Social Media: What Platform Should YOU Use?

Anyone who lived in a different country than their home country knows how different it can be. I am from Canada and coming here, it was a shock to see that people were using WhatsApp. NO ONE uses it back in Canada. This made me think how much difference there is between users of different platforms. Who uses what? This notion should be extremely important to marketers, because you want to reach YOUR target segment  and different people uses different platforms, so how can you know which one to use?Here are what I found about the users of different popular social media platforms and their main users:

LinkedIn: LinkedIn remains especially popular among college graduates and those in high-income households. 50% of Americans with a college degree use LinkedIn, compared with just 9% of those with a high school diploma or less.

Pinterest: Pinterest seems to be the most popular with women. Indeed, according to the Pew Research Center survey 41% of whom say they use the site compared to 16% with men.  

Instagram: Instagram is the platform that is having a biggest growth rate. 35% of U.S. adults now say they use this platform, an increase of seven percentage points from the 28% who said they did in 2016. As you might expect, 71% of Americans aged between 18 and 24 age group now use Instagram, which represent the largest group of users. 

YouTube: The video-sharing platform  is used by nearly three quarters of U.S. adults and 94% of 18- to 24-year-olds. 

Facebook: If we look at the numbers of users, 130 million Brazilian users were registered on the social networking site. India claims the first place with 270 million users, ahead of second-ranked United States with 240 million Facebook users. Facebook is the most popular social network worldwide, with a global usage penetration of 22.9 percent. As for the age groups, the platform is the most popular from 18 to 50-years-olds.

Snapchat:  78% of 18- to 24-year-olds use Snapchat, and a sizeable majority of these users (71%) visit the platform multiple times per day. However, only 54% of the 25-29-year-olds uses the app.

WhatsApp: WhatsApp seems to be extremely popular outside the U.S. According to survey data, 65 percent of the population in Germany are using WhatsApp. In Indonesia, 40 percent of the population use WhatsApp. Saudi Arabia has the largest share of its population (73%) to be connected to the app.

 

Hopefully, this blog will help digital marketers to know which platforms use when trying to reach a certain segment of consumers and which not to use.

Which social media platform do you prefer? Do you agree with the previously shown data?

Let’s get the conversation going and see you next week!

5 Tips to Stay Instagram “Popular”

Instagram changed their feed from being chronological to algorithmic which is basically the same as Facebook does. However, what does that mean from business who were relying on this social media platform to reach its customers? The algorithm favours friend’s publication rather than businesses’. So how can companies stay present in users feed without having to rely on paid ads?

Here are 5 tricks for digital marketers to still stay present in their customers’ feed:

1. Invest in a Photographer or Videographer

People still love good aesthetics and quality photos on Instagram. That is what drives people to follow a page. Your photography needs to be eye-catching and designed for storytelling.

Plus, now that Instagram videos are on auto-play, try to be catchy and smart when using videos so that it attracts users.

2. Frequently Post Instagram Stories

The algorithm favour engagement, therefore the more you engage with the platform, the likelier your posts will show up in users’ feed. Therefore, maybe people will be less engaged on your page, but will be more likely to do so on Instagram Stories. Instagram Stories offer a variety of engagement opportunities, including the Poll feature.à

3. Post During Active Hours

A lot of companies make the mistake of being active while their potential consumers are not. To increase your chances of higher engagement, schedule posts when your followers are most active. Since every rand is different, the time at which their target users might also be different. To help you find when it is the most optimal time to post,  Sprout Social can be a great tool for that.

4. Use Live Video

Much like the previous suggestion, Instagram Live videos are another way of engaging with your followers. The video is bumped up in the Stories feed and your followers might also receive a notification if they opted in.

5. Plan Out Your Profile Page

Part of the Instagram algorithm calculations takes into account the content that you’re most interested in. This includes the searches you perform or the clicks you take to profile pages. If you spend time to map out what your page looks like, your followers will begin to get used to it and eventually start clicking over to see what’s new.

Hopefully this blog will help you boost the engagement on your Instagram page!

However, as an Instagram users, what do you think of this algorithm? I personally miss the chronological order. Now, when I go on the app, I feel like I am always seeing the same things and same people. What do you think?

