Mediaboss Marketing

May 13, 2017 at 8:06 pm | Print View

Having a sense of humor can help your brand standout exponentially. Nothing delivers connection and meaning faster than making someone laugh.

As comedian Louis CK notes, The goal of comedy is to just laugh, which is a really high-hearted thing, (about) visceral connection and reaction.

In addition to comedy, C.K. knows a thing or two about branding and marketing. Advertising Age ranked him at the top of their Digital A-List in 2012 for rethinking how artists interact with their fans. A recent Nielsen study found that 47 percent of global respondents said that humorous ads resonated the most.

Why Humor Helps

For scrappy businesses, Humor can help you stand out in a crowded world, says Tim Washer, creative director at Cisco. In this role, Washer produces hilarious videos for the B2B software brand including a popular ad introducing a new server as the ideal Valentines Day gift. (Nothing says I love you like six times the mobile backhaul capacity.)

In rolling out their new mail-order service, Dollar Shave Club needed to cut through the clutter of the billion-dollar razor industry. They did so with a hilarious 90-second video that offers a mix of on-target product benefits conveyed in a distinct brand voice.

Forty-eight hours after the videos debut on YouTube, Dollar Shave Club was laughing all the way to the bank with 12,000 people signed up for their service.

Theres no limit to who can use humor. You arent bound by size, industry, budget or any other constraint. So how do you get started?

Start with the Right People

BarkBox has a lot of fun with their marketing. For an example, check out their posts on #HumpDay which takes on new meaning when your business is dog products. So how do they do it?

I dont find myself to be the funniest person in the room. But because of that, Ive only hired people on my team who are genuinely funny, says Stacie Grissom, Bark & Cos editor-in-chief. Humor is something that needs to come naturally. And if it doesnt come naturally to you find someone to help you out.

Create a role like Cisco did or simply hire for humor. Bottom line surround yourself with the right people.

How to Tell Funny (Brand) Stories

Most comedy tells stories. As such, many of those same story elements are critical in telling a funny story for your brand.

l Plot Kurt Vonnegut famously called them story shapes but ultimately there are only a few different common plots out there. What kind of story are you trying to tell?

l Character Your main character shouldnt be your brand it should be about your audience.

l Conflict Most comedy comes from pain. In many cases your customers are in pain and you can help them. Humor allows you to explore this by casting pain in a comedic light.

We werent laughing at the Wheres the beef? lady in the Wendys ads. We were laughing with her at the sad state of the fast-food hamburger.

l Voice Humor has to fit your brand voice. For years, Charmin embraced a family friendly voice in talking about bathroom business. Thats why they regularly use scatological puns and the hashtag #tweetfromtheseat to weigh in on current events and pop culture but still in a G-rated context.

I dont think theres any brand that shouldnt be funny, says Eric Munn of Onion Labs, the content services division of the venerable comedy brand, The Onion, which works with brands such as Audi, Bacardi, and Overstock to create engaging and humorous content on their platforms.

Surround yourself with funny people and use the tools of storytelling archetypes, characters, conflict and voice to find a way of embracing humor that fits for your brand. Go forth and be funny!

l Nick Westergaard is founder of Brand Driven Digital; nick@westergaard.com; @NickWestergaard

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Social Media: How to use humor in your marketing - The Gazette: Eastern Iowa Breaking News and Headlines

Manta's survey of 4,700 small businesses in the U.S. (fewer than 10 employees) found that only 49% had a Facebook Page. The main objectives for having a Facebook presence were cited as being awareness, attract new customers (by phone or by website traffic), and customer retention.

However, half of those SMBs with a Facebook Page were seeing a positive ROI, found Mantra. This might be explained by other findings of the survey such as 58% spending less than an hour a week on Facebook marketing and only 9% posting daily (the majority (58%) posting "a few times a month").

Manta interviewed social media experts to come up with answers to common questions asked by business owners about Facebook. Regarding the topic of post frequency, Allison Baker, social media and marketing coordinator for H2O Media Inc., recommended one to three times per day.

