The Metaverse will evolve from distraction to (virtual) reality for brands
While many believe Facebook’s rebrand as Meta and focus on the metaverse is a strategic distraction from bad press fueled by the Facebook Papers, we believe at Anvil that its horsepower, deep investment in the metaverse, along with additional investment by other major players like Microsoft, will inspire many brands to dabble in the virtual world in 2022. While consumers maybe a few years from caring about the metaverse, early adopters will embrace the novelty and utility. We’re hoping that the 2022 iteration of the metaverse is more than just a glorified Second Life.

Web 3.0 will become ubiquitous
Consumers’ concern over data security and creating a safer online environment to share personal data will be driving forces that fuel the growth of Web 3.0 technology in 2022. The evolution of blockchain technology in particular will provide a safer user experience (UX) for consumers, where they will feel safe sharing first-party data and know exactly how third-party platforms are using personal data. Combined with improved AI functionality, semantic metadata and 3D graphics – Web 3.0 will deliver an improved and better UX for all users. As full data transparency is on the horizon, this will accelerate the transition and put control of data back to where it belongs – the user.

Video marketing will become a vital part of any online marketing strategy
Consumers rely increasingly on the video to make decisions about the products they are buying. Video platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok feature live streams, unboxing, and testimonial product videos, which are going to gain popularity in 2022. As a result, video optimization and advertising on TikTok and YouTube will be increasingly necessary. Google has also rolled out structured markup features like clip markup which help users find important individual parts of videos, increasing the need and value of optimization for commerce. Using new and emerging markups on a brand’s most popular videos will help to improve user experience and Google’s ability to digest and index the video content.

MUM will strengthen Google’s ability to understand more complex searches
Google is always working to get users quicker, more seamless access to information. MUM, or Multitask Unified Model, uses AI to formulate an understanding of the context behind searches and will have a greater influence on search results in 2022 and beyond. Google recently demonstrated how MUM works, showing that search results would attempt to fully answer a search query with text, imagery, maps, and more. With MUM, content strategies will need to provide unprecedented depth, in order to provide searchers with all the information in a single result. The days of providing only topical information on a given webs page in order to gain organic visibility in target searches are numbered.

OTT will gain traction as ad targeting options decrease
Security and privacy demands are creating problematic limitations with third-party cookies and data tracking. Facebook, Apple, and Google Chrome are limiting data collection capabilities. Social media and search engine platforms will become much more generalized, with decreased targeting capabilities. Ad platforms will eliminate audience targeting, limiting advertisers to first-party data collection. These changes will encourage more brands to explore connected TV, podcasts, and platforms like Spotify that have their own internal marketing platform where the user controls what content they want to see. Products like Google’s smart TV and the new Roku TV are allowing viewers to stream content and enjoy gaming, utilizing click-to-buy on-screen ad placements. Smart TVs will be getting smarter with shopping from your own home with enhanced OTT streaming advertising options.

More businesses will move to DTC eCommerce
Due to the pandemic, businesses ranging from psychiatrists to car dealerships have begun marketing and selling products and services direct-to-consumers (DTC) on their websites. Companies are tired of losing profit by selling wholesale to distributors and evolving technologies have made eCommerce approachable to even the smallest business. Even larger retail chains are starting to focus more on DTC eCommerce, limiting physical store locations, retail footprints, and headcount. Brands like Nike are limiting distribution of its footwear and apparel so they can sell more direct and other brands will follow suit in 2022. The additional margins gained by DTC eCommerce sales can be reinvested in digital marketing to further increase profitable revenue. We predict brands will sell on select marketplaces (like Amazon, Walmart.com, and Target.com) to augment reach and revenues, but will still rely primarily on DTC.

More companies will offer retail media networks leveraging first-party data
With the impending loss of third-party tracking cookies in 2023, companies and marketers alike will be exploring new opportunities to reach prospective customers. Companies such as Target, Walmart. Recently, Lowe’s launched its own media network, allowing advertisers to utilize its company’s first-party data and reach customers as they shop online. As the pandemic accelerated the adoption of online shopping, we expect retailers will offer additional advertising opportunities on digital storefronts in the coming year.

Third-party cookie data will begin to sunset itself
With the anticipation of platforms eliminating third-party cookie data, marketers are forced to produce workarounds. Even though Google has pushed out its third-party data sunset date to the end of 2023, users and businesses have been preparing for the loss of critical targeting data with various workarounds, including the increasing use of first-party data. With Google failing to find a viable solution that meets everyone’s needs thus far, we predict there will be some sort of industry compromise by mid-2022, resulting in third-party data naturally sunsetting by year’s end on most popular platforms.

Influencer marketing will fuel sCommerce
Influencer marketing has gained notoriety within the digital marketing ecosystem as an essential strategy in the past few years. At Anvil, we believe the next evolution for influencers is to become the foundation for successful social media eCommerce (aka sCommerce) in 2022. In addition to important metrics such as engagement rates, influencers will be commonly compensated based on a commission structure related to conversion rates (leads or sales). With a greater focus on performance metrics, influencers will achieve a higher level of credibility with brands. Micro-influencers will rise significantly in popularity due to their accessibility to small businesses and the appeal of being able to target nuanced audiences. Retail eCommerce brands invest in direct shopping formats on popular social platforms, including TikTok.

