Linda Landers

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5 Tips for More Effective Influencer Marketing

influencer marketing

Most experts agree: 2017 is the year for influencer marketing. In fact, 87% of marketers plan to launch at least one influencer marketing campaign in 2017. The reasons that this particular marketing strategy is surging right now are many. The first, and probably the largest reason is social proof.

According to research firm Yankelovich, Americans are exposed to 5,000 advertisements a day. Overwhelmed consumers are now experiencing “banner blindness” as they mentally tune these ads out. With 47% of consumers using ad blockers, more and more brands are moving away from targeted ads and moving toward paying these influencers to represent their brands.

Though now is a great time to experiment with influencer marketing, it’s important to consider the following to make sure you maximize the return on your marketing dollars.

1. Consider Your Brand

Before you seek out influencers, you should first consider your brand. Many industries have influencers that are easier to identify than others. Fashion and beauty brands are already using influencer marketing, with 60% having a strategy in place and 21% planning to create campaigns in the next 12 months. Other brands that work well with influencer marketing include food and beverage, consumer technology, and health and wellness.

2. Find the Right Influencers

The hardest part of influencer marketing is finding the right people for the job. In fact, 73% say finding the right influencers is the hardest part of influencer marketing. Once you’ve tapped someone to share your products, that person becomes an extension of your brand.

So, do your due diligence. Investigate an influencer’s previous posts to determine that they’ll be a good reflection of your brand’s mission and vision. While you can afford to work with influencers that don’t have large followings, you may never recover from a social media faux pas.

3. Don’t Sweat Small Follower Counts

While a social media celebrity might be the ideal influencer on paper, look beyond the A-list. Remember that 72% say relevancy is more important than reach. If your influencers are reaching the target market for your brand, then you’ve hit the jackpot, no matter how large or small their audience may be.

4. Allow Creative Freedom

Your chosen influencers resonate with their audience for a reason. Once you’ve determined that your chosen advocate matches your brand standards and speaks to your brand’s mission, let that influencer fly free. If you try to impose rules and regulations, the relationship may break down. Worse, you might dampen the spirit of that influencer’s posts, which means their followers won’t engage anymore.

5. Track your Metrics

The only way to know if your campaign is working is to track its success. You can’t make changes if you don’t know what’s working and what isn’t, right? Google Analytics and other automated software show you exactly where your traffic is coming from. If one of your influencers isn’t producing results, you’ll know early enough to make necessary adjustments to your campaigns.

Influencer marketing campaigns can be a great tool for driving brand awareness, but only if you’re willing to put forth the effort. If you’d like more thoughts on developing successful influencer campaigns and engaging new audiences, give us a call.

5 Food and Beverage Marketing Trends for 2017 You Should Know

Food and Beverage Marketing and PR

The transition from 2016 to 2017 brought more change than we have yet to realize. If you’re ahead of that turn, aware of what people will want—and not just what they want now—then you can craft successful food and beverage marketing campaigns for your brands. Let’s take a look at some of the growing trends we’re already experiencing.

A Return to Roots: Traditional Food and Beverage Products

A feeling of home and belonging is paramount at the moment. In the current political climate, many are seeking out foods that take them back to their roots. Traditional and retro-inspired products, designs, and campaigns will be huge. After all, no one will forget this Budweiser Super Bowl commercial soon:

In addition to a return to roots, consumers may also seek out foods that teach them about other cultures. Connecting to their fellow man through the things they eat and drink is just one way consumers will continue to broaden their worlds. Two emerging trends are Asian dishes such as pho and ramen, which are inexpensive and include fresh ingredients, and Jewish comfort food with a contemporary twist.

Searching for Youth in Foods and Beverages

Middle-aged and older consumers are enjoying healthier lifestyles and, thus, more youthful appearances. This health and confidence leads older buyers to act younger than generations before. Midorexia, or the middle-aged millennial, will react to food and beverage marketing that focuses on their health and wellness.

