Three Reasons The Shake Shack-Grubhub Partnership Fell Short, And What Marketers Can Learn12/16/2019 WRITTEN BY Nabeel Alamgir Chief Marketing Officer at Bareburger, overseeing the company's outreach for 47 organic better burger restaurants across 5 countries. In recent restaurant news, Shake Shack’s third-quarter sale numbers are in — the first report since its exclusive partnership with Grubhub, a food delivery service. After cutting out all other delivery services, the establishment didn’t get the numbers that were projected.
The major bright side of this exclusivity deal is that Grubhub agreed to share customer data — an invaluable influx of information often withheld by restaurants’ external delivery sources. While Shake Shack hopes to fix the drop with marketing and customer loyalty, I believe there are three clear reasons the initial launch didn’t go as planned. And working as a chief marketing officer for a fast-casual burger restaurant, I see three lessons marketers can learn when looking to develop a successful brand partnership. 1. Multiple Partners And Market Saturation Grubhub was one of the first majorly successful food delivery services, founded in 2004. Now, a decade and a half later, we have newer, shinier services. New toys. New deals. An oversaturated market. To partner with just one service is already a risky decision, especially when the decision is companywide. Each major U.S. city has its own market leaders, and within the realm of food delivery, the numbers are supremely scattered. Sure, Grubhub (thanks to Seamless) dominates the El Paso, Texas; New York and Jacksonville, Florida markets. However, in Los Angeles; Austin, Texas; and San Jose, California, Postmates, Uber Eats and DoorDash win the popularity contest. I’ve found that many millennials and Gen Zers prioritize ease and efficiency over brand loyalty, especially when it comes to large corporations. If a brand doesn’t come up when typed into our food delivery app search bar, we’re probably not going to go looking for it — we’ll instead find the quickest, highly rated, least expensive replacement. This “out of sight, out of mind” concept is detrimental to any restaurant looking for exclusive delivery service partnerships. When considering a partnership opportunity, it is critical that you find a company that shares your company’s vision, belief system and social message. You must be a match in regards to ethos in order for the partnership to make sense. I also advise that your potential partner is a relatively new company that has shown innovation among its preexisting competitors and a warm reception on social channels. This shows promise for success among millennials and Gen Z. Pursuing multiple partnerships may pose less of a risk altogether, but sometimes a really good exclusivity deal can pay off better if the partnership turns out to be as successful as anticipated. 2. Brand Image Grubhub has made headlines this year, suspected of buying up web domains that mimic those of smaller restaurants and cherry-picking restaurant phone orders — if a customer calls a restaurant through contact information provided on the Grubhub website or app, the call is relayed through Grubhub’s service, and the company automatically takes a cut. While the company has been pretty successful in maintaining control of its mistakes, a negative brand image can affect a partnering brand. Twitter and Instagram have supplied a platform that makes widespread word possible — as soon as something goes viral, that’s it. When you go public with a partnership, your company is suddenly and automatically backing the other company’s actions, whether you have anything to do with them or not. Aside from properly vetting your new partner before anything is signed or announced, a good public relations team is always a good idea. If negative practices come to light after the partnership is cemented, I always go the route of transparency and honesty. I find that our peers and younger generations are more understanding when a brand appears vulnerable and human after any sort of bad publicity — as long as it is genuine and apologetic. Sure, you can disconnect yourself from the practices of your partner by articulating that you had no idea, but also own up to the fact that its actions are now your responsibility and you have a plan in place to fix whatever wrongdoings have occurred. Be truthful, apologetic and solution-oriented. 