By Kashem Miah 62% of online shoppers are brand loyal, providing a great opportunity for brands to take advantage of their loyalty and turn it into a long-term relationship. That’s good news for online businesses that hope their customers will return — but what about those looking to acquire new leads?
With hundreds of competitors going after the same potential customers, digital marketing is key to the success of your online business. It amplifies your message and gets your products or services in front of new eyeballs, helping you build a brand that inspires loyalty. But knowing how to craft that marketing plan can be confusing. Do you need a Facebook page? A Twitter feed? An Instagram account? What about a blog? What elements are crucial to the success of your website? Today’s online consumers are in completely control of their shopping experience. They compare prices, buy from any one of their many devices, and expect an easy, customer-friendly experience. Out of necessity, marketing has adapted to meet the customer wherever they are in their buying journey. According to customer experience expert Colin Shaw, customers are more likely to leave you over a service-related issue than price. We’ve compiled this comprehensive digital marketing guide because we want to help you become better marketers and, in turn, be more successful at what you do. Whether you’re launching your first business on the web or looking to inject some life into your site’s marketing campaign, this guide will give you the tools you need to become successful in your online marketing efforts. Source:https://www.shutterstock.com/blog/ultimate-digital-marketing-guide-online-small-businesses By Kelly Phillips Erb "American business is overwhelmingly small business." That's the word from the Small Business & Entrepreneurial Council which cfigured that the number of small businesses with fewer than 20 workers together with the number of nonemployer businesses makes up 97.9% of the businesses in America (remember those are numbers of businesses and not numbers of employees). Data from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) supports the notion that small businesses are making a significant economic impact. Of the nearly 148 individual income tax returns filed in 2014 (the last year for which complete data is available, downloads as a pdf), 46 million - or 1/3 - of tax returns reported income from a sole proprietorship, pass-through business entity (like an s corporation, partnership or LLC), rents/royalties, or farms. That's 1 in 3 individual taxpayers who filed an individual tax return reporting business-related income. It's no wonder that a number of the questions in our last #AskForbes Twitter chat focused on deductions for small business. To help you out, here are 10 can't miss tax breaks for small businesses and self-employed persons: 1. Self-employment tax. You already know that wages are subject to Social Security and Medicare taxes, together called FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act) taxes or payroll taxes since they are taken right out of your paycheck. Not everyone is aware, however, that there are corresponding taxes on self-employment income, sometimes called SECA (Self-Employment Contributions Act). A key difference between the two is that if you are employed by a business, you pay Social Security (6.2%) and Medicare tax (1.45%) as the employee, and your employer kicks in tax at the same rates (6.2% and 1.45%, respectfully) on your total wages. If you’re self-employed, you pay both portions. Fortunately, you can deduct the portion of your self-employment tax equivalent to what an employer would pay (meaning Social Security (6.2%) and Medicare tax (1.45%)) on the front page of your tax return on line 27 (highlighted below) as an "above-the-line" deduction, or adjustment to income. You can't deduct the other portion of Social Security and Medicare taxes but hey, neither can wage earners. (For more on how Social Security wage tax numbers bumped up, resulting in a higher tax bill this year, see this prior post.) 2. Retirement savings. If you contributed to a self-employment SEP (simplified employee pension) plan, SIMPLE (savings incentive match plan for employees) plan, or qualified plan like an H.R. 10 or Keogh plan during the year, you can deduct contributions you make to the plan for yourself on the front page of your tax return on line 28 (highlighted below). Small business owners get a break, too: you can deduct contributions you make to a retirement plan for your employees (sole proprietors would deduct those on Schedule C or Schedule F while partnerships and corporations would deduct them on their entity's tax form). You can also deduct trustees' fees if contributions to the plan don't cover them. All kinds of rules and limits apply to retirement plans, so I suggest that you work with a plan administrator or financial advisor. (For more on small business retirement plans, click here.) 3. Self-employed health insurance deduction (& other medical expenses). Health insurance is one of the most expensive purchases you may make all year for your business. Fortunately, you may be able to deduct the amount you paid for health insurance, including Medicare premiums you voluntarily pay, for yourself, your spouse, and your dependents (including your child under age 27 at the end of 2016). To qualify for the self-employed health insurance deduction, you must have a net profit for the year reported on Schedule C, Schedule C-EZ, or Schedule F, and the insurance plan must be established, or considered to be established, under your business. If you qualify, you'll deduct the cost of the premiums on the front page of your tax return on line 29 (highlighted above). As with retirement savings, if you have employees, you can deduct the cost you pay for a corresponding plan (sole proprietors would deduct those on Schedule C or Schedule F while partnerships and corporations would deduct them on their entity's tax form).
