Mediaboss Marketing

As e-commerce grows and digital media use proliferates, successful marketers must engage with consumers in creator-influenced, content-rich, commerce-enabled experiences.

Subscribe to Ad Age now for award-winning news and insight.

E-commerce in the U.S. has hit an inflection point as 2020s COVID-driven lockdowns accelerated the growth of online shopping by 10 years in just 12 months. Total e-commerce revenue sales jumped 32% in 2020 per eMarketertwo times faster than any prior yearand is now on pace to account for nearly a quarter of all retail by 2025. Some bullish estimates have e-commerce accounting for 30% of all retail in the U.S. by 2030. The fact that e-commerce continues to grow on top of last years historic surge is a clear indicator that e-commerce has become a primary shopping channel for many Americans.

Brick-and-mortar stores arent going away, theyre being reimagined for the shoppers who are arriving with heightened, digitally-inspired expectations.

Retailers will have to rethink everything from their physical layout to the competencies of sales associates to meet the challenges of a direct brand economy in which shoppers expect that their customized needs are immediately met. Some customers will choose the buy-online-pickup-in-store option. Thats why you see retailers including Ikea refashioning its layout to make the store easier for those picking up items. In fact, Nielsen reported that consumer use of click-and-collect and buy-online-pickup-in-store are up 125% and 52%, respectively. Shoppers looking for guidance will require a store associate to use a shopper's profile in order to make the right type of recommendations. Clienteling platforms such as Mercaux, NewStore and Hello enable store associates to use information about customer preferences to answer questions and make personalized recommendations.

Shoppers wanting goods and services delivered to their door expect it to happen quickly: Same-day delivery is now table stakes for leading retailers. In fact, Walmart more than doubled its same-day delivery offerings in just more than a year. Whats more interesting is the rise of the on-demand economy, which solves the consumer desire for instant gratification. On-demand platforms such as Gorillas and JOKR are delivering food to peoples homes in less than 15 minutes. Additionally, on-demand platforms arent just for food anymore, as companies such as FastAF can deliver beauty and fashion items within 2 hours.

Shopping is also increasingly becoming more social since that is where discovery, influence and commerce have merged. After nearly a 40% increase in 2020, eMarketer projects that social commerce, the direct buying of goods and services on social platforms which is distinct from merely marketing on these platforms, will grow 36% this year and double by 2025 to $80 billion. NPD Group found that one-fourth to one-half of apparel consumers have bought products discovered on social media. Leading social platforms will continue to enable brands to create immersive in-app, virtual stores where transactions can be fully completed.

Livestream shopping is also becoming a regular feature on social. Facebooks Live Shopping Fridays ran from May to July of 2021 and featured brands including Abercrombie & Fitch, Bobbi Brown and Clinique. The $35 billion conversational commerce markete-commerce conducted via natural language processing, speech recognition and artificial intelligenceis expected to more than triple by 2025,according to CB Insights.

Its no wonder that IABs 2021 Brand Disruption Study found that social media was brands biggest success driver during COVID. The study also found that 8 in 10 U.S. marketers now use social influencers. In fact, more than one-third of brands have deployed new influencer tactics since the COVID lockdown. As a result, opinion leadership has shifted away from media gatekeepers and now rests in the form of content from millions of citizen recommenders.

Were increasingly living in an on-demand, influencer-driven, omnichannel shopping ecosystem that will continue to evolve and become even more digital. For brands, this will make the processes of marketing to and placing products in consumers hands more complex as the place to not only engage with but sell products will continue to proliferate.

Expanding virtual shopping experiences appearing on social platforms will entice consumers who want a more engaging and convenient way to shop online. The in-store experience will never look the same as everything from easing curbside pickup to concierge services to enhanced AR/VR visualizations will become normal features. Moving forward, brands that engage directly with consumers via content and creator-influenced experiences that come enabled with commerce functionality will capture significant market share.

Subscribe to Ad Age now for award-winning news and insight.

