If you ask any marketer, everyday can be a theme to work on — including the lesser-known ones (“Festival of Sleep” Day falls on 3 Jan by the way). Because the majority of people spend more time with their loved ones in times of cheers and giving, we are generally happier then and tend to splurge. Yet nowadays we are always looking out for good bargains, with shopping “radar” on 24/7. Businesses should actually encourage the idea of self-gifting throughout the entire year. With 3.5 billion social media users monthly around the world, the opportunities to storytell and build brand loyalty amongst target audience are endless.
- Ask and Thou Shall Receive
How Product X makes its online presence more impactful than Product Y is often measured by the number of sales leads and customer retention rates generated. Apart from attractive visuals and simple call-to-action, many customers desire result-oriented subjects. Yes — opportune, exactness and applicability! Sweaty Betty presented content distribution tools in the form of quizzes and gave clients what they want within a shorter period of time. Imagine a stunning product teaser (leading to a Singles’ Day sales promotion page) appeared right after your prospect deliberated on the type of leggings she could own, based on the given inputs.
What it means at the same time is possibly for the team to strengthen on SEO content copywriting, which help generate organic web traffic by addressing users’ concerns on search engines. The style should be direct and concise, covering the topic in informational, navigational and transactional aspects. Overtime not only your URL link goes to the top, everyone gets to see a sneak preview of the services you have to offer online.
Voice search is the future. Smart devices are better equipped to predict who and where one is, what his / her next course of action is likely to be based on behavioral patterns and preferences. Results are displayed, with reference made to recent searches and current geo-location. Immediate, conversational and convenient, speech search queries are lengthier (eg. “Ok Google, where can I buy the best Bak Kwa in Singapore?”) than textual ones (eg. “best Bak Kwa Singapore”). Marketers need to craft their terms with long-tailed and semantic keyword phrases including “who”, “how”, “what”, “where”, “why” and “when” to match / gain an upper hand at algorithms.
Hashtags, how-to tips and promotional codes may no longer suffice to gain social shares. Creating solution-focused and search-intent type of messages (read: not hardsell) will go a long way.
2. In Interaction We Trust
Spotify Wrapped included an extra feature as part of the campaign in 2019, enabling one to share such story findings (ie a list of end user’s favorite tunes in the past decade) on social media platforms. It became viral, and left Apple Music supporters embarrassed. The fun Swedish audio streaming platform undisputedly took emotional (“fear of missing out” and nostalgia) and personalized marketing to the next level, gratifying and acknowledging their brand advocates. Data insights are cleverly utilised to create persuasive ideas, which in turn drove close to 3billion streams from Wrapped playlists within weeks. Perhaps Spotify Premium could seize the chance to sell its subscription services as a gift (for someone) to increase sales, other than banking on the hassle-free and device-friendly interfaces?
Chatbots work for Sephora like a charm. From reservations for makeovers to trying out different lip colors via selfie photos, and from responding to FAQs to identifying sales leads, these artificial intelligence-powered sales assistants helped foster a 1:1 communication and inspire several beauty moments for their consumers. Marketers may wish to involve them in seasonal product launches, call-to-actions and push notifications too. And because most people are more inclined to reply texts quickly than answer calls, incorporating chatbots into instant messenger apps are great tools to disseminate thoughts of interest and quality, locally and internationally. The man on the street usually hangs out at WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook Messenger, WeChat etc for small talk, unbiased reviews and feedback without any brand associations. There is room for personalized engagement.
Video remains important as it achieves the best search engine results, displays non-verbal communication and easily can contain audio, text and image elements. Brands often engage social influencers; whom would inform online viewers what they are in for at the start of the video, move on to product demonstration and conclude with its merits and / or demerits. In view of time constraints, shoppers are empowered to simply skip and watch certain details. It is pretty much a testament to Youtube’s success where annual earnings are exponential but the extent remains a mystery to many. The nature of video is malleable enough to produce 360-degree virtual reality, advertisement, long form vertical tutorial (eg. IGTV), 5G technology-enabled and live-streaming materials. It conveys on-site sentiments (eg. comments, reaction, number of people watching) real time, be it during behind-the-scenes, interviews, webinars or “Ask Me Anything” sessions. The “shoppertainment” concept proved to be very popular in China, and shall continue to do so.
Inexpensive, intimate and popular with millennials, podcast strengthens brand visibility. Considered as a godsend platform for multi-taskers, it helps the company to establish thought leadership on social media in the long run if done well. Get a host with the most to run the show, invite special guests to speak, ask your listeners questions / report their responses on the spot and post episodic transcripts online! Programmatic and dynamic advertising may soon come on board, and its revenue potential should not be overlooked.
3. Eat, Play and Be Merry!
Heard of the E-A-T content framework? You better (particularly those in the health, wealth and safety industries) as Google only recommends searchers to sites that exemplify expertise, authority and trustworthiness. Therefore it would be good to research and create information that your audience would love to have, as of now and next. Links from reputable referrals, online mentions and shares will contribute to building the domain’s authority. Rightful implementation of “https”, positive reviews and clearly stated returns and refunds policy are some of the ways to instill trust in the brand’s website so that the pages can rank higher on web directory. Reports have also indicated that Baidu had overtaken Microsoft and Google in using artificial intelligence to understand the human language better.
In-game marketing is beginning to assert their dominance (well KFC’s Colonel Sander took a chance at Royal Rumble Match). Super Mario, Pokemon Go and Fortnite are seemingly more popular among females and the guys, FIFA. Live telecasts, mobile gaming, augmented reality and virtual reality connected people from all walks of life through vivid entertainment. Branded content should not in anyway interrupt a gamer’s experience, with strategic product placements and contextual advertising embedded. Better still, grant him / her an additional “life” or ammunition when a native advertising video is viewed.
People generally do not read on-the-go but scan through, unless the topic is deemed worthy of a second look. Breaking up written facts into snackable pieces with sub-headings, short paragraphs and / or bullet points not only makes consumption easier, it promotes quick understanding and shareability. Content calendar should contain light, relatable, exclusive and educational bits of data (such as latest events, infographics, retweets etc) to satisfy a wide range of readers. Even office space provider WeWork do not stop at posting pictures of their amazing environments, they actually came up with a holiday gift guide for the masses!
New year, new beginnings. Try something different in the roaring ’20s. Creativity is a great way to connect and engage with the social media audience, turning site visitors to elated, satisfied buyers. Have fun!