Multicultural representation in marketing will continue to increase in importance
The digital age, accelerated by COVID-19, has created a world that is more interconnected than ever before. The term “global village” carries increased weight as even extremely remote areas see mobile device use continuing to reach saturation point. The success of international content breaking into the US mainstream has also led to an acceleration in engagement and demand for global representation. South Korea’s Squid Game on Netflix is the latest example, following the Spanish global hit Casa de Papel (Money Heist). With content publishers leading the way, brand advertisers will follow suit, developing new strategies to maximize the relevance of multicultural inclusion within marketing messaging, including messaging from the US’s own backyard.

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A recent global study by Asana of more than 10,000 office workers, reveals marketers waste nearly seven hours each week on pure duplication of work. Only 28 percent of marketers’ time is spent doing the job they were hired to do. Marketers also believe nearly two-thirds of the four and a half hours spent in weekly meetings are unnecessary. Over 60 percent of marketers’ time is spent on low-value or unnecessary tasks such as searching emails for information, managing shifting priorities, sitting in meetings and communicating about the status of projects. The following chart illustrates how I believe we spend time at work, based on my experience:

While meetings can be an essential and productive component of a marketer’s workday, far too often, they become a giant time-suck. I conducted an informal survey of my peers and they agreed meetings are often create obstacles to productivity:

The other major time-suck for marketers is email. Reading and responding to email can be a full-time job. I estimate I minimally spend 20% of my day in email. My peers appear to agree:

If I spend 80 percent of my day in meetings and the remaining 20 percent on email, then when do I get the work done? After hours, as Gina mentions above. I’m not alone, according to research. Nearly 9 in 10 marketers (89 percent) log in to work/work email outside of standard business hours during a typical work week. Here are a few additional compelling statistics about how marketers spend their day:

• 85% of marketers log in on weekends to keep up or catch up with work.
• The average marketer spends almost a third of their time completing repetitive tasks.
• Strategy and planning along with design/content takes up 87 percent of digital marketer’s time, when building campaigns.

The numbers are compelling, but don’t seem to add up. There is a reason for that. The 80/20 rule holds true for marketers (and most professionals): a majority of work is completed in a small amount of time, which frees up the rest of the day to sit in meetings, answer email or, as Chris mentions below, surf social media platforms.

Workfront conducted a comprehensive study and asked the question “what gets in the way of your work” and the answers were not surprising, but frustrating nonetheless:
1. Wasteful meetings
2. Excessive emails
3. Inefficient or non-existent processes

Across all research and disciplines, meetings appear to be the largest culprit of time-sucking. To address the necessary evil of regular meetings, one must be properly armed with a bag of tricks. Unfortunately, very few professionals are trained to host or participate in a meeting. As a member of Entrepreneurs’ Organization, I was introduced to Mastering the Rockefeller Habits years ago and have utilized its meeting methodologies, which have dramatically increased the efficiency and value of our meetings at Anvil.

Routine tasks can be a killer, both to creativity and quality. Repetition breeds boredom, which in turn breeds sloppy errors. HubSpot has identified the most common routine tasks for marketers, as outlined in the chart below:

Not surprisingly, chasing data is the primary culprit. Marketers are accountable for results, which requires measurement. Measurement requires collection and analysis of data. While various analytics tools aid this process tremendously, data still requires a good deal of time to collect, organize and analyze. As mentioned previously, email fills every marketer’s day. Outside of data and email, however, routine tasks, especially for digital marketers, involve landing page creation and optimization, social media and list management. This information may only be a surprise to senior executives or traditional marketers, who are not active in day-to-day execution of marketing activities.

According to MarketingCharts, even market researchers spend nearly 20 percent of their time on non-research-related activities:

When it comes to managing digital marketing campaigns, most professionals prefer to focus their time and effort on strategic planning or design. Unfortunately, only a very small percentage of marketers enjoy data collection, testing, optimizing or reporting. This isn’t surprising, but it is a powerful reminder that senior managers need to hire talent with a passion for data and reporting to round out the marketing team.

We’ve covered how marketers ARE spending their time at work, but now how they SHOULD BE spending their time each day. I’ve put together a few recommendations below that will improve marketer’s efficiency, productivity and all-around success during the workday:

Preparation
As the old saying goes, success is 90 percent preparation and 10 percent perspiration. As such, any successful marketer will spend a few minutes planning at the beginning of each day (bonus points for weekly, monthly and quarterly planning sessions). I typically start my work week on Sundays, reviewing my schedule and setting goals and timelines for various action items for the coming week. One of the best ways to prioritize activities and maximize your time is to use the Urgent vs. Important matrix. In essence, filter each of your activities for the day/week onto one of the four quadrants:

Honesty is key. You must be able to justify your placement on the grid: is this activity truly important AND urgent? Far too many of our daily activities fall within the Not Important or Not Urgent categories and should be ignored. Do you really need to update your Facebook status right this moment? Probably not. Utilize this matrix when planning your day or week and you will see your productivity increase dramatically.

Preparation goes beyond pencil to paper or pixel to Excel spreadsheet. Progressive marketers should consider meditation on a daily basis, even if for just a few minutes. In fact, two minutes seems to be the magic number. Take power posing for example. Just two minutes of posing like a superhero has proven to positively impact performance. Lastly, prepare for virtual meetings properly, as your credibility depends on it.

Professional Development
Far too many of my coworkers and managers over the years devalued professional development. I’m a big believer in the growth-minded philosophy; you can continually improve your personal and professional success via continuous learning. It can start with reading articles and books or watching webinars or YouTube videos. Serious marketers pursue additional training, certifications and formal education. The most overlooked aspect of professional development is building a network, which I’ve valued highly enough to create an organization around it: pdxMindShare.