Read more from the original source:
Shopping trends every marketer should embrace in 2022 - AdAge.com

In all the excitement about the metaverse and its potential for brands, its easy to forget that its actually nothing new. Weve seen new digital frontiers make their debut beforeparticularly Second Life in the early 2000s. It led to a brand rush of heavy hitters including GM, Leo Burnett and others but failed to pave the way for virtual marketing.

The metaverse is certainly more viable now. As with so much of the internet, Moores Lawthat the number of transistors in a dense integrated circuit and, hence, their capability, doubles about every two yearsis at play here. The advances of computing power make the creation and usage of 3D spaces easier and more accessible. More people have computers and phones that can access these without jarring rendering. Also, Gen Z and Generation Alpha are growing up in virtual worlds in a way no previous generation haswith Fortnite and Roblox going mainstream and blockchain technologies such as NFTs making waves. Then theres the pandemic, which resulted in more people stuck at home looking for connection.

The metaverse has been set up to scratch the itch of socialization in a way that didnt exist until this moment. Still, that doesnt make it an easy win for brandsthey can still find themselves on the outside looking in if they cant find a way to organically participate in these new virtual communities.

Brands learned these same lessons on the rocky road to understanding how to market on social media. In the early days, social media marketing was seen as risky, with brands participating in ways that ranged from awkward to bizarre. It was only later that they truly began to understand the communities and rules of the new world. To avoid more missteps with the metaverse, brands must apply the lessons of social and take these steps to bring value in these early, formative days:

When it comes to the metaverse, many brands may think its a time to sit back and see what happens. Instead, they should be building connections with the creators and audiences there or risk falling behind. The history of each new social platform, from Facebook to TikTok, is filled with brands that thought they had time to spare, only to end up struggling to gain traction once the platform became oversaturated.

Since the metaverse is probably the biggest change to the internet since the birth of social media, caution seems to make sense. But especially in these early days, the brands that will be successful will be the ones providing tools or entertainment, helping to chart the metaverses landscape or even just learning what makes it tick.

For brands that want to mitigate risk, that may involve creating partnerships with those who have been the initial creators and early adopters, as we did with Netflix to promote the art heist doc-series This is a Robbery or Adidas did in its collaboration with the Bored Ape Yacht Club.

One of many hurdles in successfully building a brand on social media is knowing who you are trying to reach so that you can offer the right content. But this is an especially important step for the metaverse because there is no singular metaverse right nowrather a lot of virtual spaces each with different audiences. Brands need to familiarize themselves with the various key players and look for opportunitiesones that match the people who are participating in those specific spaces with the biggest opportunities for their brands.

Theres no shortcut to getting to know audiences. You have to be a consumer first. It comes across as inauthentic and jarring to those passionate about the space when a brand tries to do something without having first learned what the norms are that govern the communities. From there, brands can start to come up with strategic and creative ideas that are additive to the ecosystem and dont just come across as a brand trying to cash in on the latest trend.

Once an audience is better understood, these spaces also provide a huge opportunity for brands to engage with audiences online and build communities in a new way. We saw this last year with Animal Crossing as brands began building spaces and hosting events within that world. We should expect this to be more constant as both individuals and brands themselves become more immersed within the metaverse.

One of the things thats so exciting about the metaverse is that the rate of change and progress is happening so quickly that nobody really knows where were headed. Its exciting because were at the forefront of a new technology and so many people have the ability to be the catalyst of change. TikTok, Snapchat, and other social platforms followed similar pathswith the unknown giving way to a set of identities, best practices and rules largely defined by the users.

When you start to remove the parameters often in place, it creates opportunities to do something truly unique. As Facebook and likely other social platforms begin to focus within this space, we could see big integrations between their existing platforms and these new digital worlds, creating even more opportunities. Will there be difficult and uncertain times along the way? Almost certainly. But TikToks brand viability was being seriously debated as recently as a year ago. Now its starting to be seen as a staple of social marketing budgets. The metaverse may provide a similar trajectory and level of opportunity. But brands will have to start experimenting to find out.

Original post:
Getting the metaverse rightcan the lessons of social marketing guide brands? - AdAge.com

Panelists included, from left: Matt Pavlick, president at GRO Marketing; Michael Newton, CEO of Swarm; Leslie Cole-Gallant, vice president of strategic initiatives with The Pivotal Cos.; and Alison Slager, national business development executive for LeaseLabs by RealPage.

