Mediaboss Marketing

The COVID-19 crisis is far from over, but governments everywhere appear to have either relaxed lockdown parameters or will do so soon. The curve may have been flattened, but there will be a greater risk now of being infected.

Containing COVID-19 and restoring our economies requires not just good policy decisions and medical advice; it also needs continued compliance with the recommended behavioural changes that in many ways go against social and cultural conventions. Daunting as they may seem, the drastic changes in behaviour being called for can indeed be brought about. The science of social marketing uses known marketing principles and behaviour change theory to influence peoples behaviour for the benefit of both the target audience and of society. Public health, safety and environmental concerns are some of the areas where social marketing can have huge impact.

The Health Belief Model (HBM), developed by Irwin M. Rosenstock others suggests that a persons health-related behaviours ultimately stem from the desire to avoid illness. The two most important constructs of the model are: perceived benefits the effectiveness of actions available to reduce the threat of the disease, and perceived barriers the obstacles to performing a recommended health action. The model also recognises the importance of cues to action or triggers which set into motion the process of adopting the desired behaviours. These cues, typically, are emotional, not just informative or educational. The HBM presumes that knowledge or education alone is grossly insufficient to change a persons behaviour. Cigarette sales, for example did not decline significantly for years despite the ills of smoking having been widely publicised.

India is one of the few countries that appears to have recognised the power of deliberately crafted emotive cues to action such as the Prime Ministers call for a voluntary Janata Curfew, exhorting citizens to show that they care for themselves and their loved ones, and to display their patriotism. People were asked to stay indoors but, at 5 p.m., to also applaud health-care workers and others who are a part of the pandemic battle. The blend of fear, patriotism and gratitude extolled by the Prime Minister appeared to have been just the right buttons to push and people did stay indoors. Yet at 5 p.m., while many applauded from their balconies, hordes of others congregated in large groups, throwing social distancing to the winds. Fear, patriotism and gratitude, even if they were effective as initiating cues to action, were insufficient to sustain behaviour change and needed to be periodically rekindled. The Prime Minister later called upon citizens to switch off lights at 9 p.m. for 9 minutes on a chosen day and light lamps to go from darkness to hope. As is well known, the number 9 and lighting lamps are powerful positive symbols in India.

In Singapore, the government, perhaps taking a cue, supported an event, Sing Together Singapore. People at home were encouraged to sing as well and wave a torchlight as gratitude for frontline and migrant workers.

Going back to the main constructs of the HBM, to be effective, the social marketing message would present the benefits as applying direct to the individual, not just indirectly to society at large. And, messaging about barriers should not make the change appear too difficult to engage in or make the cost of adopting the behaviours appear too high. Supportive measures should facilitate the adoption of the desired behaviour.

Here is an example to illustrate this. In the 1970s, Bangladesh undertook an ambitious family planning campaign keeping in mind the countrys limited resources. Research showed that while the women were able to readily see the benefits, the men, who were the decision makers at home, could not.

The campaign became successful after social marketers decided to empower women by making female contraceptives available through women rural medical practitioners who made house calls. The marketers also designed a communications programme directed at men highlighting benefits such as better health for their wives, thereby enabling them to look after their husbands and children better.

This writer conducted informal interviews (not scientific by any means) in Chennai to gauge receptivity to recommended behaviours during the pandemic. Here are the findings in relation to some of the recommended behavioural actions and possible messaging and support measures.

Many were not quite convinced of the threat posed by asymptomatic others merely because they were close by. The perceived direct benefits of social distancing were thus moderate at best. Further, one does not have the luxury of observing physical distancing in many situations (especially in densely populated areas). Telling someone to stand away is also difficult because it could be considered rude. Hygiene instructors often ask an audience to colour their hands and then show the imprints they leave everywhere to demonstrate how germs can spread. Would a social marketing campaign that paints a picture of the virus jumping onto you if you are close to an infected person work? This needs to be supported by physical barriers wherever possible to promote social distancing.