Connection
While meditation may help you connect with your inner child, it may not facilitate external connections. As mentioned previously, I’m a big fan of networking, but not just to form new relationships. Most of the managers I’ve had over the years were not good about nurturing connections with their employees and other key constituents. I’ve addressed this concern at Anvil by instituting weekly, monthly and quarterly check-ins with employees and clients. Keep in mind, check-ins should be face-to-face if possible, phone if not. Emails do not count as a meaningful touchpoint. To help foster connections at Anvil, we use Insights, Kolbe and 16 Personalities as a framework to communicate internally (and externally with key client contacts).

Reflection
One area with which I struggle is the art of reflection. How can we set a course towards our ideal future as a marketer, without knowing where we’ve been and which direction we’re currently heading? I’m quite comfortable setting goals and measuring progress on a regular basis. I’ve written about this topic in relation to finding The Swing. That said, I could do a much better job evaluating the journey. One approach to reflecting on recent successes or failures, particularly for marketers, is ‘the debrief’. An industry standard protocol, debriefs or post mortems provide a powerful framework for marketers to evaluate campaigns or client relationships. I recommend expanding debriefs to all parts of your workday. The second tool vastly underutilized by marketers, is the practice of mindfulness. Spending just a few minutes a day meditating can provide perspective on past and future performance.

In the end, you’re either part of the problem or part of the solution. Make sure you know you spend your time wisely, or you’ll end up living this pie chart:

The post How will marketers spend their time at work post-COVID? appeared first on SEMpdx.

While we all work with, interact with, and/or raise Millennials, we still struggle to understand the 25–40-year-old wired generation. As marketers, we tend to treat them as one homogenous group for targeting purposes and don’t take them as seriously as we do Gen X or Boomers. That’s a deadly mistake brands and agencies alike cannot afford to make.

Also known as Gen Y, the Millennial generation (currently 72 million strong in the U.S. alone) spent $1.4 trillion in 2020, according to Pew Research. As a significant portion of the global workforce who made up 35% of the working world in 2020, Millennials’ influence as consumers and business-to-business ‘buyers’ is unsurpassed. As such, marketers must build brands and campaigns that resonate, without alienating older generations.

Most marketers understand Gen Y to be early technology adopters and social media abusers. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple, and there are many misconceptions that need addressing before we talk about how to effectively influence Gen Y. But even before we dive deeper into Gen Y, I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge Gen Z as a growing and important generation of buyers and influencers, which I’ve covered in a previous article on LinkedIn. More on that later, however.

How Millennials differ from other generations
While a majority of Gen Y are heavy social media users that expect seamless interactions with businesses across a variety of channels, they do differ from other generations in a few notable ways:

It’s all about self-discovery. Don’t spoon-feed marketing messaging to Gen Y. Build a path and empower them to find their way and build their own authentic connections to your brand.

Don’t ‘sell’ at Gen Y. Educate and entertain them with compelling content that helps build trust and loyalty in exchange for value-added experiences.

Gen Y does like watching TV, despite the fact they may not have cable.

While Gen Y is primarily influenced by peer reviews by both friends and trusted influencers, they also rely heavily on online reviews, due primarily to their preference to do extensive research before purchasing.

Don’t discount the value of in-person marketing, just because they are natively wired for social media.

As a generation, Millennials can be just as brand loyal as others, especially if there is alignment between person and brand values or politics.

Not only does Gen Y appreciate advertising, but they’re also likely to share commercials they like with their friends, especially if the ads are free of sentiment, action-oriented, or informational in nature).

Gen Y consists of a variety of sub-segments, which YuMe synthesized into five major segments (per the chart below). Customize messaging to appeal to the discretely audiences for maximum resonance.

The strategies that really work
With the Gen Y marketing misconceptions out of the way, let’s get to the effective strategies. I’ve outlined six primary marketing strategies that will resonate with Gen Y, when implemented properly.

Start with mobile, but hit all (social) media channels
Research indicates that members of Gen Y spend over two and a half hours on social media per day. That validates that they are connected like no other generation. Gen Y tends to spend a majority of their screen time on social media, which typically consists of Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest, Reddit and relatively new player in the social media game TikTok. Brands that are already active on these platforms have an advantage over those that do not. Remember to expand your reach across all channels, not just social or even digital. Think about multiple devices or screens and evaluate offline media opportunities (pop-up shops, interactive kiosks, etc.).

Increase social media engagement via shareable content
According to Forbes, over 60 percent of Gen Y say that any brand that engages them on social networks is significantly more likely to gain their loyalty. A major motivator for Gen Y content sharing is to gain insights from their network and to have the ability to share their own knowledge and opinions with others. The most shareable content tends to be informative, inspirational or entertaining multimedia nuggets (images, videos, audio).

This is the essence of the sharing economy and it is native to Gen Y. Gen Y appreciates content that makes them smarter, or at least feel smarter, as well as inspired, with the ability to inspire others. For maximum shareability, it’s essential that the language feel natural and not forced or inauthentic. Don’t forget to customize the content based on the platform and its users — originality counts. Last but not least, keep The Goldfish Rule top-of-mind: you have 8 seconds to capture their attention, which is 1 second less than that of a common goldfish. Brands that build around this motivator will see exponential engagement and loyalty.

