industry
  • Purchase history
  • Buyer’s journey

Personalization

Personalization in email marketing refers to the process of using subscriber data to enhance the individual user experience within email content. This email marketing strategy is powerful as it’s 26% more likely to be opened and can drive revenue as much as 760%.

When it comes to email marketing, the concept of personalization varies from using subscriber data (first name) in email copy and segmenting subscribers into smaller lists, to automated email sequences that provide customers with a personalized experience based on their actions. 

Email optimization

If you want your email marketing strategy to succeed, you must make sure you create long-term relationships with your subscribers. For this to happen, you need to optimize your emails, so your audience is enticed to open, read, and ultimately act on them.

Below are 5 email optimization steps you can use today to take your next email marketing campaign to the next level:

1. Create eye-catching subject lines.

A subject line can either make or break your email marketing campaign’s success. Despite being a simple one-liner, the words you choose have a huge influence on the performance as 47% of email recipients open emails based on the subject line. 

Here are some things to consider when writing your next subject line:

  • Keep the subject line to 50 characters (6 – 10 words).
  • Make it personal – open rates increase by 22%. 
  • Appeal to your subscribers’ emotions and ambitions.
  • Ask questions to increase engagement.

It’s important to keep in mind that every company and audience is different. Consider testing various subject lines to learn which approach produces the best results.

2. Evaluate sender name

Did you know that 42% of people look at who sent the email before opening it? Choosing the right sender name (from name) plays a key role in determining if your audience will read your message or if it will land in the spam box. 

To earn readers’ trust and build recognition for future emails, use the following guidelines for your email body and make sure you’ll be consistent in your approach:

  • Company name
  • Title of the series or newsletter
  • Don’t use a no-reply

3. Preheader/preview text

The email preheader (or preview text) is the text to the right of the subject line that gives a brief preview of the email. A well-written preheader draws attention and convinces people to open your emails just like a catchy subject line can. This adds valuable context to your subject line and can significantly boost your open rates.

Here are 5 best practices you can test out to create compelling preheader/preview texts:

  • Offer a CTA
  • Incentivize your audience
  • Personalize the sentence
  • Maintain text between 40 and 130 characters
  • Ask questions to increase engagement

4. Optimize content & add visuals:

In order to write catchy and compelling emails, both text and images are crucial. Research shows that the ideal text-to-image ratio is 80% text and 20% visual. However, there are brands that score amazingly with either text or images. In fact, 65% of users prefer emails that contain mostly images vs. 35% who prefer text mostly.

In order to write captivating copy for your emails, make sure the content is concise, clear, and relevant instead of overwhelming your readers. Breaking up long texts into short paragraphs by using bullet points is a great method for doing this. Make sure you include your branding visual elements as it can help you improve your messaging as it results in a better CTR.

Remember, each audience has different preferences. Make sure you test different variations – text only, image only, combination, etc. – in order to find out what resonates best with your audience.

5. Optimize CTAs

Whether your aim is to sign up new subscribers for your newsletter, launching a new product, or directing your audience to your website. Every email should contain a clear call to action (CTA) as it can improve customer engagement, grow web traffic, and ultimately result in more conversions and sales.

Use the following 5 tips to optimize your CTAs to perfection:

  • Include copy that calls for action.
  • Use button designs – 28% increase in CTR compared to link-based.
  • Leverage the power of whitespace.
  • Test your CTA placement.

A/B test your email marketing content

In A/B testing, also called split testing, is the process of testing two different versions of a campaign on your audience to see which performs better. By using this process, you can increase user engagement, reduce bounce rates, increase conversion rates, minimize risk, and create content effectively.

Before you start testing different variations, make sure you have a clearly defined goal and hypotheses to support the process. Then make sure you test one thing at a time so that it is clear as to what factors affected the results. If you test multiple things at once then you don’t know what increased or decreased your conversions. 

Here is a list of variations you can test out: 

  • Sender name 
  • Subject line
  • Long and short-form copy
  • CTA
  • Images
  • Time of sending

Optimize email deliverability

For your strategy to work, people must first receive your emails. When designing an email campaign, deliverability should be taken into account and monitored regularly. If you don’t do this, your emails are more likely to be overlooked or even deleted as they land in your subscriber’s spam folder. To increase the deliverability of your emails, consider the following practices:

  • Make sure the emails you send don’t come across as spammy or overly promotional.

  • Keep your subscriber database up to date by removing inactive contacts.

  • Prevent and decrease the number of new inactive users with double opt-in. It adds an extra step between the potential subscriber and your list.

  • Make sure users can unsubscribe by using a link. This is a must as it is part of the GDPR (Europe’s data protection regulation).

Optimize for mobile

Did you know that the number of global email users exceeds 4 billion while at least 50% of all emails sent are opened on mobile devices? You can take advantage of this potential and provide a great user experience for your subscribers by optimizing your email marketing strategy for mobile devices. While poor mobile optimization can result in a significant drop in conversions and sales opportunities since 42.3% of users will delete your emails before opening them.

Optimize your emails for mobile with the following tips.

  • Write short and concise email copy, subject lines, and preheaders so readers can see your content even on small displays.

  • Create mobile-friendly emails using responsive designs.

  • Test your emails for design, readability, and CTAs.

Decrease number of inactive subscribers

As email list decay is inevitable, by re-engaging with your audience and cleaning your list you’ll be able to decrease the number of inactive subscribers. This eventually will improve your email deliverability, decrease your costs and be able to see what percentage of people are truly engaged with your content.

Inactive subscribers can be defined by the period of time they are not active. A rule of thumb among marketers is a period of 3, 6, or 9 months. If you want inactive subscribers to re-engage, you need to find a way to make them want to receive your emails again. A simple and precise way would be to let them know they are missed. 

The second step is to move those who respond to the active list. In addition, you will notify those who don’t respond that they will be removed from your list if they don’t reply within a set period of time.

Scale and automate with email marketing automatisation software

Email marketing software is much more than a tool to send emails, segment lists, and track performance. If you are armed with the right software, you can increase business growth and earn more revenue as it streamlines your efforts, drives efficiency, and gets better ROI and conversions. 

One of the most common problems that ecommerce businesses face is abandoned cart, where products are added to carts but are not eventually checked out. In this case, email marketing becomes handy in reminding customers of their shopping carts or providing incentives for them to come back and complete their purchases.

Keep track of email marketing metrics

In order to measure the overall success of your email marketing strategy, you can analyze key email marketing metrics and start comparing them to industry benchmarks and your objectives. This helps you determine whether you are on the right track or not. If not, then use the insights to improve and refine your strategy.

Your email campaign metrics can include:

  • List growth rate
  • Open rate
  • Click-through rate
  • Unsubscribe rate
  • Bounce rate

Connecting with your audience

The best way to connect with your audience is to create email campaigns that offer relevant value and information. Cost savings, new products, new services, and product benefits show the reader that the email has value to them, and they should keep on reading.

Marketing emails are great tools to help you connect with your audience and nurture long-term relationships with them. When done correctly, email marketing campaigns motivate your customers to engage and act, which is what all businesses want when developing campaigns.

If you want a tailored marketing campaign that works for your business, get in touch with a team of experts who are ready to help you generate more sales while continuing positive relationships with your audience.

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Inside the Trends in Personalized Marketing

In the last decade alone, the way we use products and services, the devices that we use, and even our preferences have changed exponentially. The practice of using analytics and data to make advertising messages and product experiences feel unique to each customer has become more common. Personalized marketing is much more than just inserting the customer name in a marketing email or letter that goes to all customers. It’s about reaching the right person with the right and relevant message at the right moment with the right suggestions. 

As technology advances and people become increasingly dependent on digital services for their daily lives, it’s inevitable that personalization will be the prime driver of marketing success within the next five years. 

What is personalized marketing?

What is personalized marketing?

Personalized marketing is a strategy that uses data to create a personalized customer experience. By analyzing customer data, businesses can identify patterns in order to properly target and communicate with potential customers. 

The core of personalized marketing is accurate customer targeting. Therefore, it allows businesses to reach more potential customers more effectively without exhausting your budget or wasting your effort on targeting the wrong customers. 

Let’s look into why personalization is increasingly favoured by marketers today.