Let’s get the conversation going and see you next week!

 

Siri is About to Become Your New Best Friend

In 2020, it is expected that 50% of all searches will be voices searched. Digital assistants like Siri or Alexa are becoming increasingly popular and assistants like Siri are now way better at recognizing human voices and speeches than it was when first introduce in 2011. However, how can marketers take advantage of the voice search?

SEO Is the Key

Search engine optimization will be more important than ever in this voice search era. But what optimization will marketers have to do? Well, here are four advice to help companies to keep up with this trend:

1. Focus on Long-Tail Keywords

Companies will have to focus longer phrases instead of using “head keywords” because when people are using voice search, they do not just say “cake.” They will most likely ask” Cake shop near me” or ” Best Cake shop in Melbourne.” Therefore, it will be important to use a more conversational sentence-based format.

2. Write With a Natural Voice

To help focus a long-tail keywords, marketers will have to write in a more natural, conversational voice. Rather than focusing on stuffing as many keywords as they can in the content, it can be good to try writing like you speak. Without even noticing it, it can naturally optimize keywords phrases that your consumers will likely search for, in the future.  

3. Consider FAQs or knowledge base content.

Another thing to help with long-tail  keywords is to create a section on your website with the frequently asked questions which are often used during voice searches like the address of the store or the opening hours. These help-focused content archives tend to address many common user questions, which puts you in a prime position for future user searches.

What do you think? Do you agree that voice search is becoming increasingly popular? Do you use voice search? 

Let’s get the conversation going and see you next week. 

 

 

 

 

 

Starbucks: Big Promotions – No more!

Indeed, Starbucks’s big drink promotion like Unicorn Frappuccino or their Mermaid Frappuccino is coming to an end.  Why? Well, Starbucks is shifting its short-term  goals towards a more “sustainable platform” and more personal relationship with customers. How do they expect to achieve this? By their app.

Starbucks : An App Made for ME 

They realized that customers are not as excited anymore by their new and promotional colourful drinks. Instead,its new marketing approach will centre on targeted offers personalised to individual customers. By using their Starbucks app,customers will have the opportunity to create their own profile where they enter their preferences and the drink they usually have. Based on this information, the app will browse personalised promotion for this individual customer.  They started testing this customized experience and it is already showing”srong incremental profits” in this year’s second quarter.

Starbucks App: Trying to Stay Relevant

As a consumer myself, I do not even count anymore how many loyalty cards and shopping apps I have. Consumers are drowning in loyalty programs that usually does not even bring an extra benefit to consumers other than a “15% discount on your next order.” Apps need to stay relevant in this overwhelming app world and I believe that Starbucks’ personalised promotion is a good way to try to retain our interest in their app.

What do you think? Do you agree that loyalty programs are usually not the best as far as consumer loyalty goes? Do you think Starbucks personalised promotion is the future of service customization?

Let’s get the conversation going and see you next week!

 

Marketers 2018: Need a Marketing 101?

Does 2018 marketers need a 101? A study made by Epsilon’s Report reported that it might be the case. The basic of marketing is about knowing the consumer’s needs and desires and marketers are completely missing that when it comes to personalization. 

New research provides further evidence that marketers are missing the mark when it comes to personalization. According to Epsilon’s report, there is often a disconnect between marketers and the consumers they are trying to reach, centring around a misunderstanding of what the latter actually want from personalization. The report showed that 80% of consumers are more  likely to do business again with a company that offers them a customize experiences, which is huge!

The problem? Only 16% of brands prioritized customization and service. We can see a huge disconnect here between customers’ needs and what they are offered. There is a big potential concerning customization of experience for marketers here. You might wonder, on what are they focusing? Same old same old: discount and loyalty programs.

Insight and Action

I believe that brand should do more research about intrinsic reasons of why people buy their brand and not just financial factors like prices and discounts, these will not create a loyalty bond with your consumers. On the other hand, a customize experience will. A lot of researches have proven that a customized experience is one of the keys to creating customer loyalty. Some big players like Nike who are rewarding Nike+ app users with their “design your very own pair of the Air VaporMax Moc 2, ” and Lancôme with their custom-made foundation service called Le Teint Particulier  understood those trends.

