Five More Predictions for 2013: Social Media

Five More Predictions for 2013: Social Media

5 Predictions About Digital Marketing’s Future in 2013

5 Predictions About Digital Marketing’s Future in 2013

Got a 2013 Marketing Plan?

Got a 2013 Marketing Plan?

The Participation Age of Marketing

The Participation Age of Marketing

Top Ten Online Marketing Tools

Top Ten Online Marketing Tools

5 Marketing Tactics to Stop Wasting Your Time On

5 Marketing Tactics to Stop Wasting Your Time On

Holiday Marketing Campaigns

The holiday season is here! And as marketers, we know it’s a perfect time to remind your customers or clients of who are, what you do and what you can provide them.

And it’s not just for B2C marketing. B2B marketers also benefit from holiday campaigning. There is a lot of strategy that can go into business to business holiday marketing, including delivering the right message, reaching the right group of people, and not sounding “too salesy.” According to this article by Brafton, there are three traits of successful holiday marketing campaigns, including:

Plan ahead: anticipate that your targets will be doing the bulk of their holiday decision making early in the season and reach them then (e.g. customers doing online shopping at the beginning of Dec., clients making budget decisions before the hustle and bustle of holiday events) 

Be flexible: predicting trends can be tricky, so it’s important to be flexible and ready to make last minute changes to meet the trends that are happening (the article uses the popular Gangman Style video that sparked companies to start selling the pop star’s lookalike blue tuxedo jackets)

Think beyond the winter season: Obviously, Nov. through Jan. mark the most publicized gift-giving holidays, however, there are other holidays throughout the year to consider developing a content marketing strategy for (e.g. St. Patrick’s Day, National Teachers Day, etc.)

For more information about each of these trends, read the entire article. What’s worked or not worked for your holiday content marketing? For content marketing campaigns, and all other marketing services, contact Sagefrog Marketing Group. Visit www.sagefrog.com or call 215-230-9024.

B2B Marketing Trends to Take from 2012

B2B marketing has gotten increasingly competitive in 2012. As B2B marketers and advertisers, you are going the extra mile to show your clients the results they want; taking risks and trying new and different tactics; and have more demand from your clients as they learn more about marketing.

According this article by customerTHINK, there are 10 important B2B marketing trends from 2012:

·          

• Direct mail is coming back

• ·         “Atomic” targeting of prospects

• ·         B2B mobile marketing

• ·         Teleprospecting

• ·         Retargeting

• ·         Chief Marketing Technology Officer

• ·         Social media marketing shows ROI

• ·         Designating a senior member of B2B marketing firms as a “voice of the customer”

• ·         LinkedIn trumps Facebook for B2B professionals

• ·         Revenue responsibility

For more information about each of these trends, read the entire article. For full-service marketing, contact Sagefrog Marketing Group. Visit www.sagefrog.com or call 215-230-9024.

Content Marketing Inspiration for a Friday Afternoon

The key to content marketing is conveying a message correctly to the right audience through the right channel. But being able to do this isn’t always so direct and easy. Here’s a little inspiration, when it comes to content marketing, for a Friday afternoon. This article by Econsultancy.com highlights some brands that are taking content marketing to the extreme – and doing it well!

According to this article, four brands to learn from include:

·         Coca Cola – consistently voted number one brand in yearly surveys; has 56 million Facebook likes; $1.8 billion of its products consumed daily; content marketing strategy focuses on promoting all the good the brand does in the community

·         Nike – only spent 33% of advertising on traditional media and the rest on content marketing in 1996; strategy includes reaching a broader audience by embracing the greatness in individuals offering useful services like athletic training apps

·         Jamie Oliver – the chef, restaurant, author, campaigner, TV personality and publisher is a brand; content marketing strategies include upselling his book with an app, providing recipe of the day, cocktail making tips, videos, blogs and food community forums on his website

·         Innocent – started as a company making smoothies at a festival and now voted the most social brand in Britain; publish books; hosts an annual festival called Fruitstock; and the website includes videos, pictures, blogs, competitions, and customer engagement

What can we learn from these brands? The article summarizes three main things – “they all use content marketing techniques on a larger or smaller scale: blogging/videos/social media/providing tips & advice/publishing books/crowd-sourcing;” they all have “adopted a consistent vision;” and they all are having “two-way communication with customers.” For more information, view the entire article.

