Category: Industry Trends

Categories
Advertising Blog Industry Trends Social Media Web

Marketing in the Digital Age

cell phone and desktop banner

The way we market changes with society and advances in technology. The question is always –
how can we promote products and services? While the last 10 years have brought the greatest technological growth
along with digital marketing campaigns, it’s important to note that traditional mediums, such as television, radio,
print and out-of-home, are still powerful. Your overall marketing strategy should take an integrated approach and
include a combination of traditional and digital elements to reach consumers more effectively. However, as online
marketing continues to grow, it’s important to tap into new media forms. Our Founder and CEO Fran Yanity had the
opportunity to touch on and discuss many aspects of digital marketing with Our Lady of the Lake (OLLU) college
students. We’ve gathered some major takeaways from her presentation to help you understand the importance of digital
marketing.

Digital Channels

Whether you have a $500 or $10,000 monthly advertising budget, you want to get the biggest
bang for your buck. Choosing the right marketing channels will help maximize your return on investment (ROI) and
reach your goals. Some of the most effective marketing channels in 2020 include:

  • Pay-per-Click (PPC) Advertising – Google Search ads will
    help you connect with users who are searching for products and services that you provide right at the moment
    they are looking.
  • Social Media – Social connection offers valuable community
    building opportunities; however, it is important to choose the right platforms that make sense for your
    brand and customers.
  • Website – Your website may, in fact, be the most important of
    all channels. It should offer a good first impression and clearly represent your business, so users are able
    to find what they are looking for when they are looking.
  • Content Marketing and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) –
    Content marketing and solid SEO helps demonstrate your authority and expertise through high-quality content,
    thus helping you reach your target audience with information they need and want.

Although there are other marketing channels that are successful, those mentioned above have
proven to be some of the best and most cost-effective.

Process for Digital Marketing

In order for a marketing campaign to be successful, it is important to have a clear goal in
mind. What do you expect from your marketing campaign? Identifying your key performance indicators (KPIs) and
measurable metrics is essential. This, as well as understanding your audience, will help you start to build your
campaign strategy.

Not all social media and marketing channels are suitable for every campaign, so it’s
important to take a step back and think about what would be most effective for what you are trying to achieve. Look
at all possible channels and tie it back to your end goal. It’s OK not to run a campaign on multiple channels
especially if the budget is small. However, it is important to remember that if you do use a multi-channel approach,
you should tailor your content to fit within the platform.

Before launching any digital marketing campaign, it’s necessary to have somewhere users can
go after they click or see an ad. Most times, you would direct people to your website but it is important that users
go to a landing page that grabs their attention and compels them to take action. The landing page and your website
should have the appropriate pixels and tracking codes in place (like Google Analytics) to ensure accurate tracking
of page performance, conversions and attributions.

Without proper planning and measurement, your marketing campaign might not be successful.
Optimizations need to take place throughout the campaign as you learn more about your audience and what is
performing best to ensure that budget is allocated where it drives action. Marketing campaigns are extremely
valuable when you go through the process and make sure you set up everything accordingly.

Digital Trends in a Changing Landscape

Over the last couple of years, marketers have seen an increase in the amount of advertising
done programmatically. One of our
previous blogs discusses why the automated buying and selling of online advertising has seen a boom – included in this mix are
connected TV (CTV) and over-the-top (OTT) networks. In 2019, the number of smart TV’s and OTT devices in
households exceeded 1 billion. This will probably continue to grow over the next few years so it should be considered as part of your overall
marketing strategy.

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR)
will play a huge role in mobile advertising, moving forward. These trends have already started to emerge in
advertising campaigns, specifically with games (like “Pokemon Go”) because it offers an immersive and entertaining
experience. It allows marketers to reach consumers in new ways.

Getting your message across and influencing consumers to purchase a product or service can
be challenging if you don’t define your audience. Marketers utilize information that is collected from various
tracking mechanisms to help fine-tune and deliver a digital campaign to the right people. The collection
of data is important to ensure that the content is more engaging and
efficient. It comes from many sources including smartphones, cameras, apps, websites you visit etc. Data
collecting techniques continue to change as have regulations to ensure privacy, but at the same time give
marketers the tools they need to gain insights about their target demographics.

Looking for an agency that can deliver an impactful and successful campaign? Contact us today.
We’re just one call, like, follow, retweet and DM away!

