Native advertising strategies have become a crucial part of promoting any business, regardless of the industry. For those who are not familiar with native ads, they are a form of advertising that are seamlessly embedded into other websites.
For a more detailed description of native ads, check out our previous blog on native advertising strategies.
While many businesses promote through other web-based content and ad space, it is important to know that social media sites are effective platforms for native ads.
Here are three tips on how to successfully create native advertisements for social media platforms.
1.) Retarget
Providing content that is tailored to your target market based on their interests is an effective way to advertise your business. If a consumer has filled out a form on your site or perhaps purchased a product from you in the past, placing ads on their social platforms featuring new and related products based on their previous actions will grab their attention.
Many consumers may search for a product and then become distracted. A retargeted native ad that pops up on their social media feed will serve as a helpful reminder and enhance conversion rates for your business.
2.) Tell a Story
Storytelling is an important part of both native advertising strategies and social media. People often go to social sites for entertainment which is why traditional promotional content may not be as successful as one that tells a story and provides the entertainment the user is looking for.
The story itself is entirely up to you. For example, if your business donates to a charity, tell a story about how that money has helped that particular group. Shifting the focus away from your particular brand, product, or service and focusing on the values of your target audience is an important part of your native advertising strategies. This doesn’t mean that you have to hide the fact that you are advertising, just that you should be relevant to the social site you are placing your ad on.
3.) Play to the Strengths of the Social Platform
Every app is different. Knowing exactly what social sites your target audience is going to spend most of their time on, as well as which areas, is important. Graphics and video content are also a strong factor for this section.
As mentioned before, consumers seek to be entertained on social sites which is why including enticing visual imagery and engaging video content often see success for native advertising strategies. Many social sites, especially Facebook and Instagram, provide a perfect setting for this type of content. Even LinkedIn, while not a strong video platform, is an ideal platform for engaging graphics. Knowing popular social platforms and how to properly present your business through them is an important part of native advertising.
Native advertising is the future of online brand promotion. Consumers are more willing to view native ads than standard ones, which in turn enhances conversion rates and sales opportunities. If your business is ready to experience the advantages of a new social media advertising strategy, contact Jessica Chabot, Vice President, Client Services of Millennium Agency at www.mill.agency.
About Millennium Agency
Millennium Agency is a nationally recognized, top woman led B2B branding, positioning, and digital marketing firm who knows how to create value that emotionally influences your customer’s buying decision, giving you the competitive advantage. As your trusted partner in B2B software technology and manufacturing, we provide the branding and positioning framework that make an impact – so you can focus on what you do best – run your business successfully. With offices in Boston and New Hampshire, and a worldwide presence, the professionals at Millennium Agency would like to learn more about your business. Visit www.mill.agency or book time here.
Part science and part artform, executing exceptional advertising strategies hinges on a practitioner’s willingness to keep up to date with the marketing trends that are shaping the future of the industry. There’s no doubt that it can be tough to distinguish the fleeting fads from game changers with staying power, so we wanted to lend a hand and present three hot marketing trends that are poised to change the way our industry does business.
Sponsored Content
Put simply, sponsored content is a form of native advertising in which a brand attempts to leverage an already established platform by closely mirroring the form and function of that space. Because the category of this marketing trend is so broad, sponsored content can be as simple as this Tanqueray sponsored cocktail recipe from Buzzfeed, or as intricate as Nest’s multimedia series about smart home technology from The Atlantic.
Although this marketing trend can give a brand the coveted power of implied third-party endorsement, consumers can easily be turned off by content that feels too much like a pitch. Because of this delicacy, the best uses of sponsored content occur when a brand seamlessly integrates into the flavor of the platform. One of the best case studies for this is Adult Swim’s hit show Rick & Morty, an animated series chronicling the interdimensional misadventures of an egotistical alcoholic scientist and his simpleton grandson. From the outset, the show has been a master class in sponsored content, lending its irreverent and tongue-in-cheek style to everything from Carl’s Jr. to the Alien franchise.
Facebook’s Algorithm Change
While Facebook has been tweaking the mechanisms behind its newsfeed algorithm since their beginning, the most recent changes have presented marketers with a new set of challenges and opportunities.
Spurred in large part by Russia’s social media hijinks during the 2016 election, last year’s algorithm changes were aimed at amplifying interactions with friends, while scaling back the number of posts from businesses. While this update certainly isn’t ideal for brands, this marketing trend is not without its own set of unique benefits. For example, the emphasis on personal interactions is a golden opportunity for marketers to use engaging content to cultivate an army of taste making brand ambassadors. By making the production of shareable content the number one goal, brands can do an end run around the algorithm and deputize their consumers as invaluable marketing assets.
Data Hygiene
The prevalence of the internet and smartphone technology has given marketers more access than ever to valuable data about their consumers. But with all the websites, apps, and other sources of consumer data, brands must work diligently to cull the raw data, extract the valuable information, and keep it organized for easy use. Failure to observe this simple yet pivotal marketing trend can leave you wasting good money on campaigns that are based upon faulty data. Thankfully, there are a wealth of programs available to help you proactively cleanse your data, thereby ensuring its ability to help you assemble effective persona-based consumer profiles.
Success in this industry depends on always staying one step ahead of the latest and greatest marketing trends. If you’d like to learn more about how your brand can harness these trends, contact Linda Fanaras, President/Strategist of Millennium Agency www.mill.agency.
About Millennium Agency
Millennium Agency is a nationally recognized, top woman led B2B branding, positioning, and digital marketing firm who knows how to create value that emotionally influences your customer’s buying decision, giving you the competitive advantage. As your trusted partner in B2B software technology and manufacturing, we provide the branding and positioning framework that make an impact – so you can focus on what you do best – run your business successfully. With offices in Boston and New Hampshire, and a worldwide presence, the professionals at Millennium Agency would like to learn more about your business. Visit www.mill.agency or book time here.