 

 How Does it Concern Digital Marketing?

With digital technologies it is wayeasier now for the customer to access the medium of customization. They do not need to go in-store and draw on a piece of paper what shoe they want or bring the colour of foundation they need. Through company’s app or website this customization process is simplified. It can even add value to their app or website.

What do you think? Do you prioritize a good and personalize service or discount and low prices? For me, it really depends on it is a low or high involvement purchase. What about you?

Let’s get the conversation going and see you next week!

 

Stories Format is coming to…GOOGLE!?!

Yes. Stories are coming to Google. It all started with Snapchat and for the ones who are not familiar with the concept of stories it’s a full-screen display of content that you can usually swipe or tap through. Stories are now present in Instagram, Facebook and now Google. 

Trying to Be Trendy?

Stories have been specially created for phones since most of the search made on Google are now on the mobile. I think they wanted to combine to new trends together. The first is the video/image content trend. People at Google know that people love videos and I think they wanted to offer this video content to its users by offering them stories. The second one? Make it more user-friendly and prettier visually when you are making Google searches with your mobile.

How It Works

For now they are trying this new concept, therefore you will not find it every time you make a search. If you want to have a glimpse at what it looks like, you can search for CNN, People or any other magazines and just over the organic results, you will see some proposed Stories. Here is the link to their promotional video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4Vhdr8jtx0

Will it simply be a new way for marketers to offer ads in the stories? How will they implement ads with their stories, because let’s be honest, that is how Google makes most of its money.

What do you think? Do you think stories are a good idea? I personally like the idea. Go try it on your phone and let me know what you think!

See you next week!

 

 

 

KNOW YOUR WORTH! (Mine is as little as $0.1594!)

There it is. Based on a calculator created by the Financial Times, I am officially worth 0.1594$. I mean, it probably because I am jus a student who owns pretty much nothing except student loans but still! Way to go to hurt your self-esteem!

This calculator is basically a little survey asking you question of about main area:

1. Demographics
2. Family & Health
3. Property
4. Activities
5. Consumer

The real issue here, is not how little I am worth but instead, how much is the advertising industry actually making with MY  $0,1594 worth of data? 

The answer: $240/YEAR

A paper published by the University of Rochester Simon School of Business used online display ad exchange transactions to estimate the value of an individual’s behavioral data.  Based on Facebook users only, they estimated that in 2016, each US user was valued at  $240  thanks to their personal data helping to fuel the advertising industry. It is curious to see how little our data are worth, but once analysed through marketing tools how much they become profitable.

May be is it time for us to have access to some part of that profit because after all, without us and our data, those advertising companies are practically nothing. What do you think? Do you want to know your worth?

Here is the link to access the calculator and let me know if you are worth  more than me!;) https://ig.ft.com/how-much-is-your-personal-data-worth/

Let’s get the conversation going and see you next week!

TV vs Digital OR TV and Digital?

Yep people.

TV advertising is still in the game. In November 2017, the Global TV Group, which brings together broadcasting trade bodies from Europe, North America, Australia and Latin Americans, officially published that TV advertising is still the most trusted medium for advertising. Surprisingly:

• Global TV Group estimates that TV reaches around 70% of a country’s population a day, 90% in a week and almost 100% in a month.

• The average Australian TV campaign returns AU$1.70 for every dollar spent

• In Belgium TV generates three times as much brand recall as YouTube.

I said surprisingly because in the past few years we have been talking so much about internet and social media advertising that I had totally forgotten and I guess underestimated traditional TV as a medium of advertisements. TV still  represents 90% of users video time! However, when it comes to Millennials, this number goes down to 73% which is still a lot.

How about Digital and TV advertising?

Obviously, digital marketing will in a near future win over TV advertising but when? While a lot of people claim that it is one of the others, a lot of companies like to think of them as complementary.  A good example is AirBnb. Even though this company relies mostly on internet marketing they have seen a significant lift in website visits once their TV campaigns launched. In the UK only, it added a campaign awareness increase by  40%.

Others, like Trivago prefer to link their TV ads to their digital marketing channels by offering: “Log on now for 20 percent off your first order!”. 87% of consumers use a second screen device while watching TV so it is good for companies to give them a reason to search for their website or follow their social media accounts.