The recommendation to hand wash often or use an alcohol-based hand rub was unrealistic for too many people even though they saw the merit in it. The two options have been presented as equivalent, but from a behavioural change point of view they are not. Even those who had fairly easy access to soap and washing facilities found it rather inconvenient to interrupt whatever they were doing to frequently head to a hand wash station. If alcohol-based hand rubs were available within arms reach, people had no need to interrupt their work and drying their hands was not a problem since they would swiftly dry on their own. This suggests high payoffs from a decision by governments to focus on increasing the supply of hand rubs and absorbing or highly subsidising the costs of making hand rub bottles readily available to supplement hand washing with soap and water.

We know that shame is a powerful disincentive to undesirable behaviour. This writer has considerable experience in projects to make villages open defecation free through the use of Community-led Total Sanitation, a technique that liberally and successfully uses naming and shaming to achieve its goals. It is not hard to visualise messaging that shows bystanders strongly disapproving of those who do not comply with the COVID-19 recommendations.

A well-crafted social marketing campaign would help address the COVID-19 crisis and set foundations that will help ameliorate the adverse consequences of future pandemics. Let us build policy from science in the effort to save lives and to put the local and global economies back on track.

S.N. Srikanth is Chairman and Managing Director of the Hauer-Diana Group of Companies of India

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The pandemic and the challenge of behaviour change - The Hindu

As part of its resources for small business owners struggling with the impacts of COVID-19, The DEC Network hosts Fridays Are for Founders, a weekly virtual forum that provides practical answers to real-time questions from D-FW business leaders about surviving and thriving during unprecedented times. In this video, The DECs Trey Bowles and Delanie Majors talk to Marty Martinez, founder of Dallas-based digital marketing agency Social Revolt, who shares key ideas around best practices for small business looking to leverage social media and more to grow.

Martinez says he first started to feel the rumblings of what would become the coronavirus pandemic in December, but the seriousness of the matter hit him right along with the rest of us.

I had this spidey sense you know, at the back of my neck I had a feeling that I was going to need to mitigate the fallout from either lost clients or people sort of backing out or businesses asking to put pause on contracts and things like that, he says.

First, Martinez personally reached out to each one of Social Revolts clients to let them know he was committed to helping them ride out the coming storm. Then he looked at the companys financials and made tough decisions for the greater good. It was at that point that he put together a 30-60-90 plan.

As Social Revolt moves past the 60-day mark and into phase three of that plan, Martinez says the company has been able to achieve great results for its clients who are also trying to respond to their customers. Here are his top four tips when youre looking to reach yours:

1. Learn your customers pain points and then figure out how you can address those concerns and create peace of mind for them. Its really just asking yourself how have your customers changed as a result of [COVID-19] and how can you then use everything you have and the products and services you provide in a more efficient and effective way, Martinez says.

2. Use data to decide what to do next. We can guess and estimate all we want what is in the mind of our customer, but theres no better resource than from the customer or previous customer directly, Martinez says. An easy way to do this, he says, is to use Survey Monkey to email customers and ask very intentional questions. Use the answers to refine your services and messaging.

3. Reach customers where they are. Understanding customer segments is of the utmost importance, Martinez says. Create target personas and understand what social media they use. Let those personas determine the platforms for and the frequency of your marketing messages.

4. Embrace pay-to-play. You simply cannot rely on social medias organic reach, Martinez says. To be effective, even the best strategy and most creative content requires an engagement strategy centered around paid advertising. Martinez emphasizes that when done properly a small investment can yield big results.

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How to make the most of your small business' social media marketing plan - The Dallas Morning News

media updates Nakedi Phala spoke to Petrumarie Jacobs, client and brand experience manager at amaSocial, about the important dos and donts of marketing brands on social media platforms.

What do you need to include in your Page Bio in order to sell your brand?

Your page needs to be a follower magnet. To do that, a quick summary about your brand is kind of a big deal. Remember, people find your business through searches, therefore, you need to ensure that you use SEO friendly keywords and accompany it with great visuals and your website link, as well as contact details. Dont include an office number if your company is not channelling calls via Zoiper or Linphone during lockdown.

