Is Marketing Moving Away From Perfection?

Is Marketing Moving Away From Perfection?

Marketing campaigns have historically featured branding and images that set an impossible standard in an attempt to sell their products or services. In recent years, however, consumers have been advocating for change. They want to have their needs met, not alter who they are.

If brands want to stay relevant, they’ll have to adjust their approach to branding and marketing. Here are a few ways the industry is evolving to compete in a changing consumer climate.

Be authentic.
More than ever before, people care about a brand telling the truth about their products and demonstrating actual, reasonable results.

Consumers aren’t fooled by flawless makeup or airbrushed images. Give your audience a taste of how your brand looks or functions in real life. For example, try using unaltered photos that showcase a variety of people.

Sound like a human being.
The days of telling consumers what they want are long gone. Companies need to prioritize empathy and consider the struggles, dreams, desires and needs of their target audience. More importantly: Address them with direct, jargon-free language.

Focus on accessibility.
It’s essential for businesses to help create an inclusive community. That means being aware of how language, imagery and messaging can impact how someone relates to your brand.

Personalize the experience.
You want people to enjoy interacting with your brand, and forming a connection is even better. Creating ways for your audience to make their experience more personal can help promote loyalty and increase revenue.


How to Use Surveys for Market Research

How to Use Surveys for Market Research

Every business owner wants to grow. However, it can be difficult to determine the best way to do that (especially if you have a limited budget).

One option is to conduct surveys about your product or service. Surveys can help you identify how you can improve your products or services and how customers feel about your brand.

Curious about how it’s done?

Why should you create a survey?

Conducting market surveys can help you avoid wasting valuable advertising funds and effectively target your campaigns.

Depending on the type of business, surveys can generate leads and collect contact information for building relationships with potential customers.

More importantly, they provide insight as to what your market wants and needs, allowing you to develop and provide these products or services in the future.

Benefits of Surveys

For the most part, surveys fall into one of two categories: questionnaires and interviews.

A questionnaire is a handout, mailer, or online form with a few questions the respondent can answer (usually anonymously).

Interviews might include individual meetings and calls with an existing or potential customer, as well as focus groups who volunteer or are paid to provide honest feedback.

How to Conduct Market Surveys

First, determine your goal. Are you trying to assess customer satisfaction, the effectiveness of your branding, or the right price point for your product?

Regardless of which survey approach fits your needs, be sure to collect demographic information about the respondent like location, age group, and income level. These factors are crucial because they’ll provide perspective about why the respondent is or is not receptive to your offerings.  


Understanding Effective Content Distribution

Understanding Effective Content Distribution

Brands that are creating valuable, interesting content can still struggle to reach their target audience. But why?

It usually comes down to content distribution.

In other words: What happens after you’ve created amazing content? You need a strategic plan for publishing and sharing your content with the right people, in the right places, at the right time, and in the right way.

Why is a content distribution strategy so important?

Having a content distribution plan helps minimize randomness, so you can promote your content efficiently and effectively.

A comprehensive content distribution playbook helps:

  • Grow brand awareness
  • Increase customer engagement
  • Drive more web traffic
  • Boost sales

How is content distributed?

When it comes to content distribution, many companies just hit “share” and call it a day, but this is where you want to be strategic.

Thoughtfully approach how and where you share content. These are just a few tactics to consider:

  • Optimize your website, especially your blog, for SEO.
  • Identify what social platforms work for your brand and how often you should be posting.
  • Partner with popular influencers.
  • Write guest blogs or be a podcast guest.
  • Create (worthwhile) email newsletters.

Paid, owned, and earned content distribution: What’s the difference?

You own and control certain channels for distribution, such as your brand’s website and social media accounts or newsletter.

Other channels are paid for, like ads on social media or pay-per-click advertising on search engines and other websites.

You can earn content distribution, too: As your brand awareness grows, you build trust and reputation through mentions, customer reviews, shares, and links to your website in other articles or blogs.

Action plan checklist

Ready to put a content distribution strategy in place? Here’s a basic starting point:

  1. Set measurable goals and a timeline
  2. Identify and research your target audience
  3. Decide which distribution channels are right for your brand
  4. Choose the right types of relevant content and create (or locate) it
  5. Schedule and distribute content
  6. Build a relationship with your target audience
  7. Track and measure the impact of your efforts
  8. Adjust your strategy according to results

Want professional insight?

Don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions you have about content distribution. There’s always more to learn.