DALLAS It comes as no surprise that digital marketing and chiefly, marketing via social media is one of the best ways to reach potential new renters in the student housing space. Students spend a massive amount of their downtime scrolling through various social media platforms, from TikTok to Instagram.

And while a focus on digital marketing within the sector has been seen for some time, the COVID-19 pandemic brought an even greater emphasis on the space by eradicating opportunities for traditional marketing methods such as in-person events and tours.

In December, a panel of marketing specialists discussed whats hot and whats not for social media marketing at InterFace Conference Groups third annual LeaseCon/TurnCon conference in Dallas.

According to a 2021 survey noted by panel moderator Alison Slager, national business development executive for LeaseLabs by RealPage, 79 percent of marketers used paid ads across social media platforms. With marketing budgets tightening, its important to know what resonates with todays students to ensure all marketing dollars are well spent.

Instagram

Panelists agreed that the most dominant social media marketing platform is currently Instagram, particularly with its recent addition of Reels, a tool which allows users to post short-form videos.

Instagram is likely going to be the most dominant platform for the foreseeable future, so it is important that owners and operators understand how the platform is evolving while formulating their marketing strategy, said Michael Newton, CEO of Swarm.

Instagram is planning for several changes over the next year, one of which is a transition in how the platform displays content. Theres a huge change coming up where the company is going back to a chronological feed, said Newton. That flips your marketing strategy upside down if youre working with Instagram now, and it will be the biggest change in marketing for the upcoming leasing year.

As it stands currently, the platform utilizes an algorithm that is written to suppress your posts unless youre paying money, according to Newton. With a chronological timeline, the best way to get noticed will be to post as much as possible three to five times a day in order to really create impressions. This reversion back to a chronological feed is going to allow companies to hustle and get their name out there with a huge reach just by putting in the work, he said.

Another recent change is that Instagram will now allow any user to post a link in their story, where in previous years links could only be included if you had over 10,000 followers. Matt Pavlick, president at GRO Marketing, recently utilized this tool while launching the companys new website and was able to garner 380 website hits in a short amount of time.

Its a given that if any of your properties are posting anything, you have to include links, said Pavlick. Instagram has also rolled out a tool where you can collaborate with another account for posts. If your property has 3,000 followers and an influencer has 5,000 followers, the potential reach is 8,000 followers for a collaborative post, so you can more than double your views. Both are free tools that garner exposure.

TikTok

TikTok, a social media platform where viewers can watch short-form personal videos, was noted by the panel as the most up-and-coming marketing platform.

It really has changed the way we consume content, especially for Generation Z, noted Newton. That does not necessarily mean that you need to make TikToks about your property, but quick, short-form videos are how students want to consume your content. Anything that is too long or takes any sort of effort is going to hurt you.

When posting to social media, Leslie Cole-Gallant, vice president of strategic initiatives with The Pivotal Cos., noted that transparency, creating a genuine connection and having a face behind your brand are the most important considerations.

Let residents and potential future residents know that you are their resource and that they can really connect with you when they enter the leasing office, she said. If residents have seen members of your leasing office in funny TikTok videos, theyre going to dart to those people immediately because they know them and have an established connection. Leasing and marketing efforts need to have a bond.

Newton agreed, noting that content personalization makes a huge impact when looking to connect with the current generation of students via social media. There is a strategy that we have rolled out at almost every property weve worked with that was willing to try it and 100 percent of the time it works very well, he said.

If you are doing any sort of organic outbound marketing on social media where you are finding students and sending them direct messages, try having one of your team members who has a happy, outgoing personality send a 10-second video instead mentioning their name, continued Newton.

For example, Hi Ashley, I saw youre a student at UTK. Were having a pool party event. You should swing by. Thats how Gen Z wants to be communicated with. When weve sent out that sort of message, its very rarely seen and ignored. Its often either liked, or sometimes students respond back with a video message, and thats then a very warm, organic contact.