Demand for personalization is increasing

The rise in personalized marketing didn’t just start recently. Propelled by technological advances and the global pandemic, personalized marketing has become increasingly important for today’s customers. 

In fact, compared to 2021 when nearly 20% of customers said they would lose loyalty to a brand if they were not personalized, this number now stands at 62%. 

On the other hand, businesses are also extremely positive about implementing personalized experiences throughout their whole customer journey. Because when done right, both businesses and customers win. Some of the personalized marketing’s main benefits include:

  • While businesses that deliver poor personalization marketing efforts can lose up to 38% of their customers, the businesses that do implement it boost their overall user experience.
  • 65% of a company’s business comes from repeat customers. 78% of consumers stated that because of personalized marketing they are more likely to make repeat purchases. Nearly 80% are also more likely to refer their family and friends to these companies.
  • Personalized marketing can increase sales by 10% and deliver up to 8x the ROI on what you spend on marketing.

Dive inside the trends in personalized marketing

As companies become more familiar with personalized marketing, the industry is constantly evolving and changes are being made rapidly. Here are 5 trends you need to know to win tomorrow’s personalization game.

Mobile personalization will continue to grow

As people spend more time on their mobile devices for a variety of functions, they expect a seamlessly personalized experience on their phone. Another reason is that a mobile phone is technically a personalized space for each individual. 

The average person spends 3 hours and 15 minutes each day on their phone. Brands can collect enough customer data and behavior analytics to create and send personalized push notifications.

Push notifications can be beneficial for brands in several ways:

  • Increase app engagement by up to 88%.
  •  65% of disengaged users return to use the app within 30 days of the push notification.

Different push notifications that can do this are relevant offers, like limited-time sales, promotions, or launches and get them to spend more time browsing through the app.

With the advancements in mobile personalization technologies, it is no wonder that the global consumer mobile spending has grown to $436 billion in 2022 and it is expected to reach $728 billion by 2025. 

Meet industry-leading language-learning app Duolingo

Duolingo's personalizes message
Duolingo's personalized notification

Duolingo, a leading language-learning app, knows that users tend to get distracted and side-tracked when learning a new language. That’s why they use different features that gives a customer-centric experience to keep them engaged:

  • Duolingo uses gamification, personal progress bar, achievements, and motivational texts to keep users consistently engaged and motivated while playing the game.

  • The app keeps track of people’s usage streaks and congratulates them for using the app for a certain number of days in a row. This feature encourages users to keep using the app.

  • Duolingo keeps track of user performance and encourages them to practice certain problem areas. This personalized feature entices users to keep correcting certain mistakes and continuing to improve their language skills.

Using all of these and other tactics, Duolingo has essentially revolutionized the language-learning process for its mobile and desktop users.

Facial recognition is going to be a game-changer

Personalized marketing through facial recognition is a relatively new trend that’s gaining traction in various industries. Though new, facial recognition technology is going to be a game-changer for businesses. In fact, It has great potential for the future as experts predict that the industry will grow from $4.35 billion in 2021 to $11.53 billion by 2030. 

Facial recognition allows brands the ability to scan faces and determine key attributes like age and emotions. This technology provides the essential consumer data that can create customer-centric product promotions and subsequently improve relevant product offerings.

The pioneer of facial recognition as a marketing tool

Among the pioneers of facial recognition software is Snapchat. The social media app allows marketers to use facial recognition features within their marketing strategy. Snapchat allows brands and organizations to create filters that mold to the user’s face.

Taco Bell and Gatorade are a few examples of brands that have used Snapchat’s facial-recognition software for marketing. The brand can see how many people used the filter, how many times the filter was shared, and even swipe up or view to a specific landing page.

Digital transformations driven by AI-Powered Personalization

For years, companies have been trying to maximize the potential of artificial intelligence and machine learning to provide seamless customer experiences. AI and AR technologies are predicted to be driving one of the most prominent social media trends in 2023. 

As the competitive landscape continues to evolve, so does technology. This indicates that there’s so much potential in AI that is waiting to be discovered. 

Here are three examples of how AI has the potential to continue revolutionizing the industry:

  • AI-powered chatbots that assist customer support to enhance customer experience.
  • Personalized ad targeting and product recommendations to boost ROI and overall conversion.
  • Personalized messaging that reinforces the user experience.

In the next few years, more companies are likely to utilize artificial intelligence and machine learning for personalization. It is likely that organizations will find innovative ways to leverage these technologies to better serve their customers and enhance their customer relationships. 

Get inspired by Spotify’s AI-powered playlists

In order to thrive in a hyper competitive industry as audio streaming, Spotify uses AI-powered personalization to create entire playlists that serve as recommendations for their users. 

  • The Discover Weekly playlist: Automatically AI curated playlist of new and existing music you’re likely to love based on your listening habits.
  • The Home screen: Contains a variety of recommended podcasts, mixtapes and playlists based on moods, activities, and environmental factors like the day of the week or time of day.
  • The GetReadyWithMusic playlist: The feature uses a simple step-by-step process to create a playlist of songs that are relevant to the colors and style you are carrying. It uses a questionnaire that determines the vibe and selects the songs based on that.
  • Release Radar: Weekly recommended personalized playlist with the latest music based on the artists users follow.

Data Privacy and Cookieless Personalization movement

A total of 48% of consumers appreciate the convenience of personalization as long as their data is secure. In this current data landscape, consumers expect more control over their data and safety as well as a more personalized experience from brands with which they interact. 

In response, industry leaders like Apple and Firefox have blocked third-party cookies. In order to fill the void left by third-party cookies, brands will turn to first- and zero-party data. Zero-party data comes from surveys and polls, while first-party data comes from customer web activity.

Compared to 2021, already 37% of brands exclusively use first-party data to personalize the customer experience, which is a 6% increase. This indicates that in the following years more brands will provide cookieless experiences.

First-party data collection at its finest with V Shred

Industry-leading nutrition and fitness brand V Shred uses personalized quizzes to collect valuable customer data. After completing the 5-question questionnaire, the user will be directed to a personalized video with customer-centric recommendations on improving diet and exercise for their specific circumstances.

The information gathered in this process can be reused for marketing purposes, retargeting potential customers and enhancing the user experience.

Omnichannel Personalization holds the key to the future of marketing

Although consumers use on average three devices and more than ten channels, only a few brands are ready to deliver omnichannel customer experiences that are optimized and personalized. 

It is expected that this will dramatically change over the next few years. This is because mobile or web is no longer enough to connect with consumers. Brands will need presence across many touch points, so they can craft exceptional omnichannel experiences that will revolutionize the customer experience.

The market size was valued at $5.96 billion in 2021 and is expected to expand to a $17.92 billion valuation in 2030. The future of customer experience is more connected and personalized than ever.

Create hyper-personalisation with Netflix

With the use of Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to collect and process customer data, Netflix is able to create a hyper-personalized experience to keep the audience engaged. 

The popular streaming platform creates a seamless user experience across a variety of channels, like their website, Smart TV app, mobile app, desktop and Mac app, and even through various games consoles.

Netflix's personalized receommendations
Netflix's personalized receommendations

Personalized marketing strategy

Even though data-driven personalizations provide a multitude of opportunities, nearly two-thirds reported that this type of marketing is one of the most difficult strategies to execute. 

Don’t let that stop you from taking advantage of this powerful tool. Here are some of the personalized marketing best practices to help you get started:

Don’t over personalize

While consumers expect personalization for a seamless user experience, they don’t want over-personalization. Consumers will be three times more likely to leave a brand that ‘over personalizes’ as opposed to one that does not personalize enough. 

That means if you’re using facial recognition or AI-driven recommendations, you need to get consumer consent first. Once you have consent, any personalization methods you choose to implement should be opt-in, so that customers can choose to opt-out whenever they want.

Protect customer data

Data collection and storage are vital in order to create personalized experiences for your target audience. But remember to only collect the customer data you need and provide consumers with a copy of your business’s data privacy policy. This is because customers want to know how brands use their personal data, and if they’re using it responsibly. 

Make it easy for customers to opt-out of personalization at any point. Using data without customer consent will put both your brand reputation and customer relationships in jeopardy. In fact, using data disrespecting consumers’ data preferences will cause 68% of customers to stop purchasing.