Encourage user-generated content
Since authenticity is such an important aspect to Gen Y when selecting which brands to support, it is becoming more and more necessary to utilize user-generated content to encourage trust and brand loyalty. Gen Y relies on the reviews, testimonials and opinions of their trusted advisors (whether friends or influencers) so much so that they find user-generated content 35 percent more memorable than other media. To stay relevant and top-of-mind in a competitive marketplace, make your brand buzz-worthy by running contests, offering incentives and rewards for promoting your brand on social, and asking questions. In a generation where reviews and opinions of friends mean everything, promoting user-generated content will increase brand awareness, engagement, and brand loyalty.

Be exceedingly responsive
The most mind-blowing fact about Gen Y is that they have never known a world without the internet. As a result, they have high expectations when it comes to getting instant answers, acknowledgment, and satisfaction. The impact on brands is the expectation that response time will be lightning fast. Gen Y doesn’t care about the challenges brands face in creating an instant-response infrastructure and culture, they just need you to make it happen. This holds true across all digital media: social platforms, websites, email, and text. If you as a brand cannot address Gen Y requests in a timely fashion, they will move on to a competitor. Despite this daunting challenge, Gen Y values relationships and wants to connect with the people behind the brand. Ensure communications are as transparent and authentic as they are timely.

Tell a good story
I’ve mentioned the need for transparency and authenticity previously, yet I can’t stress it enough. Let all employees tell your story, not just corporate marketers. Be wary of brands or agencies that recommend all communications go through the PR, HR, or legal department for approval, if you want the message to be timely and to resonate. Gen Y sniffs out corporate-speak and will be turned off immediately. Brands that are fearless and diligent about transparent, authentic communications will be rewarded with loyalty from Gen Y (and other generations). Let your brand personality come through, especially in social media.

As with other generations, telling your story through the eyes of your customer is far more effective than telling the story yourself. Millennials need to see and feel the personality behind the brand, consistently over time. Utilizing evangelists and ambassadors (aka influencers), particularly on social, can be very effective in engaging with Gen Y. While a lack of interest in material items may pose a challenge to marketers, the answer is to help inspire Gen Y to feel good about what they are buying based on how it will positively impact their lives and the lives of others. Brands that have a social and environmental responsibility component are also favored, as Gen Y wants to be a part of something with a greater sense of purpose. Along the same lines, Gen Y is more likely to connect and resonate with brands that support and reflect their values of diversity and inclusion. Communicate how your brand expresses inclusivity as well as the good you are doing to make the world a better place across all channels and Gen Y will resonate with your values.

Create positive experiences
More than previous generations (and similar to the following Gen Z population), Millennials value the ability to create their own experiences, even more so than buying or owning products they may not need. Another way to create positive brand perception with Gen Y is to provide behind-the-scenes looks into your company, people, and products. You’ve heard about the importance of transparency but take it to the next level by using the authentic back story to create good will. Leveraging influencers they respect to engage with your brand is an effective way to create connection. For example, McDonald’s tapped LeBron James to unveil a new product. Other ways to create positive experiences include increased personalization and utilizing new technologies, including augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), 360-degree video, and live streaming. Gen Y appreciates brands that embrace technology, especially to help tell their story and create immersive experiences.

Engender loyalty
The strategies outlined above will help any brand create a deeper and more meaningful relationship with Gen Y. That said, developing brand loyalty can be challenging. Gen Y has higher expectations than previous generations, particularly in relation to communications. For starters, Millennials don’t want to call you or you to call them. They prefer chat or text communication. Factor this into your marketing and customer service mix. When interacting, honesty and authenticity are by far the most important themes. This is a bit of a sea change for more traditional brands used to one-way communications. Loyalty can also be created via gamification (loyalty programs and apps) that encourage sharing, reviews, and usage. The prize at the end of the rainbow is a life-long loyalty from Gen Y that may surpass previous generations. This is a significant reward, as the largest generation of our time will have the greatest buying power and influence moving forward. Another component of loyalty is on the employment side of the equation. I’ve also covered management best practices for Gen Y employees as a business owner.

At the end of the day, any brand interested in investing in its future must start now by embracing Gen Y and the Millennial culture. Older generations may appreciate increased engagement via digital media, but Gen Y requires it. As mentioned previously, Gen Z shares many of the same values and beliefs, which should create additional motivation for marketers in 2021. Make sure your marketing strategies are more than COVID-safe, they are Gen Y-friendly.

The post 6 Highly Effective Millennial Digital Marketing Strategies for 2021 appeared first on SEMpdx.

Influencer Marketing Background
Influencer Marketing involves brands focused on engaging key industry leaders to drive brand message and awareness with specific target audiences. While the concept of influencer marketing is not new, the explosive growth of social media has led to a renaissance. Over the past 3 years, searches for “influencer marketing” on Google have increased 1,500 percent. The influencer marketing industry is now estimated to be between $6.5 and $10 billion, with plenty of room for growth.

There are a variety of reasons consumers follow and engage with influencers. First and foremost, consumers like to learn new things in general, but also like to learn more about the influencers themselves. Many consumers like to get inspiration for their own lives and want to stay updated on pop culture as well. From a brand perspective, a major growth driver for influencer marketing is the return-on-investment (ROI) companies are experiencing. According to NeoReach, the average earned media value (AEMV) per $1 spent on influencer marketing in 2018 was $5.20, while branding-focused influencer campaigns averaged an 8x ROI. I’ve seen studies with ROI as high as 10x as well.