Categories
Blog Industry Trends Social Media

Super Bowl LIV: Best Social Media Strategies

This year, there were 43.9M total social media interactions across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram regarding Super
Bowl LIV. With this kind of engagement<, advertisers can no longer afford to limit
their efforts to just a commercial. Brands are increasingly incorporating social media into their Super Bowl
campaigns because it offers a cost-effective opportunity to be a part of the conversation. So how exactly are
companies utilizing Twitter and other platforms to enhance their advertising strategy? Here are a few of the most
effective ways our team saw brands use social media ahead of the big game.

Pre-Game Teaser (Planters)

This year, several brands released teasers for their ads prior to Super Bowl LIV. That’s
because it generally results in more online buzz, anticipation, and brand awareness among consumers. Marketers also use it as a tool to gauge their audience’s reaction before the full ad is seen. While some critics are skeptical of the effectiveness of this approach, Planters proved this tactic can be successful. Weeks prior to the game, they leaked a teaser via Twitter that announced “Mr. Peanut’s” funeral would air during the game. This resulted in more
than 3M
views on YouTube in just two days. That coverage was worth $13.7 million in equivalent brand value, far exceeding the cost of airtime. In addition, other brands jumped in to pay their condolences via Twitter, which gave Planters
increased exposure and built anticipation for their Super Bowl ad.

Effective Use of Hashtags (Olay)

Olay’s #MakeSpaceforWomen campaign encouraged users to share the hashtag and in turn,
Olay would match donations with each retweet and hashtag mention it received. The ad initially received 20K mentions
after its launch in mid-January, but gained 90K more during the game. Overall, the campaign reached over 188K brand engagements in two weeks. Olay even earned Twitter’s “hashtag” award for the most creative and effective brand hashtag of the night and received a spot on the U.S. top trending list. Inviting people to engage in your campaign,
especially when it allows them to directly make a difference, can help build your brand’s reputation.

Audience Choice Approach (Bud Light & P&G)

Prior to the game, some brands used an audience-choice approach. For example, Bud Light created an opportunity for fans
to pick which Post Malone ad they wanted to appear in the Super Bowl. Viewers could cast their vote by commenting
either #PostyStore or #PostyBar on Twitter and Instagram and Bud Light would air whichever hashtag received the most
engagement. In just two weeks, Bud light received 98.2K brand engagements on social media.

Using Twitter to promote their “WhenWeComeTogether.com” site, Procter & Gamble took a similar approach by letting consumers vote through an interactive website to determine which brand mascots would end up in
their ad. “Brands that listen carefully to their audiences when creating advertising, invite feedback on the
concepts created and demonstrate that these opinions matter, can build a greater degree of trust, relevance and
transparency in their brand communications,” says Will Grobel, a Director at Deloitte Digital.

Looking for an agency that knows how to build brand engagement on social media?
Contact us today.
We’re just one call, like, follow, retweet and DM away!

Categories
Blog Industry Trends

The Future is Here: Key Takeaways from CES 2020

Every year, the world’s leading business pioneers and next-generation innovators come together for one week in Las Vegas, Nevada to showcase their latest technological concepts and inventions. With over 100,000 international attendees and 11 conference venues across the city, this summit is called the Consumer Electronics Showcase (CES). 

In an effort to stay on top of cutting-edge marketing and technological trends, Noisy Trumpet attended CES this year and witnessed first-hand today’s most significant consumer technologies from across the globe. Here are a few emerging concepts and technologies that stole the show: 

  • A New Kind of Avatar

Samsung generated buzz across the industry for its new innovation called NEON. NEON is a “human-like” avatar that can show emotion, intelligence and new skills based on everydayAndroid Anchor A01 ERICA interactions. Although NEON is more of a “chat bot” rather than an all-knowing AI assistant, these avatars can prove useful in several areas like healthcare, retail, tourism and travel.

NEON could offer personal companionship for the elderly, a personalized customer experience in airports, brick and mortar retail stores, and break cultural barriers by promoting brands in several languages.

  • Everyday Robots  

A major attraction at CES was the robotics market. Companies from across the world impressed attendees with a significant variation of robots we could incorporate in our everyday lives. 

For example, Procter & Gamble and Charmin’s GoLab debuted the “Rollbot,” a small bluetooth-connected toilet paper delivery robot that can be summoned with the touch of a button from your smartphone. Could “smart bathrooms” be the future of smart homes?

 

Aside from service-based functions, a primary theme in robotics focused on emotional care and support. Take for example the quirky and lovable robot companion “LOVOT,” developed by Japan-based company, GROOVEX, Inc. The CES 2020 Innovation Award honoree can be configured through a smartphone app. It can take photos, provide real-time video streaming for baby monitoring and offer home security by checking areas of the home you’re interested in and sending photos directly to your smartphone. 