3. Values Match It’s important for marketers to note that today, 87% of consumers (download required) buy a product based on the company’s advocacy on an issue or belief they care about. Shake Shack became a billion-dollar company, in part, because it is a lifestyle brand. The company embodies the millennial culture’s values, aspirations, interests and opinions as a beautifully successful marketing plan. Sweetgreen capitalized on the same idea, which resulted in the same billion-dollar success. Sweetgreen integrates its own ordering technology — an allergy option on its site that allows a customer to input allergies and then eliminates all ingredients of danger — that fits the brand and consumer demographic. This type of feature demonstrates compassion and carefulness that leaves an impression. Grubhub, however, has very transparently been about profit, which doesn’t align well with this type of brand’s image. I mentioned before how important it is to make sure your partnerships match up. Get to know the company you’ll be working with. Spend time in its spaces. Read every article that ever mentions it. Ask your employees what they think of the potential partner. Ask your friends, your family. Get out of your money-making headspace, because the money you’re thinking about will not be made if this partnership is misaligned. A good alignment promotes a genuineness that consumers will be able to see and appreciate without any extra work on your end. A partnership that makes sense is like a well-oiled machine — each fills the other’s gaps and shortcomings to create a powerhouse that illuminates and fosters incredible strength and success. A powerful, properly aligned partnership knows no bounds. by Cherryh Cansler EVOS worked with ShopAdviser on a six-week mobile marketing campaign across four locations in Florida. Provided. Although most restaurant brands try to employ an omnichannel marketing approach to tapping traditional media — newspapers, radio, television, direct mail — as well as new media — digital, mobile, social channels — 75% said they relied more heavily on traditional media, but less than 50% rated those channels as providing excellent results, according to a survey conducted by ShopAdvisor. Earlier this year, the marketing solutions company polled dozens of QSR and fast casual restaurant owner/operators to uncover what was missing in their marketing strategies. "The results of this survey are eye-opening," ShopAdvisor CEO Jeff Papows, said in a company press release. "We think it reveals a significant and likely widening gap between how restaurants spend to create awareness and attract customers versus how the consumer is actually finding them." Most consumers — especially GenXers, Millennials, and GenZers — rely on their smartphones for everything, including finding places to eat, obtaining special offers, placing orders and scheduling pick-up or deliveries. "With research predicting that by the end of 2019, mobile advertising will account for 72% of all U.S. digital ad spending, those restaurants that increase their digital promotion spending — particularly mobile — have the opportunity to set themselves apart and grow their market share with these audiences," Papows said. How one brand got it right Tampa-based EVOS Restaurants is a prime example of how effective a mobile campaign can be for a restaurant. Earlier this year, the healthy fast casual concept worked with ShopAdviser on a six-week mobile marketing campaign across four locations in Florida. The campaign included media creatives — mobile ads and landing pages — that engaged diners on mobile devices, which provided information on the restaurant's offers, special deals and directions to the nearest EVOS Restaurants location. The strategy yielded a 9% lift in sales and increased website visits by over 110% — results that EVOS Co-founder Michael Jeffers said speak for themselves. "Working on this campaign with ShopAdvisor has been nothing short of a fantastic experience," he said during an interview with FastCasual. "Their team acts with the utmost professionalism and was very hands on and constantly in contact with me and provided diligent notes and reports about how the campaign was performing at every restaurant for each of the eight targeted offers including brand building ads." Jeffers was also happy with the creative efforts produced for his brand, which included marketed ads on mobile devices in and around the restaurants. "With increased redemptions on our annual free organic milkshakes Earth Day promotion and a sales lift of 9%, we're more than pleased with the outcome of the campaign." Is it time for mobile proximity marketing strategy? A myriad of studies shows that smartphone usage is at an all-time high and growing. For example, more than three out of four consumers use their mobile devices as an integral part of their shopping and dining experiences, according to Quora Creative. With this, the majority of consumers are targetable via their smartphones for mobile ads and relevant promos from restaurants. "This shift in consumer behavior underscores the urgency for owner/operators to invest more in mobile than any other channel," said Papows who believes that by implementing a mobile proximity marketing strategy, brands can target consumers more effectively and build brand loyalty not only for the duration of a singular campaign but for years to come. "They also provide many more ways to measure effectiveness, including engaged audience demographics, most popular offers and times of the day, foot traffic and sales lift analysis," he said. "These campaigns can deliver invaluable information for building long-term, opt-in relationships with customers."
By Chris Morris
As more and more fast food chains try to elbow in on the breakfast market, IHOP is planning a new sort of fast-casual chain.