Here are a few more compelling statistics for skeptics:
• 87 percent of shoppers are inspired by an influencer to make a purchase
• 80 percent of Instagram users follow a business
• 70 percent of consumers say they trust the opinions of influencers as much or more than their real-world friends, while 78 percent said they trust influencer opinions more than traditional ads, and more than half said they consider the influencers they follow to be an extension of their circle of friends (Sideqik)
• 61 percent of people interact with an influencer daily
• According to Digital Marketing Institute, teenagers trust influencers more than traditional celebrities
• Whalar recently found influencer ads to be 277 percent more “emotionally intense” than TV ads

As a result, brands are responding by making bigger investments in influencer marketing. According to Influencer Marketing Hub, Instascreener and Vamp Brands, 86 percent of marketers plan to invest in influencer marketing in 2019. Thirty nine percent of marketers increased influencer marketing budgets this year, with an average 83 percent year-over-year increase.

Influencer Marketing Challenges
Despite the rapid growth and adoption of influencer marketing by brands big and small, the relatively new channel has no shortage of shortcomings and controversy, ranging from transparency and fraud to declining engagement and measurement challenges. According to a research report by NeoReach, ViralNation and Influencer Marketing Hub, 64 percent of marketers deem influencer fraud as a big concern and only 11 percent of influencers were compliant with CMA and FTC regulatory guidelines.

One of the greatest challenges facing brands investing in influencer marketing is fraud. According to Arkose Labs, 53 percent of social media account logins are fraudulent. In Q23 of 2019, nearly 19 percent of a $314 million Instagram influencer marketing spend reached fake followers. Other common challenges include finding relevant and qualified influencers, managing contracts or campaign deadlines, bandwidth or time restraints and payments. The good news is that tools and platforms are improving rapidly, allowing brands to more easily identify, connect with and manage influencers. The chart from eMarketer below outlines additional challenges associated with fraud, measurement and rising costs.

While the industry (influencers, platforms, brands and regulators) evaluate solutions to these challenges, there is one near-term alternative to paying third party experts to endorse your brand: become an influencer yourself. In my article (How to Become an Industry Influencer) and related interview (5 Things You Should Do To Become a Thought Leader In Your Industry), I outline how you can do just that. In brief, start by educating yourself and others, then build a network and give back to your industry and local community.

Since many brands do not have the interest or ability to create influencers from within, they must look outside their walls. This means marketers must be aware of the challenges facing influencer marketing and address them head-on as they build or refine programs. Brands must ensure they select influencers that align with company values, are transparent with sponsored content, have legitimate (non-bot) followers and are able to set up and track key performance indicators (KPIs) that accurately value the impact of the investment in influencer programs.

KPIs are under scrutiny and Instagram is responding by threatening to remove the number of likes on posts. While many influencers are up-in-arms about the suggested change, sophisticated marketers appreciate the need to evolve to more meaningful metrics. ‘Likes’ are arbitrary and can be easily gamed by influencers. More powerful metrics, some of which can be expensive to measure, include: purchase intent, brand affinity or sentiment. Easier metrics to track include reach (brand awareness) and conversions (to lead or sale), but brands and influencers must agree on how to best track success. For example, a recent study by InfluencerDB indicated the average engagement rate for sponsored influencer posts in Q1 of 2019 fell to 2.4 percent from 4 percent in just three years. With declining engagement on Instagram, the platform, influencers and brands need to get creative with content and measurement.

Influencer Marketing Program Fundamentals
Not everyone can afford to utilize outside help from firms like Anvil to build out and/or manage an influencer marketing program. This article, in conjunction with our extensive insights section is designed for you. Regardless of your budgets or resources, consider the following framework when developing (or approving) an influencer marketing plan.

The first step in creating a successful influencer marketing program is to outline your overall objectives, whether they be brand awareness, brand perception, engagement or conversions. The second step is to map your core audiences against popular social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn). Keep in mind platforms perform differently by gender. Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest are more likely to influence females’ buying decisions, whereas YouTube and Twitter are more likely to influence males’ decisions to make a purchase (The Manifest). Note in the chart below that Instagram is the 800-pound gorilla of the influencer marketing ecosystem.

With objectives, audiences and key platforms identified, you can utilize a host of free and paid tools to evaluate specific influencers on each platform. Beyond conducting topical searches on Google and related hashtag searches on social platforms, consider utilizing these free and low-cost social media and influencer marketing platforms for your research: BuzzStream, BuzzSumo, Discover.ly, FameBit, FollowerWonk, GroupHigh, HypeAuditor, NinjaOutreach, PeopleMap, Pitchbox, Social Crawlytics, Tell and Upfluence.

When evaluating possible influencers, it is important to understand current engagement rates by size and platform, as they do vary. Influencer follower size matters as well. Micro-influencers achieve an average of 7x more engagement than influencers with larger followings (celebrities and macro-influencers). The smaller the following, the more an influencer’s location may come into play. The chart below shows engagement rates by platform and influencer reach:

Interestingly, engagement rates vary by media type, not just platform. For example, Instagram engagement rates are significantly lower for video posts than images, and those rates are a fraction of the video engagement rates on YouTube (the most engaging social media platform of all). On Facebook and Twitter, engagement rates are nearly identical for images and video, which are 2-3 times higher than text. See the chart below for specifics:

Now that you’re armed with engagement rates, you can create leverage with your negotiations, particularly in discussions with influencers who have lower-than-average engagement rates. Cost is also a factor, and it’s important to be informed about current rates for influencers. The chart below shows the average cost-per-post range from $100 to $4,000 depending on follower-count.