Claiming the self-employed health insurance deduction doesn't bar you from deducting other medical expenses: if you itemize, you can still include your out-of-pocket medical expenses, like doctor's visits and prescriptions, on a Schedule A (with the exception of your health care premiums, obviously). (Maneuvering the ever-changing health care system can be tricky: I strongly suggest that you work with a qualified broker. For more on paying for health care as a small business, click here.) 4. Advertising & promotion costs. You're allowed a deduction for the costs associated with getting the word out about your business. This can include not only obvious advertising like Yellow Pages or newspaper, magazine, TV or radio advertising but also less in-your-face promotions like the cost of printing business cards and business related swag. And it's not just the final product that's deductible: you can also deduct reasonable costs of coming up with ad copy or slogans, as well as creating graphics and logos. The costs associated with your website are deductible, including the cost to purchase and maintain the site and hosting fees. Think outside of the box, too: the costs of creating and hosting seminars and workshops meant to lure in customers can be deductible as are community sponsorships, like putting your business name on Little League and other team tee-shirts. 5. Car & truck-related expenses. You can deduct the cost of expenses related to a car or truck, including lease payments, so long as you use your vehicle exclusively for business. If you split the use of the vehicle for personal and business purposes, you can only deduct the portion attributable to business (this, of course, means you need to keep good records, such as a mileage log, showing when you use the vehicle for business). To calculate your deduction, you can use the standard mileage rates (you'll multiply the rate by your business mileage and add that amount to your expenses for parking fees and tolls), or you can deduct the actual expenses (such as gas, oil, repairs, insurance, and license plates). Limits and other rules may apply so check with your tax professional for details. (For 2016 standard mileage rates, click here. For 2017 standard mileage rates, click here.) 6. Insurance premiums. You can typically deduct premiums that you pay for business related insurance. This can include errors and omissions insurance; professional malpractice insurance; general liability insurance; and workers compensation insurance, as well as the cost to insure your premises from fire, storm, theft, accident, or similar losses (but see #8 below - and remember that health care insurance is deducted separately). Source:http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2017/02/13/10-cant-miss-tax-deductions-for-small-businesses-self-employed-persons/#4a83a45051d9 By Timothy Magaw As Progressive Corp. was sizing up how to best use Facebook to reach potential customers, its marketing team figured it would go directly to the social media giant to find out how to best embrace the platform. The results of the collaboration is a new campaign that launches this week and involves short and relatively non-invasive spots starring Progressive's iconic pitchwoman Flo designed specifically for the social media platform. At the onset of the project, the Mayfield Village-based insurer discovered, perhaps surprisingly, that it was the first company to reach out directly to Facebook for insight on what sort of content works best. Facebook's internal agency and Progressive's internal agency, 96 Octane, worked together to shoot the spots. In its work with Facebook, Progressive gleaned that most brands simply repurpose television spots and post them on the platform — a practice that overlooks how people experience and interact with content in their feeds. The idea, Progressive chief marketing officer Jeff Charney said, was to "crack the code." "A lot of marketers are so proud of their art, but they don't know the science," Charney said in a recent interview with Crain's. "(Facebook) knows the science backwards and forward, upward and down. It's not the thing I find most creative, but it works on their model." The new spots, for example, are all filmed with a vertical orientation, which Facebook has said its users tend to prefer. Marketing Land reported last August, for instance, that Facebook started favoring the vertical orientation, which had been largely popularized by Snapchat — an update that applied to videos, ads and live broadcasts. One of the Progressive spots, for example, mimics Facebook's live video vibe with floating emoticons. Another has Flo (portrayed by improv comic Stephanie Courtney) donning a fortune teller costume. The spots are not Progressive's most imaginative and done so by design. The idea is to simply grab users' attention within a