5 Trends that Should Shape your 2017 Marketing Budget

Posted on September 12, 2016December 19, 2016 by Ed Entecott

We’d all like a crystal ball to help us plan next year’s marketing budget so that we could spend more time engaging with our audience and less time planning. How nice would it be to know exactly which emerging technologies and trends are going to have the biggest impact on your bottom line? Or knowing exactly which digital channels your prospective customers will be using?

Unfortunately we can’t predict the future but that doesn’t mean we can’t draw upon some comprehensive research to help us make some informed predictions as to which way things are heading. The way in which the marketing industry drives forward is immense so here are our top five predicted digital marketing trends that should be shaping your 2017 marketing budget.

Video – Live Streaming

In the last year we have seen video skyrocket. Each social network now seems to offer its own video platform but live streaming is still relatively new. The first release of tools like Periscope and Meerkat only came about in early 2015. Facebook very quickly jumped on the bandwagon though and more recently, YouTube has introduced live streaming capabilities.

Live video streams can be used for marketing in various ways. They can build awareness, drive conversion and boost engagement. Very often this will be dependent on using the right social platform for your content though. By supplementing your current social strategy with live video, and hyping the build up to your content, you have a real opportunity to reach the masses. In fact, it is believe that in 2017, 74% of all internet traffic will be to video.

Despite the enormous growth of the apps there are still very few brands that have adopted video. Live content is now getting preference over all other content though. Its rate of user adoption and participation is driving the urgency to include this in marketing strategies. With live video being the best way to bring the full power of personal sales to social media, there is a real opportunity for ROI.

You can only do this though by adding value to your customers, so don’t just go straight in with a sales pitch. Give your customers an insight into the personality of your business. Stream company events, make live announcements, conduct interviews or even run a live video blog. Although it is safe to say that live video is here for the long haul, now is the time to determine how to best use it to build awareness and expand reach.

BoohooMAN recently worked with social media marketing agency Social Chain to deliver the most engaged live video ever. Customers were invited to engage with a live stunt on Facebook that saw air being pumped into a giant water balloon every time someone commented ‘pump’. The last person to comment pump when the balloon burst won a £250 gift voucher. This stunt received on 2 million impressions, 930,000 engagements and over 4,000 comments a minute! By creating content that they knew their target audience would react to, boohooMAN was the most talked about brand on Cyber Monday, one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

Cross-Device Retargeting

Consumers are much harder to reach these days, especially as they switch back and forth between all their different devices. DMA’s Statistical Fact Book reports that the average consumer is now connected through five addressable devices. This in turn means five opportunities to get your brand in front of them. Today’s shopper uses a laptop, a tablet and a smartphone and consumers will bounce back-and-forth between device before making that final purchase decision.

As these consumers move across devices, marketers must engage with them in personalised, meaningful ways. By tagging consumers at their first touch point with your brand and tracking their behaviour across devices, marketers are able to target them with display advertising that is appropriate for the device. This unified view of a customer helps deliver a consistent and engaging message across devices ensuring your brand is always at the forefront of their mind. So rather than sending one message to what appears to be three different consumers, you can reach one consumer three times with a consistent, relevant message.

Google recently announced that advertisers will soon be able to reach users across devices with Google remarketing campaigns. This is a significant development as this isn’t something Google previously supported. This means marketers can now monitor how frequently users see their ads across devices enabling them to seamlessly to deliver a cross-device marketing campaign.

Personalised Content

There is so much content on the web that it can be very difficult for brands to break through the noise. This can also make it difficult for brands to differentiate from other brands, especially if they are offering the same product or service and targeting a wide audience. If you’re producing content to appeal to everyone, it’s not going to be as valuable as content that is targeted. Treating customers and prospects as one homogenous group fails to maximise the potential of your messaging.

Consumers now expect more from brands and as such, are looking for you to add value to their lives, not disrupt it. In exchange, brands get their custom, loyalty and brand advocacy. We can only achieve this though by providing content that our customers actually want to read. If brands have a better understanding of the person they are targeting, they will have a better understanding of the information their customer might be seeking.

It is also vital to consider how your prospects and customers are consuming your content. With mobile traffic now outstripping desktop traffic, the importance of delivering content on the right device, in the right format and at the right time is vital to its success. For example, first thing in the morning on the commute, content should be mobile friendly and easily digestible. However in the evening, when content is more likely to be read on a tablet, it can be longer-form and more in-depth.