Developing an influencer marketing budget is important, and many brands are being more reactive that proactive when it comes to financial planning. I recommend starting small and increasing investment as influencers generate return. Refine your program before you make large investments. For reference, Fashion Nova was the top spender on Instagram in Q2 2019, investing $5.5 million into social media influencers. Ciroc earned second place with $3.4 million in spend followed by Flat Tummy Co with a $2.9 million investment (Instascreener).

Now that you’ve identified target influencers, the real work begins. Start your outreach with well-crafted communications that clearly outline your company values, goals and understanding of the fit between your brand and the influencer. Demonstrate you understand who they are, how you are aligned and the additional value you can provide, in order to maximize leverage when negotiating costs. For example, many influencers appreciate creative freedom and flexibility, while others may appreciate swag or additional exposure and credibility they can gain through your network.

Once you’ve secured your first round of influencers, the next step is providing raw materials (product, images, logistical support or other assets) as well as guidance or training on the products or services they are being asked to promote. It is important to ensure you’ve clearly delineated who creates content and where it gets syndicated. Some brands recruit influencers to create content for their own brand feeds (UGC), while others only want to be featured or mentioned in influencer feeds. If you intend to leverage influencer content in your brand feed, ensure it is properly optimized, sourced and syndicated for maximum reach and engagement.

The last two, but most impactful elements of your influencer marketing program are management and measurement. As outlined earlier, managing influencer assets and relationships can be a challenge for marketers. While platforms continue to improve, building process and maintaining regular contact is essential. We suggest weekly check-in calls and monthly reports as a minimum threshold. To maximize the value and impact of your influencer relationships, remember to create supporting blog posts, share influencer posts with your network (adding comments for context, brand messaging and optimization) and syndicate across your social platforms.

In terms of metrics, the most common influencer marketing analytics include: engagement or clicks (according to 43 percent of marketers), views, reach or impressions (33 percent) and content type or category (24 percent). Additional metrics to consider when evaluating your programs include website traffic, and share-of-voice. At Anvil, we value reach, engagement and conversions most, depending on the client, objective and platform.

B2B Influencer Marketing
Most of the available research and press coverage on the topic of influencer marketing is focused on business-to-consumer brands. Here are a few best practices for business-to-business (B2B) brands looking to leverage influencer marketer to build brand awareness. Around 30 percent of influencer marketing campaigns currently originate from the B2B sector and nearly 65 percent of those programs are campaign-based (vs. ongoing). Look for both numbers to change moving forward, as I’ll touch on shortly.

Unlike consumer influencers, B2B influencers are typically professionals within your industry. That means they may work for a competitor or have other employment restrictions, making a partnership more challenging. There is hope, as the B2B marketplace is diverse and fragmented. To reach your target audience, consider looking outside popular industry thought leaders to niche experts. Also evaluate internal resources including seasoned employees, engaged customers and vendors or strategic partners.

Most B2B brands are looking to grow or maintain thought leadership and leverage expert content and networks. Consider leveraging your own company’s assets when structuring an influencer partnership, including access to data, tools or even other experts in your network your influencers can tap for content. It is also essential to provide your influencers access to shareable content like research reports, eBooks, webinars, white papers and infographics.

Unlike most B2C influencer engagements, B2B influencer marketing programs tend to be longer-term by necessity, due to longer sales cycles. This creates a longer runway and greater potential for return. Speaking of return, common KPIs for B2B influencer programs include growth in subscribers, downloads or demo requests. The key to success with any influencer marketing program, B2B or otherwise, is mapping metrics to your overall objectives and target audience.

Influencer Marketing Trends
When conducting research for this article, I identified a few trends worth sharing as you refine your influencer marketing program. Below are six influencer marketing trends worth considering as you start your planning for 2020:

Alignment and Transparency: Moving forward, look for brands and influencers to create better alignment and transparency. According to research, 84 percent of consumers believe authenticity is important when choosing influencers to follow. Millennials are increasingly skeptical of businesses’ motives and impact on society, according to Deloitte. The writing is on the wall, especially for brands targeting younger consumers. For more insights, check out this article: 3 Trends Driving Gen Z Brand Preference and Purchase Decisions.

Always-on Campaigns: Moving forward, B2B and B2C brands will become more strategic in how they approach relationships with influencers. Long-term thinking will benefit all parties involved, including consumers. With longer-term thinking, look for both more realistic goals and meaningful objectives from brands and greater alignment with influencers.

Getting Small: The latest trend for larger brands is moving from macro to micro-influencers. The next logical evolution for brands, due in-part to rising costs and declining engagement rates of macro-influencers, is to go even smaller to nano and niche-influencers. Essentially, brands will develop a higher volume of relationships with influencers with 250-10,000 followers to maximize engagement and authenticity. The chart below illustrates marketers’ perceived value of nano and niche-influencers.

Raw Realism: One of the most interesting trends I’ve seen recently is the movement by influencers to share more authentic images and videos that are less aspirational and more empathetic to followers. Brands that understand and leverage this trend may see remarkable results, but it will require trust and flexibility between parties.