Once upon a time, maintaining a company’s brand identity followed the same golden rule of the family dinner table: no politics or religion. In that simpler time, wading into the waters of hot button issues was an invitation for a public relations crisis that risked alienating your market. Given those guidelines, it’s easy to see why the brands of old opted to stay out of the fray.
For Brand Identity: That was then, this is now.
In contrast to the strategic neutrality of that bygone era, in 2018, being unequivocal about values of your organization plays a crucial role in building the brand identity that gives you an edge over the competition. Between the intensity of the debate on crucial issues and the willingness of people to make their opinions known, political and social views have become inseparable from our identities.
With this high voltage social climate permeating every facet of our lives, it should come as no surprise that consumers are showing increased interest in doing business with likeminded organizations.
Taking a Stand for the Brand
How much weight do consumers put on the willingness of companies to build a brand identity on the issues of the day? It turns out, quite a bit.
According to a recent study from Sprout Social, just about two-thirds of consumers consider it important for organizations to be transparent about political and social issues. Here are a few key findings:
- We want our brands to take a stand. Over half (66%) of consumers say it’s important for organizations to take public stands on social and political issues.
- Relevance matters. Nearly half (47%) of consumers say brands are most credible when an issue directly impacts their customer base.
- When values align, brand identity flourishes. When a consumer feels that a company’s views mirror their own, nearly 1/3 of them (31%) will commend the company via social media, helping to drive a far-reaching brand identity narrative.
While the study found that a consumer’s politics will color their reception of a company’s stance, the overall impact on consumers was positive, “with intrigued, impressed, and engaged emerging as the top three consumer reactions.”
Silence: The most deafening statement of all
While burying your proverbial head in the sand may have been safe back in the day, there’s evidence to suggest that a wishy-washy stand on topical issues is now the biggest brand identity risk of all. According to research by Daniel Korschun, Associate Director of Marketing at Drexel University, many consumers are apt to assume that a company is trying to deceive them when they fail to make their views known.
“Consumers behave this way because they find it hypocritical for a company that claims to be ‘guided by core values’ to then withhold its position on a political issue. The implication appears to be that the company is hiding something.”
Building a sustainable brand identity hinges on establishing trust with your customer base. If your business is the best at what you do and you would like to let consumers know through awareness-oriented marketing, contact Linda Fanaras, President/Strategist of Millennium Agency at www.mill.agency.
About Millennium Agency
Millennium Agency is a nationally recognized, top woman led B2B branding, positioning, and digital marketing firm who knows how to create value that emotionally influences your customer’s buying decision, giving you the competitive advantage. As your trusted partner in B2B software technology and manufacturing, we provide the branding and positioning framework that make an impact – so you can focus on what you do best – run your business successfully. With offices in Boston and New Hampshire, and a worldwide presence, the professionals at Millennium Agency would like to learn more about your business. Visit www.mill.agency or book time here.
In a market dominated by web-presence and enticing visuals, creating video content for your business is both a necessary and effective marketing strategy for building brand awareness, reaching your target audience, and enhancing your sales.
Creating video content is only growing in popularity. to whom it is more memorable, more persuasive, and overall more engaging than purely text-based content. So what are the largest trends in video content production for 2018?
Here are four separate methods of creating video content that brands should produce to increase their conversion rates:
Brand Videos
The purpose of a brand video is to spread brand awareness and resonate with your target audience. These videos offer a clear and concise brand view, mission statement, and voice. What makes your brand unique in comparison to your competitors is also a strong theme for these videos. Brand videos can be posted on social media, or strategically placed on the landing page of your website to give visitors a better understanding of who you are and what you offer. By demonstrating your value as a brand, you will be opening the door to engagement with your viewers and nurturing them as leads.
Demo Videos
A demo video is exactly what it sounds like: a demonstration of how your product works and what problem it solves. These videos work best if your business offers physical products such as software for example.
By demonstrating how your offerings work, you can do more than explain your product to consumers, you can show them. Seeing product in action increases consumer understanding of the product and chances of closing the sale with them.
How-to Videos
How-to videos educate your audience about relevant industry information. There are several reasons why these videos are effective, the first being that your business is seen as a thought leader in your field. If consumers associate your brand with expertise for their queries, there is a much greater chance they will come to you for your products/services over your competitors. Creating video content that displays your product in action can be extremely effective.
These videos are additionally effective from a search engine standpoint seeing as “how to” was one of the most frequently searched phrases in 2017. This is a trend that is only continuing to grow.
Company Announcements and Event Videos
These videos are excellent for keeping consumers up to date with your business and any upcoming events you may be hosting or attending. The goal for these videos is to build presence and relevancy with consumers. Regular updates on company information grow your following and increase engagement opportunities.
Remember, consumers are much more interested in enticing video content than text. This is why it is important to consistently produce videos that demonstrate your value, show your thought leadership, and increase your business’s searchability. If you feel that video content production is something that could benefit your business, contact Linda Fanaras, President/Strategist of Millennium Agency www.mill.agency.
About Millennium Agency
Millennium Agency is a nationally recognized, top woman led B2B branding, positioning, and digital marketing firm who knows how to create value that emotionally influences your customer’s buying decision, giving you the competitive advantage. As your trusted partner in B2B software technology and manufacturing, we provide the branding and positioning framework that make an impact – so you can focus on what you do best – run your business successfully. With offices in Boston and New Hampshire, and a worldwide presence, the professionals at Millennium Agency would like to learn more about your business. Visit www.mill.agency or book time here.