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We have all heard the buzz words and labels with regards to online marketing.  Online marketing promises to be a non-traditional media platform.  The rules of old skool marketing are off the table now.  Everything has changed!

There is no doubt; online marketing has made a monumental impact on advertising.  It is fast paced and the amount of content that has to be created is 10X or in some cases 100X what is was in the “old days”.  We are creating content for multiple screens (TV/Phone/Tablet) and in many cases we are cast into a one on one conversation with our customers, who’s voice is just as loud if not louder than our own. With all of this, however, some things have not changed.  In some ways, it is just an expanded version of the old.

Content is King

With all the new fangled technology, multiple ways to hit your end user, and robust programmatic ad channels, the one thing you still can’t fake is creativity.  Content is still the overall reason why someone will watch your ad, read your blog, or follow you on social media.  Not only that, but even Google has come back around to the idea, making the content on your website one of the primary deciders of where you land in search results.  The only thing that’s changed is now you need to create a lot more of it.  An ad firm used to be able to get by on a few commercials, condensed audio versions for radio, a couple well placed print ads, and maybe some PR; and that was per quarter.  Now a strong campaign has to include daily content, regular interaction with your fan base (remember the one-on-one conversation), as well as an eye on trending subject matter and a creative way to include yourself.  Keep in mind a lot of this has to be done on the fly because no one necessarily knows what will trend tomorrow, particularly when it comes to breaking news, and fan engagement doesn’t go over very well when you put out a bunch of canned responses.

Campaigns Still Need Overlying Message and Consistency

Even though a large portion of content is made on the fly, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have an overlying message and campaign.  One traditional approach that is still necessary is the idea of an actual “campaign”.  Your message shouldn’t shift from day to day.  Your end user focus shouldn’t change based on your mood.  Your brand’s overall campaign and message should still be premeditated.  Then your daily content, while ever changing, can still be centered on an overall theme and remain consistent in voice, look, and feel.

You Still Need to Spend Money

It would be nice if this new era of advertising was free, but sadly it’s not.  You are still going to have a budget for ad placement.  Just like the “air time” of old, Facebook, Google, and the others are going to charge you for ad placement.  In fact with their sophisticated algorithms, they are making it harder and harder to be heard without paying.  The nice thing is, they also make it a lot easier to target a specific audience, backed by hard data.  It’s also a lot more affordable.

While it’s a brave new world, that doesn’t mean everything has changed.

Back in 1998 a movie came out about three kids in the New England woods who all died tragically. It was shot exclusively on handycams and it was a cultural phenomenon. Of course, I’m talking about The Blair Witch Project. This movie was a huge upset in the film industry due to how it was marketed: Fictional documents were made, fictional documentaries were produced, an entire lore was built, and the ONLY place to find this stuff was on the internet, which was finally becoming common in American houses. It’s commonly recognized as one of the first online viral marketing campaigns.

In 2016 a movie came out about six kids getting lost in the New England woods who all died tragically… And no one saw it. The Blair Witch, a pseudo-sequel, pseudo-remake, was critically panned and was – ultimately- a financial flop. The marketing was the same, though: Lots of lore, a fictional kickstarter, a youtube channel, FaceBook and Instagram accounts and enough lore to shake a stick at.

While an almost twenty year jump is no doubt going to change the game of marketing – we are no longer in the mass internet’s infancy – there has been a question wavering: Is viral marketing as we know it dead?

No.

Okay, you’re owed a bit more of an explanation than that.

Viral marketing has gone from immersive marketing, where the effort was to make more or less “worlds” to engage fans, to memetic marketing, which is more sharable and need less explanation on average. For example:

Yep.

Viral marketing is now the science of memetics. Memes are basically nuggets of information that you can repeat, share, or bond over without any explanation or prior knowledge. While there’s still room for the “rabbit hole” that the Blair Witch (and numerous other films) have attempted in recent years, memetics have taken over and have given us a bit of a “blueprint” to work off of:

• Keep it short
• Keep it memorable
• Keep it simple
• Keep it organic

We often get requests from clients to add a trademark to their logos. Most people have no idea what the little symbols are meant for they just assume it is required to pick one. It’s important to know when and where to use each one. Here is a basic down low on proper use and standards.