few seconds, not necessarily tell a story with its rotating cast of characters. "You're fighting for eyeballs," Charney said. Facebook, meanwhile, is still by far the most popular social media platform, and its dominance shows no signs of slowing. According to a November 2016 report from the Pew Research Center, about 79% of Americans use Facebook — more than double the portion that uses Twitter (24%), Pinterest (31%), Instagram (32%) or LinkedIn (29%). As for TV ...And although Progressive is blazing new trails in digital, it hasn't abandoned television, although it typically sits on the sidelines during TV's biggest stage. Progressive's "Social Etiquette" spot, which premieres Feb. 20 on national television, stresses the concept of waiting one's turn — or, as Charney sees it, waiting for the dust to settle after the Super Bowl. The spot — a sequel to Progressive's "Black and White" spot — stars Flo being interrupted for talking finances, eating and, well, being a woman. The ad also channels the charged atmosphere in which we're living, Charney said, and explores the concept of waiting one's turn even you're being treated unfairly. "Just like Flo in that ad, she's listening, waiting for the right time to speak," Charney said. "That's how we are as marketers. We're not going to outspend anybody. We're going to out-create them." Here's the spot, which premiered on social media shortly after the Super Bowl: GUTTENBERG — Doug Reimer believes a team approach is best when it comes to marketing hogs. Reimer, who farms near here in Clayton County, purchases SEW (segregated early weaning) pigs and contracts them out to other producers for finishing. For the past several years, the northeast Iowa producer has worked with Chris Wilson, an economist with Atten Babler Risk Management in Galena, Ill., to market those pigs. “I sell pigs every week. That way we don’t miss the market highs,” Reimer says. “It also helps with our hedging program.” Wilson adds, “The consistency in the flow of pigs off the farm always gives us something to market into. We pretty much use all the tools we have available.” Because he buys open-market SEW pigs, Reimer says it is difficult to price anything past six months. “I may not have pigs because they vary seasonably in price,” he say. Wilson says very few pigs are sold into the spot market. Reimer contracts with packers, using a formula partially based off prices in the Iowa/Minnesota and other regional markets. “We aren’t afraid to use options or anything else we need to use,” Wilson says. With large numbers of hogs scheduled to hit the market over the next year or so, risk management strategies could become even more important. Lee Schulz, Extension livestock marketing economist at Iowa State University, says even with record supplies, there are currently opportunities to lock in some kind of profit. “We are seeing profits in the $11 to $12 per head range through spring and summer, and you can lock that profit in right now,” he says. “You can set that floor with put options or just use a straight hedging program. “Either way, you need to do what you can to minimize risk.” Schulz says the market is banking on strong domestic and export demand to continue. He says hogs were marketed aggressively over the last two months of 2016, with exports sharply higher. Get breaking news sent instantly to your inbox Sign Up!He says while most of 2017 looks somewhat profitable, the last quarter is much bleaker. “There are opportunities now to limit your potential losses,” Schulz says. “Take those profits you got earlier in the year and limit what you might lose in the fourth quarter.” He says expansion is expected to continue, partially fueled by the prospect of additional packing capacity in Sioux City and Michigan this summer. Wilson says regardless of hog numbers, a strategy such as Reimer’s should offer a balance of protection and profitability. “One thing Doug does well is maintaining his consistent approach to marketing,” he says. “The marketing seems to even out at the end of the day, with gains and losses and avoiding those big downturns in price.” Reimer says having someone like Wilson on his team helps make him a better marketer. He encourages producers to look for someone who can help them navigate through any rough waters. “Find a person you can work with, someone who you are comfortable with and trust,” Reimer says. “The two things you need to do are being consistent with your marketing, and protect your risk as much as you can.” Source:http://globegazette.com/business/smart-strategies-for-marketing-hogs-help-in-times-of-tight/article_b3d4f600-5ff5-518c-8e71-7794ae63a5c2.html By Gaia Vasiliver-Shamis As academics (and probably as decent human beings) we are taught to be humble. When we write a paper or present our work, we often say “we” even if it is “I” that did the work.
