Branding Archives

Chatbots are everywhere. They’ve worked their way into retail, customer service, airlines, healthcare, banking and finance — there’s even one on the Millennium website. Now it’s time for them to work their way into your business. Chatbots are a helpful tool that will improve business operations and customer satisfaction.

Here are some ways they can help businesses run more smoothly.

Get FAQs Answered

We see it all the time. The same questions asked over and over, jamming the phone lines and interrupting workflow. However, what if there was a more efficient way to deal with the FAQs dilemma that plagues every company? Well, there is! Chatbots provide a channel to answer the burning questions that every customer and client seems to have. Chatbots’ ability to respond to hundreds of inquiries instantly eliminates a lot of the hassle a company’s employees experience daily.

Create an Interactive Experience

Customer engagement is an important piece of the puzzle to running an effective company website and reducing user bounce rates. Chatbots help engage customers by connecting them with someone, or in this case, something, that will instantaneously answer their questions so they can continue roaming about the website. To demonstrate this point, studies have shown that by incorporating chatbots, younger consumers like Generation Z and Millennials will be less likely to leave your site as their attention spans grow increasingly taxed. Adding an interactive feature to your site will only lead to a more engaging user experience for any target audience.

Act as a Personal Assistant

Chatbots can also become a customer’s personal assistant as they journey through your company’s website. They are capable of providing recommendations based on a consumer’s search history or previous communication. Even more, they cater to a customer’s requests during open and close by design. Are you starting to see the potential of chatbots and how they can improve your customers’ experience?

In summary, the future of chatbots is bright and shining. As they continue to lower costs for companies and provide 24/7 aide to customers that regular employees are unable to offer, it’s clear that chatbots are emerging as a major voice in satisfying customer needs. If you are interested in learning more about how chatbots can help with customer engagement, contact Jessica Chabot, Vice President, Client Services at 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.

Last Christmas, I joined the 21% of Americans who have a voice assistant in their home.

After the initial unboxing and setup, I spent hours taking it for a technological test drive. I set alarms for wake-up times and conference meetings, checked my pantry and ordered groceries for whatever I was low on, I even vainly attempted to stump my new wonder gadget with any number of useless trivia questions. There was no doubt: I was in high-tech heaven. So, when a friend who also has a voice assistant warned me that the novelty would soon wear off, I naturally refused to believe it.

Of course, my friend was right.

These days, the only times I interact with my once-beloved voice assistant are when I groggily shout for it to turn off the alarm clock, or right before I leave when I ask it the day’s weather.

Taking the Voice Technology from Novelty to Necessity

While they may fall a bit short of Asimov’s robotic nursemaids or Tony Stark/Iron Man’s J.A.R.V.I.S, the voice assistants produced by the likes of Apple, Google, and Amazon are undoubtedly remarkable advances in home computing technology. But like everything from the lightbulb to the latest gaming system, the high-tech curb appeal of personal assistants has a shelf life. If these devices (and the third-party apps they communicate with) are going to continue to be relevant players in the market, the onus will be on them to adapt to the fluid needs of consumers.

If you don’t like what’s being said, change the conversation

According to a report from Publicis Media, the main gripe that consumers have with their voice assistant is the lack conversational capabilities that go beyond simple commands like “how long will my commute take?” or “play Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Berry,” or as Publicis puts it “When you invite someone to have a conversation, it is very clear in a voice-led world where your content strategy left off.”

While it’s up to the tech wizards at the big companies to improve the functionality of the assistants themselves, marketers and app developers can get ahead of the game by creating intuitive content that takes example of existing trends and technology. For example, music streaming services and podcasts offer a great opportunity to serve consumers an interactive ad experience that can be tailor made to fit the profile of the typical listener. Instead of a cookie cutter 30 second spot that talks at a listener, a food chain can harness the power of a voice assistant to create an ad that converses with the listener – asking what their favorite item on the menu is or conducting a voice survey with a listener in exchange for a free meal.

The integration possibilities are endless, and you don’t have to wait until the technological singularity of the far-off future to take advantage of it.

Whether it’s voice recognition or augmented reality capability, consumers are getting ever hungrier for new and exciting features to be integrated into the services they already know and love. If your business or organization is ready to take advantage of the latest trends in customer outreach, contact Jessica Chabot, Vice President, Client Services of Millennium Agency at www.mill.agency.

About Millennium Agency

Your company’s branding message is what sets you apart from others in your industry. It’s important to maintain a positive connection through technological avenues to establish a strong message that resonates with your target audience.