B2B Growth: Perhaps the least sexy but profoundly important trend is significant growth of influencer marketing programs among B2B brands. Nearly 15 years ago, we helped build and market a blog for a B2B client that was written by an industry thought leader. It was well ahead of its time but demonstrated the power of a transparent partnership that provided real value for all parties involved. Look for more of these strategic partnerships moving forward.

Improved Integration: Since I come from the world of search engine marketing, I would be remiss if I didn’t include what I feel is an important trend for our industry. Influencers by default have high credibility with Google, especially if they maintain a blog or website. Brand mentions with links back to a brand website from an influencer blog post or article can have tremendous search engine optimization (SEO) value. Similarly, social posts with influencer-powered content can generate exponential reach and engagement when boosted in brand social feeds and can even be supported by display ads across the Google network. Improved integration among influencer and search marketing teams is a logical next step and we’ve seen success with Anvil clients on this front recently.

Conclusion
You don’t have to be a fashion brand like Revolve or Dior to see massive returns on your investment in influencer marketing, but you do need to be aware of challenges, build a solid plan and manage your influencers proactively. Above all else, a successful influencer marketing program of the future will be based on transparency and authenticity.

Resources
5 Key Components of a Successful Influencer Marketing Strategy
5 Things You Should Do To Become a Thought Leader In Your Industry
7 Influencer Marketing Tools to Boost Your Campaign
How to Build a B2B Influencer Marketing Strategy for 2020
Influencer Marketing 101
Where Influencer Marketing Goes Wrong (and How to Fix It)

The post Influencer Marketing Strategy Best Practices, Tips and Trends appeared first on SEMpdx.

Most startups are looking to make the biggest possible impact within the confines of a restricted marketing budget. Digital marketing is highly measurable and more affordable than traditional media channels. Within digital, search is the most common channel to pursue for a successful launch. Organic search engine optimization (SEO) provides a low cost for targeted reach. Paid search (pay-per-click or PPC) advertising can quickly and effectively connect prospective customers with a new business. In this post, we will examine key factors to consider when deciding how to approach organic and paid search as key components of a go-to-market strategy for startups.

SEO Consideration Factors
Organic search is the single most cost-effective channel for building awareness and generating leads, since you don’t pay for each website visitor. SEO is ideal for cost-conscious startups that have more resources than cash, as organic search success is based primarily on the ability to create compelling content over time. While SEO can be considered highly technical (especially when it comes to optimizing site code), it is still fundamentally focused on creating and optimizing compelling content that generates inbound links and mentions of your brand and website to further increase your visibility in relevant search results. While SEO is a front-loaded marketing strategy, the benefits last as long as the life of the website, which his typically 3–5 years. The downside to SEO is that it takes time. In order to build trust with the search engines, websites need a history and a consistent velocity of fresh content and links. New company websites in emerging industries can take weeks or months to rank initially (vs. hours or days for new content on a trusted site).

PPC Consideration Factors
Paid search, on the other hand, is ideal for relatively well-funded startups that are flush with cash and have a more aggressive sales trajectory. PPC campaigns can be turned on within 24 hours and can generate significant returns, depending on media budget, audience, message and offer. While large-scale PPC programs can be exceedingly complex and require dedicated teams to manage for optimal returns, a basic campaign can be set up quickly by a relative novice and generate instant feedback/results. In fact, a modest media budget (starting at $500) is highly recommended for testing keywords before optimizing for organic search, let alone honing overall corporate messaging. Despite a cost-per-click model of buying website visitors, PPC is still one of the most cost-effective forms of generating high volumes of qualified leads over time, as you have the ability to modify campaigns in real-time for optimal performance. The downside to PPC is that there’s no long-term equity in the ads, as once the budget is depleted or campaigns are turned off, there is no trace of the brand’s presence in search results, unlike SEO.

Mixing it Up
While the ideal traffic mix/investment for a mature business is 80 percent organic and 20 percent paid search, many startups are typically inverse: front-loading paid search budgets until trust is built with search engines and organic rankings begin to drive significant traffic. Regardless of your funding and resources, consider a combination of organic and paid search for your company launch (and beyond). Feel free to check out the blog, articles, cheat sheets and white papers in Anvil’s Resources section for more information.

The post 10 Factors to a Successful Company Launch via Paid and Organic Search Marketing appeared first on SEMpdx.

Presented by PSU CEPE and SEMpdx

This really is an amazing opportunity for one lucky person. This course begins on February 20th, 2015, and will continue of March 6th and March 13th (no class February 27th). Classes are 10am – 4pm on Fridays only.

The current scholarship covers the entire course fee ($675)! For your chance to take advantage of this incredible opportunity, please complete the scholarship application below by the deadline, which is 5pm on February 6, 2015. The winner will be selected and notified on or before February 13th, 2015.

These programs are offered through the Center for Executive and Professional Education (CEPE) at Portland State University, with classes taught by top Portland interactive developers, designers, and executives.  Classes are structured to meet the needs of current business professionals and may be taken as individual courses or as part of a certificate. Day and evening classes are held at the Crown Plaza Building, located on 1st Avenue, between SW Market St. and SW Clay St.

 Complete Scholarship application now

Note: Please apply only if you are able to attend all three classes. If you are employed, we’d recommend discussing the opportunity with your employer to ensure you’re able to take off work for three Fridays.

The post Search Engine Marketing Scholarship – 2015 Winter Term appeared first on SEMpdx.

1) Please give us your background and tell us what you do for a living.