I believe that is one of the underlying reasons why it is so hard for Ph.D. students and postdocs to market themselves when it comes to networking and job searching. Once you gain self-awareness and have a good understanding of your skills, you should start thinking of yourself as a brand -- yes, you read that correctly. It does not matter if you are looking for a faculty position or trying to break into science policy. You need to know your brand and then project it in everything you do. I know you keep hearing you need an elevator pitch, you need to network, you need to do informational interviews and so on. Truth is, it takes hard work to stand out in today’s competitive market, and if you want to leave a positive, lasting impression -- just like your favorite brands do -- you should know your own personal brand. Companies work hard and spend a lot of money to make sure we have their brands in mind when we shop. And why is that? Because as a famous advertising executive named John Hegarty said, “A brand is the most valuable piece of real estate in the world: a corner of someone’s mind.” Just as Dove wants you to buy their shampoos rather than L’Oréal’s or Google wants you to use their search engine instead of Bing’s, when you go to an informational interview or present at a conference, you want others to remember you when they might have an opportunity that fits you. If I were to show you the logos of Apple, Nike, American Express, BMW or Facebook, thoughts and feelings associated with those brands would surface in your brain. A brand is a combination of facts and emotions. For example, Apple -- which according to Interbrand is currently the most valuable brand in the world -- has become so not just by selling computers or phones but also by selling you the perception of beautiful designs, imagination and innovation. Apple has a cool factor about it. In the business world, it means you will be willing to stand in line for hours and pay a premium price for their products. I recently took a marketing strategy class taught by Edgar Leonard, associate professor of marketing in the Goizueta Business School at Emory University, about how you build a brand story. I learned certain steps that are applicable whether you are trying to market your start-up or yourself. The problem. To tackle your brand story, you need to ask yourself, “What is the main problem that I am seeking to solve?” In other words, how are you going to make the world a better place? If we think of Toms shoes, the founder created the company because he saw the hardship of children in Argentina growing up without shoes and wanted to solve it. So for every pair you buy, Toms will donate a pair to someone in need. Similarly, if you are pursuing a faculty position, the problem you are trying to solve may be the overarching goal of your research -- for example, understanding the role of T cell activation in multiple sclerosis. Or if you are trying to move into project management in industry, the problem you are after might be inefficient use of resources in research projects. The truth. As you build your personal brand story, you will need to have something big and human that is undeniable and undisputable. You need to find your truth. For example, if you are a neuroscientist studying depression, your truth may be that 350 million people in the world suffer from depression. If you are passionate about science policy, your truth may be that translating scientific discoveries into commercially viable technologies can lead to an economic growth rate of 20 percent. The tension. Next, just as in any good story or a movie, you must have tension. Tension is about making people care, provoking an emotion, showing a conflict. Tension is a known must in storytelling, and it has been shown to make stories stickier -- in other words, people will remember you better. In simple words, you need to find the Darth Vader in your Star Wars. If we use the depression fact as our truth, then the tension may be that one million people who suffer from depression commit suicide every year, and that number is expected to double by 2020. Or if you want to pursue a nonscience career, this is an opportunity to actually show that, even if you don’t necessarily have direct experience, you know what you are talking about. Let’s say you are interested in managing clinical trials. In that case, your truth may be that companies lose up to $1 million in revenues for each additional day of clinical trials because of inefficient trials management. Your role. Thus far, we have laid the basis for your brand story; now it is your turn to shine! What role are you going to play in your brand story? Why are you the hero of it? For Toms shoes, the role they play is enacted in their one-for-one program for shoes, and that is how the company and its consumers make the world a better place. If you are conducting research, your role may be developing a gene-editing solution to cure cystic fibrosis. Or if you are in science communication, your role can be communicating the importance of science to the layperson through a weekly blog post about scientific advances. The mission. Once you understand your role, you need to have a mission. The mission is what drives you to do what you do. It is your promise to the world and the thing that will drive you