S’well Gains A Refreshing Direction For Advertisement and Promotion
(6/26/2017)
Display Advertising
I would recommend display advertising on fashion, environmental, food & drink, T.V. talk show, and news genre websites. The reason why I chose these genres is because S’well’s reusable bottle is fashion-forward, environmentally-conscious, and has multiple purposes. S’well’s products have been mentioned in magazines, on T.V. talk shows, and on news outlets. Creating a display advertisement on a magazine, T.V. talk show, or news outlet’s website would be a great way to engage S’well’s target market. Depending on what bottles were featured, I would send viewers to their specific “collection” section within S’well’s “Shop” page. Even if a viewer clicked on the display advertisement and didn’t like the pattern or colors in the collection, S’well’s “Shop” page is set up so a viewer can simply scroll up and down to view all collections.
Fashion Genre
The fashion genre websites that I would recommend are Vogue, Teen Vogue, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, Glamour, Allure, InStyle, Refinery29, GQ, and Esquire. The display advertisement for the female fashion genre websites could show off several S’well bottle collections. Specifically, the “Textile Collection,” the “Elements Collection,” the “Exotics Collection,” the “Galaxy Collection,” or the simple one-colored bottles in the “Shimmer Collection.” The display advertisement for the male fashion genre websites would show off S’well’s “Wood Collection” or the darker, masculine bottles in the “Satin Collection” such as, “Hunting Green” and “London Chimney” (a black bottle). The message I would promote on the fashion genre websites would back its “luxurious” and “crave-worthy” image.
Environmental Genre
The environmental genre websites that I would recommend are RealClimate, TreeHugger, Grist, ARKive, UNICEF USA, American Forests, DrinkUp, and RED. Most importantly, S’well has partnered with UNICEF USA, American Forests, DrinkUp, and RED. It would be a great opportunity to buy display advertising on the environmental organizations S’well has already partnered with. S’well has released collections specifically for DrinkUp and RED that would be perfect to feature in an ad. The display advertisements for the other environmental genre websites would show earthy-toned bottles such as “Kelly Green,” “Blue Suede.” Even collections such as the “Wood Collection,” “Exotics Collection,” and “Elements Collection” show off bottles inspired by nature. The message that I would promote on environmental websites would back its “environmentally-friendly” and “biodegradable” image and characteristics.
Food & Drink Genre
The food & drink genre websites that I would recommend are Food Network, Martha Stewart, Culinary Media Network, Eat Me Daily, Bon Appetit, and Local Wine Events. S’well’s multi-purpose bottles are the perfect reusable container to hold liquids. Even S’well’s 25oz. bottle can fit an entire bottle of wine. Naturally, S’well bottles would fit into the food & drink genre! The display advertisements for the food & drink genre websites would show simple, but stunning bottles. Specifically, the “Sangria,” “Sparkling Champagne,” and “Smokey Eye” bottles that are a part of the “Glitter Collection.” The message that I would promote on food & drink genre websites would back its “multi-purpose”, on-the-go, healthy image and characteristics.
T.V. Talk Show & News Outlet Genres
The T.V. talk show genre websites that I would recommend are The Today Show, The Ellen Show, The View, Live With Kelly & Ryan, Good Morning America, and The Talk. The news outlet genre websites that I would recommend are Forbes, Bloomberg, The New York Times, The New York Post, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, and The Chicago Tribune. The reason why I chose these two genres is because S’well has been featured on these outlets before. These two genres also attract a wide range of people, a range that includes S’well’s target market. The display advertisements for both genres would showcase multiple colors and patterns, fit for males or females of any age. The message that I would promote on these two genre websites is diversity. It’s important to showcase S’well’s diverse collections on these websites because the websites attract diverse audiences.
Search Engine Marketing
Keywords that I would want S’well to target would be “water bottle,” “insulated bottle,” “reusable bottle,” “eco-friendly bottle,” “environmentally-friendly bottle,” “fashionable bottle,” and “multi-purpose bottle.” S’well should use the Pay Per Click monetization model, as it has become the “defacto standard.” S’well needs to ensure that Pay Per Click works by “tracking URLs [that] are set-up to analyze Paid Search traffic,” (Farotech). Monitoring the conversion rates is an important factor. I would also suggest that S’well sets up a “monthly retainer” payment model. “The monthly retainer is the most common payment model, because it provides the greatest ROI. Monthly retainer arrangements usually include regular analytics reports, on-site content improvements, press releases, link building, keyword research, and optimization,” (Search Engine Watch). I recommend S’well starts at a monthly budget of $21,000. This means $3,000 for each of the seven keywords.
Here is an ad that already exists for S’well when searched “water bottle.” The ad does a good job of landing on the “Store” page, which is like “Shop,” but its specifically created to track analytics (like conversion). I also like how there are pieces of the keywords I suggested already apart of the ad. There are some problems with this ad, considering a competitor’s water bottle is linked within the box. It looks awkward. Below is my suggestion.