Magnum Ice Cream is one brand that really understands, as you can see in this particular ad. Also, FitBit — thought not a food and beverage brand — understands this quest for longer life spans, as you can see in the commercial below:

The Rise of the Child: Fostering Independence with Food and Drink

People aren’t just trying to look and feel younger; they’re also teaching children to act older. Parents will continue trusting their children to give opinions on the food and drink purchased for the family. Quaker has really reached out to children in their ads, giving them reasons to choose the healthy options. There’s also this truly funny commercial for Halos:

Part of the reason for this increased independence for children is the struggle for parents to find a work/life balance. With both parents (or single parents) in careers, the time needed to plan shopping and meals is limited. Giving children the responsibility of helping with those choices relieves some stress for the parents but also encourages more mature decision-making in the kids.

The Need for Time: Marketing Quick, Healthy Meals

That work/life balance that working couples or singles strive for means that the time needed to plan and cook healthy meals is limited. Studies show that 43% want meals that are easy to cook, 34% want something that’s quick, and 18% want to use as few pots and pans as possible.

That need for time must also balance against the desire for healthy choices. Tech-driven start-ups like Plated, Hello Fresh, and Blue Apron are dominating the scene, giving consumers the ability to cook gourmet meals without added hormones, preservatives, and colors. Food brands that can provide a similar experience will see a big boost in 2017.

The Multichannel Experience: Food and Beverage Marketing Beyond Traditional Media

Our changing world leaves buyers with a lot of questions. They will look to several different channels to get those answers. When marketing your brand, be where your buyers are – online, in stores, on apps, in both social media and traditional media, and anywhere else your buyers live on a daily basis.

Brands can never again tell consumers what they want. It’s the buyer who shapes the narrative and determines the need for their families. The buyer controls the cash. It’s up to marketers to create an experience with as little friction as possible, while also helping consumers sift through the enormous amount of data they receive from the various channels they use to get their information.

What will you do this year to enhance your buyers’ experiences? How will you help them return to their roots and recapture their youth? How will you create experiences that draw them closer together and give them time to enjoy their lives? If you need help with your food and beverage marketing, we’re here for you.

4 Things the 2016 Election Taught Us About Marketing to Women

 

It’s no secret that women feel like marketers don’t understand them. The same might be said about legislators, as we’ve seen from the tremendous uproar following the 2016 election. The problem isn’t that women are hard to understand; it’s that no one seems to be listening. If you want to make a difference with your efforts in marketing to women and really reach the people who control $5 trillion to $15 trillion annually in the U.S., then consider these four things we’ve learned about marketing to women since our new president was elected.

1. Same Outlets, New Message

You don’t have to go somewhere new to reach the millions of women who are reaching for their wallets. They’re right there, using the same social media accounts that men are using.

The use of social media and humorous memes can, of course, be used to spread misogynistic imagery, but women have found these tools can also be used for good. Research the hashtags and memes used to rally women together and show them your business stands with them.

If you don’t think women are using these tools to affect spending, consider the #GrabYourWallet movement, which is possibly responsible for the removal of the First Daughter’s fashion line from high end department stores.

2. Stop Researching, Start Understanding

Some creatives, such as Glenn Cole of 72andSunny, came to a conclusion that women have long felt was overdue: No one really tries to understand their audience. “For me, the big ‘aha’ of all this is the realization that we (Americans) don’t really know each other, or what drives each other,” says Cole. This is definitely a step in the right direction, but not at all helpful if marketers still don’t drill down and take the time to truly identify with the women they’re trying to reach.

A graph might show you what the majority wants, but it won’t show you the various nuances of your target audience. Understanding women involves research across various geographic, economic, and ideological landscapes. In other words, what urban women consider strong and successful will differ from what rural women aspire to.

3. Stop Following, Start Leading

Almost half (48%) of women surveyed by SheSpeaks believe that the election results will not benefit women. However, 3 million to 4 million women, men, and children banded together to march for women’s rights just one day after the inauguration, proving at least one benefit already—renewed solidarity.