For brands to add real value to consumers though, they need to shift their focus towards narrower niches, personalised content and more targeted channels. Although this will undoubtedly generate lower volume, the quality of engagement will be much higher and the content is more likely to resonate.

Optimise for Mobile First

Smartphones have now overtaken laptops as UK Internet user’s number one device. On average, we are spending almost two hours online on our smartphones every day. There has been an emphasis on optimising for mobile traffic for a few years and now it is clear that mobile first should be the mantra for the rest of the year and beyond.

Having a mobile-friendly website or app is just the beginning. For the first time Google has started widening their first page search results to include mobile apps and they have recently released their “Mobilegeddon” algorithm. This will essentially phase out sites that have not been optimised for mobile access from showing in search results. This is very bad news for companies who have not yet optimised their website as their Google rankings will drop moving them further down the search page. Google has also introduced Mobile Accelerated Pages which delivers a lighter version of a web page that will load ultra-fast on mobile.

Desktop traffic is slowly beginning to fade away, and in order to increase the competitive edge of your company, mobile-focused online marketing is key. As it currently stands, one in seven Brits own wearable technology and the trend is set to continue. This means marketers need to be prepared to produce content to fit the format, the channel, and the place.

Social Analytics

It may feel like social media has been around for a lifetime but it’s certainly still in its infancy. Although most companies have adopted one or two social media platforms, many of them are still not collecting data. Social media gives businesses an unprecedented opportunity for connecting with customers and prospects but 88% of marketers aren’t sure of the best way to engage their audience on social media which is potentially driving away consumers. With the move to mobile though and more brands relying on social platforms, analytics will offer the greatest opportunities.

The mass-target approach is out, and personalised data-driven marketing plans are in. Social media is competitive and it is crowded so it is essential to test and track results. By making greater use of social analytics, brands are able to drill down and gain valuable insight. There are certain nuggets of valuable data buried within the mountains of social media chatter. Organisations that are looking for a competitive edge can use social analytics to identify patterns in customer sentiment which in turn enables them to gauge their marketing effectiveness. This process goes beyond the usual monitoring of “likes” or retweets to develop an in-depth idea of who their social consumer is and this information is invaluable.

Using social analytics, brands are able to understand how their customers are making use of their services or products and what their views and opinions are about that particular company or product. There are countless blogs, tweets, comments and complaints regarding products and services and social media platforms are now the No.1 place for consumers to complain. This huge volume of information can be used to evaluate consumer’s experience which can then be used to help companies perform better.

Tracking data is also essential in helping brands get better results. If brands aren’t tracking their data, they are wasting their time on hit or miss type campaigns. Social media analytics is often the difference between success and failure for obtaining the results brands want.

So there you have it, five growing trends to watch out for this coming year and to consider adopting in your 2017 marketing strategy.

Written by Liam Beauchamp for Burst Digital, 12/09/2016

Building a Brand: The Building Blocks of Success

Posted on August 30, 2016December 20, 2016 by Ed Entecott

Building a Brand – The Building Blocks of Success

We all know that there is no recipe for success when it comes to business, especially when there are so many internal and external factors that can either make or break a business. We cannot prepare ourselves for all eventualities but there are a number of steps that can be taken to minimise risks. When we think of large successful businesses, the key players that come to mind are Coca Cola, McDonald’s and Apple. But what have all of these companies got in common that have made them so successful? Strong branding!

Branding is bandied about a lot when it comes to talking about successful businesses. You brand represents everything about your business and it resonates with your customers and prospects. With this in mind, it is vital that you get the basic building blocks right. But what are the building blocks that have enabled these brands to triumph over others?

Building Block #1: Clear Strategy

Before launching any brand, you have to ensure that you have established your brand foundation. Your brand foundation can be identified by answering a number of questions:

What are our core values? What do we believe in? How do we want our customers to perceive us? What is our core messaging and visual identity? What do we want our company to represent?

After answering all of these questions, you will have a clearer understanding of what you foundation strategy should be. These foundation principles could be a list or statement, or a selection of carefully selected words. They essentially need to be referenced to by everyone who touches your brand internally, at every stage of any business decision making process. Also, by understanding who your ideal customers are, you can ensure that you’re building a brand that aligns with their wants and needs.