For content marketing, and all other marketing services, contact Sagefrog Marketing Group. Visit www.sagefrog.com or call 215-230-9024.

2012’s Social Media Moments to Remember

We’ve been writing several posts about marketing planning for 2013.But this year isn’t over yet. Let’s reflect on some of the biggest moments in social media from 2012.

According to this article by CBCnews, some of the most memorable social media moments include:

·          

• U.S. Election – on Twitter, at least 327,000 posts were recorded per minute; a photo of the President and the First Lady was reposted more than 800,000 times; and popular hashtags were #BindersFullofWomen, #HorsesAndBayonets, #Amercia

• ·         Hurricane Sandy – pictures of the storm’s damage were all over Twitter and Instagram; when the power went out in NYC, Twitter says mobile usage doubled; and popular hashtags were #Sandy, #Frankenstorm and #Superstorm

• ·         Mars Rover – moments leading to the Mars Curiosity touchdown was seen worldwide on streaming video and on Twitter; and popular hashtags were #MSL, #CuriosityNews, #MohawkGuy and #PewPew

• ·         Summer Olympics – there more than 150 million tweets on the Olympic Games; and the mckaylaisnotimpressed face inspired thousands of imitators; and popular hashtags were #London2012, #OpeningCeremony, #TeamGB, #NotImpressed

• ·         Canadian Politics – campaigning on Twitter and Facebook; the convention in Toronto was “live-tweeted,” including the glitches; and popular hashtages were #NDPldr, #LPCldr, #SaveThePenny

• ·         Celebrity News – the name Chavril was trending when Avril Lavigne and Chad Kroeger got engaged; Whitney Houston’s death generated more than 10 million tweets according to Twitter; and popular hashtags were #Chavril, #RIPWhitney and #RIPAvalanna

Do you remember any of these unforgettable 2012 social media moments? For more information about each, read the entire article. Reflect on some of your most well-received social media moments for your business and consider your strategy for 2013. For social media marketing, and all other marketing services, contact Sagefrog Marketing Group. Visit www.sagefrog.com or call 215-230-9024.

New Year's Resolution: Create a Marketing Plan

We’re about 3 weeks away from entering 2013. And as you sit down to reflect on the year and make your resolutions for the next, it’s important to remember that not all of your planning has to be in your personal life. A new year is a great time to consider the marketing successes and non-successes of the past year and make changes to your marketing plan. Establishing goals to stay ahead of the trends in business will help you enter the New Year with an organized and strategic marketing plan.

TextMarks blog offers a few suggestions for New Year’s resolutions that you may want to consider for your business. Here are four from the article that focus on mobile marketing:

• ·         Send fewer emails – instead of blasting your customers or clients with email promotion after email promotion, consider sending fewer emails and focusing more on mobile campaigns, including text messages with the same codes, offers and deals

• ·         Embrace social networks – you’re probably already using popular social media sites. Engage with your customers or clients through your smartphone using social media – answer tweets and blog comments instantly

• ·         Think “here and now” – Planning ahead can help you stay organized, but in today’s society, people move fast and expect instant gratification. Social media and smart phones have made last minute planning interesting and possible. Take some risks and work short-term (e.g. 24-hour notice for an event)

• ·         Embrace your neighborhood – it’s easy to get caught up in the internet’s accessibility to people all over the world. But you can’t forget about the local people – the customers, friends, clients, referrals who helped build your success. Promote your community and recreate buzz on a local level

For more information about each of these suggested 2013 business resolutions, read the entire article.

Still not sure about your business resolutions for the New Year? We’ll give you an easy one – create a 2013 Marketing Plan. Contact Sagefrog Marketing Group for a marketing consultation. Visit www.sagefrog.com or call 215-230-9024.