Here’s how a technologically driven branding message can help to strengthen your brand:

Customer Engagement

It sounds odd, but if used effectively, technology can be used to enhance a human connection to your customers and bring you closer to them as a result. Along with a successful brand strategy, it’s important for your customers to feel like you care about their satisfaction and are proud of your products or services. Through social media platforms and engagement, customers can directly communicate with you about their questions or concerns and receive real-time responses that make them feel as though they are being heard. This is a way to maintain an authentic feel to your brand while still allowing you to maintain an air of professionalism.

Authenticity vs. Artificial Intelligence

Authenticity and artificial intelligence are both hot button topics right now regarding your branding message. These two topics often contradict each other and offer different experiences to the consumer. To some, artificial intelligence feels as though it is disconnected from the human experience. Authenticity is popular amongst Millennials who, as consumers, are especially receptive to branding strategies that feel real and transparent. This also plays in part with the honesty and trustworthiness of a company while dealing with negative or less-than-favorable accusations. Through technology, namely social media, word spreads fast about a company’s actions and practices, and this can have either a positive or negative impact on your brand. Through postings on social media outlets, you brand can be protected, and you can be in control of the messages sent out to the public in a way that is very quick and efficient.

Leveraging a Technological Connection

Technology has many great benefits that can improve your branding message. If your brand is able to utilize social media platforms, engagement with the target audience can become instantaneous and give a personality to your brand that is unique and adaptable. Even the name of your brand can be strengthened through social networks. One way that this can be accomplished is by having a strong business page that has constant updates that allows for target audiences to become familiar with your services or products and subsequently build brand awareness and credibility.

Having a strong technological presence is important to develop a strong branding message that promotes transparency and authenticity. If you are interested in learning about new and exciting ways that modern technology can help your business grow, contact Linda Fanaras, President/Strategist of Millennium Agency at www.mill.agency.

About Millennium Agency

Building brand awareness is paramount when it comes to creating sales opportunities. Just like the old saying goes “out of sight, out of mind,” consumers can’t buy your products if they don’t know who you are and what you can do for them. This is where marketing strategies that are designed to build brand awareness come into the picture.

Here are three main strategies that can be used to promote your business and ensure that consumers will not only hear about you but become loyal customers as well.

Content Production

A content strategy is a key factor in spreading brand awareness. Content can come in the form of blogs, articles, emails, and any other form of writing or advertising with informational substance. This blog that you are reading now for instance, is an example of content.

Here are three ways in which content builds brand awareness:

Brand Image: A consistent creation of content will increase the flow of traffic to your website and build your brand image as an industry thought leader, thus demonstrating your prowess in your field.

Search Engine Optimization: Creation of content on a regular basis with commonly searched keywords will enhance your SEO. This heightens the chances that consumers will discover your business through their online searches and thus increases lead generation.

Sharing: If your business creates informational or entertaining content, there is a good chance that readers/viewers will share your content with their peers. In this way, your brand will become more well-known and there will be a higher probability that consumers will return for more content.

Social Media Strategy

In the past, a social media presence used to be optional for businesses. This has changed over time and social media is not only necessary for building brand awareness, but it is also an effective platform for generating leads. A social media strategy can include a variety of different tactics for promoting your brand. The following include just a few proven methods for increasing brand awareness and sales opportunities:

Native advertising: These ads can be used to link to content on your website. By posting short, engaging advertisements, visuals, or links to content, that flow well with social media feeds, brands can spread awareness and increase their web traffic.

Industry News: Just as users share exciting news about their personal lives, brands can share important updates about the on-goings of the company or their field. This is important for spreading awareness and showing that you are committed to being a thought leader in your industry.

Local/Charitable Events: Using social media to discuss events that your business will be attending or sponsoring is a great way to capture the interest of social media users. Posting about your brand’s charitable donations is also an effective way to show that you care about the community.

Public Relations

Public relations is a valuable skill for both managing public opinion and promoting your brand through a variety of different mediums. These are just a few areas in which PR builds brand awareness:

Media Lists: Creating media lists that frequently publish articles and content that align with the values of your target audience is helpful for reaching new customers. Your media lists can be as widespread as you like and based entirely off the budget that you want to contribute.

Featured Articles: Audiences crave new information. Publishing articles on your field and releasing them to the press is an excellent way to be seen as a thought leader and reach new audiences. These are especially effective because readers who enjoy the content will see the author/contributor section and associate your brand with industry expertise.

Messaging and Positioning: While your logo and mission statement are important, press releases provide a strong platform for telling your audience exactly what your brand is all about. Publishing through established news sources allows you to take on a more authoritative role in informing your target market about your brand and business values.