Flip’d will launch next April, with the first location popping up in Atlanta. The company hopes to have stores in New York City, Washington D.C., Denver and San Francisco by the end of 2020. The new brand will focus on freshly-made breakfast foods and beverages with to-go orders in mind. Seating in the stores will be very limited. The company is better that freshly made foods will be a draw for people who are less than enamored with options from competitors. Sandwiches and other items will also be available for lunch and dinner crowds. “In looking at what exists today in terms of fresh, fast menu options — particularly at breakfast — there’s still tremendous opportunity for growth,” said Jay Johns, president of IHOP in a statement. The restaurant will use the regular IHOP menu as inspiration, offering twists such as a Pancake Bowl (where pancakes can be filled with everything from berries to scrambled eggs and bacon pieces. Other menu items will include egg sandwiches, breakfast burritos and bowls and buttermilk crispy chicken sandwiches. The move is the latest by IHOP to remain competitive as the breakfast market heats up. Last year, the company launched home pancake deliveries and it has undergone a couple of stunt marketing campaigns in the past 18 months to draw attention to itself. It’s even launched its own beer to draw in customers in non-breakfast hours. “Marketing without data is like driving with your eyes closed.” – Dan Zarrella If you want to know how to improve your content marketing strategy, open your eyes and take advantage of the valuable marketing metrics you have at your fingertips. In this article, I will explain why these measures are important, what some of the most valuable metrics are and how you can use these indicators to improve your content marketing campaign and increase your marketing ROI. Marketing Metrics: Why Are They So Important?The term “marketing metrics” encompasses any measurable variable that demonstrates the effectiveness of your campaign. But this raw data alone will not tell you much. To get the most out of your marketing metrics, you need to look at the numbers holistically and understand their tangible implications. This will allow you to figure out how you can improve your content marketing strategy and ultimately boost your marketing ROI. At Three Girls Media, we recommend you review your Google and social media analytics every 4-6 weeks. In addition to analytics tools on each social media platform, there are a variety of social media analytics tools available online. Top Marketing MetricsEngagement MetricsThe first category of marketing metrics you should be aware of is engagement. Measures of engagement reveal how users are interacting with your brand across all social media platforms by looking at actions taken on each piece of content you publish. There are multiple engagement metrics worth considering: Boosting engagement marketing metrics is a valuable strategy to increase your marketing ROI.
As you can see, there are many different ways someone can engage with your content. The engagement marketing metrics you choose to analyze will depend on your goals. For example, if your goal is to spark a conversation with your followers, then you may want to measure the replies and comments you receive on a post. On the other hand, if you are hoping to spread a message, you may place more value on shares. Figure out what your goals are and choose which forms of engagement will actually help you measure your success. Overall, high engagement rates indicate that you have built a loyal following and trust in your brand. If you want to increase engagement with your brand, make sure you are using best practices for each social media platform. Additionally, post content containing a call-to-action to encourage your audience to engage with your posts. Brand Awareness MetricsBrand Awareness metrics measure how much attention your brand gets and how familiar your audience is with your brand. There are a two primary marketing metrics that measure brand awareness: Increasing brand awareness marketing metrics will help build brand loyalty.
Boosting these metrics is valuable because the more aware a potential customer is of your brand, the more likely they will be to purchase from you instead of one of your competitors, resulting in a boost in your marketing ROI. To increase brand awareness, use content marketing best practices and post frequent, quality content on all of your social media platforms. Additionally, sharing content which will build a relationship with your audience is a great way to solidify the impression of your brand in the mind of consumers. Share of Voice Metrics Share of voice metrics tell you how well your brand is doing on social media compared to other brands in your field. These marketing metrics specifically look at the visibility of your brand by measuring how frequently your brand is talked about and what kinds of conversations your audience is having about your brand compared to your competitors. There are two share of voice metrics you should know: Positive sentiment about your brand is one of the best ways to increase your social media following.
To increase share of voice metrics, you can use tactics for building your brand through social media marketing. Additionally, increase the volume of your brand by posting content with direct calls to action that encourage your audience to chime in on the conversation. Boosting share of voice marketing metrics is a valuable way to increase your visibility in your professional field, while also ensuring that your brand is viewed in a positive light. Marketing Cost Metrics & ROI We have covered the marketing metrics that indicate how your content is preforming on social media and how you can use these metrics to guide future content creation. Now, we move on to the metrics that will help you measure the financial implications of your marketing strategy. Increasing your marketing ROI is the biggest benefit of using marketing metrics to improve your strategy.