Social Media Advertising
S’well utilizes promotional methods on Facebook including offers, event response, website links, and page likes. Previously, I’ve stated that S’well needs to start paid promoting on Facebook. S’well will be able to target specific ages, genders, interests, locations, companies, schools, and occupations through Facebook paid promoting. S’well’s target market is trendy people of all ages. For example, S’well would have the ability to target 20-year-old female college students or 50-year-old males who have a corporate job. Because S’well’s target market is so big, paid promoting needs to specific and adaptable for anyone at any stage of their life. Obviously, this paid promotion technique will not look the same to a 20-year-old female college student vs. a 50-year-old male with a corporate job. Sticking with my example, a 20-year-old female college student would most likely see an ad with a fashionable image and a feminine colored/patterned bottle. A 50-year-old male with a corporate job would most likely see an ad picturing a neutral-toned bottle sitting on an office desk. The Facebook paid promotional advertisements would look like the example above.
Previously, I’ve stated that S’well should try paid promoting (like Facebook) and influencers on Instagram. Instagram has recently been able to target users with sponsored ads which is “based on behavior and what accounts you follow or engage with.” Instagram will work differently than Facebook because the ads are tailored to the user and not purposely placed. S’well advertisements might be tailored to narrow portion of their target market, like female millennials. Female millennials would most likely see the “20-year-old female college student” tailored advertisement as described in the Facebook section. A good way to counter act narrow scoped advertisements would be to hire Instagram influencers. Instagram influencers could be any celebrity of any demographic within S’well’s target market. A diverse group of S’well Instagram influencers means more of a change to engage with various people of different demographics within S’well’s target market. An Instagram influencer’s post would picture them with the bottle. For example, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson could post a picture with a sliver S’well bottle captioned “#ad Using my new @Swellbottle!” Another example could be Selena Gomez with the “Milky Way” bottle captioned “#ad Loving my all-purpose @Swellbottle!”
S’well should also utilize Twitter for social media advertising. I think the most important methods to use is “Click to Website.” Twitter paid promoting is like Facebook’s. Twitter paid promoting targets interest, keywords, followers, T.V. shows, device, and gender. As previously stated in the Facebook and Instagram sections, advertisements should be tailored to all demographics within S’well’s target market. The Twitter “Click to Website” advertisements should look around the same as the Facebook advertisements. This means that “Click to Website” paid promoting should target a 20-year-old female college student with, once again, fashionable images and feminine colored or patterned bottles. The Twitter paid promotional advertisements would look like the example above.
I’ve also previously stated that S’well should become serious with paid promoting on Pinterest. While “Promoted Pins” are a new technique, they immediately take a user to the product’s website. According to Dana Fontein for Hootsuite, Pinterest is a great platform for creating awareness, engagement, and traffic. Users on Pinterest are primarily women, but male users are rising. By categorizing S’well’s “Promoted Pins” under “Food & Drink,” S’well can effectively target males and females within their target market. S’well could even promote pins in fashion and houseware categories. S’well’s “Promoted Pins” would have a focus on the bottle, but be placed in the proper scenery, so it could fit in to a specific category. For example, a marble-patterned S’well bottle and black leather jacket placed on a white furry blanket would be an excellent picture within a fashion category. The Pinterest “Promoted Pins” would look like the example above.
YouTube
S’well should utilize YouTube for social media advertising as well. S’well could create 30 second-long (or less) advertisements that would play before other YouTube videos. These are called “Pre-Roll Advertisements.” These videos, when clicked, will take a user to your website. The landing page should be the “Shop” page (described above) that measures analytics like conversion rate. S’well should take advantage of targeting “via keywords or demographics.” This will work the same way as Facebook and Twitter. S’well should start making small “Pre-Roll Advertisements” that can be described as the video version of the Facebook and Twitter advertisements. A 20-year-old female college student would see a video of fashionable women with patterned bottles, but the point of the video is play-up the practicality and “crave-worthiness” of the bottle in a short amount of time. For example, S’well has partnered with New York Fashion Week and an ad targeted to millennial women could show models walking down the runway with different bottles. The YouTube “Pre-Roll Advertisement” would look like the example above.
Snapchat & LinkedIn
I don’t recommend that S’well should promote products on Snapchat LinkedIn. Usually, people skip through advertisements that are in-between stories on Snapchat. This would be a waste of money for S’well. I don’t think they should promote on LinkedIn either because I think an advertisement would will be lost within business content on LinkedIn.
Analytics
According to Ramona Sukhraj for Impact, there are KPIs to track within the categories of engagement, reach, leads, and conversions. Within the engagement category, I think S’well should focus on clicks, shares, comments, and profile visits. Within the reach category, I think S’well should focus on followers, impressions, and traffic. Within the lead and conversion categories, I think S’well should focus on “[how to get] the best ROI from your social media… [and] ask the tough question: How many of these engaged fans are actually interested in making a purchase from my company?” (Ramona Sukhraj for Impact). The most important conversion measurement is to count the number of customers.