Being a successful brand is all about being well-known by consumers. If your business is the best at what you do and would like to let consumers know through awareness-oriented marketing strategies, contact Linda Fanaras, President/Strategist of Millennium Agency at www.mill.agency.

About Millennium Agency

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

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.

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

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

For content marketing to be an effective tool in promoting website traffic and conversions, it must speak to the company’s target audience. Customers have specific pain points and challenges, and capturing their attention and interest requires content that has a particular buyer persona in mind. Marketers who use persona-based marketing obtain a better return on marketing investments and higher levels of audience engagement. Here’s how to develop and define personas to present a detailed picture of exactly who your audience is and what motivates them to buy.

Defining Your Buyer Persona

How do you go about clarifying your buyer persona? A buyer persona is a representation of your actual customers, based on detailed research. Social media is one of the most powerful mediums available for getting to know your customers, including their primary challenges and what solutions they are hoping to find. Using social media, there are a variety of tools you can use to help create a buyer persona, including:

Interview customers and encourage feedback
Anonymous surveys
Interactive content
Reviewing current trends and statistics
Social Media Intelligence
Lead intelligence

Data is gathered using the above methods, in combination with understanding trends in the overall market. The information you gather will help develop an image of your ideal customer. You can learn background information and various demographics such as family size, career title, household income, and interests outside of work. With this information, you begin to understand their needs and pain points. Via data collection, you may end up with any number of different buyer personas, each of which may correspond to distinct products or services.

Is Your Buyer Persona a Team?

For some products and services, you are actually selling to a team, not an individual. This is especially true in B2B sales where you are not likely to be selling to individuals. In this case, your buying persona is a team that consists of several different personalities, each with a different title, job function, and pain point.

Persona-Based Content and The Buying Cycle

Whether you are marketing to individual buyers or buying teams, you should realize that both types of buyers make purchases in a linear fashion. A buyer starts with awareness that there is a problem to be solved and looks for content that addresses their problem. When the prospect finds content that demonstrates an understanding of their problem, they begin considering solutions proposed by the content. They will review different options and demonstrations, comparing information and possible solutions. Ultimately a buyer approaches the decision phase. Once they have been convinced emotionally and logically by at least some of the content they have discovered, they decide to buy. If you want the best chance of developing content that leads to a purchase, you’ll need to clearly understand your buyers’ persona(s).

Delivering content based on buyer persona equates to recognizing exactly whom you are talking to and what problem(s) they need solved. The time it takes to research and define your personas may seem cumbersome, but it tends to be worth it when it comes to marketing ROI. That’s because, as alluded to above, persona-based content is developed with a much clearer understanding of the buyer. Hence, it speaks more directly to your audience’s problems and can more effectively convince them that your products are the right solutions.

Persona-based content is becoming increasingly more important to remain competitive. For help with targeting your audience using personas, contact Linda Fanaras, President/Strategist of Millennium Agency www.mill.agency.

About Millennium Agency

Social media outreach is a necessity when marketing your business. With over 81% of the population having at least one social profile, it is a great way to reach consumers and promote your brand. A successful social media outreach strategy strives to gain followers and keep them engaged with the long-term goal of converting them into leads.

So how exactly do you grow your following and keep them engaged? Here are a few tips that your business can use to boost engagement among your social following:

Keep it Current

People are interested in current events which is why these posts are great for encouraging conversations. Current events should not be overly political or controversial in any way, but light topics such as local weather and fun industry related events are excellent post topics.

Offer Discounts and Run Promotions

Offering discounts, coupons, and running promotions over social media is eye catching to followers. A few examples of offers that often see success include:

Free shipping,
X% percent off
Buy 1 get 1 free
Offer expires on (date)

If your business already runs discounts and promotions for customers, this is an ideal social media outreach strategy.

Post Regularly

Engaging a social media audience requires regular posting. Posts that are too sporadic or too far spaced apart may lose interest. Posting too frequently, however, may lose follower engagement as well. Every business is different which is why it is important to find your “sweet spot” for post frequency. This may require a bit of time and gathering consumer data to home in on.

If your business is open 7 days a week and does daily promotions, then frequent posting may be for you. If your business is in manufacturing, operating Monday – Friday, then perhaps 2-4 posts per week is right for you. The important thing is to be consistent, once you find the most engaging post schedule for your business, try not to deviate too much from it.

Educate Audience

People love to learn quick, interesting facts. This is an opportunity to implement your social media outreach strategy by sharing industry news as well as engaging followers in a fun and creative way. “Did you know that…” posts are an effective way to garner likes and encourage conversations. Whether it be fun facts or links to informative statistics, blogs, or news articles, these types of posts are an excellent option for any business.