Plan and prepare proper resources

To develop effective personalized marketing strategies, businesses need to allocate resources, front staff to funding and time, to the right tasks. Even though automation can reduce the time and labor cost of personalization, the overall strategy still needs input and planning from people.

Personalized marketing needs to be planned, targeted and tracked. Technology can handle the collection of data and information but it takes human effort to make sense of the data and how to put it to use. You have to know how willing your customers are to share their information, when to collect it, and when to send out personalized messages.

You also need to measure your marketing efforts in order to know what is working and what is not to allocate resources accordingly. Make sure your marketing team has enough resources so that you don’t overly rely on technology to handle everything. In some cases, it pays an outsource to work with a marketing agency to handle every step of the marketing process, including personalized marketing for proper strategies and implementation. 

Final thoughts

Since consumers demand more experience optimization from brands and digital data is more accessible than ever, organizations need a solution that meets these needs without compromising their user experience. 

Personalized marketing has become mainstream and it’s inevitable that it will become an increasingly significant part of the businesses of the future. 

Stay up-to-date and get your hands on all the latest news and technology with Advesa’s weekly in-depth insights and news.

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What is Brand Positioning? How to Position Your Brand for Success

What is brand positioning?

What is brand positioning?

Brand positioning can be defined as the process of getting your brand in the minds of your customers and differentiating your brand from your competitors. No matter what type of business you have, brand positioning helps customers instantly recognize and connect with your company. 

One of the most common indicator of a brand’s success is how many people know and how familiar your target audiences are with your brand. It is not enough to create an amazing product or service and hope people would flock to buy them. This is where brand positioning comes in to attract customers to you in a sustainable and effective way. 

A brand positioning's example

Defining your brand positioning is not about what you do but about how you do it. In order to clarify this statement, let’s look at an example:

For those looking for high-quality drinks, one of the names that will surely come into their minds will be Coca-Cola. Consumers associate Coca-Cola with refreshing, thirst-quenching drinks of high-quality thanks to its consistent marketing and brand positioning for decades.

The company has an extensive selection of refreshments; each offers a positive experience for consumers. In contrast to other beverage brands in the market, Coca-Cola brands itself as a product that provides happiness and positivity in customers’ lives. Ultimately, the company’s primary focus is to cater to the needs and preferences of its global customers. 

Coca-Cola's brand positioning statement

Why is brand positioning important?

Whether you cultivate it or not, every business has a brand. As a business owner, you can choose to take control by developing your own brand positioning strategy, or your customers will position your brand for you. Businesses that have developed a creative and innovative strategy and presented it consistently showed an increased revenue by 33%. That’s not all since a strong brand positioning provides the following benefits as well:

Differentiate yourself from your competitors

Did you know that 88 percent of consumers say that authenticity is a key factor when deciding what brands they like and support? Having a strong brand philosophy empowers the brand’s authenticity and boosts the brand’s trustworthiness. This helps them gain attention and attract customers whose values align theirs faster and easier. In the end, these brands will be able to develop more long-lasting relationships with their potential customers.

Simpler price justification

A strong brand positioning allows you to justify your pricing strategy. If the brand positioning aligns with the price, then the costs – no matter how high or low – become automatically reasonable in the eyes of the customers. 

Create an army of brand advocates

Brand advocacy is a term used to describe actions taken by people who love your brand and continuously support and recommend your organization. A strong brand position where the brand’s values align with customer values boosts the creation of brand advocates. These advocates play a crucial role in raising brand awareness and customer traffic, with 75% of customers saying that recommendations are a critical factor in their purchasing decisions. 

Types of brand positioning strategies

While in most industries multiple brands try to get the attention of the same target audience. There is no one-size-fits-all brand positioning, as it depends on the offer, the industry, and the audience. However, there are a variety of ways your brand’s positioning can focus on:

Quality

The quality of a product or service is a relatively easy and effective way to position your company. Since 89% of businesses compete primarily on the basis of customer experience, it’s important to distinguish yourself by focusing on the area of expertise where you stand out.

Price

Whether you position yourself as affordable or high-end, the way customers view your pricing model influences how they position your brand. By providing an affordable service that is as good or better than your competitors, you will become the go-to choice for audiences on a budget. 

However, many customers prefer brands that are priced higher because they perceive these as quality, luxury, and exclusive. So pricing is something that brands should take into consideration alongside their brand value and their target audience.

Convenience

A convenience-based positioning strategy is one that communicates how you can help make your customers’ lives easier. This can be based on factors like availability, design, or ease-of-use, even if your product is at a higher price point. Customers want things to be as convenient and timely as possible, and a brand that can offer all of those is more likely to win customers’ hearts. 

Swiffer advertises its WetJet product as a convenient alternative to a traditional mop because of its disposable mopping pads. This allows them to sell their product for a higher price point than the traditional mop which requires frequent cleaning after every use. 

Niche service

Rather than focusing on the whole market, a niche refers to a specialized segment of the market for a particular kind of product or service. Businesses that are niche-oriented experience numerous benefits, including more precise customer targeting, simple and streamlined operations, and less direct competition.

Problem and solution

Positioning your brand as the ultimate solution to a specific problem your target audience faces is a powerful way to attract them. A great way to do this is by adapting your marketing strategy to address customers’ pain points and demonstrate an immediate and actionable solution that can help them solve them. 

How to develop brand positioning strategy?

Building an effective brand positioning strategy is a process that needs to be carefully mapped out. Here are seven steps you can follow to position your brand for success:

Determine your current brand positioning

The very first step to successfully position yourself in your customers’ minds and marketing is to know where you currently stand. 

You can start by using customer segmentation to get a crystal-clear view of who your target audience is. Next, review your brand voice, which includes your mission, brand values and your unique selling point. Finally, take stock of all the insights that include the customer values, a brief definition of your target audience and an outline of your brand voice aspects.

Identify your competitors

After analyzing your own business, you want to know exactly who your competitors are. The aim during your competitor research is to see who you’re up against. Use one of the following powerful methods to identify who your competitors are:

  • Conducting market research by using relevant market keywords to discover which companies are listed, or use social media to discover competitors in your niche.
  • Use customer feedback and ask your customers which businesses or products they were considering before choosing yours.

Conduct competitor research

Conducting competitor research provides you the information on what you can implement in your brand positioning strategy to gain an edge. In order to be able to compete, you need to analyze how your competitors are positioning their brands. 

The fastest and simplest way to do this is getting answers to the following questions:

  • What products or services do your competitors offer?
  • What are their strengths and weaknesses??
  • What marketing strategies are they using successfully?
  • What is their position in the current market?

Compare your positioning to your competition

Now you’ve determined who your competitors are and what their strengths and weaknesses are, you can start comparing your brand with theirs. Take what you’ve learned about other brands in your industry, the target audience, and the market in general, and use it to compare your current positioning to your competition. 

An effective documenting tool you can use is a SWOT analysis. This process will help you see where your brand shines and where it falls short compared to your competitors. After understanding your competitors’ brand position in the market, you can discover what makes your brand unique. 

Define what makes your brand unique

Building a unique brand with a strong brand positioning is about finding the unique selling point that distinguishes you from the rest of the market. There is a high chance that after conducting competitor research, you have found areas where you excel and competitors don’t. 

The ideal scenario would be to position yourself as the best affordable product that also offers the highest quality, best service, and most convenient solution. But in reality, there will only be one or two areas where your brand stands out. These will define what your brand positioning will be and where you can improve to boost and maintain your position.

Create a brand positioning statement

It’s time to take everything you’ve learned and create a statement that positions your brand for success. According to The Cult Branding Company, “a position statement is a one or two sentence declaration that communicates your brand’s unique value to your customers in relation to your main competitors.”

In order to create a strong position statement, there are 4 critical questions you must  answer first:

  • Who is your target audience? Use customer segmentation to clearly define who your target audience is. This helps you to get in the minds of the customers.
  • What is your unique position in the market? Take a look at your competition and make sure you can articulate in a concise way how your brand is superior. 
  • What’s the greatest benefit of your brand, product, or service? Note exactly what the best thing is about your product or service and continuously highlight this to your customers. This benefit should align with the most important customer values
  • What is the proof of that benefit? Whether it’s offering a guarantee or using statistics to back up your claim, prove what you say about your brand is true.