There are three commonly used trademark symbols:

1. TM symbol is used for trademarks that represent goods
2. SM symbol is for service marks that represent services
3. ® (the capital letter R inside of a circle) symbol is used for registered trademarks

The TM and SM symbols are used with unregistered marks. There is no legal significance or requirements and anybody can use the TM and SM symbols. When you use TM and SM you are simply telling the public that you claim that branded mark and to pursued other companies not to use it.

The ® symbol is more legit and is used when the mark is actually registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. You should only adopt the ® for federally registered marks.

The placement of the symbol should appear in superscript (small) in the upper right corner of the mark. If it doesn’t look good there, You can also drop it to the lower right corner of the mark. Although placement of the symbol isn’t really regulated by law, it’s pretty much standard.

For more details check these links below

• More info on TM: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unregistered_trademark
• More info on SM: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_mark
• More info on ®: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registered_trademark_symbol
• Search the trademark database: https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks-application-process/search-trademark-database

How many of us have blogs on our websites?  A blog is a must have because it is the perfect place to consistently, routinely, add fresh content to your website and provide insights to your visitors.  Your SEO guy will tell you it’s a must have because Google likes it.  The freshness algorithm and your need for onsite optimization are reason enough for you to spend an hour or two a week making sure you get up another of those pesky blog posts.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret…It can be just as important to the actual humans that visit your website.  Don’t just blog for the purposes of Google.  Put a plan together and actually blog for the people who visit your website.  Seek out to offer some actual value to your visitors and provide them with something helpful, or at the very least interesting.  Sounds crazy right?

Write Something Someone Will Want to Read

If you really want to use your blog to attract customers, then put a plan together to provide the kind of information your customers and potential customers will want to read.  For example, if you sell supplements and work out products like GNC, why not write content about working out? Creating content for your audience will create articles that you can actually promote through social media, and bring a return audience.

Spend 30 minutes with your crew and put together a loose content calendar.  Outline a blog strategy that plans for 2-4 blogs per month.  From there set out to be consistent and again, create blog articles your customers want to read.  You do not have to write overly promotional “buy now” articles.  I would even stay away from product spotlights.  In the case of GNC, why not write an article about 3 new exercises for summer and wrap up with a short spotlight on a recovery drink.

Promote your Blog Through Social Media

Once you start putting blog articles up, promote them to your audience and potential customers.  If you haven’t set up social media and specifically the Facebook Ad Manager, you should!  Right now!  Facebook’s new instant articles are perfect for promoting your blog articles and bringing visitors to your site.

Once a blog is on your site, go into the Facebook ad manager and put up a post/ad. You want an ad aimed at traffic.

With regards to placement, concentrate on Facebook and Instagram feeds as well as Instant Articles.

Finally, make sure you have the facebook conversion pixel installed on your site, and make sure the url you put in your ad actually goes to the article you are promoting.

If you aren’t familiar with the Facebook ad manager or how to do this part, they have a great help section that will teach you everything you need to know.

Capture your Visitors and Retarget

Finally, you need to capture your visitor’s information and you need to retarget them.  Odds are, visitors are not going to purchase from one blog article.  This is certainly “Top of the Funnel” stuff.  That being said, they came to your website so try to keep them.  Set up a way to get their email from them, maybe having them opt into receiving future information.

Remember that “Facebook Pixel” I mentioned earlier, this is where it comes into play.  Facebook will keep track of everyone that goes to your website from Facebook and Instagram.  You can then go into the ad manager and start sending ads to everyone who visited your website who didn’t purchase.  This is “Retargeting”.  I am sure you have witnessed this in your own web surfing.  You look at a pair of shoes for a brief second and Nike ads continue to appear for several weeks, subtly reminding you that you still need to go purchase those shoes.  It Works!  Make it work for you !  Google offers retargeting as well.  Make your SEO guy set it up.

Create some Content Already!