Understanding these cost and ROI metrics allows you to see the financial results of your marketing efforts, while also continuing to help you refine your campaign. Increasing the previously outlined marketing metrics will likely result in increases in these metrics as well. Boosting any of your cost or ROI metrics will lead to a direct growth in profit for your business. But it is important to remember that you won’t boost your marketing ROI overnight. Running a successful marketing campaign takes time, and you need to learn from your marketing metrics and revise your campaign repeatedly to see significant results. The holidays are fast approaching, and as such, businesses are preparing for the craze that comes with excess spending. Total holiday retail sales in the U.S. are expected to reach $1.008 trillion in 2019. With a number so colossal, your business can’t afford to miss out on the opportunity to market to its audience and reach its revenue targets. That said, if your holiday marketing strategy isn’t optimized for the best outcome, you won’t see positive results at the end of your campaign. Now is the perfect time to take advantage of excess consumer spending so your brand can benefit from the holiday season. Here are three tips to help you create a holiday marketing campaign that boosts conversions. 1. Start early If you’re creating a campaign for a holiday that’s a few short weeks away, you might find yourself pulling your hair out. Some marketers underestimate the time and planning that goes into creating a successful holiday campaign. If you aren’t careful, you won’t be able to market to your audience in enough time to reach your goals. The key to boosting conversions during the holidays is to plan and begin well ahead of time. So, start your campaign planning early. Decide what you need to do and assign deadlines to each task or project. Streamline your workflow by ensuring you have all the tools, software, and team members necessary to do a job well done. 2. Make your campaigns shareable Creating solid holiday campaigns is great, but imagine if your audience could do some of the work for you by sharing them. It’s important that you make every campaign shareable across social media, email, and other marketing channels so you know your brand is reaching as far as it can. The more people who see and engage with your campaign, the more conversions, sales, and subscribers you’ll rake in. During the holidays, consumers are looking to engage more with brands to get good deals and find the content they want. They also want to spread the word to friends and family about their findings. So, if you fail to let your audience share your content, you’re doing your business a great disservice. Make sure your holiday campaigns are shareable. Start by creating valuable content they want to share in the first place. Around 94 percent of people who share posts do so because they think it might be helpful to others. As long as you’re creating content that benefits your audience, they’re likely to share it across multiple channels. Add sharing buttons to your landing pages and emails. Create enticing social media content that entices users and encourages them to share it on their own social pages. Tell your subscribers you want them to share your content so they feel more inclined to do so. 3. Use captivating visual content Part of what makes the holidays so fun is how brands use their creativity to grab people’s attention. Your audience won’t share or talk about content that doesn’t do much for them. They will, however, share and bring attention to content that’s captivating. When creating your holiday campaigns, don’t neglect its visual elements. Incorporating visual content such as videos on landing pages can increase conversions by 86 percent. It breaks the monotony of text and gives users something interesting to engage with. You can take it a step further by implementing interactive content into your holiday content marketing strategy as well. Interactive content is anything that requires users to actively participate. Some examples of interactive content include:
You can create a fun quiz that tells users something new about themselves. Create interactive infographics that teach your audience something new. Use social media to create a poll or survey you can use to collect customer data and drive engagement.
Conclusion If you want to run a successful holiday campaign, these tips are sure to aid you in creating a strategy that brings your business results. The holidays are the perfect time to increase revenue, further brand reach, and grow your email list so your business reaches new heights. How will you run a successful holiday marketing campaign this year? When it comes to digital marketing, it’s important to be ahead of the game, but with ever-changing trends and new technologies, this can be easier said than done. To help you get a head start for the new year, we’ve compiled this list of digital trends to look out for in 2020 and ongoing trends that are here to stay.