forward. Your personal brand mission should be as distinctive as you, and it needs to be concise, action oriented and, if possible, quantifiable. Amazon’s mission, for example, is "to be Earth's most customer-centric company where people can find and discover anything they want to buy online." As a person, your mission may be understanding T cell activation to find a cure for lupus or empowering postdocs to find the career path they will be happy and successful in. Expression. I find this to be the most fun part, but it is also the hardest. You need to boil yourself down to a couple of words that are essentially your tagline. A great tagline will have four things: it should be memorable, highlight your value, differentiate you from others and provoke a positive emotion. Everybody knows Nike’s “Just do it,” BMW’s “The ultimate driving machine” or L’Oréal’s “Because I’m worth it.” A way to approach creating your tagline is to ask, “What should people pay me for? What do I do best that makes me irreplaceable or better than someone else?” A couple examples: “I solve problems to keep research projects moving forward” (for a potential project manager), or “I make complex science digestible to the public” (for a science communicator). Your values. To identify your values or point of view, you need to ask yourself, “What do I stand for?” Be authentic and, of course, tell the truth. Don’t make up values because you think they sound good. For example, Steve Jobs’s point of view was that customers want a product that is beautifully designed, intelligent and unique. Nike’s point of view is that “If you have a body, you are an athlete,” and their “Just do it” tagline and everything else they do speaks to that viewpoint. Your values should convey your passion and complement your role and mission. Remember, people like interesting brands because interesting brands do interesting things. So make sure your brand story conveys why you are interesting. Do not forget that everything communicates. A company’s brand is everything it does, from the logo to the product to the overall customer experience. A personal brand is how you dress, behave, speak -- in short, all you say and do. This is a challenging exercise, and I’ve tried to exemplify each of the steps from the perspective of both well-known brands and a personal one. But since each one of you is your own special brand, there are no easy answers, and building your brand story will require serious thinking. Explore your possible brand carefully and test it on your mom, spouse or nonacademic friends. Then reiterate and refine it as necessary until you have a great story that sticks. Source:https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2017/02/13/applying-business-concepts-market-yourself-effectively-essay By Jordan Lore Over 1.7 billion people now use Facebook. Let that sink in. That makes Facebook the most used social network in the world by 1.2 billion. For social media marketers, more users mean more consumers. But with more users comes more competition. Now because of factors like the Facebook algorithm changes, social media marketers need to be savvier than ever to compete. Marketers need to pull out all the stops to make sure their Facebook channel is easy to find, provides value, and represents their business in the best ways possible. In this article you’ll learn the 45 best Facebook marketing tips for businesses. 1. Complete your about page You’d be surprised at how many Facebook about sections are left barren. Completing the about page of your business page is crucial. Your Facebook business page can often be the first place your visitors head to after a Google search. Make sure all of your information is in order including your website, social links, and contact information. 2. Double down on past successes Doubling down, recycling, or reposting past successful content is a strategy often underutilized by most marketers. Conventional thinking might lead you to create original content each and every time but that doesn’t always have to be the case. To save you needed time and energy, try reposting or recycling content that has performed well in the past. To piggyback on the success of our article 100 Growth Hacks Learned From 5 Years as a Startup the Wishpond team recycled it into a SlideShare, which made it to the front page, which transformed into an article on how to make the front page of SlideShare. 3. Change/update Facebook cover photo The Facebook cover photo is an often overlooked area for some self promotion. If you’re holding a contest or giveaway, your Facebook cover photo can act like a promotional billboard. Show off the prizes you’re giving away and a link to the contest for all of your visitors to see. 4. Pin a post