We all know the blog section is valuable.  We know it will help with SEO.  We now have come to terms with the fact that it could actually work for real people.  So what’s the hold up?  Write some articles, stay consistent, provide some real value, and promote and retarget.  If you don’t have the time to do all this hire someone who can.  After all, don’t you want a consistent flow of new customers?

Pepsi suffered a blow last week via social media when digital engagement increased by 366% in one day. The majority of related posts were complaints about the 2.5 minute promotion that featured Kendall Jenner. The issue at hand was centered around the premise of the promotion; that Pepsi unites social justice endeavors. However, the ad was severely criticized for trivializing protests that otherwise bring attention and address serious issues. The ad seemed to exploit the passion of protesters to focus attention on Pepsi, and away from the problems raised by the protesters. A breakdown of negative responses to the ad totaled 84%. Most mentions in social media included the phrase “tone deaf” and “Kendall Jenner”.

A common trend in social media, is to ride the coat-tails of popular topics that are often expressed as hashtags. But exploiting a serious issue to sell a product, is often a recipe for disaster. Your promotion may in fact go viral, but not in the way you hoped. Everyone with a business wants their brand to get as much exposure as possible, but care and attention must be given to promote your service or product in a responsible manner.

At Enlarge Media Group, we’ve been representing our clients on Social Media for nearly a decade. We’re experienced enough to know which platforms work, and which do not so that we can focus on those that fetch best results. Laymen often attribute failure to the venue, but in most instances, the problem is with the message, not the medium, and as we’ve learned from Pepsi, the atmosphere is equally as important. For this reason we obsess over the message that we deliver in the name of our clients, and their brands.

eBay has decided to cut ties with Triad Retail Media to pursue a new course with an in-house advertising team. eBay will also be retiring some of their iconic ads including product listings due to retire sometime between April and May of 2017, according to Josh Wetzel, the senior director of sales and marketing at eBay. However there will still be ads that take eBay users offsite and these ads will be relevant. For example, if you were browsing through eBay in search of clothing then you would see relevant ads for complimentary clothing services.

In the 4th quarter of 2016, eBay generated $313 million in ad revenue on its marketplace platform. However, moving to an in-house solution isn’t necessarily going to decrease your overhead. In fact, the cost in employees and vetting can be well greater than paying for an ad firm to handle your advertising and marketing. Worse yet, a mistake in hiring could lead to a costly recovery as a result of hiring individuals that don’t understand their platform, or make mistakes. When an employee makes a mistake, the company pays for it. But when an out-sourced firm makes a mistake, they are responsible for the fees.

In some cases you may want to consider keeping a firm on board for their expertise. Paying a retainer to get monthly updates on how visible your products and services are and to deliver actionable objectives, allows for you to hire employees to do the grunt work, while ensuring that you are always taking the best steps for the market at that time. For example, you could hire in-house search engine optimizers, while paying a retainer to an ad firm to make sure that their actions are compliant and wont get you banned from Google and other less popular search engines. This is incredibly important because the rules for SEO are often changing and if you’re not constantly up-to-date, then you risk losing all of your SEO efforts in one fail swoop. This has been such an issue that some large companies have gone so far as to file suit against Google after they lost rank, sales, and then had to layoff thousands of employees. This desperation only further cost them money that they could not afford to lose after losing the law suit.

Recently Instagram changed up its logo and the world went crazy.
Memes were generated by the thousands.  Interestingly enough, people were not really happy.
As Garth (from Wayne’s World) said,“We hate change.  We fear it.”

While Instagram has survived the storm, so far; it raises an interesting marketing question…
When should a brand change up its logo?  Should a brand ever change its logo.

Some of the largest most recognizable brands in the world would say no, never.  Take a look at McDonalds or Coca-Cola…  Logos so strong and recognizable, the minute you read this you pictured their logos in your head.

When we coach companies on branding, we stress consistency.  If you truly want a brand that builds momentum, is recognized, and resonates with your customer; find the right logo and stick with it.  Then put it in front of potential customers as much as possible.  We want your logo to evoke emotion and connect with people.  The minute they see it, they should know who they are looking at and what they can expect.

One of the worst things you can do is confuse people.  If you look different every time they see you, they might wonder…Who is coming to the table today?