by Felicitas Ritter | Feb 4, 2014 | Latest, Marketing
For any business, having an integrated marketing plan really is the best way to optimize communications efforts. Without this, you could be missing out on great opportunities to reach your target audiences. Relying only upon traditional advertising outlets like radio, TV or newspaper to generate all the buzz you need, just isn’t as effective a strategy as it once was. In particular, if you have a smaller business, you might even want to skip these costly budget-busting vehicles for a while, depending on your market. Even when it comes to marketing for larger corporations, throwing everything into a splashy ad campaign is not generally the best practice. A more strategic approach is to examine all the marketing tools at hand, and take into account all the ways they might help you reach consumers.
If you are not yet working with social media, this is something that really does need to be incorporated into the mix.
As of December 2013, according to the Pew Research Center, 73% of online adults engage in social networking. Additionally, 42% are utilizing multiple platforms. If you aren’t leveraging Facebook and Twitter, at the very least, you are likely missing out on reaching a significant portion of your target audience. For niche markets, YouTube is another fantastic platform to reach very specific types of consumers.
Other considerations have to include direct marketing campaigns or promotions for consumer contests or giveaways, sponsorship opportunities, such as with local sports teams, and special events to launch new products. All are great ways to effectively get your brand out there.
Something many companies seem to take for granted are the impressions received through public relations. Having the opportunity to showcase products for free on local television programs or in specialty publications, or for the company spokesperson to be positioned as an opinion leader can be invaluable to future business successes.
The ingenuity of your campaign is only limited by the imaginations of your marketing and creative teams. And its effectiveness is not always a matter of budget, but rather of good planning and the ability to utilize a wide range of integrated marketing services that work synergistically together.
by Belinda Lui | Jan 31, 2014 | Latest, Marketing
The ongoing debate on what the differences are between B2B and B2C can be endless. Here at 3H Communications, we believe that, fundamentally, there is no difference. Whether you’re marketing a product or service to a business or consumer, the questions are the same — it’s the answers that are different. We still receive each project and analyze their objectives and goals, and create accordingly.
Regardless of whether your business operates B2B or B2C, these are the questions you need to ask:
Objectives What are they? Is it to maximize your profits by a certain percentage? To acquire a certain amount of new customers or clients by a certain time? To acquire more of the market share in your industry? Build a stronger community online for your brand? Target Market Who are you trying to target with your product or service? Are they predominantly males or females? Between a specific age range? Living in a specific region? Which group is most likely to respond to the product or service that you’re offering? Psychographics What do these groups of people enjoy doing? What do they do in their free-time? What is their purchasing behaviour? Their income and lifestyle? Knowing how your target market lives and behaves will significantly help you when deciphering a strategy to market your offerings. Competition Who are you competitors? What are they doing with their marketing initiatives? What is successful and unsuccessful about what they’re doing? How can you improve on the areas that your competitors were less successful? Knowing who your competitors are and what they’re doing will help you figure out a way to do it better. Breakthrough Creative When you’ve established the answers to all of the aforementioned questions, this will assist in developing breakthrough creative that may or may not have been previously explored in your industry. What Sets You Apart Companies can offer similar products or services but what sets each one apart from one another? It could be something as simple (and intricate) as a marketing strategy. Is it your logo? Your customer relationship management? Your intuitive website? Your community-focused social media plan? Figure out what sets you apart from the others, and run with it. What has been your experience in the marketing of B2B or B2C?
by Miriam Hara | Jan 19, 2014 | Advertising, Latest
The Olympic Games are quickly approaching and brands are all out there with emotive and sports related advertising . No sooner have we recovered from ringing in the new year and all the holiday season advertising, we are now being served with heart tugging emotive advertising. It goes without saying the Marketers have realized that they don’t need to be an actual Olympic sponsor to jump on the coat tails of the winter Olympic games. Brand Sponsors and non sponsors alike have realized the benefits of not only presenting brands emotively, but offering up a good dose of inspiration.
None has done the job of inspiring and bringing tears to our eyes than P&G, with its Tribute to Moms. To call this creative piece an ad, does not do justice to the concept or intent. This is not an ad: this is a tribute to the dedication and commitment of Moms all over the world. Cross culture. Cross Border. It inspires all, acknowledges all…nothing left to say, but pass the tissue please! (and let’s hope it’s a tissue from P&G!)
However, brands aren’t the only ones capitalizing on emotion and inspiration. Countries and their sports affiliates have fine-tuned the art of emotive advertising to a science.