LOVOT robot companion by Groovex

What these two technological trends demonstrate is that ultimately our health and overall well-being can benefit from technology, even in the smallest and most convenient ways. 

  • Ultimate Flexibility: The Future of Wireless 

From Samsung, Dell to HP, the world’s most prominent PC and smartphone vendors revealed the latest in wireless technologies – bendable devices. 

The debut of foldable devices with 5G connectivity like laptops, smartphones, televisions and speakers encompassed the showroom floor. The appeal of these products is evident – convenience and compatibility. Some products that garnered the most attention included: 

  • Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Fold – The world’s first foldable Windows PC. This 13.3 inch-table can transform into a smaller laptop, the size of a paperback. 
  • Royole’s Mirage – The Mirage is an Alexa-enabled speaker with a wraparound display for custom animations. 
  • LG Display – A new television display that can bend on command.
  • Motorola Razr – This new device folds vertically like a flip phone and can be maneuvered with just one hand. 

At Noisy Trumpet we are always pushing the limits, thinking outside of traditional marketing capabilities to elevate our client’s brands by integrating the latest trends. If your business is looking for innovative ways to elevate your brand and expand your reach, we are just one call, like, follow, retweet and DM away!   

CES 2020

Categories
Blog Industry Trends Social Media

Social Media Trends to Get Excited About In 2020

The beginning of the new year is the perfect time to reflect on your business’ brand and plan for fresh strategies moving forward. As social media and digital marketing are constantly evolving, the best way to strengthen your overall marketing plan is to be aware of the new year’s groundbreaking trends. Trends help generate new and innovative ideas which in turn can give your company a competitive advantage. Check out our list of popular trends your brand should be familiar with in 2020:

 

TikTok

Industry experts are predicting that TikTok’s rise as a leading social media platform won’t stop in 2020. TikTok was the third most downloaded app in the first quarter of 2019, with 188 million new users and grew 70% from 2018. TikTok is a video sharing app that allows users to create and share 15 to 60 second videos. It was put on the map when users began lip syncing to music. Now, it has evolved into a much broader social media platform with the addition of filters, background effects and advertisements. The app is especially popular among Gen Z audiences; but, even the nation’s biggest brands, influencers and celebrities are using it. For example, the dating-app Bumble does an excellent job of integrating their ads to the platform, making them appear like native content. If your brand’s goals align with the platform’s target audience, TikTok could be incorporated into your next marketing campaign.

 

 

Vertical Video

Prior to smartphones, video footage was captured and viewed in horizontal dimensions. With the consistent rise of smartphone usage, the demand for vertical video is increasing faster than ever. Users now prefer the ability to record and view video vertically. In fact, studies show we hold our mobile phones vertically 94% of the time. So, is it time for creators to make the transition? This trend has even expanded to television when Samsung saw an opportunity to improve viewability and created the Sero TV, a television that pivots between vertical and horizontal orientations, letting you watch Instagram, Snapchat and other social media videos in their natural vertical configurations. As video content continues to dominate, it’s imperative that your video efforts adapt to this trend. 

 

 

Samsung

End of “Likes”

Now that Instagram, and even Facebook, have continued to test the removal of their “like” option, there is pressure for content to be better than ever. It’s been said that removing likes could potentially create a safer, mentally healthier environment for users. However, its removal will likely have a large effect on marketers’ ability to measure the success of influencer marketing. Without likes, influencers and brands will have to rely on the quality of content over the quantity of likes. Rather than quantifying engagements, success will be measured through the actions consumers take, such as completing a purchase. Regardless, if the test is implemented permanently, it’s recommended to keep your efforts focused on the quality of your content.

 

 

Take advantage of new opportunities by keeping up with the latest social media and marketing trends. Want to work with an agency that stays ahead of the curve? Contact us today. We’re just one call, like, follow, retweet and DM away!

 

Categories
Blog Industry Trends Web

Web Design: An Evolving Medium

evolving image

Every year we adopt new design trends and leave some behind in order to keep our website updated and relevant. We’ve gone from simple HTML websites to dynamic pages that are accessible on desktops, tablets and mobile phones. A website is a reflection of your organization and needs to have great design and structure to look professional while containing useful information for readers. Keeping your website updated strengthens your site’s SEO and Google rankings, encouraging continued traffic growth. Heading into a new year, let’s discuss some emerging trends that we can start implementing ahead of the curve.

Mobile Responsiveness

This isn’t exactly a new trend, but it is increasingly critical that your site be easily viewable on a desktop, tablet and mobile phone. As of 2018, 52.2% of internet users browse on a mobile device rather than on a desktop. This was a 222% increase from 2013. For many businesses, designing and building the website with mobile-first mentality is key to a successful site. Ignoring the mobile market is a big mistake many companies make that can drive away potential customers. 