Digital Marketing Trends 2020
Ongoing Digital Marketing Trends
We can’t say this enough: video content as part of a digital marketing strategy is the way of the future. According to The New York Times, “We’re entering a ‘post-text world.’ Multimedia will soon dominate every channel. In other words, using writing to communicate with your audience is going out of style, and quickly.” Because there are many types of video content out there, you might not know where to start. If you don’t know which style of video is best suited for your company’s goals, use this article as your helpful guide. Important Video Content Reminders For Your Digital Marketing Campaign Regardless of the type of video you’re creating, if the video content is not entertaining, informative or interesting, it will not be seen. Consult my previous article about creating captivating videos if you need help with your content creation. As I have discussed before, the first step in any content marketing process is to determine the purpose. For example, if your goal is to increase engagement, awareness or education with a short video, you will most likely want to create one for distribution on social media. If you want to inform with a longer video, create it with YouTube in mind. Some of the video content ideas listed in this article will take more time to create than others. Consult your team, resources and timeline before you decide which style you want to invest in. 10 Video Content Types To Consider 1. Company Culture/Meet The Team Videos Your consumers want to get to know your brand and the people behind it. One of the best ways to show your audience your core values, culture, mission and team members is with behind-the-scenes video content. These videos give consumers an inside look at what sets your company apart from the rest, and why your brand deserves loyalty from them. According to Single Grain, “The culture behind a brand is the secret sauce that whets employee appetites and perks up bored, disenchanted consumers.” Additional culture videos include recording office games, employee interviews, birthday and holiday parties, and everything in between. The goal of culture videos is to show that your company is more than just a process. Real humans with personality work at your organization. A bonus of high-quality culture videos is that they can attract new, motivated candidates to your company. 2. Round-Up Videos Round-ups are the video form of listicles. Listicles are easily transformed into video content and are often more engaging to your audience than written text. According to uscreen, the best round up videos are:
3. Behind-The-Scenes Videos Behind-the-scenes video content also helps your business and your brand seem more relatable and less like a corporation. Most audiences enjoy seeing how the content they love is made. According to uscreen, “If you have exclusive insight into a process, project or situation your customers would be interested in, consider making a behind-the-scenes (BTS) video. These are usually less polished than traditional videos and incorporate lots of raw footage. As a bonus, they work for both B2C and B2B brands.” Behind-the-scenes video content also helps your business and your brand seem more relatable and less like a corporation. The more friendly and approachable your business is, the stronger the relationship between you and your audience becomes. 4. Vlogs One of the most popular types of video content across the internet is a “vlog.” This type of short video often showcases one person going about their daily life. For business you can detail what you do on a daily basis at your company, or have team members take turns vlogging on the brand’s behalf. You can even take blogs you have already written and turn them into vlog content. According to Single Grain, “Vlogs are cheap to produce, personality-driven and quite possibly the best bang for your buck in terms of sheer engagement value. Vlogging is a great medium to share a daily journey because of how intimate it is and how easy it is to build a relationship with your audience.” 5. Interview Videos Interview video content often includes two people, where one person asks questions and one person answers them. The difference between an interview that is written versus one that is in video form is personality. Words are a powerful tool to get a message across, however video content is the best way to convey emotion. You can use interview content to introduce new team members, show off brand values and align yourselves with other interesting personalities in your field. You can use interview content to introduce new team members, show off brand values and align yourselves with other interesting personalities in your field. According to Single Grain, “A good interview should follow a set of guidelines like a vlog but feel unscripted. As an interviewer, your job is to make your subject do the talking, not the other way around. A well-done interview video is like a Get Out of Jail Free card for your content calendar, and at the very least is a surefire way to spark some discussion on LinkedIn.” Interview content is relativity easy and cheap to produce and, if you invite other experts in your field into an interview, they may share this content on their own social media sites and introduce your content to a brand new audience. 6. Q&A Videos Q&A, or question and answer segments, are similar to interviews, but instead of you asking the questions, you let your audience ask you questions. This video content also utilizes social media. Ask your social media followers to send you questions, select the ones you want to answer, and then record the video. If you are well-versed with video content, you can also try live streaming a Q&A session. That being said, unless you are comfortable with public speaking and being put on the spot, we suggest sticking to pre-recorded videos; that way you can edit the video in post-production if you need to. Q&A videos also allow your audience to get direct access to your company and show that your business is transparent, giving your brand a boost in digital marketing. 7. Featured Product Videos If you review a product that your company uses and trusts, your audience will start to see your brand as reliable and honest. There are a lot of product reviews in digital marketing, and in our day and age, very few consumers buy products without consulting another source like their friends or internet reviews. If you review a product that your company uses and trusts, your audience will start to see your brand as reliable and honest. According to Biteable, “78 percent of people said that their buying decisions have been influenced by brands’ social media posts. Video is a great way to highlight a product or demonstrate a specific feature. An informal social media post can seem more authentic than an ad and encourage people to click buy.” 8. Tips/How To Videos Information is more available now than ever. Your audience is looking for helpful tips and tricks that they can use to improve their daily life. Does your company have something you can help answer for them? You may want to offer your advice through a video. In fact, according to Biteable, “This type of content is actually one of the most searched for online.” This type of video content will also help improve your brand credibility and the trust your audience has for your brand. 9. Case Studies And Testimonial Videos Anyone interested in your goods or services wants to know exactly what they are getting, so show them! Testimonials are phenomenal for digital marketing, and an outstanding way to show consumers what your product or service is, and that you are proud of it. Anyone interested in your goods or services wants to know exactly what they are getting, so show them!