"You don't want to bombard your followers, but you don't want them to forget about you either," advised Baker. "Having a consistent, daily presence is extremely important on social media. Even if you're only posting something like an inspirational quote, your followers will still see your business name and logo, and this will keep you top of mind."

Earlier this year a survey of small businesses by B2B ratings and review firm, Clutch, found that many small business owners are not using social media, instead harking back to marketing headlines from several years ago that expressed doubt in the value of Likes or Tweets.

"They are missing out because of their own viewpoint on the topic, [made] from believing five- to six-year-old headlines and not recapturing the maturation of the space," said Joshua Dirks, CEO of Project Bionic, a Seattle-based creative marketing agency.

Tags: marketing, research, small business, social media

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51% of U.S. SMBs have no Facebook Page - Social Marketing ... - BizReport

Any social media strategy before you tweet, before you pin starts with listening PHOTO: William Iven

Social media marketing leveled the playing field for marketers in companies of all sizes.

When done right, it offers a direct connection with your customers and insight into their needs, their attitudes towards your (and your competitor's) brand and their context.

When done wrong, it's amazing the outsized headaches 140 characters can make.

In this four-part series I'll be sharing the eight mandates that set your social media marketing strategy up for success so you hopefully avoid those headaches.

I believe that listening is the single most important key for marketers who want to be successful in social media.

Although the average person spends about 45 percent of his or her waking hours listening, most of us are simply not very good at it. Various studies conducted over the years have shown that we comprehend and retain only about 25 percent of what we hear.

With that challenge so prevalent, applying good listening strategies and skills in the social media environment becomes even more critical.

"Intentional listening," as my friend and colleague Eric Fletcher calls it, should be front and center in your social media marketing strategy, as it plays an integral role in ensuring that you can find your target audience, hear and understand their wants and needs, and then effectively communicate with them in such a way that establishes trust and strong, long-lasting relationships.

At the outset of your social media marketing program even before implementing your listening tactics do your homework. Conduct surveys and focus groups. Gather responses and evaluate. And spend some quality time "lurking and learning" on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media channels to find out what your target audience has to say.

Finally, make sure you're carefully monitoring your competitors as well. Are they listening to their constituents or just broadcasting marketing messages? You'll have to do a little old-fashioned detective work, but remember that with social media, the playing field truly has been leveled. You don't have to guess about who's doing what just listen.

Too many marketers jump right in and start using various social tools such as Twitter, Google plus and blogs before they've even developed a strategic plan or thought about how those activities might impact the rest of their marketing initiatives.

Don't make that mistake. Take a little time to determine how to best integrate social media into your existing marketing strategy and mix. It'll pay off for you.

Step one in the planning process is to nail down specific social media objectives, based on the listening activities detailed in the first mandate. Now that you know what your constituents care about and are discussing on social media, how does that impact the messages you need to communicate to them? Step two is to integrate your social media strategy into your overall marketing strategy to ensure you can leverage your resources efficiently and effectively and that common goals can be more easily reached.

If you work for a large enterprise, you have two significant advantages over a small business when it comes to planning and budgeting for a social media marketing program. First, your company's DNA most likely has a built-in "think strategically" strand, and second, it also probably has a fairly large wallet.

If, however, you work for or own a small business, you have an advantage as well. You most likely can make strategic decisions and launch new marketing programs fairly quickly. That can be a huge benefit in the fast-paced social media world.

Finally, be sure you're prepared to monitor and measure your impact and progress. Establishing benchmarks and other metrics that can be tracked over time will help you better understand what's working and what's not, and thus be able to make whatever adjustments are necessary to ensure the success of your social media marketing activities.

Check in next week for the next post in this series, where we will discuss developing relationships and establishing trust.

Kent Huffman is a fractional/on-demand CMO at DigiMark Partners, which offers strategic and tactical marketing services to CEOs and owners of small and mid-sized businesses. He is a growth-oriented B2B and B2C marketing and branding executive, C-suite advisor, change agent, and published author with expertise in virtually all aspects of the marketing discipline.