Whatever the polls may tell you, women say something different with their actions. Just because they feel they’re not being heard doesn’t mean they’ll stop speaking up. In fact, they’ll just get louder. Don’t just hear them. Yell with them, too.

4. Stop Degrading, Start Uplifting

The buying public isn’t as willing to accept brands that glorify sexual violence, even if only a cheeky ad, as evidenced by Trump’s plunging brand equity after the release of his interview with Billy Bush. Someone should remind Burger King before they create another ad like this one:

Burger King Misses the Mark while Marketing to Women

Even if a woman chuckles at a degrading ad or meme, that doesn’t mean she’ll make a purchase. It doesn’t even mean she’s comfortable with the imagery. In fact, she probably fears for her future.

Instead, speak to her power. Remind her that she can do anything—and probably already does—that a man can do. Whether that’s buying a car, making home improvements, or simply choosing a delicious beer that’s not pink or fruity.

It’s a new era for marketing, and a lot of dollars are at stake. Will you work to understand your audience now that they’re shouting what they want, or will you keep doing the same old thing? It’s your move.

Marketing to Mothers In the Sandwich

Mom in the Sandwich I recently read an article by Liz O’Donnell about marketing to “mothers in the sandwich,” those women who are caring for their parents while also raising their children and trying to balance careers. Life in the sandwich raises unique challenges for these women, but also provides unique opportunities for those products, services and businesses that support these women. I should know, because I am one of those mothers in the sandwich.

These women are busy, savvy (they need to be; they are managing crises, averting crises, and solving problems every day), and influential. As Liz notes, they’re making health care decisions for three generations, managing money for three generations, consuming services for three generations, and purchasing products for three generations.

So whether it’s car services to transport seniors to medical appointments and children safely to afterschool activities, or errand and meal delivery service, these women have purchasing power that shouldn’t be ignored. Marketers would be wise to listen to them, support them, and help solve their problems. For that, they’ll be rewarded with a lifetime of loyalty.

Marketing to the Millennial Mindset

Marketing to the Millenial Mindset

The Millennial Influence on the Consumer Market

Last year, millennials became the largest generation of consumers living in the U.S. Beyond the sheer size of this generation, their impact lies in their ability to influence an entire market of consumers who may or may not be their peers. For example, a 50-year-old man is not a millennial, but he is just as dedicated to wearing his Nike+ FuelBand every day as his 23-year-old son. In its latest research, FutureCast has dubbed this the Millennial Mindset.

Elements of The Millennial Mindset

Social Circle – While social media is a powerful tool, The Social Circle refers to the team of advisors modern consumers have built for themselves – without question the most influential and impactful pillar within the Millennial Mindset. The more brand fans who advocate for the brand, the bigger the social circle.

Self – The key to great brand performance is building an emotional connection with your audience. Consumers who feel that a brand understands them on a personal level develop the kind of loyalty that leads to brand dominance. Brands that help consumers live more fulfilling lives through customized experiences are winning big.

Innovation – Millennial Mindset consumers want the novelty, efficiency, and effectiveness that come with product innovation. They constantly seek out brands that are re-inventing and re-creating new ways to make consumer’s lives easier and more efficient. Brands that are constantly in beta will drive interest and engagement across generations.

Trust – Trust is the first step to any great relationship – millennial or otherwise. The most trusted brands are the ones that put consumer needs first and follow through with their promises. Consumers today have more access to brands than ever before. so keeping secrets and important information hidden behind red tape is no longer an option. 

Accessible – Accessibility is key. Consumers today are looking for access to brands across both physical and digital channels and for brands to create a seamless transition between those two worlds. 

Purposeful – Millennial Mindset consumers are looking for brands that are committed to making our planet a better place. Today, brands must acknowledge the triple bottom line that exists – people, planet and profit. Businesses cannot exist in the modern market if they are only focused on the numbers in their P&L.

To delve deeper into the Millennial Mindset, download a copy of the report here.

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