As uscreen stated, “When it comes to conversion, you can’t beat case studies and testimonials. It’s all thanks to social proof, or the psychological phenomenon that causes people to want something when they see others using it.” Testimonials are also authentic video content. We highly recommend that you don’t use actors to represent your actual clients. This can make your brand seem fake and inauthentic. Stick with real clients to show your audience you value their business. 10. Announcement VideosIs there anything more exciting than a new announcement? Whether you are sharing a new product, opening a new location or hosting a new event, an announcement video helps you get you the message across to your audience and cultivates excitement. It is important to note that while your announcement doesn’t have to be funny, it does have to be engaging, so keep your video content short, simple and concise. The right content marketing strategies can bring in exponential results for your business. If you’re ready to build relationships, increase your authority, and educate customers with awesome content, incorporate a little marketing into your business model.
Of course, it’s not enough to just say that content marketing is a necessity. Why is it so important? How can you get the most value from your marketing efforts? These three simple tips will help you keep on top of your game and guarantee that your business doesn’t fall victim to the changing industry. 1. Focus on More Than Content Content alone will only get you so far. Filling your blog with a variety of material is what helps increase authority and welcome engagement from your readers. Content means a lot of different things, such as white papers, research, gated content, and guest posts. For example, take a look at white papers. If you include white papers on your blog or offer exclusive access to one for email subscribers, you may see a significant jump in views. Research shows that 61% of business owners share white papers with their colleagues. Additionally, in 2018, consumers trust blog posts and podcasts as their go-to methods for educational purposes. So, articles aren’t the only way to go anymore. Business owners recognize this shift in consumer attention as well. Helen Croydon, the founder of Thought Leadership PR, doesn’t think that creating content alone will lead to any business. She does, however, think content creation brings an increase in your authority and brand. “Anyone can churn out a blog for their website in order to alert Google their site is active. But very few people understand the principles of storytelling enough to make their content useful to those who come across it,” she said. In order to make your content useful, you should recruit writers who understand the material. As we just learned, consumers still prefer blog posts as one of their top methods for learning new skills. So, an unhelpful blog post could lead to a loss in sales and viewership. According to Croydon, blogs that don’t get to the heart of the issue or listicles are telltale signs that blog content has been churned out by a non-professional writer. Since she used to be a journalist, Croydon also believes that business owners need to create thought leadership rather than content. “The first is a product, that can be easily ignored. The latter is a strategy” she said. “Thought leadership articles aren’t promotional but informative and add genuine value to the reader. But they’re way more effective because the reader will remember you, and even better, trust you.” 2. Adapt With the Industry That said, content marketing has evolved. Oftentimes, business owners wonder whether content marketing is even worth it anymore. Some even argue that the entire practice is dead and shifting towards different strategies, like influencer marketing. But, content marketing isn’t dead, it’s merely changing. The old ways of doing content marketing may have been retired, but that doesn’t mean your business can ignore the practice. Rather than giving up on marketing altogether, reflect on your strategies and see if you can make improvements. If you discover roadblocks in your traffic or lead generation, ask yourself:
Even with talk of the industry’s death, Content Marketing Institute’s 2017 research revealed its importance for businesses. They discovered that 88% of B2B marketers consider content marketing an important component of their organization’s marketing strategy. With all of this in mind, some business owners prefer to shift their focus to other methods. Take Alexander Porter, the head of content marketing at Search it Local. Porter says that it’s still possible to achieve brand recognition and traffic, but it’s “increasingly time-consuming and challenging in content-saturated space.” Instead, he focusses on upgrading his content and thinks others should follow suit in 2020. “By that I mean, take your old content, find out what was having minor ranking success, and upgrade it. Look to add layers of value,” he said. “Since you published your content, what has changed in your industry? What experts can you speak to with inclusions of their commentary? What stats are now out of date? Consider contacting prominent micro-experts in a roundup and add their input.” Porter believes these two have a dual effect on improving your previous content and allowing you to rank for keywords you already target. “But it will also create valuable relationships with industry experts who may share your content,” he said. “By including their opinions and encouraging them to share your upgraded content, you’ll benefit from a hit in traffic. The positive user signals on-site all contribute to better SEO rankings.” 3. Remember Progress Takes Time With content marketing undergoing significant changes, it’s tough to keep up with the industry. Marketers with years of experience still spend good chunks of their time monitoring current trends. Regardless of which marketing strategy you decide to deploy, remember that progress takes time. Neil Patel’s research shows that businesses should expect to see results after 6-12 months. This isn’t to say that your marketing efforts will increase traffic by triple digits. But, solid tactics should bring in some traction after about six months. Aqsa Tabassam, the growth marketer for Brandnic agrees with this. “You can’t expect miraculous results within a few months or even a year,” she said. “Instead of boosting my traffic with paid ads, I found it more fruitful to focus on quality content marketing.” Tabassam added that her main focus was to retain consistent organic traffic with her content. So, in addition to content marketing, she also focusses on evergreen blog posts. With this strategy, the older some of her content gets, the better it does. In the end, she believes that content marketing is for patient and optimistic people. “It takes courage but pays off in the long run,” she said. “Apply smart content marketing strategies, be patient, keep going, and get ready to see results.” Final Thoughts Content marketing can do a great deal for your business. Keep in mind that it takes some patience, but the proper strategy should bring in results after 6-12 months. You’ll also want to ensure that your business keeps on top of the latest content marketing trends and doesn’t fall by the wayside when further evolution occurs. If you want to attract high-paying clients, what insights can you give away for free and can you do it in story form? After all, humans are hardwired for stories.