From there, you can craft a simple but compelling positioning statement. It should be looking something like this:

[Your brand] provides/helps [your target audience] with [Your unique position/solution in the market] achieve [greatest benefit of your brand/product/service] because [the reason why/proof of that benefit]

Here is an example of a positioning statement in practice:

For athletes in need of high-quality, fashionable athletic wear, Nike provides customers with top-performing sports apparel and shoes made of the highest quality materials. Its products are the most advanced in the athletic apparel industry because of Nike’s commitment to innovation and investment in the latest technologies.

Implement your new brand positioning

Congratulations, you have created your own brand position statement. Now it’s time to ensure all brands’ communication towards your customers reflects your new brand’s position statement.

This includes informing employees, stakeholders and even your customers. In the long term you want to reevaluate the messaging, tone, and voice that you use on other marketing materials, or on social channels. If it no longer aligns with your new positioning, then it’s time to adjust it.

Evaluate and reinforce

Your last step is to review your statement consistently by gathering data and customer insights. The constant goal should be to establish an emotional connection with prospects and customers. This is because your customers’ needs are always changing, and so are your competitors’ strategies. Therefore it is crucial to consistently monitor how your customers view your brand.

Key takeaways

When it comes to defining your brand positioning statement, it is not a one-size-fits-all statement that can be copied and pasted. It is an ongoing process that takes time and testing to figure out what characteristics will define your brand positioning. When done correctly, your statement will unite your organization, enhance the overall customer experience, and will make your marketing efforts easier.

How to develop brand positioning strategy?

  • Determine your current brand positioning
  • Identify your competitors 
  • Conduct competitor research 
  • Compare your positioning to your competition
  • Define what makes your brand unique
  • Create a brand positioning statement
  • Implement your new brand positioning
  • Evaluate and reinforce

With the information given in this article, now it is the time to put them to use to develop your own brand positioning strategy. 

Did you know that creating a seamless digital experience for your customers is one of the most effective ways to position your brand in their minds and in the marketplace. Working with a team of branding experts can help you capture your story and create an impactful lifelong brand statement and strategy. 

To learn more about branding, make sure you check out these branding articles on how to maximize the potential branding has for your business.

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What is Contest Marketing and How Can It Work For Your Brand?

Contest marketing – one of the best ways to “win” over new users and brand advocates. In the rise of social media, the use of contests, sweepstakes and giveaways have evolved and become redesigned to suit our new online culture. 

Both big and small brands are able to leverage contest marketing to amplify their brand message, gain new online engagement and bring their products to the forefront of potential consumer’s social media feeds such as Facebook contests or Instagram contests.. 

While online remains king for contest marketing, there are a number of brands still effectively integrating traditional marketing and in-store contesting to help meet their needs. These types of contests are often integrated with some form of digital marketing or data collection.

These kinds of campaigns involve more than just contesting on Facebook. With so many options to explore in the world of contest marketing, where do we even begin? What strategies are best employed to create an efficient marketing strategy? 

In this article, we examine the undeniable impact of contest marketing and examples of effective strategies to impact your brand’s bottom line through a customer-first contest experience.

Here’s what we’ll cover

What is Contest Marketing?

Contest marketing is a marketing strategy that utilizes contests, giveaways, sweepstakes or lotteries to boost brand awareness and reach new potential customers. 

This type of marketing capitalizes on the consumer desire for free stuff. The thrill and rush of winning the contest is a prize in itself and motivates many individuals to enter contests despite the low odds of ever actually winning. Contest marketing is an undeniable force in the world of experiential marketing and has significantly evolved over the years, particularly in relation to social media and online contesting.

There is no limit to the creativity that you can integrate into your marketing strategy. It can take various forms both on and offline. These several forms span both traditional and digital marketing, including:

  • Social media contests on Facebook, Instagram or other social media platforms
  • Website-based contests that gather consumer information through a collection form
  • Email and SMS based contests that gather consumer information through email marketing or texts
  • In-store contests

While these examples are the most common forms of contest marketing, there are endless opportunities to integrate contests into your current marketing strategies. Contests are a way of “game-ifying” your promotions to create unique brand engagement opportunities and call to actions through the use of the contest. 

The benefits of an effective marketing strategy can include increased online engagement both on your website and social media, increased consumer sales and increased access to your customers through email lists, SMS contact lists or other ways of direct to consumer marketing.

Contest Marketing is just one form of Inbound Marketing campaign. It’s important to find one that not only fits with your brand’s identity, but your client base as well. Here is “Inbound Marketing: Definition and Strategy” to help you develop a solid marketing strategy.

How Do You Create An Effective Contest Marketing Campaign?

When executed effectively, a contest marketing campaign can achieve any number of business goals. For many brands, this marketing type is a significant tool in their marketing arsenal to help break up the monotony of their content or marketing. In order to maximize its impact, we recommend integrating content marketing into your overall marketing strategy, both in traditional marketing and online. 

Brands who cross-market their contests see their brand exposure increase overall compared to brands that run contests in isolation from their other marketing work.

In order for a contest marketing campaign to be successful, it is important to create a strategy that compliments your campaign and overall goals and objectives.  When developing a marketing strategy, there are several key considerations to keep in mind, including:

  • A set of goals and outcomes you hope to achieve
  • A strategy for helping to align your contests with your other digital marketing strategies such as social media, website content, SEO, email marketing and advertising initiatives.
  • A process for determining a winner and delivering prizes. Although it may seem simple, it is important for this process to be well thought out and efficient in order to keep the trust of your consumers.
  • A way to track the performance of the contest in order to track efficiency and outcomes. This will help to guide your contest marketing strategy in the future

5 Examples of Successful Contest Marketing Campaigns

1. Lego Themed Contests

contest marketing examples
Contest Marketing is just one of many marketing campaigns that a Social Media Manager will facilitate. (www.twitter.com/LEGO_Group)

Lego’s social media content strategy relies heavily on user-generated content. Their social media feeds feature fan-created Lego art and their contest marketing strategy honours this experience. 

Through themed creator contests, Lego encouraged their followers to create themed Lego art and share a photo to win the prize. This type of contest not only helps to amplify the Lego brand message on social media, but also gives Lego additional social media content to use on their channels later.

2. Lays “Do Us a Flavour” Contest

contest marketing example
(https://www.facebook.com/lays/)

In 2017, the Lays potato chip company asked fans to help create their newest chip flavour. Users could share their idea for a  unique chip flavour in exchange for a chance to win a million dollars. This contest generated significant social media traction and helped to reinvigorate the brand’s in-store marketing efforts. 

This type of integrated contest experience not only encourages online engagement but also increased sales once the chip flavour was released. This type of contest creates a consumer investment in your product and can help to shake up both digital and traditional marketing efforts.

3. The Great Eggo Waffle Off!

contest marketing example

Another great way to encourage brand awareness is through a voting-style contest where fans can choose their favourite product or variation of a product in order to win the prize. Recently, Eggo Waffles created a fan contest called  The Great Eggo Waffle Off! where fans could make their own creations using Eggo waffles and share online to garner votes. 

This type of contest tackles two types of consumers – those who like to create and share content (called user-generated content) and those who like to view and simply vote. By creating a call-to-action for both consumer bases – the creators and the voters – Eggo effectively engaged consumers on a scale of involvement, therefore, increasing the percentage of their fans who would participate.

4. Influencer Giveaways

contest marketing examples
(https://www.instagram.com/whitneynrife/?hl=en)

Giveaways are very common strategies used by social media influencers to help increase their followers, engagement and partnerships with brands. These types of giveaways are often seen on Instagram and involve an individual to take some sort of action such as following, commenting or liking a post in order to enter the contest.

 These giveaways are usually hosted in partnership with a brand and their products, helping to organically amplify this brand online in audiences they might not usually reach.

Influencer marketing is a lucrative industry and brands of all sizes are taking advantage of the extensive reach of both celebrities and social media influencers.  This type of contest marketing is relatively easy to execute (for a price!) and can be adjusted to accommodate timely events and pop culture moments.

A recent example of this type of influencer relations and contest marketing is the recent influx of Peloton giveaways during the COVID-19 pandemic. Peloton, an at-home spin bike with integrated digital features and classes, took advantage of this opportunity to help leverage their brand message through influencer contest marketing as an at-home fitness option.