I founded Moz, a software startup in Seattle that helps marketers focused on SEO. For 7 years, I was the company’s CEO, and now I serve as an individual contributor, helping out wherever I can (which is mostly on product and marketing).

2) If you were to predict the volatility of the 2015 Mozcast for the rest of the year, what would it be and why?

I suspect Mozcast will show volatility in 2015 very similar to the last 2-3 years. We’ve reached a point where Google’s maxed out the number of new features, tests, and algorithmic changes their team can reasonably try out in the SERPs and see substantive improvement from, so I don’t expect we’ll see a much greater shakeup in the 12 months ahead vs. the past 36.

3) Is there another Panda / Penguin style update in Google’s future…and if yes, what might it address?

One of Google’s biggest remaining weaknesses is the dependency on anchor text. It wouldn’t shock me if there’s a big update that removes some of that focus and does for external link anchors something like what Hummingbird did for keyword-relevancy in results matching (or goes even further).

The post 2015 SEMpdx SearchFest Mini-Interview: Rand Fishkin appeared first on SEMpdx.

1) Please give us your background and tell us what you do for a living.

Just trying to figure out how far back of a background are you looking for here? Maybe the fact that I use to co-host a morning country show for several years. Yes I was a country DJ and I can’t even stand country music! I also have a background in Networking, (from the days of Novell, Groupwise and Nimda) now that is taking you back. Right now I am President of Avalaunch Media, a specialized digital marketing agency that has 3 core competencies; 1. Visual Content Marketing 2. PPC 3. Search Engine Optimization

2) It’s pretty well known that Facebook’s organic view rate has plummeted. How can a brand still get Facebook views without buying promoted posts?

Cross promote and make sure you mention your page everywhere you can. In fact, just today I was at a gun range (after all I am in Arizona) and I saw right on the door easy to read the business directing people to their Facebook page (and they gave a reason as to why I would want to … and I did). As far as the cross promotions goes, if you have a decent Twitter following (for example), you can lead people to bigger discussions that may be doing on at Facebook by a simple tweet.

3) Can Instagram or Pinterest work for businesses that sell products or services that don’t have a viewable aesthetic? If yes, how?

Absolutely – one way would be by showing a lifestyle, for example I have a friend that does business coaching and there isn’t much “visible” in regards to that business, but it makes a great platform for sharing a vision of the life that one could have with a successful business. Share inspirational thoughts that make you ponder and destinations that make you want to travel and be that person!

The post 2015 SEMpdx SearchFest Mini-Interview: Mat Siltala appeared first on SEMpdx.

1) Please give us your background and tell us what you do for a living.

I’ve been in marketing, social media and customer experience for quite some time as both a consultant and as a member of an in-house team. Currently I work at PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) where I work with leading global brands helping them create comprehensive social, digital and customer experience strategies. I also get the opportunity to leverage my previous career spent in HR when working on employee engagement and collaboration projects. The beauty of being a consultant – I get to dip my hands in a lot of different types of work all while working with great colleagues and incredible clients.

2) What’s the secret to virality in a visual medium like Instagram or Pinterest?

In my opinion one of the most important factors that most folks get wrong is they fail to attack on an emotional level. You have to create content that hits on emotional triggers for the audience. This can be humour, passion, heartstrings, anger, what have you. But it has to actually resonate with someone in a way that is strong enough to cause them to act. In this case, the action is sharing because the goal is virality. So much content I see out there just falls completely flat and does not inspire the viewer to share. It’s easy to get wrong too and traipse into offensive territory so it’s important to take risks but doing so strategically and thoughtfully.

3) Is there still value to Google Plus or have people moved on from it?

There used to be value there if your audience was very technical or involved in search specifically. But I just don’t even see it being a valuable investment for those crowds anymore either. If your audience is engaging on a platform then go there, but for the folks I’ve been working with that’s just not happening on Google Plus. I’ve always kind of thought of Google Plus as a third sock, but anymore I think even that feels like a stretch. I would love for folks to show me how wrong I am. Anyone have a successful case study?

The post 2015 SEMpdx SearchFest Mini-Interview: Kristy Bolsinger appeared first on SEMpdx.

A whole bunch of years ago, there was a Domain Conference in Seattle called “Domain Roundtable” which I had the privilege of attending. One of their promotional efforts that stuck with me as being particularly savvy is they offered somebody a free conference pass plus travel and hotel if they got a tattoo of the corporate sponsor DomainTools. While the blog post announcing this offer seems to have fell off the live Internet, a video of the tattoo application itself still remains:

Influenced by this “genius” level marketing, SEMpdx will make the following offer to one lucky person:

Get either the SearchFest or SEMpdx logo tattooed on a “family-safe” part of your body and you’ll be able to attend SearchFest for free for as long as you keep the tattoo.

The tattoo will be free. The winner must allow us to video the tattoo process and must agree to be used as part of our conference marketing. The tattoo will be approximately the size of a business card.

Showing the tattoo at SearchFest is your admission ticket…so, butt (or similar) tattoos will not be considered out of the courtesy to your fellow attendees.

If you are interested in taking part in this offer or have any questions, please tweet either me or SEMpdx. If you’ve already purchased a ticket for SearchFest, we will refund it for you.

We look forward to see you (and your ink) at SearchFest 2015.

The post Your SearchFest Golden Ticket: How To Attend SearchFest 2015 (and Subsequent SearchFests) For Free. appeared first on SEMpdx.