Building Block #2: A Strong Logo

This is a given really but once you have established your foundation, you need to address your visual elements. Designing a logo is no easy task as there are so many components to consider. To put it as simply as possible though, make it unique, make it adaptable, make it timeless but most of all, make it memorable.

This is the first element that the public will probably come into contact with so it needs to be striking. Remember though, your logo will set the standard for all your marketing collateral so it needs to be adaptable. Logos need to translate across different mediums but still evoke the same meaning.

Never underestimate the power of your logo either. Throughout a single company’s history, various logos serve as indicators of values, loyalty and togetherness. One of the most iconic brand logos of all time is the Nike “swoosh”. The logo was introduced in 1971 and since its introduction, it has only undergone four revisions but the Nike “Swoosh” has remained. It has now gone on to become the most iconic images in the world, so much so that in 1995 the company chose to remove the brand name of the original design, leaving the “Swoosh” as the sole symbol of the company.

Building Block #3: Guidelines

Once you’ve established your identity and you have a logo to match it, you need to ensure your other visual elements match the image and personality of your brand. This is essential as it helps develop a sense of familiarity for your customers. Fonts and colours which will be heavily influenced by your logo will have a big impact of your branded marketing materials. You need to consider how your fonts and colours portray your brand.

For example, if your brand is corporate, then your font should be slick, easy to read and professional. No Comic Sans please. However, if your brand is a bit more fun, then you can use a font that is energetic and slightly more elaborate.

Research has shown that colour also plays a vital role in the perception of brands. This is why it is so important in understanding your ideal customer. If your customers are looking for a brand that is exciting, you may choose to use red in your marketing collateral. Or if you want to convey sophistication, you may look to use purple. There are no clear cut guidelines when it comes to colour but when it comes to choosing colours, you must test. You cannot know how your audience will respond to your colours in your content and layout without testing to determine which colour combinations work best.

Your guidelines will also cover elements such as writing guidelines, web design and print design. Once you have a set of brand guidelines, as long as they have been clearly established, it should help everyone from your team to your suppliers designing your marketing material make sure that everything is consistent and looking like it’s from the same company.

Building Block #4: Tone of Voice

Your tone of voice is not what you say, but how you say it. In relationship to branding, it embodies and expresses your personality and reflects the overarching foundation. The words you use on your website and in your marketing collateral can define how people perceive your business.

When establishing your tone of voice, you need to think carefully about whom you are talking to. Do you want to appear casual and friendly or formal and sharp? Your tone of voice needs to be distinctive and recognisable. Carefully selected words can heavily influence customers and by picking a voice that fits your brand and culture can make you more memorable to customers.

One brand that hit the nail on the head in their very early days was Innocent drinks. Their branding is often held up as a shining example of how to get copywriting and marketing right. One of the most significant things about Innocent’s brand voice is that it is relatively informal and friendly. Instead of coming across as a company, it sounds more like a friend who has just made you are smoothie. If you have a look across any of their customer touch points though, you will see that this friendly, off-the-wall formula has been used across all of their content. By having this consistency, consumers are instantly able to recognise a marketing message from Innocent.

One of the most important lessons that can be learnt from Innocent is that success comes from building a unique brand voice. By developing this distinct tone that your customers are comfortable with, your customers are more likely to return to your website or connect with you digitally.

Building Block #5: Consistency

Consistency is key for your business and does a multitude of things for your brand. It can contribute to generating trust, attracting more customers and also creating a professional feel across the business. Ultimately, consistency contributes to brand recognition, so you need to make sure all your marketing elements and messaging is cohesive. Not only does this help strengthen your brand, but it also drives positive sentiment and trust in consumers which ultimately leads to brand loyalty and lifelong customers.

New and returning customers are heavily influenced by the stability that is associated with a solid reputation, and this can only be perpetuated by consistent branding. By keeping a tight rein on brand consistency, marketers are able to drive customer perception for the onset of the engagement all the way through the buyer decision process.

We have seen the power of consistent branding in recent years with Apple. In the early stages, Apple was able to establish an identity that meets their needs, and they have stuck with it. Changing the look or approach of the Apple brand could easily undermine the consumers’ understanding of who Apple are as a company so Apple consistently places a lower case “i” on new digital products – the iPhone, iPad, iPod, iWatch. This ensures that consumers can easily identify a new product as coming from Apple, even if they haven’t heard from them. As a result, Apple is now the world’s most valuable technology brand, and has been the front-runner for the past six, consecutive years.