Ask Questions

Asking questions turns one-way posts into a two-way channel, stimulating interaction with consumers and fueling engagement. “What do you think?” or “post below with your opinion!” are just a few options for motivating followers to reply. Questions are especially effective for showing that you care and encouraging participation and community among your customers.

Speak in a Human Voice

Posting with the voice of a large corporation shows professionalism and demonstrates your business as a trusted, solidified organization but it can be intimidating when it comes to follower responses. A down-to-earth voice is much more approachable and, depending on your business, may suit you better for encouraging replies.

Showing that you are in touch with your roots is an excellent way to connect with your customer base. Brief posts about how your business started or perhaps a few words from your founders are just a few ways that you can show followers that you are professional, but also down to earth and approachable.

Incentivize

Small contests, trivia, games, and so on appeal to the gamer in everyone. Depending on your business, raffling off a prize could be right for you. This is an excellent incentive that encourages participation among your followers. The incentive does not have to be huge, even small winnings catch the eyes of followers scrolling through a social feed. One useful method that also provides feedback is to offer a gift or discount in return for filling out a survey.

Having social media presence has shifted from being optional for businesses to a necessity. An engaging social strategy builds your brand image and creates lead generation. To learn more about how your business could benefit from a stronger social media outreach, contact Jessica Chabot, Vice President, Client Services of Millennium Agency at www.mill.agency.

About Millennium Agency

Developing a brand around your business is essential to building a strong following and having industry presence. Many people may think of a brand as being as simple as a logo, but it is far more than that, your brand is everything that encapsulates who you are as a business.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind in order to develop a successful brand:

Identity and Purpose

This is considered to be one of the most important aspects of branding. A few questions to ask yourself in this stage of branding are:

Who are you as a business?
What problems exist in the market and what is your solution?
Who is your target audience and why?
What differentiates you from the herd?

Seek to answer these questions when you create your brand purpose. Understanding your target market’s core values is key here. Developing a mission statement is an important step for businesses.

Voice

This is the communicative style that you use to reach out to consumers. Once you have your purpose, it is time to vocalize that purpose to your audience using language they can understand and relate to. This also includes choosing the right mediums and forums to represent your brand.

If you are a family-oriented business, you should communicate in a way that speaks from a family perspective. If you sell hair grooming products and your target audience is men aged 18-35, be sure that you truly understand the culture of that group and can speak their language.

Consistency

You have your purpose and you have your voice, now it is time to keep your word and be consistent with who you say you are as a brand. This means that when you develop product packaging, manage customer service, or write articles for your website, there should be a standardized format. This is so that consumers can recognize your brand and know what to expect time and time again.

Being consistent does not mean that your brand cannot also be flexible. Times change, and many businesses change and sometimes even reinvent themselves to reflect this. Consistency as a brand means that when you do make changes, you stand by them so that consumers know you are reliable. Constantly flip-flopping back and forth, so your audience does not know what to expect from your brand, is what you want to avoid.

Community

A strong brand following involves providing a sense of community for your customers. One example of a successful brand community is My Starbucks Idea. Starbucks created this forum for customers to communicate with each other and share thoughts and suggestions. By giving consumers a sense of being a part of something bigger, rather than just a coffee-drinker, Starbucks has created a community of dedicated fans.

These days, a business is so much more than the product/service that they provide. It is all about the values and lifestyle that they represent. If a new and exciting brand strategy is something that you feel could benefit your business, contact Linda Fanaras, President/Strategist of Millennium Agency www.mill.agency.

Get FAQs Answered

Create an Interactive Experience

Act as a Personal Assistant

About Millennium Agency

Taking the Voice Technology from Novelty to Necessity

If you don’t like what’s being said, change the conversation

About Millennium Agency

Customer Engagement

Authenticity vs. Artificial Intelligence

Leveraging a Technological Connection

About Millennium Agency

Content Production

Social Media Strategy

Public Relations

About Millennium Agency

1.) Retarget

2.) Tell a Story

3.) Play to the Strengths of the Social Platform

About Millennium Agency

Sponsored Content

Facebook’s Algorithm Change

Data Hygiene

About Millennium Agency

Brand Videos

Demo Videos

How-to Videos

Company Announcements and Event Videos

About Millennium Agency

Defining Your Buyer Persona

Is Your Buyer Persona a Team?

Persona-Based Content and The Buying Cycle

About Millennium Agency

Keep it Current

Offer Discounts and Run Promotions

Post Regularly

Educate Audience

Ask Questions

Speak in a Human Voice

Incentivize

About Millennium Agency

Identity and Purpose

Voice

Consistency

Community

About Millennium Agency