Archive for the ‘Branding’ Category
Thursday, October 27th, 2011
New research from GroupM Search, with research partner Kantar Media Compete, reveals that 86% of buyers who purchase in-store use generic terms on search engines to inform their purchase decision. The study, featuring RadioShack, Audi, and a national entertainment brand, also shows that when a shopper conducts a search online and clicks on a link, 90% of those clicks are on the organic listings of a search engine results page.
Forrester Research projected online retail revenues to be $173 billion in 2010, growing over 40% to reach nearly $250 billion by 2014. Yet for all the projected growth, the online channel will account for just 8% of total retail sales revenue. A deeper look at the numbers confirms that this drastically undervalues the role of the Web in the retail industry, says the GroupM study. (more…)
Tags: advertising, brand loyalty, Branding, creative marketing strategy, online marketing, Research Links
Posted in Branding, internet marketing, Research, Traditional Media | No Comments »
Monday, May 2nd, 2011
According to a 2011 National Online Consumer Behavior study by CityGrid Media and conducted by Harris Interactive, the Facebook “Like” button is the new consumer preference to show support online for local businesses. However, no single factor or source overwhelmingly influences the final choice, including highly-touted deals and discounts, according to the report. (more…)
Posted in Branding, internet marketing, Research, Search Marketing, Traditional Media, Trends, twitter | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 26th, 2010
For those who didn’t know, I teach at the University of SC in the Journalism School; Mass Communications and Information Studies to be “proper.” But being a graduate of the “Journalism School,” back in the day when that word was still used in the name, it will always be the “J-School” to me.
I teach Advertising Campaign Strategy to graduating seniors. (at least they think they are graduating. They have to pass this class first.) And it’s the time in the course calendar where we discuss “communication tactics” as part of the strategy. In the lecture portion of my class last week here were a few general points I made about communication tactics that sometimes get overlooked: (more…)
Tags: advertising, advertising failures, brand equity, brand loyalty, Branding, business barriers, business gains, creative marketing strategy, Creativity, marketing, marketing performance, social media marketing
Posted in Branding, Creativity, email marketing, Great Ideas, Highly Recommended, internet marketing, New Ideas, Research, Social Media, Traditional Media, twitter, What we're working on now | 2 Comments »
Monday, October 25th, 2010
Are you in retail? Social media will drive more holiday purchase decisions this year than ever. In fact, 27 percent of last year’s holiday shoppers were influenced in some way by social media; 59 percent used search engines as their first choice for gift finding. Plus, keep in mind that 47 percent of consumers will have already started their holiday shopping by the end of October!
How can you as a local retailer engage shoppers using social media to drive revenue this holiday season? Let’s start with several low-cost and creative ideas that you can put in place this week to start off the holiday shopping season with a social media kick.
- Start now with social media. Building a following on Facebook and Twitter, or through some simple product videos or blog posts can pay dividends as we near the holiday season, especially when last-minute shoppers are seeking local options.
- Get reviewed online. Like signage in a retail store, customer reviews on Google and Facebook draw attention and help differentiate between similar retailers. More than 70 percent of consumers trust recommendations from reviewers and recent studies show 83 percent of all holiday shoppers this year will be influenced by customer reviews.
- Be helpful with your holiday messaging. Social media is really about sharing useful content with your audience. Make their gift-finding easier by offering helpful ideas and information, and you’ll be rewarded with increased loyalty, recognition, store traffic and online “word of mouth.” Think about the gift-giving challenges of your customers, and speak to those needs with your Facebook posts or Twitter tweets.
- Use social media with traditional marketing. If you distribute flyers, postcards or do any form of advertising, include your social-media links everywhere your customers see your name. Don’t forget the in-store applications, where something as simple as sticking a printed “Follow us on Facebook” card in each shopping bag can help boost followers and online word-of-mouth marketing.
- Use pictures and videos where possible. Whether you sell hand soap, jewelry or pheasant hunting trips, research shows that people respond to posts with photos and video much more favorably than to simple text postings. Remember, you’re trying to tell your story, and any imagery you can use to help tell that story will bring in more holiday business.
Need help? We’re good. Ask anybody. Give us a call!
Tags: advertising, brand loyalty, business barriers, marketing, marketing performance, relationship marketing, social marketing, social media marketing
Posted in Branding, Creativity, Great Ideas, Highly Recommended, internet marketing, New Ideas, Social Media, Traditional Media | No Comments »
Sunday, November 15th, 2009
Photo by daliborlevYou can do a great job constructing a badly designed house. But when you are through, you’ve still got a badly designed house. Right? It doesn’t matter how good you are with a hammer if the blueprints themselves are faulty. Ads are like houses.
It doesn’t matter how good you are with nouns or verbs when the core message is boring. There is no good way to tell a bad story. And ultimately, it’s the core message of your campaign that determines the success of your advertising.
Give a powerful core message to an average writer and the little business on the corner can leap from Main Street to Wall Street. But give an average message to a powerful writer and ….yeah, you get it.
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Tags: advertising, Branding, business barriers, Creativity, customer loyalty, marketing, Social Media, social media marketing, social networking
Posted in Branding, Creativity, Great Ideas, Highly Recommended, New Ideas, Social Media | No Comments »