5. In-store contests – Tim Horton’s Roll Up The Rim and McDonald’s Monopoly

Another great example of contest marketing is a contest that directly encourages sales.  In contrast to social media contests and contests entirely run online, many brands are encouraging sales by creating a “game-ified” consumer experience.

(https://prizeredemption.com/)

Two effective examples of this type of marketing are the Tim Horton’s Roll Up the Rim contest and the McDonald’s Monopoly contest. By creating a game experience out of regular purchases, these brands encourage additional sales and an intentional purpose for buying their products. These types of contests can be incredibly costly to run but can dramatically increase sales and customer purchases in a very direct way.

Key Takeaways for Contest Marketing

Contest marketing can be a one-off marketing strategy or a long term component of your brand’s overall digital and traditional advertising presence. There is a strong case to be made for the benefits of it including increased brand awareness and recall on social media, online and in-person. 

However, it is important not to underestimate the strategy and planning involved in executing an effective contest marketing campaign, especially if you plan to run multiple contests throughout a period of time.

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10 Types of Digital Marketing to Boost Your Business

No matter the size of your business, digital marketing has become inevitable when it comes to thriving in the internet era. While some companies rely on traditional forms of advertising, such as print ads, coupon mailers, or even outdoor advertising, businesses that use digital marketing effectively can reach a huge audience for a relatively lower price.

To help you determine what type of digital marketing will benefit your business the most, this article will guide you through everything you need to know about digital marketing, including their definition and examples. 

What is digital marketing definition?

Digital marketing refers to the promotion of brands and businesses using the internet or other forms of communication to connect with potential customers. This includes not only email, social media, and web-based advertising, but also text and multimedia messages as a marketing channel.

Digital marketing has become a crucial part of businesses’ marketing plans. In fact, approximately 71% of small businesses can be found online and roughly 85% of consumers use the internet to discover and find local businesses. 

Unlike traditional marketing methods, digital marketing helps you reach a larger audience and target prospects who are most likely to buy your products and services. The benefits of digital marketing also include cost-effectiveness, the ability to measure success and make marketing changes as needed.

By implementing the right types of digital marketing, no matter how big or small your business is, you can benefit greatly since it provides an excellent return on investment.  

The 10 types of digital marketing that ignite your business growth

In order to succeed in any of the types of digital marketing, developing a distinctive brand philosophy and adhering to it are key. Customers don’t just buy your products and services; they also buy emotions and values. 

With that being said, here are the 10 types of digital marketing to boost your business:

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Marketing

1st page search engine results for 'best watches for men'

Did you know Search Engine Optimization or SEO is considered one of the most effective types of digital marketing for your business? SEO is the process of generating traffic from free, organic, or editorial search results in search engines.

It aims to improve your website’s position in Google search results pages. According to Visibility, search results that are in the top 3 have a click through rate (CTR) between 29.90% and 43.32%. The 10th position only gets 3.11% of the clicks. Spending time improving your SEO marketing strategy can benefit your business by boosting organic traffic.

Remember, SEO marketing is a long-term investment that takes 3-6 months to gain traction. Nevertheless, it can reach an average ROI of 22:1 when implemented strategically. 

2. Pay Per Click (PPC) Marketing

PPC marketing example
PPC search results for 'running shoes'

Pay-per-click or PPC marketing refers to the method of driving traffic to your website by paying a fee for each time one of the ads is clicked. PPC can be beneficial to a lot of businesses since 85% of consumers use the internet to research local businesses.

One of some well-known examples of PPC marketing is Google Ads and Google Shopping. Other mediums include paid ads on Facebook, Twitter ad campaigns, and sponsored messages on LinkedIn. 

One of the businesses that took PPC to a whole new level was Snickers. While it’s common practice in the PPC world to target misspelled search terms. They generated a list of 25,381 different misspellings for their campaign.

In just two days, when Snickers reported their amazing results of 558,589 ad impressions, a click-through rate of 1.05%, and 5,874 visitors made their way to the campaigns mini website.

3. Content Marketing

Content Marketing refers to the type of marketing that focuses on creating and promoting different types of content, to generate leads and sales. The content can be in the form of a blog, social media posts, videos, infographics, podcasts, etc. The diversity and creativity of content is endless, which makes them cater to different groups of people and therefore are more shareable. 

Earlier this year, Spotify launches their new feature called GetReadyWithMusic, which generates the perfect playlist for every day outfit from user’s input. The content became instantly popular among Spotify users because of the simplicity of the user experience and the personalization it offers.

If you are interested in igniting a similar strategy as the Spotify’s new function, take inspiration from our article on how to generate user-generated content for your business.

4. Contest Marketing

contest marketing example
Contest Marketing is just one of many marketing campaigns that a Social Media Manager will facilitate. (www.twitter.com/LEGO_Group)

Contest marketing is a marketing strategy that utilizes contests, giveaways, sweepstakes or lotteries to boost brand awareness and reach new potential customers. Whether big or small, contest marketing can enhance a brand’s message, gain new online engagement, and bring a product’s message to the forefront of consumers’ social media feeds.

For example, Lego hosted a contest that required people to create and submit a custom Lego build. Contest winners will receive exclusive Lego sets, and their winning Lego build will be displayed at the famous Lego House in Denmark

This campaign works because it directly engages customers with the brand by creating a playground for them to be creative and receive reward and recognition for their work. 

5. Social Media Marketing

The importance of social media marketing in digital marketing has become increasingly prominent. More than 92% of American businesses adopt social media marketing in their marketing strategy. By promoting your brand on various social media channels, you boost traffic to your website and social media pages, generate leads, and even increase brand awareness.

Some key channels to use for social media marketing are as follows:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • Snapchat
  • Pinterest

6. Influencer and KOL Marketing

Influencer marketing and KOL marketing often get mixed up in consumers’ eyes. Both techniques can be extremely beneficial for your brand. While they both aim at building brand awareness, the main difference is how they establish authenticity.

Influencer marketing is a strategy where brands partner with social media users to bring awareness and engagement to a product or service that they provide. These can be regular social media users, content creators, and celebrities.

For example, Dunkin’ Donuts let eight content creators take over their social media on National Donut Day. Dunkin Donuts also provided the unique Snapchat geo-filter to enhance the content so they could encourage their supporters to follow Dunkin’ Donuts on Snapchat and visit the stores for the special offer.  

Key-of-leader (KOL) marketing, is a strategy where brands work with people who have the expertise and knowledge on a specific subject that is connected to the product/service promoted or that is of interest to their target market. 

For example, if you are an e-commerce brand selling sportswear, working with a fitness influencer or sports athlete would be more beneficial than partnering with a lawyer.

7. Email Marketing

Email marketing is a powerful marketing channel that uses email to promote your business’s products or services. With an impressive average ROI of 3,600%, email marketing is considered one of the most popular types of digital marketing. You can use it to build brand loyalty, increase brand awareness, and to enhance personalization in messaging your audience.

For instance, Netflix is aware that more than half of US households subscribe to multiple streaming channels. To get their customers’ attention, Netflix launched a campaign that used personalized lists from upcoming customers that may be interested in based on their watch history. They used personalized content, visuals, and perfected it with persuasive CTAs that enticed users to stop what they were doing and head over to Netflix to check out the new content.

8. Mobile Marketing

mobile marketing
User scanning a pizza for points on the Domino app

Mobile marketing is any advertising activity that promotes products and services via mobile devices, such as tablets and smartphones. In the present day, people use their smartphones more than any other gadget. The average time spent on mobile phones has increased from 2 hours to approximately 5 hours per day. The widespread use of mobile has made mobile marketing a promising tool that helps businesses cater to more customers. 

For example, Domino’s Piece of the Pie allowed customers to sign up for their reward program and earn 10 points for scanning any pizza purchase. The fun fact is people were allowed to scan literally any pizza, even if it was not Domino’s. At the moment, for every 60 points collected, participants receive a free pizza from Domino’s.

This mobile marketing campaign allowed customers to collect points on their mobile Domino app and anticipate rewards for them. The fact that customers should have the app on their phone also creates opportunities for marketers to collect their data and create more personalized ads and notifications directly to their phones. 

9. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a type of digital marketing where publishers and advertisers earn a commission by promoting a product or service made by another retailer or an advertiser using an affiliate link. This type of marketing uses a reward payment model for every sale made from the link. 

Large companies often have programs they promote on their site, such as Amazon Associates or the Shopify Affiliate Program.

10. Viral Marketing

Viral marketing example
TV host, Jimmy Fallon doing the Ice Bucket Challenge with his crew

Viral marketing refers to the content that reaches the point where it’s being shared by the public at large rather than just its target audience. These are the posts and ads that spread incredibly fast through consumers who carry out the campaign through likes, views and/or shares. 

The catch is that creating content with the express purpose of going viral is incredibly difficult to achieve. Less than 1% of content shared on social media are able to achieve viral status. But in case you crack the code, viral marketing offers low costs, a wide reach, and the potential to boost a brand or business.

One of the examples of viral marketing is the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Many celebrities and big personalities agreed to dump a bucket of ice water on their heads to raise awareness of ALS and generate donations. 

This challenge went viral because the content is intriguing and inviting with a meaningful intention. Every participant that completes the challenge must nominate a group of other friends to keep it going, increasing the speed of which the campaign is shared and exposed to more audiences. 

The key to a successful digital marketing campaign

As the world continues to head towards its digital transformation, the importance of digital marketing will automatically follow. Almost every type of digital marketing discussed in this article is interrelated and dependent on the others. It is best to work with a marketing specialist to seamlessly develop or integrate these marketing types into your existing marketing strategy. 

If you find this article helpful, don’t hesitate to check our blogs and articles on how to create a digital transformation in your business so you can thrive in the internet era.

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Inbound marketing: Definition and Strategy

In this article, you will learn everything you need to know on how to create a successful inbound marketing strategy. This includes the exact definition, the difference between inbound and outbound marketing, and 5 different proven and tested strategies you can use to start attracting customers like a magnet. 

Table of contents

  1. What is inbound marketing?
  2. Inbound marketing vs Outbound marketing
  3. The 4 stages of inbound marketing
  4. 5 Winning Inbound Marketing Strategies
  5. Key Takeaways

What is inbound marketing?

Inbound marketing is a strategic approach to creating valuable and relevant content for your target audience with the goal of fostering long-term customer relationships. What sets this type of marketing apart from traditional marketing is that it usually takes place online. Potential customers are always looking on the Internet for solutions to their problems. In fact, 81% of retail shoppers conduct online research before buying. Companies that focus on consistently providing high-quality content – aligned with customer needs – may see an increase in repeat visits and user engagement. 

The type of marketing involves other engagement marketing forms in order to attract customers:

  • Content marketing
  • Social media marketing
  • Event marketing
  • Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
  • Blog post

Why is it important?

Inbound marketing can benefit your business in several ways. Attracting new customers organically will be easier and existing customers will stick with you for much longer. This saves time because you don’t have to chase potential buyers and money because acquiring a new customer can cost five times more than retaining an existing customer.

On the customer side, they will gain value as soon as they engage with your content. When your customers find your company this way, it has a stronger influence on their future marketing decisions and their feelings toward your business in general. What’s better is inbound marketing tends to generate more organic leads, so it relies more on strategy than on budget. 

Inbound Marketing vs. Outbound Marketing

While both marketing strategies aim to drive business and create long-term customers, their methods of attracting their target audience are different. Inbound marketing tends to provide sustainable organic reach. It focuses on offering valuable content to attract the target audience and convert them into customers. While outbound marketing focuses on reaching as many people as possible with non-targeted content to promote products or services. 

The 4 Stages of Inbound Marketing

Understanding the four stages of inbound marketing will help you decide what marketing strategy will best fit your needs. The four stages of inbound marketing include: attract, convert, delight, and engage.

Attract

The first stage of inbound marketing involves attracting your target audience to your brand. You can reach and attract your audience to your website by creating valuable content, like blog posts, content offers, and social media. Before creating content, you should do keyword research to see what your target audience is looking for and implement search engine optimization (SEO) in order to get discovered.

In addition to website content, a strong social media presence can help you rank higher in Google search and be more visible in your target audience’s social media feed.

Convert

When traffic lands on your website, the second phase automatically starts. Since 92% of visitors won’t buy the first time they land on your website, you have to make the most of their visit to your platform. Your landing pages should be specifically designed to direct the clients to other pages on your sites and prompt them to take action. Converting this traffic can be done in the following ways:

  • Sign-up forms
  • Effective calls to action (CTAs)
  • Incentivize subscribers to sign up to your newsletter

Close

Now it’s time to build relationships with your newly generated leads and close the deal. Using customer relationship management (CRM) software will give you the ability to:

  • Capture and store leads in a safe and secure manner.
  • Analyze the purchase history and other information the audience provides to gain valuable insights.

It is important to note that once a visitor has your product or service in their shopping cart, the purchase doesn’t always go through. Sometimes they get distracted or abandon their online shopping cart for various reasons and fail to purchase the product. Therefore, you should study customer behavior on your website to identify opportunities for improvement. 

Delight

During the delight phase of the inbound marketing strategy, you reward customers for their purchases. 

Inbound marketing aims not to win a single customer transaction, but to build long-term customers by providing a long-term customer experience. This includes:

  • Strong product quality that meets or exceeds customer expectations.
  • Reliable customer service that boosts a positive customer experience.
  • Continuous engagement with customers through multi-channels

5 Winning Inbound Marketing Strategies

Here are five inbound marketing strategies you can use to attract customers like a magnet.

Research and get to know your customers

Just like starting a campaign, the first step in developing effective inbound marketing strategies for your business is to understand your customers. One of the most important things in inbound marketing is how to identify your target market’s sentiment and challenges, and how your business can help them overcome them. 

You can first segment your customer into prominent groups based on their buying behaviors and demographics so you can market to each group more effectively. These customer segmentation groups can also be used to begin discussions of building a marketing persona. 

The marketing “persona” is by definition a personification of a customer segment, and it is not uncommon for businesses to create several personas to match their different customer segments.

When crafting personas, you can take into account the following factors:

  • Who they are
  • What they do
  • What they want
  • What challenges they face

Effectively segmenting your target audience will also help you come up with a suitable strategy on how to turn them into your brand advocates, who will market your products and services to other shoppers. 

Content marketing

Content marketing is a marketing strategy used to attract, engage, and retain an audience by creating and sharing relevant articles, videos, podcasts, and other media. The main benefit is that content marketing generates over 3x as many leads as outbound marketing and costs 62% less.

Using valuable content is an effective way to introduce your brand to potential customers. Your content will provide a valuable bridge between their interests and the products and services you have to offer. Among the different types of content marketing are newsletters, podcasts, social media posts, and videos. 

Spotify launches every year a successful content marketing campaign focused on user-generated content. Near the end of every year, Spotify users get a fun roundup of all the music they’ve listened to that year. The roundup is broken down into genres, years, artists, and more, and is displayed with brightly colored graphics. Users have the option to share their Spotify Wrapped playlists on social media. This is a key element because it has made the campaign trend on social media every year since its inception.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search Engine Optimization is the process of improving the quality and quantity of website traffic to a website or a web page from search engines.

Most potential buyers (81%) conduct research before they buy products or services.The moment  these potential buyers use a specific keyword that is also displayed on your website, then your page may appear in their searches on the Google search platform. 

The probability that the potential buyer actually lands on your website depends on your rank within the search engine. For instance, if your website is SEO optimized and you appear in the top 3 of the keywords search results, then there is a +10X more chance that this traffic will land on your website compared to the 10th place.

Elevate your organic social media presence

While traditional marketing uses paid advertising to reach out and communicate with as many potential customers. Elevating your social media presence can be a straightforward and cost-effective method to build trust and engage with your target audience. 

Even small business owners who do not have a formal advertising budget can use social media to their advantage. It doesn’t cost anything to create a profile on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Snapchat. However, it is a long-term strategy that takes perseverance to cut through the sea of voices and bring awareness to your products. To do this, a company’s social media profile should:

  1. Provide interesting, relevant content like videos and photo collages
  2. Network with other pages for cross-promotion
  3. Engage in online discussion via comment threads
  4. Reply to private message inquiries from other users

Offer email content to boost engagement and conversion

Sharing content through email to engage with your audience is considered a powerful way to establish long-term relationships. Email marketing and advertising can influence the buying decision of customers up to 50.7%. Email is used primarily for lead generation (85%), sales (84%), lead nurturing (78%), and customer retention (74%).