Custom Illustrations

Unique, hand-drawn illustrations are having a moment right now. This personal touch has the potential to turn your average website into something powerful and unique that communicates your brand’s message. Custom icons and images give the site a more personable feeling, allowing you to connect with people, including potential customers.

Inclusive Design

Like mobile responsiveness, this isn’t necessarily new, but it has become increasingly important in recent  years. You should caption and transcribe any video content, add alternative text to photos, choose legible fonts and color schemes. Treating these modifications as mandatory will help make your website more accessible for everyone, including people with disabilities.

Minimalism

We’re moving away from the sometimes-busy appearance of banners and carousels and opting for minimal “above the fold” look, where information is delivered simply and directly. Apple™ is a prime example of minimalist design with their utilization of balanced whitespace, engaging fonts and animation.

Keeping these trends in mind and following the changing styles of web design will help maintain the relevance of your brand and content. First impressions are just as important on the web as they are in the real world, make sure yours is the best it can be.

Looking to launch your next campaign? Contact us today. We’re just one call, like, follow, retweet and DM away!

Categories
Advertising Blog Industry Trends

Super Bowl Advertising Reclaims Surprise

This year, Super Bowl advertising attempted to reclaim the element of surprise. This domineering tactic indicates a major shift from previous years with an interesting result.

Traditionally, Super Bowl advertising has become its own championship showdown, showcasing some of the best ads of the year. Not to mention, it constantly has the highest rates of viewership all year. So why did some advertisers not choose to hype up their ads with early releases or teases?

The Power of Surprise

In years past, advertisers release their ads weeks before the game to milk the expensive price tag for all its worth and stimulate consumer interest.

This technique uses the psychological priming effect. Basically, they create a small, positive experience first so that subsequent experiences are more likely to be positive. Teasing an ad helps ensure that people will keep liking it, making sure the $5 million budget isn’t wasted. However, this strategy leaves out a vital component of the ad’s success: consumer engagement.

The Effect on Consumers

For consumers, seeing the Super Bowl ads prior the game can surrender the joy of novelty. Consequently, consumers will care less when the actual ad is shown.

For instance, if a consumer has already seen the ad, they probably won’t pay attention during gameday — losing out on the value of the media buy. On the other hand, a consumer seeing the ad for the first time will likely be more attentive during the ad and even more engaged online.

Consumers are more motivated to join a conversation about real-time, trending topics rather than what’s already been covered. Therefore, their input and opinions about the ads become more meaningful. Whether it be on social channels or at work the Monday after, they see themselves as apart of a national conversation and current event rather than commenting on the past.

What to Take Away

According to Deadline, viewership for Super Bowl ads on Youtube after the game increased 16% from the previous year despite a 7% decrease in viewership of the Super Bowl. This suggests that there is something to the tactic of surprise.

It pays to be one step ahead of the conventional. Understanding consumer behavior and perception on a larger scale can help brands and advertisers stand out, garnering higher engagement and interest in real time — which, as marketers, is what we’re all after.

Categories
Advertising Blog Industry Trends

Super Bowl LII: Traditional vs. Digital Marketing

As the Super Bowl approaches, there is no shortage of talk anticipating this year’s ads. More than 40% of American households are expected to tune in! It’s no secret the market for ad time is extremely competitive during this period of highly engaged viewers. However, with last year’s ads priced at nearly $5 million for a 30-second slot, some companies are beginning to wonder if the benefits are worth the price. Will marketers begin implementing a heavier presence in the digital realm as a result of increased traditional media competition during the Super Bowl hype?

Traditional Media

Our sister agency, The PM Group, has been handling media advertising for decades and has noticed digital trends. However, despite digital’s evolution, traditional media still reigns – for companies willing to pitch in that extra dime. A recent study published by the INFORMS Marketing Science journal finds revenue increases substantially for Super Bowl advertisers. MarketWatch estimates that a full hour of the Super Bowl broadcast is advertisements, meaning they are collectively viewed more than 136 million hours, just by the end of the game. When researchers studied the sales trends for beverage companies over the course of 5 years, researchers found that heavy sports advertisers, like Budweiser, had nearly a 5% increase in sales before and after major sporting events had aired (such as March Madness and the Super Bowl).