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to pin a post to the top of your Facebook feed. After publishing a new blog post, launching a giveaway, or announcing a new feature pin it to the top of your feed so that it’s the first post your visitors see. 5. Claim your Facebook vanity URL Once your Page has 25 Likes, you can claim your vanity URL, meaning you can direct fans to a URL like “facebook.com/YourBusinessName”. This helps visitors to find your page, and makes it easier for you to promote your page on other marketing materials. 6. Include Like buttons on your website and blog Having Facebook Like buttons on your website and blog can direct traffic from these channels to your Facebook Page, turning blog readers and customers into social media fans. Entice them into liking your Page with a CTA – for example, “Like our page to stay up to date with the latest products and promotions!” 7. Q&A’s Facebook media comes in all shapes and formats making it a perfect way to hold a Q&A session with your followers. Post a start date and time for questions. Then post an update to request questions from your followers. Answer those questions live, pre-record a video, or just simply write in some replies. The choice is up to you. ReadMore:http://www.business2community.com/facebook/45-best-facebook-marketing-tips-businesses-01776268#FwMD29hpf4GtJbEG.97 By Julie Chomiak We recently discussed how Pinterest is an untapped resource for small business marketing, as it serves as a tool for engaging your local community on social media. Wouldn’t you know, just this week the company announced its latest feature: Search Ads. This advance toward strategic search advertising is a big move on Pinterest’s part toward opening up its platform as a legitimate and profitable social media marketing entity. This new functionality allows businesses to run ads using keywords. This is a huge development for brands of all sizes and a testament to the power of the pin. Pinterest integrated Search Ads as a way to give businesses large and small a way to run ads that show up among relevant content. In fact, the ads will appear immediately after a user enters a query. As Pinterest is a visual entity, ads are visually based, primarily composed of an engaging image and less text than traditional advertising methods. There is amazing upside to advertising on this platform, as “97% of Pinterest’s search queries don’t mention a specific brand,” which means its users are in active discovery mode. They’re open to finding new brands to explore and eventually purchase from. Pinterest users also begin their purchase research months in advance, so advertising prior to peak times, such as the holidays, summer, and back to school, can help sway their buying decisions. With so much of the search volume being unbranded, every business should jump into the Pinterest ad pool. Beyond showing up in relevant searches, this feature update includes improved targeting and reporting options, however the details have yet to be released. Nonetheless, with better data and audience insights, brands can more successfully target their audiences with ads that represent their current wants and needs. Recommended for YouWebcast, February 16th: Build Your Growth Roadmap in a Day Pinterest created a short video to show how ads will work within its platform. See the full clip below: Now that we know what Search Ads are, what does that mean for your small business? If your small business has a marketing and advertising budget, it’s a worthwhile investment. With over 2 billion monthly searches and 150 million monthly users, Pinterest is a fantastic space to reach your target audience with a high rate of return. Some compelling statistics and figures are below that prove the legitimacy of Pinterest as an advertising platform.
According to an Oracle Study, “CPG brands that advertised on Pinterest saw 5x more revenue per impression.” Five times the revenue? That’s a slam dunk. Another study found “70% of the retailers’ incremental sales came from new customers, with an average 7.2x return on ad spend” Both statistics show that utilizing Pinterest for Business, either through advertising or otherwise, is a sound decision. Given that Pinterest is a commercial social media platform, small businesses should engage immediately! Consumers are flocking to this social media site to learn about new brands, and are saving and sharing their favorite pins at incredible rates. Registering for a business account is the first step toward setting your small business up on Pinterest. Easy step-by-step instructions for doing so can be found here. Once your business page is active and optimized, it’s time to decide how your business will invest in Search Ads. Ads are priced on a price-per-click model, just like Google ads. You choose how much your business can allocate to this kind of advertising and stay within budget, while reaping the benefits of this new advertising model. Pinterest’s Search Ads offer a means for small businesses to compete against advertising giants who are most prominent on Facebook, and slowly creeping into Instagram and Snapchat. If your target audience is active on Pinterest, this is a necessary marketing resource. As Pinterest continues to rollout the complete Search Ads feature to the public, it will become apparent how valuable this tool is to small business marketing. The return on investment and increased brand awareness are extraordinary, and a micro business will be hard-pressed to find another competitive advertising tool that is so affordable and accessible. Source:http://www.business2community.com/pinterest/latest-social-media-marketing-pinterest-search-ads-01772062#4VemmVcHhC6uvD8Y.97 More Emotion And Creativity