And while conversation regarding marketing often focuses on digital, Pavlick of GRO noted that he anticipates the incorporation of in-person events to be very successful for this upcoming leasing season.

People are absolutely tired of Zoom calls and still appreciate personal touch, he said. I believe in-person events are going to work for this upcoming fall. In a sea of everyone scrapping and clawing to get your attention and buying consideration, reaching out personally, like through a video or through an in-person event, is going to stand out from the pack.

Katie Sloan

Go here to read the rest:
InterFace Panel Names What's Hot for Social Media Marketing in the Student Housing Sector - REBusinessOnline

Unlike other video platforms, which have traditionally emphasized creating for sound off environments in order to maximize your viewing opportunities, TikTok has repeatedly noted that sounds is crucial to the user experience, and that marketers need to consider audio as an equally significant element as the visuals in their clips if not more so in some respects.

Underlining this, TikTok has launched a new insights series that will explore the importance of sound in clips, and provide more context as to how and why brands need to consider sound as a key part of their overall branding effort.

You can read the first post in TikToks Evolution of Sound series here, but in this post, well look at some of the key notes.

First off, TikTok reiterates that 9 out of 10 users view sound as being vital to the TikTok experience. For brands specifically, TikTok says that its research has shown that brand linkage and recall increase by over 8xwhen distinctive brand sounds are leveraged in ads, compared to other elements like slogans and logos.

Thats a hugely significant stat, which clearly underlines why brands need to consider their audio elements, in order to maximize brand awareness and resonance.

TikTok further reiterates this, with internal data showing that sound can boost brand engagement, while music also plays a key role in user response.

Again, if youve been aligning your video creation processes with other platforms, like Facebook, which, in the past, has specifically recommended that brands create for sound off environments, your approach to TikTok needs to be different, as sound is a key element that can significantly boost user response to your content.

Really, youre approach to TikTok should be entirely different, and aligned with the organic content trends in the app. If you want to win on TikTok, the best way to build for the platform is to immerse yourself in the content thats being posted on the platform, so you can get a feel for how people are engaging in the app, specifically, and how your brand messaging will fit.

With this in mind, TikTok poses three key questions for marketers in mapping out an audio-inclusive strategy:

Again, on TikTok, audio should be considered as significant a branding element as your visuals, and TikTok outlines several ways in which you can research and develop your audio branding approach.

Some key considerations for your TikTok branding approach, and with more brands set to add TikTok into their digital marketing mix in 2022, with the app on track to reach 1.5 billion users, its important that if you are looking to stand out to TikTok users, that audio is a top of mind element.

You can read the first post in TikToks Evolution of Sound series here.

More:
TikTok Shares New Insights into the Importance of Audio in Brand Marketing - Social Media Today

To decide on the Creative Marketing honorees, weve assembled a lineup of seasoned and respectedmarketing execs on our jury:

Jury chair: Joan Colletta, senior director of global brand marketing at McDonaldsTim Ellis, chief marketing officer, NFLTanja Grubner, global marketing and communications director, feminine care, global brand, innovation and sustainability, EssityKathleen Hall, corporate VP brand advertising and research, MicrosoftFrancine Li, VP, brand management and marketing, Riot GamesAlex Lopez, global president and chief creative officer, McCann WorldgroupMinjae Ormes, VP of marketing, global brand and consumer, LinkedInNathaniel Ru, co-founder and chief brand officer, SweetgreenRicardo Viramontes, chief creative officer, Springhill CompanyAmy Weisenbach, senior VP, head of marketing, New York Times

The Creative Marketing awards honor the following categories:

Brand CMO of the YearBrand Manager of the YearBrand Chief Creative Officer of the YearSocial Marketer of the YearBest RebrandBest ROI: Work that WorksBest Product Launch of the YearBest Brand Launch of the YearD-to-C Brand of the YearFounder of the Year

The final deadline to submit for both Ad Ages A-List and Creativity Awards is Jan. 11, 2022.

See full descriptions of all the Creativity Awards categories here.

Enter the A-List and Creativity Awards here.

The rest is here:
Creative marketers: Submit now to Ad Age's Creativity Awards - AdAge.com