“Marketing is storytelling, and great storytelling transcends languages and cultures.” That is advice from Ross Kimbarovsky on how to create content marketing unicorns. Following a 13-year career as a successful trial attorney, in 2007 Kimbarovsky founded crowdspring, an online marketplace for crowdsourced creative services, where he serves as CEO. In today’s vernacular unicorn is shorthand for something that is a rarity, and great content marketing is rare. Content marketing is creating and sharing online material that does not explicitly promote a product, service, or brand but is intended to stimulate interest. To stimulate more interest in your brand, here are tips from Kimbarovsky that will help you create your own client-attracting content marketing unicorns: The best content is concise and easy-to-read. “People don’t read marketing copy,” says Kimbarovsky. “They scan. You need to get to the point. Fast. The way you organize your content and the words you choose are important. Edit ruthlessly.” Kimbarovsky contends active voice is always better than passive voice. “Use active voice whenever possible. That’s because active voice is easier to read and more concise than passive voice.” He says to compare the following two examples: Both statements are correct. But the passive statement de-emphasizes the subject (the customer) in favor of the object (the product). When you’re writing marketing copy, your goal should be to connect with the customer, not with the product. “And, importantly, active voice is nearly always more concise than passive voice,” says Kimbarovsky. Connect your content to your audience. “Stories help shape beliefs and also help people remember the things you want them to remember,” says Kimbarovsky. “Stories are powerful because they can create a mythology around a brand. And it helps that people love to hear stories about themselves and about others.” Kimbarovsky advises when you create content, consider:
“For example, on the crowdspring blog, we offer numerous opportunities for people to get free guides on a variety of topics,” says Kimbarovsky. “When people search for how to start a business and read our article on that subject, we offer them a free brand identity guide (this is a call-out in the article). Our call-out clearly and quickly articulates why our readers should care about the guide and how it will help them.” Emotion trumps logic. “Companies like Apple have shown that people respond better to emotional appeals than intellectual ones,” says Kimbarovsky. “While Apple touts the features found in its products, their print and video marketing always focuses on emotion. People intend to make rational decisions, but often make emotional decisions instead. Anyone who’s bought something on impulse knows this well.” Don’t forget to ask for something. “No marketing copy is complete without a call to action. Or CTA,” says Kimbarovsky. “The CTA is the moment in your copy when you stop making your case and ask for what you want. That’s the marketing part of content marketing. A call to action should always be clear and concise. For example, when people are looking for custom logo design for their business, we bring them to a landing page on our site that explains that product offering. And our main call to action there is ‘Get started (no obligation).’” Pick the right social channels to share content. “Before you invest time developing and sharing content on a social network, consider whether your customers are likely to be using that network,” says Kimbarovsky. “Having 10,000 friends or followers is great, if most of them are customers or prospective customers. Sharing content with non-customers might make you feel good, but it will not help your business.” Here is the bottom line for Kimbarovsky: “Most marketers and companies fail with content marketing because they focus on content and ignore marketing. If your company wants to develop a relationship with people who read and engage with your content, then the marketing part of content marketing deserves as much of your focus as the content.” |
Marcus Guiliano
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March 2020
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