Posts and content on social media that involve more emotions, imagination and artistic flair is growing. We've found this sentiment to be true, as more of our posts on social media have been shared virally and liked when we have incorporated a greater amount of emotion to go with the content's theme. This includes posting inspirational quotes from known thought leaders as well as video clips that show our executive team at work. This illustrates a level of passion that our audience, especially when social media could be considered impersonal and detached. Greater Use Of Chatbots Seeing the increased attention chatbots are getting, we are considering how this conversational agent, designed to appear like a human, can work in certain instances to engage with our audience on social media sites like Facebook. This might include fielding customer inquiries on social media as well as providing a way to gather more data that tells us about our audience. It appears that this technology will continue to evolve in 2017 and be used to maximize and facilitate effective conversations with our audience. It can keep them engaged rather than losing them to the competition who has more time to respond quickly. Emergence Of The Social Influencer Bringing together influencer marketing and social media marketing, the social influencer is becoming an important point of contact for us and many companies like ours. They can win us additional fans and followers that we may not have captured otherwise. Our focus in 2017 is to study more of these social influencers and contact them about how we might work together so they can advocate on behalf of our brand. The best way we've been able to do this thus far is by working with the influencers that we currently find talking about us online, and ask them to recommend our services to their friends. With many of these trends illustrating the constant evolution in technology, it’s important to prepare as much as possible to pivot quickly to adopt and understand how this technology works as part of the social media marketing landscape. Along with these trends, our goal will be to continually research, study and observe emerging social media platforms along with consumer and business behavior on these platforms in order to gauge what else may change throughout 2017. Source:http://www.forbes.com/sites/gradsoflife/2017/01/27/why-we-must-rebuild-americas-competency-infrastructure/#55114feb647d By Chirag Kulkarni Geolocation is the next buzzword in marketing.
As brands discover the power of GPS-fueled augmented reality (think Pokémon Go), they’re finding new ways to reach customers. For them, it’s meaningful not only to know not only where a consumer is, but also where that consumer’s attention is, and technology is making that possible. "Every advertiser has an understanding of where consumers are located through their devices translated as specific GPS coordinates,” says Jim Kovach, vice president of business development at CrowdOptic, an augmented reality technology firm that has worked with L’Oreal, Sony and IMG. Kovach sat down with me to talk about trends to watch as geolocation sweeps marketing and advertising. Here are 15 trends to watch. 1. Augmented reality events Augmented reality, the technology behind the wildly successful Pokémon Go game, relies on geolocation to manipulate physical reality with tech-discoverable easter eggs. Using the same technology, advertisers can craft virtual experiences around a brand or product. “L’Oreal was an early adopter of augmented reality events, and we’re going to see more of this in 2017,” Kovach says. Using CrowdOptic technology, L’Oreal created a virtual art exhibit. Thanks to advanced geolocation technology, exhibit attendees used their mobile devices to uncover works of art that appeared onscreen, as if they were physically present. 2. Augmented advertising Pushing the limits of advertising, augmented reality technology can be used to enhance a viewer’s experience when an ad comes into view at a particular event. Kovach says that an augmented reality ad “can instantly ‘come alive’ in the user's view, giving them more information than previously possible with static advertisements.” 3. Focal clustering Advertisers are vying to know which ads are attracting attention, why, and the types of consumers they draw. Focal clustering can provide that information in more detail than ever before. Marketers, using advanced geolocation data captured by mobile devices or wearable technology, can identify so much more than the physical location of the consumer. Focal clustering illuminates where the consumer is looking. Focal clustering is meaningful because it allows event planners, for instance, to tailor events specifically to consumer desires in future visits. 4. Location-based offers will transform with predictive analysis While location-based offers are nothing new, artificial intelligence and predictive analysis will take offer personalization to another level. “Marketers can provide just-in-time, context aware offers to anyone with a smartphone,” says Tarun Gangwani, CEO of Grok, a tech company that leverages artificial intelligence to increase business productivity. “Predictive analytics algorithms can be used to forecast a user’s location, sending an offer before a user leaves the house, or during the week based on their routine.” These same algorithms can be used to send offers based on overall trends of a user — a running application can use AI to analyze a customer’s location history to suggest a sponsored offer for hiking boots if they tend to visit areas with rough terrain. Information about behavioral patterns will allow advertisers to forecast a consumer’s location and serve meaningful deals based on routine. 