What do you think? Is TV already obsolete or are there some companies that could benefit by combining these two methods? As a Millenial, are you even watching traditional TV? 

Lets get the conversation going and see you next week!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Millenials: Brand Personification and Involvement

Born between 1980 and 2000, Millenials are a rising segment that is attracting marketers. However, this generation cannot be approached like any other. With the use of social media, brands do feel like a human being. A friend or someone with whom you need to be able to interact and communicate. 

Why make it different for them?

Well, by representing 25% of the US population and having a direct purchasing power of $44 billion, it makes it clear to marketers that they should not be neglected. At last year Advertising Week in New York City, marketers all agreed on one thing:

“we need to break with traditional norms or segmentation and craft our strategies around these young consumers[…] This generation grew up being able to make websites, videos before they’re even legal adults” – Kate Beckman, CEO and founder of Fresh U and contributor to Cosmopolitan Magazine

 

Millenials need to relate to their brands. They will want to buy from a company who thinks like them and who cares about the same social issues as they do. Marketers need to take advantage of this proximity to their consumers and use it to strengthen their brand loyalty.

How to use social media for brand personification?

Social platforms are tools that companies need to take advantage of and not only to have their product “out there.” They need to interact with consumers. Companies have the opportunity to personify their brand and make them appear as individuals. How can companies do that? Through the use of platforms like Instagram Facebook, and YouTube and by being vocal about social issues that are important to this generation. Millenials will buy from a company that shares their beliefs and cares about the same issues as they do. A good example of companies that have successfully done is Alphabet Inc’s Google, and Facebook. They recently joined 100 other companies in a legal action against a decision to end protection for  ‘Dreamers’ in the United States.

Or most recently, by supporting the movement #NeverAgain in the US advocating for stronger gun regulations in reaction to the Parkland High School shooting. By being vocals about social issues, they are gaining respect of Millenials and they are basically saying: we are here for you, and we understand you. We will stand by you. Which translates, in the consumers mind, into stronger brand loyalty.

Millenials will expect brands to involve them in building the brand and they will expect brands, in return, to take a stance and be involved in social issues happening in their society.

As a Millenial, what do you think of this? Would you agree that brands who take a stance during social issues are most likely resonate with you? Do you have brands with whom you feel close due to their values?

Let’s get the conversation going and see you next week!:)

Images from:

Why Idea Brands Win With Millennials

https://www.facebook.com/VariousViews/

Show Me, Says Gen Z: Pivotals Want Proof

 

 

 

 

Influencers Out! Micro-Influencer is the New 2018!

Never heard of a micro-influencer? Well, you are probably not the only one. In the last few years, the rise in popularity for what we call influencers through platforms like YouTube and Instagram. The problem? It costs around 20 000K for one single post from a mega-influencers! So what are companies’ advantages of using micro-influencers? Here are some facts:

• Cost:  around $500 per post

• Number of followers: 1K to 100K

• According to Experticity, people are 82% more likely to follow a recommendation from a micro-influencer

• They also perceive \micro-influencers as more credible and believable that macro or mega-influencers

 

Marketing is all about perception and it’s exactly why micro-influencers are rising. People don’t trust big influencers anymore because they know they have been paid to  “recommend” the product. Even more so that the #ad, demanded by their followers, is now used by celebrities indicate them that this post is paid advertising.

However, micro-influencers are perceived to be more genuine, especially since companies recruit people who are already fans of their products to be their voice on social platforms. They usually also keep track of their product usage on a more long-term journey though blogs or vlogs which offers a more honest perspective of the upside AND the downside of a product. The fact that these micro-influencers are also “celebrities” in a small specific field can offer companies to reach niche markets, they sometimes struggle to reach without spending a lot.

So now, people, what DO YOU THINK of mega-influencers?  Have you ever bought a product because you saw a recommendation from an influencer? Who is your favourite Youtuber Instagrammer or (micro) Influencers?

I have to admit I am a big fan of the Kardashians…I know what you think but hey! Everyone has a guilty pleasure!;)

Let’s get the conversation going and see you next week!