In Canada, the Canadian Olympic Games association has launched a “We are Winter” initiative that is inspiring as it is culturally in line with Canadian thinking.
With less than a month to go for the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia to get here, the Canadian Olympic Games has launched its “We Are Winter” campaign. The Calgary Herald reported that the campaign features two 60-second and four 30-second television spots, as well as one 15-second spot.
On the olympic.ca site, the videos are engaging and beautifully executed, highlighting 17 athletes with their stories and challenges all the while, articulating their competitive sport in very human terms. At once they are emotional, inspiring and dare I say a tad patriotic. Here are a few of them.
Kaillie Humphries
Roz Groenewoud
Denny Morrison
Hope you enjoyed this Canadian inspiration. Let the Olympic Games begin!
by Lisa Wedmann | Dec 19, 2013 | Latest, Social Media
According to Socialnomics, 40% of Canadians were using Facebook or Twitter by 2010. By 2012, almost half of the population had joined social media sites. In 2013, it is established 2/3 of Canadians now use social media. These are facts to be considered when strategizing for a brand launch.
These are numbers that brands just can’t ignore. They realize that they need to be on social media. So, without a lot of thought or planning, they decide to go all in. Next thing you know, they join Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn and Google+.
Then, reality sets in. Social media is not easy. Before jumping in, with both feet, brands need to take a step back and set up a clear brand launch social media plan.
Here are just a few of the steps that companies need to look at before jumping into the social media world in their brand launch!
Research
Who is your audience? What platforms do they use? When do they use them? Why do they use them? The more informed you are, the better the decisions you will make about platforms and content.
Objectives
Just as important as the research, you need objectives. What are your goals, short-term and long-term. Where do you want to go, and how does social media fit into your overall plan.
Create an Editorial Calendar
Plan out the year, then month and eventually the week. Include blogger campaigns, contests and posts. Then layer in all marketing plans since social media give you a chance to amplify promotions, from coupons, to charity campaigns to in-store promotions.
Be Social
Unlike traditional advertising, social media is not simply about putting a message out there. It’s all about the relationships! This means you need to engage, share and respond in a timely fashion. Being present will build the basis for strong relationship. It’s not just about the number of followers, it’s about the level of engagement!
Listen
And if we want to grow those engagement numbers, we can’t just keep talking. It’s important to listen, and really hear what your audience sharing and asking about. What are they concerned about.
Tell a Compelling Story
Social media allows you to tell a story that will create interest, engage your audience and build brand loyalty. Stories are compelling, and will draw in followers and allow consumers to connect with your brand.
Last, but not least, you need Patience! The followers and engagement, will come. But it will take time. And content. Lots of it! What is the one thing that you have found to be most important when launching a brand on social media platforms?
by Belinda Lui | Nov 29, 2013 | Latest, Social Media
The first thing you see when you visit Instagram’s webpage is their tagline: “Capture and Share the World’s Moments” – which is the purpose for the multi-billion dollar company (now owned by Facebook). What users actually use it for, however, can vary in a multitude of ways. This is great news for businesses because they can optimize their reach in ways that other social media outlets may not allow for. Not to mention, this untapped demographic may include people that are on Instagram but don’t have a Facebook or Twitter account.
Personally, I’m an avid Instagram user and will swear by its significance in both personal and professional avenues.
Instagram can connect you with people that you would otherwise never have been connected with.
For businesses, this can mean reinforcing their brand identity while increasing revenue.
1. Michael Kors:
At the beginning of November 2013, Michael Kors was the first business to run an advertisement on Instagram – only to be met with criticism from their followers. The statistics, however, show that despite the disapproval from many followers, the results were exactly what Michael Kors had hoped for: in the first 18 hours of its launch, Michael Kors gained 34,000 new followers putting them at 1.3 million followers.
2. Sponsored Posts:
A sponsored post can increase viewership by pushing them to users that are not already following the account. Like Facebook, it promises impressions but not necessarily “follows” or “likes”, and unlike Facebook, you can’t target a specific demographic. In any case, a riveting ad or a great offer isn’t normally rejected by most – so it’s still worth considering.
3. Optimization:
There has been viral videos wreaking havoc on the usage of hashtags – for those who don’t know, a hashtag is the number sign (#) followed by a word or phrase. Some people have abused the purpose of this tool, but it’s actually very useful if used properly. Hashtagging organizes your photos by topic so that interested users can easily access relevant photos.
What are some of your favourite Instagram accounts to follow?