5. New viewing experiences for the consumer CrowdOptic’s technology also allows users to gain multiple perspectives at live events. People can, for example, aim their viewing device at a different vantage point at a sporting event, and receive that location's perspective, allowing them to control their viewing experience in ways never before possible. This gives audiences an incentive to return to the venue and, have their own highly-personalized Jumbotron at their fingertips. 6. Using geolocation in e-commerce will drive traffic to brick-and-mortar stores Physical retailers are vying to stay competitive amidst the threat of e-commerce, and using geolocation can help drive foot traffic to brick-and-mortar storefronts. “Right now, there’s a disconnect between physical retail inventory and digital retail inventory,” says Joseph Nejman, founder and CEO of ShareRails, a firm specializing in online to offline technology. “By making the inventory of physical retail locations available online, shoppers can conduct a simple Google search to find merchandise they’re likely to purchase in-store, and then be directed to the local retailers that have their items in stock.” 7. Digital influencers will be activated based on location To date, most large-scale influencer marketing efforts have happened on a national level, which makes it difficult for local retailers to reap the word-of-mouth benefits offered by the relatively new marketing discipline. Using geolocation will allow advertisers to seamlessly activate local influencers, enabling them to align with social media personalities that are likely to inspire action in local audiences. 8. Beacons will become commonplace Beacons, which are small sensors placed throughout retail locations, can provide outlets with a detailed picture of how customers shop by tracking to tracking things such as foot traffic. Retailers can use beacons to better understand precisely where a customer is located within the store at any given moment, enabling advertisers to push timely messages and offers to customers and providing invaluable data about that customer’s behavior. 9. Event marketing will improve Anyone with experience in event marketing will tell you that getting people to attend events is much harder than it looks. Expect to see more businesses using geolocation, such as with targeted Facebook ads, informing customers when nearby locations are having special events, and offering deals to get them through the doors. 10. Time-limit local marketing to drive sales Expect to see business attract local customers through time-limit marketing. Local companies providing special coupons that are only available for a small window of time will become increasingly frequent in the next year. 11. Drone-based trend monitoring In tandem with other organizations, CrowdOptic has already used its technology for understanding trends in crowd focus in drones through experimental work with the government. That technology can also be applied to see how customers move and shop in large areas to better manage space and to target specific types of ads to them. 12. Incentivizing data collection Brands have long-since recognized how useful customer shopping data can be in all aspects of marketing, but customers will not always give privacy away easily. Using special deals and membership perks in conjunction with geolocation data will allow companies to more easily collect data from customers locally. Think of it as the updated version of those customer rewards cards most grocery stores have, filled with juicy metadata. 13. Instant check-in We've already established that check-ins are an extremely useful marketing tool. But customers are reluctant to do so, because it adds an extra step to their experience. More and more local businesses and business branches will begin incorporating instant check-in to their in-app purchasing experience, gaining valuable data on customer spending habits. 14. Geofencing Geofencing creates a zone around a business for advertisement targeting. For example, a customer can be reading an article on their phone in the check-out line at a business, and see a specifically-targeted ad for the business next door, because they are within their Geofenced zone. The rewards for this type of advertising are clear, and easy to set up. 15. Weather-based geolocation advertising Brands will use weather data to advertise specific products and services to customers based on the weather they're experiencing: “Sunny day? Why not come in and cool off with an iced tea, or come to our store for sunscreen and a hat” or “Snowy outside? We're offering a deal on tire chains.” Since advertisements began printing, businesses have sought to reach customers as personally and immediately as possible. With tools like the ones outlined above, companies will make the customer experience more individualized and instant than ever before. Is your company ready? Source:http://fortune.com/2017/02/06/geolocation-marketing/ |
Marcus Guiliano
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March 2020
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