Apple’s global domination continues, and although their brand success would be hard to replicate, their strategy and tactics are easily transferable to any brand. Unfortunately it won’t come easily but the consequence of brand consistency is so crucial to a brand’s success, it’s worth investing the time.

Building Block #6: Brand Centurion

Consistency is the key theme that runs throughout all of the points above and any brand manager will tell you how vital it is for a brand to succeed. One of the biggest tasks faced by brand managers though is keeping their marketing consistent. With Brand Centurion, many of the daily struggles are alleviated by providing organisations with one, easy-to-use, powerful asset management tool. Brand Centurion automates all the demanding creation and distribution jobs and ensures that all marketing collateral is consistent every single time.

Written by Liam Beauchamp for Burst Digital – 30/08/2016

If you’re interested in developing your brand, call us today and up your marketing game!

How to Utilise Your Strongest Asset: Brand Consistency

Posted on May 9, 2016December 19, 2016 by Ed Entecott

Whether you like it or not, every business has a brand and it has the potential to be one of the strongest assets you own. Your brand represents everything your business does and is the impression people have about your brand. For that reason alone, it is vital to nurture your brand and make it a priority. Your brand should convey what you do, what you stand for and what makes you unique. This collection of interlinked attributes essentially give your business its identity.

Now caring for a brand is often easier said than done. I’m afraid to say it but there is a lot to consider and a lot of work required. Putting your logo on all your marketing materials or using the right pantone is a step in the right direction but it simply doesn’t cover it – building a good brand takes time. Strong, consistent branding reinforces your identity and creates a positive sentiment. This can only be done though by aligning the look, feel and tone of voice throughout your brand messages.

But why is it so important?

Consumers trust brands that they recognise and can get to know of a more personal level. We all know that making a purchase is more of an emotional decision than it is a practical one. John Lewis is one of the UK’s favourite household brands and it is all down to their strong brand identity. The brand resonates and this has allowed customers to connect with the brand. As a result, this has implanted a real sense of loyalty and trust for the brand.

We buy the same brands because we know what to expect, feel at ease purchasing and know we like the product. This same concept can be carried across all our marketing channels to ensure there is a seamless look and feel on all our customer touchpoints. Consumers will feel more comfortable with your brand and are more inclined to become a lifelong customer.

‘Just Do It’ is one of the simplest, most recognisable slogans of all time and is a line that Nike has used for the past 15 years. Compare this with major competitor Reebok though who has changed their slogan 14 times since 1988. Nike’s strong branding has enabled differentiation against the competition as it has allowed people to identify Nike’s products and services at a glance. And it seems Nike’s consistency has paid off as it is now the global market leader in the sports shoe market. Consistency goes far beyond a slogan or a logo though.

Consistency Equals Dependency

Whilst a CMO may have the final say on what marketing content is released, it is at that point that they lose all control. With the array of social media platforms, review sites and blogging sites, customers can constantly talk to each other and share their opinions (both positive and negative) about your brand. People love telling others about the brands they like and this can very easily sway another person’s opinion. Strong brands create followers who are not shy about sharing their stories and these endorsements are extremely important in building a brand’s trust factor.

Coca-Cola is an outstanding example of how brand consistency increase company value,

Without brand consistency, you lose the ability to cut through all this noise and position your brand positively in the consumers’ minds. Consistency across all your marketing channels and customer touch points is essential as brand inconsistency immediately leads to poor brand experiences.

Consistent branding doesn’t mean that all your communications should look exactly the same, far from it in fact. But it does mean you should strive for cohesion by sticking to a set of visual standards that can be developed through your brand guidelines. Keeping your visual identity consistent will help effectively distinguish and give your brand recognition. As a result it creates the ‘desirability’ factor for existing and potential new customers, supporters and stakeholders.

Written by Liam Beauchamp for Burst Digital – 09/05/2016

Burst Digital

We can help control your brand consistency through a dynamic asset management portal. Brand Centurion allows business with multiple locations a portal to access, create, monitor and print their latest marketing assets quickly and efficiently. This includes everything from posters to leaflets, business cards to digital assets. Brand Centurion can maintain your brand consistency; prevent costly mistakes, save money in reduced design and artwork time and enable you to order your branded print marketing materials instantly.

Ready to up your marketing game? Talk to us today!