Social Media

We know traditional media isn’t going anywhere, but how are new digital practices affecting the playing field? Researchers suggest social media may have a bigger influence when it comes to extending the shelf life of big game ads. Forbes magazine calculated that nearly 5.7 million original posts were made online within 1 hour of last year’s Super Bowl. This produced nearly 40 billion impressions while paid social impressions had a total of 5.4 billion and TV ads had 11 billion. Consecutively, the hashtags #SB, #SB51, and #Superbowl2017 compiled over 86 billion impressions by the end of the game, which consisted of 11.9 million posts. For advertisers, social media is key when top Super Bowl ad lists are generated by companies. Last year consumers spent a record 350,000 combined hours watching Super Bowl 51 ads on YouTube. Oreos is most famously known for this type of marketing campaign, after tweeting about the infamous blackout of Super Bowl XLVII. Social media during major events gives marketers a platform to experiment with while still accomplishing their goals as a brand.

Digital Media  

Although the cost of social media marketing is dramatically different than the price of TV spots, digital advertising brings a different element of value to the plate. The efficiency that digital ads provide when targeting consumers has many marketers turning to the digital playing field. Marketers can now pay to advertise to a specific subgroup within the Super Bowl audience, rather than the game’s entire viewership. Digital ads on a 30-second national spot will cost you $700,000 while the same national spot in broadcast will be around $5 million. Marketers are even able to customize multiple campaigns on various digital platforms, utilizing creative specific to the market, rather than air just one 30 second TV spot. Smaller budgets, audience customization and overall efficiency creates a better experience not only for the user, but the consumer as well.

So while traditional TV spots are booming, for now, expect to see digital presence skyrocket in the following years with brands’ Super Bowl campaigns. The digital space provides an affordable outlet to take advantage of trending campaigns surrounding major events, such as the Super Bowl. Differentiating between traditional and modern marketing strategies is key to realizing the value that lies in each. Especially as our world becomes more connected, integrating newer digital technologies into our tried-and-true marketing tactics will only allow for a more successful, holistic approach.

Categories
Advertising Blog Industry Trends Social Media

2018 Digital Trends to Grow Your Business

2017 was a big year for digital and tech — and 2018 is looking to be even bigger! As technologies have evolved, brands now connect with consumers in new ways as they demand a more integrated experience. We share what we think are the major 2018 digital trends:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Will be Commonplace

Artificial intelligence is no longer the product of science fiction. It’s real and helps brands better connect with their consumers. But what is it? Simply, it’s the study of how to make machines smart enough to solve  problems as well as people can. Combined with big data and machine learning, AI is expected to make a huge impact on how we market to our consumers. Think image recognition software, chatbots, speech recognition, recommendation engines, and programmatic advertising.

Voice Searches Are Shaping SEO

As the use of Siri, Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home, etc. increases, brands will begin optimizing their websites for how users search with their voices as opposed to typed.

According to Google, 20% of mobile search queries submitted via its app are already done using voice. Meanwhile, comScore estimates 30% of searches will be done without a screen by 2020.

Live Video Will Continue to Skyrocket

Live streaming started as a niche but has quickly been adopted by dominating social platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat. Unsurprisingly, live video accounted for 75% of all internet traffic in 2017 and is slated to increase.

Personalization Is Increasingly Important

The further that technology evolves, the higher consumers expectations are. If these expectations aren’t met, they can just click away in an instant. So, personalization, relevance, the customer experience, and tailored messaging will be key to truly connecting with your audience. AI and other technologies allow marketers to achieve this relevance at scale.

Strategic Social Media Will Become Your Best Chance at Reaching Followers

It’s no secret social channels are constantly updating their algorithms — making it harder and harder for you to reach your intended audience. That’s why 2018 is going to be the year for strategic, actionable social media plans for local businesses and large brands alike. Tailor content to your target user and be sure to keep up to date with trends.

Influencer marketing will evolve.

Brands will need to establish deeper, more authentic relationships with influencers, rather than a mere paid transaction that consumers see through. Micro-influencers with audience sizes of 1,000 – 100,000 followers will also gain more traction in the new year as their posts are likely to get up to 4x more engagement than macro influencers.

Mobile Video Viewing (and competition!) Is Growing

Video is king and brands have taken notice. In fact, brands have created video content to boost search engine rankings, increase engagement and website traffic rates. This will continue to grow in the new year.

Get Hyperlocal

Google and Facebook alike have begun incorporating local into their platforms, making it easier for local businesses to connect with their consumers. As ‘local’ becomes an increasingly hot topic, even larger national  businesses will focus on local marketing, ensuring all locations are appearing in local rankings in 2018.

No matter your goals for the new year — if you want your business’ digital presence to outshine the rest — you need to be on top of the latest in digital. Need some help? We’re here for you!

Contact us today to see how we can work together.