You can utilize this approach by collecting email addresses from potential customers first and then sending them relevant updates periodically. These updates can contain various types of content, like product announcements, sales launches, and other valuable (non-sales related) content.

Key Takeaways

The genius of inbound marketing is that by creating one, you can reach a wider audience with valuable content. Despite the hard work involved in inbound marketing, your content and search engine optimization can pay off for years to come.

Inbound marketing: Definition and Strategy

  • The secret to a successful inbound marketing strategy is providing the solution that your target audience is searching for by providing valuable content focussed on these needs.
  • There are four stages involved in inbound marketing: attract, convert, close, and delight.
  • Both marketing strategies aim to provide long-term customers, while the main difference is in their approach in attracting these.
  • Use the 5 inbound marketing strategies shared in this article to attract customers like a magnet.

If you find this article helpful, check out our blogs and articles on how to create a digital transformation in your business so you can thrive in the internet era.

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What is Brand Philosophy and How to Develop One?

Marketers and companies that develop the most effective brand philosophy are often seen as magicians. When defined and applied correctly, brand philosophy can prove to be extremely beneficial for your business as it helps represent your competitive edge as compared to other players by your distinctive act of dealing with employees, customers, and stakeholders. 

This article will guide you from the start of discovering what a brand philosophy is to a proven and tested process to develop your own. This includes what a brand philosophy is, why it is important, and the step-by-step process to develop one yourself.

What is a brand philosophy?

Brand philosophy can be defined as a set of values, code of conduct, and principles that define the overall ambience and culture of the organization and formulating the practices and guidelines that the business adheres to. 

With that being said, brand philosophy should be established before the business is formed to act as a foundation and roadmap for all parties involved.

Your brand philosophy represents your competitive edge as compared to other players by your distinctive act of dealing with employees, customers, and stakeholders. It is a strong branding tool with the existing and prospective customers recognizing and registering your brands for your unique facets and values. 

Why is brand philosophy so important?

Brand philosophy is the foundation of a business' marketing strategy

At least 7 of the 14 reasons why businesses fail are (indirectly) related to brand philosophy. Defining and developing an effective brand philosophy can help you build customer loyalty and your business grow sustainably. 

Establishing a brand philosophy can benefit your business in a variety of ways. Here are some of the top benefits of having a well-defined brand philosophy:

Drive your customer value through aligned values

Did you know that two-thirds of companies compete on customer experience? In the current business environment, companies compete not only on price, but on customer experience, which is why companies with a customer experience mindset tend to drive 4-8% higher revenue than the rest of their industries.

It promotes a positive workplace

Strong brand philosophy helps businesses form a positive and aligned company culture. It makes the atmosphere in the workplace more pleasant because employees are well aware and feel an integral part of the organization. According to Forbes, highly engaged teams with pleasant employees show 21% increased profitability and are 4.6 times more likely to feel empowered to perform their best work.

Stand out in your industry

A strong brand philosophy helps brands build value propositions by acting as a guideline for the entire organization to adhere for cohesion and ethics. A well-defined and well-aligned organization gives them distinctive characteristics that are difficult for their competitors to imitate. 

When brands have their own set of values and consistently live up to them, they convey authenticity to their audiences. 88 percent of consumers say that authenticity is a key factor when deciding what brands they like and support. It is this authenticity that helps them align with their customer value. 

The key to marketing success

Did you know a strong brand philosophy has the potential to have a great impact on your marketing efforts? It is not only because all marketing efforts have to be aligned with the brand philosophy, but it is also crucial for the PR activities of the firm, as it is the foundation on which the brand values are formulated and communicated.

For example, if you have a business that is present on social media, having a strong brand identity attracts more and better quality user-generated content. The content shared by your customers helps you build brand trust and in turn attracts a wider audience to buy your products and services. In fact, 79 percent of people say that user-generated content highly impacts their purchasing decisions.

Enhance the customer experience

Your brand’s philosophy can supply your team with a clear purpose and brand aspirations that they could use as filters for making decisions. Therefore make sure your employees know how to properly display your brand to the public. Aligned teams are more capable of supporting a customer at each point of their customer journey. 

Nowadays customers prefer their needs met as soon as possible. By offering them a simple solution to their complex needs, you warm more trust and build customer loyalty. Remember people don’t buy just things, they buy emotions as well. A strong brand helps guide customers toward the experience and the emotions you want them to have, and it’s also an essential part of establishing your credibility. 

How to develop a brand philosophy?

While creating a brand philosophy is relatively easy, maintaining and elevating it throughout the whole company is considered a form of art. This is because if you want to get the most out of your philosophy, then developing a simple and authentic statement is the way to go.

In order to develop a well-defined brand philosophy, here are four main questions you should answer:

Discover and define the nature of your business

The very first step towards developing your own brand strategy should be sitting down with your team and brainstorming. The aim of this session is to define the purpose of the business that you are intending to start. In addition, you need to identify and define the products and services that you aim to offer on the market.

Identify the unique selling point of the business.

In order to distinguish itself in the competition, every business needs to have a unique selling point (USP). The USP is the core benefit that makes the product or service you are selling stand out. It should answer the following question: “Why would someone buy this product over their competitors’?”.

Think of it as a roadmap and the brand position you want to cultivate in the mind of your audience and market. Everything eventually leads to your USP. It can be anything, such as quality, affordability, or quick service; it has to match the nature of the business and the vision of the firm.

It’s important to find your focus and let that inform all the other parts of your brand as you build it. Here are some questions to help you determine your focus and personality:

  • What is my unique position in the market? Take a look at your competition and make sure you can articulate in a concise way how your brand is superior.
  • What’s the greatest benefit of my brand? No need to be modest here. Note exactly what the best thing is about your product or service and continuously highlight this to your customers.
  • How can I prove that benefit? Once you’ve shone a light on your brand’s advantages, be sure you can deliver. Whether it’s offering a guarantee or using statistics to back up your claim, prove what you say about your brand is true.
To better understand how to position your brand and stand out from your competitor, check out our article on effective brand positioning strategies in 2023. 

Who is your target audience?

One of the most important things in building a brand identity is how to identify your target market’s sentiment and challenges, and how your business can help them overcome them. 

It’s no secret that different people want different things. You can’t (usually) target a product to millenial buyer the same way you would target a product to a baby boomer. Learning what your audience wants from a business in your industry is vital to creating a brand people will love.

There are multiple ways in which you can research and learn about your target audience and market. Here are some places to get started:

  1. Google your product or service category and analyze the direct and indirect competitors that come up.
  2. Check subreddits that relate to your customers and eavesdrop on their conversations and product recommendations.
  3. Talk to people who are part of your target market and ask them what brands they buy from in your space.
  4. Look at the relevant social media accounts or pages your target audience follows and are receptive to.
  5. Go shopping online or offline and get a feel for how your customers would browse and buy products.

Have your brand philosophy written down

After you have identified your target audience and the value that you can offer them, it’s important to create your mission statement and a statement for your philosophy to solidify your goals and ideas so you can better communicate them to your employees and audiences.

Brand philosophy examples

Here are some of the top examples of companies that clearly envision and communicate their business philosophy internally and to their customers:

Nike

Nike's inclusive, all-encompassing brand philosophy champions fitness for everybody - no matter your skin, culture or creed.

Did you know that Nike’s co-founder, Bill Bowerman, started out as a track and field coach? When he was dissatisfied with the available leather and metal running spikes, Bowerman did all he could to design running shoes that would help athletes reduce their time.

But, more than this, it was Bowerman who helped define Nike’s ultimate mission statement. By adding an asterisk to the original idea of bringing “inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world,” Bowerman forwarded the idea that, “If you have a body, you are an athlete.”

It is this sentiment that has opened Nike up to just about everyone. Its inclusive values add warmth and help humanize a brand that would otherwise exclude an entire chunk of the population.

Nike’s inclusive, all-encompassing brand philosophy champions fitness for everybody – no matter your skin, culture or creed.