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The Rules of Social Media Marketing Success: Listen and Plan - CMSWire

That is up more than 10% over the 2016 study. Social received the highest rankings for engagement (59%), ROI (39%), and customer service (38%).

Meanwhile, video platforms ranked highest for measurement and reporting features.

"Following our previous digital video survey conducted last June, we accurately predicted social platforms would continue to exceed video platforms as the preferred partner for decision-makers," said Rich Sutton, chief revenue officer of Trusted Media Brands, Inc. "At Trusted Media Brands, we embrace this shift by consistently adapting to what our consumers want. Ultimately, what consumers want, is exactly what advertisers want as well."

Other interesting findings from the report include:

28% of budgets are earmarked for video 58% of those look to short-form content 28% look to premium video 36% say measurement/reporting is a top priority for pre-roll campaigns 34% say engagement is a top priority 33% say viewability is a top priority

Researchers polled more than 300 decision makers from the Advertiser Perceptions Omnibus Panel in April to come to their results.

Tags: advertising video content, social marketing, social video, Trusted Media Brands Inc, video advertising

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Study: Social key for video distribution - Social Marketing - BizReport - BizReport

Pure Barre plots expansion. Credit: Pure Barre

Pure Barre is beefing up its previously gaunt marketing with the hire of its first agency-of-record. The 16-year-old fitness chain, which teaches a ballet barre-based workout, recently hired its first chief marketing officer and is planning a robust branding campaign as part of a business strategy to more than double its locations in the next four years.

"The company has successfully grown to date without any real brand identity, any national or paid social campaignsjust word of mouth," said Scott Breault, who joined Pure Barre as CMO two months ago from a marketing stint at fitness competitor Orangetheory. But now the brand is in "evolution" he said, noting that "the goal is to find a long-term brand identity."

Fort Lauderdale-based Zimmerman is tasked with building a strong branding presence across Pure Barre's more than 450 locationsthe majority of which are franchises. The new push will include a branding identity, new website, digital and paid social marketing and user-generated content. TV may come later, but will not be in the immediate future, Breault said.

"This year, we want to reach the largest audience in the most cost-effective way and that's through a strong digital and paid social campaign," he said. He declined to say how much Pure Barre is spending but noted it is "significant." Last year, the brand, which maintains a dual headquarters in Denver, Colo., and Spartanburg, S.C., spent $307,000 on measured media in the U.S., according to Kantar Media.

Playing up user content could be a wise strategy, as fitness enthusiasts often share their experiences socially, according to a recent interview with Matt Powell, a sports industry analyst at market research firm NPD Group.

"There's an overarching trend of social fitnessdoing fitness activities with a group and sharing that experience with your friends," said Powell.

Pure Barre has about 550,000 members for its U.S. and Canadian locations. It's planning to increase the number of studios to over 1,000 by 2021. To that end, the company hired new executive leadership earlier this year, tapping David Keil from the Honey Baked Ham Co. as chief executive as well as a new chief operations officer and chief development officer.

"Pure Barre is a brand with a cult following because of their commitment to transform people's lives," said Michael Goldberg, CEO of Zimmerman, in a statement. "Our job is to help them pave the way for new members, new franchise locations and new profit centers that accelerate that growth."

Of course, the fitness landscape, even for boutique brands, is increasingly competitive as fickle consumers ping-pong between the latest and greatest fads. Last month, SoulCycle, the spinning chain that has been gearing up for an IPO, debuted its first branding campaign, an effort with Laird & Partners.

Rick Caro, president of sports consultancy Management Vision, recently spoke with Ad Age about what brands need to do to differentiate in order to maintain growth momentum.

"What you need to do is reinvest in the brand and make sure everyone sees it the way you do," he said.

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This Fitness Chain Is Adding Muscle to Its Marketing With New AOR Zimmerman - AdAge.com