As we see today, their product line reinforces their core concept by implementing inclusive marketing designs such as plus-sized mannequins and providing practical features such as soles that support prosthetic legs while running.

Gucci

Gucci has a very strong brand identity. The perception of high-quality craftsmanship along with innovative and bold design in their products is so strong that it is reflected in the attitudes and values of their customers.

While their products also represent the pinnacle of Italian craftsmanship and are unsurpassed for their quality and attention to detail.

Because of this strong identity, their relationship with their customers is highly personal. When a customer looks in the mirror and sees Gucci the brand is reflected back in themselves. With Gucci, you can see that the customer value aligns with the brand because the stereotypical consumer will feel influential, innovative, and progressive- much like the brand itself. 

Zara

Zara's Brand Study

Zara’s business model is characterized by a high degree of vertical integration. This covers all phases of the fashion process: design, manufacture, logistics, and distribution to its own managed stores. It has a flexible structure and a strong customer focus in all its business areas.

That enables them to shorten turnaround times and achieve greater flexibility, reducing stock to a minimum and diminishing fashion risk to the greatest possible extent.

The key to this model is the ability to adapt the offer to customer desires in the shortest time possible. For Zara, time is the main factor to be considered, above and beyond production costs. This demonstrates their clear policy of valuing time even more than money.

Check out our article on 10 Brand Philosophy Examples to Align Your Company Culture for more brand philosophy inspirations. 

Key Takeaways

Defining your brand’s philosophy extends way beyond developing just another brand statement. It represents a sense of pride in what the brand is about. Something brand leadership is proud to share but will take as much value from it whether it’s shared or not.

How to develop brand philosophy?

  • Identify your brand’s way of doing things 
  • Research your target audience 
  • Clearly define and describe your unique selling point
  • Write it into a statement
  • Create a story between your product and service and your philosophy. 
  • Be consistent

If you find this article helpful, check out our blogs and articles on how to create a digital transformation in your business so you can thrive in the internet era.

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5 Key Metrics to Measure Your Digital Transformation

Propelled by the global pandemic, technologies have become mainstream for businesses and customers. In order to adapt and stay relevant in this digital era, several companies are undergoing digital transformations. The main issue is, while companies spend thousands of dollars on digital transformation, only 30% of these efforts are successful.

In this article, you will learn everything you need to know in order to achieve the results you desire from digital transformation. The very first step to success with your digital initiatives is knowing the right KPIs and metrics. You will discover why data collection and analysis are important to determine if the transformation is on the right path. Let’s discover how you can make your digital transformation efforts successful. 

1. What is digital transformation?

2. Start your digital transformation with data collection

3. 5 key metrics to measure your digital transformation

4. Key takeaways

What is digital transformation?

In digital transformation, companies use digital technologies to improve their performance to meet customer and market demands. It also encourages companies to think outside the box about how technology can improve their approach. For example, technological advances can help employees do their work more efficiently, so they can focus on delivering a positive customer experience.

What does digital transformation mean for your business?

The outcome of every digital transformation will be different for each business. The reason for this is that each digital transformation should be focused on the problems that require the most attention. Understanding what needs the most attention will make it easier to decide what technology is needed to solve it. 

Here are 3 benefits businesses gain after a successful digital transformation:

  • Enhance customer experience through implementing the right technology through multiple touchpoints. According to Fujitsu reports in retail, the key drivers for digital transformation include reduced costs and increase in efficiencies with 69%.
  • Digital transformation drives innovation and keeps you ahead of the competition. For example Forresters’ forecast, customer-centric technology drives competitive advantage and a 3-5 percent increase in productivity by connecting the customer experience with the employee experience.
  • The right technology increases productivity and reduces labor costs. For example the introduction of the use of digital workplaces and online collaboration support increased productivity by as much as 30 percent.

Embracing digital transformation can help businesses gain an edge over their competitors, while the businesses that refuse to adapt can be left behind.

Start your digital transformation with data collection

Data collection refers to the process of gathering and analyzing data to find answers, research trends, and to evaluate possible outcomes. Before you can leverage the knowledge of the data for your digital transformation, you need to gather it. The seven following methods can be used to collect the necessary data for your digital transformation.

  • Surveys
  • Transactional Tracking
  • Interviews and Focus Groups
  • Observation
  • Online Tracking
  • Forms
  • Social Media Monitoring

5 key metrics to measure your digital transformation

In case you try to implement changes without measuring key metrics, you won’t know if your efforts actually pay off. Instead, create a plan for how to measure your digital transformation progress before you get started. By choosing the KPIs that align with your team’s goals and needs, you significantly increase the probability of a successful digital transformation. 

Here are 5 key metrics of digital transformation to determine if you are one the right path:

1. Active usage metrics

Sustainable technology adoption is one of the keys to successful digital transformation. An excellent KPI to measure success is the active usage of your digital assets. Understanding active usage metrics helps you better understand how users interact with your technology.

For example, if a company has a high abandonment rate, gathering customer feedback to improve and update customer service processes can be a solution.

Use the following metrics in your data analysis:

  • Daily active users: The total number of unique customers who engage with your platform or software every day.

  • Conversion rates: The percentage of customers to a website that completes a desired goal (a conversion) out of the total number of visitors.

  • Abandon rates: The percentage of tasks that potential customers leave incomplete, for example an abandoned cart.

2. Employee productivity

Introducing a new technology or process can highly benefit your business but that isn’t always the case. Digital transformation is not all about technology; it is also about the complementary human input to make the process effective for all parties involved. 

Complicated technology can actually make your team less productive. It pays to understand your employee productivity baseline and know the goals you want to achieve in order to set realistic goals and implement suitable strategies for your employees.

To accurately measure productivity, frequently checking in on your employees are essential. Here are some questions to get started :

  • What is your task?
  • What should your task be?
  • What setbacks make your tasks more difficult?
  • Which steps should be eliminated?

If you want to extract quantifiable productivity measures, the labor productivity method and the hours worked method can help you determine if your current investment and human resources methods are yielding desirable results. 

3. Digital adoption & product performance metrics

Digital adoption is the pace at which a new technology is acquired and used by the public. Digital performance on the other hand is the insight into how employees are engaging with specific tools or platforms. 

Adoption and performance metrics can give you insights on how your users and team adjust to the transformation. If the metrics are low, then it could be an indication that your audience doesn’t resonate with your offer. Examples of adoption and performance metrics are conversion rate and adoption rate. 

4. Customer experience metrics

A customer-centric strategy is key to creating a positive customer experience and loyal customer base. In fact, 96% of customers believe that customer experience is a key aspect of brand loyalty. Measuring how customers are engaging with and using your platform or product is crucial for long-term success of the strategy. 

Use data analysis for the following metrics to support your customer-centric strategy:

  • Customer effort score (CES): The metric that measures the amount of effort a customer needs to put in to complete a task, for example surveys.
  • Customer satisfaction (CSAT): A customer experience metric that measures how happy a customer is with a product, service, or customer support interaction.
  • Net promoter score (NPS): The metric used in customer experience programs to measure the loyalty of customers to a company.

5. Return on digital investments

Last but not least, one of the most popular KPIs for any new digital transformation initiative. The return of investment (ROI) of your digital transformation is in fact knowing your money’s worth after implementing a new technology or process. 

Return on digital investments tells you the relationship between money brought in and money taken out in relation to your digital transformation. This would compare how much you spent on new technology, training, new hires, and other expenses related to the new technology or processes, and the amount of revenue you’ve brought in since making the transition.

While this can be a strong indicator of success, it’s most likely that in the first phases of your digital transformation, your ROI will seem small to even negative. By measuring long-term can give you a better idea of how successful the initiative was.

Key takeaways

What are the key metrics (KPIs) for digital transformation?

  1. Active usage metrics
  2. Employee productivity 
  3. Digital adoption and product performance metrics
  4. Customer experience metrics
  5. Return on digital investments

Remember that the success for each digital transformation varies for all businesses. Before starting, it is crucial to know that every digital transformation should be focused on the problem that needs the most attention within your organization. Use data collection- and analysis to build a strong foundation to measure your digital transformation.

If you don’t know where to start, working with a team of knowledgeable digital experts can help craft the right strategy for your business. 

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