Set your brand logo as the profile image and choose a cover image that links to your tactical marketing activities or email marketing banners. Also, ensure that each profile and cover image is optimised for each platform. A few brands have recently been using Zoom meeting screenshots as their covers, which is a very good way to show that you regularly update your page and could be the brand theyve been looking for.

Why does a brand need to link its marketing content that is shared on its social media platforms?

Omni-channel marketing is key to surviving the changing media landscape. With more and more strategies shifting to a digital-first approach, backlinking ensures that your organic rankings make up for the ad spend you need to apply in other spaces. A good SEO strategy will include backlinks on social media posts [which link back] to your blogs or specific landing pages. People find you via searches or a recommendation, and alignment across each platform may enable users to find out more about your brand through a link click.

If your aim is to drive website traffic in order for people to contact you, buy your product or subscribe to your service, include those links because you never know who needs your solution at the time of scrolling.

At amaSocial, we have found that placing your full link to a post generates more link clicks than a shortened one. Even though a shortened link looks sleek, we live in a time where people do not click any link they see; they have more time to consume digital content and your copy needs to create an expectation that wont let them click away within seconds.

We havent come across a brand that just wanted to post pretty content without a link or a contact method. If this was their only objective, they probably dont exist anymore. You post with the intention to gain a customer base by raising awareness of your brand or generating engagement Likes, comments and shares dont pay the bills. It is the call to action or the click that leads to an opportunity to build a relationship with your brand.

Is it better to share a lot of content or a limited amount of content on these platforms, and why?

Social media has become the go-to marketing tool for brands during lockdown. With audiences stuck indoors, traditional forms of advertising just arent cutting it. However, audiences have more time than ever to scroll through their social feeds. When it comes to posting content online, it is vital to ask yourself if the content you are posting is relevant, or if you are posting content for the sake of maintaining an online presence.

Knowing when to post is key to building a social media strategy. At amaSocial, we use an Hourly Insights feature to pin-point the exact times and days when brand engagement is high. This enables you to decide on the frequency of posting or the exact times engaging in genuine conversations with your audience in real-time.

In order to understand the keywords people are using in relation to your brand, we offer a social cloud that visually displays the popular buzzwords. The amplification of the words, hashtags or @handles depicts how many times they were mentioned within a specified time frame. At a single glance, you are able to tailor your content to be in line with what your community wants to know and, better yet, when they want to know it!

The social cloud also allows you to be informed about the conversations surrounding your brand. Responding to these conversations will demonstrate that your business is in-tune with what is happening in your industry, aware of trends and ready to engage with issues your audience is facing at the moment.

What kind of research should a brand consider conducting before placing itself on social media?You might know the platforms your audience usually spend time on, but these are unusual times. This means that youll see some shifts in the platforms customers are using, as well as changes in the times they use the different apps. For example, since lockdown began and people have been isolated from one another, messaging apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger have increased in usage, and video chat apps like Zoom, Houseparty and TikTok have spiked.

Look at your industry and identify the brands in your direct market environment. Pop their keywords into a social media monitoring system, like amaSocial, and see the results of the conversations surrounding those brand mentions. With effective data management, you are able to extract key topics and questions that need to be answered.

The opportunity lies in addressing the questions people have if they are wanting to or making use of your competitors products or services. You will also be able to see the social media platforms your potential audience uses and what type of content works with a particular audience.

Think about yourself and ask: Would I like to see my brand in my newsfeed?. Some platforms may have a limited number of users, but high-quality engagements emerge from there. Social media takes time and a genuine tone of voice and dedication will reap great results.

Should a marketer, at some point, consider social media monitoring services? How will these monitoring services help a marketer?

If you want to stay relevant in a time of uncertainty, a social media monitoring service will definitely help you measure your brands success, as well as identify gaps in communication efforts. With the rise of e-commerce, people are looking to social media when a delivery is taking longer than usual or to find out if other users are having the same questions they have.

Opportunities are lost when brands dont reach out in their post comment sections or respond to mentions without a tag, which will pop up in the community managers notifications. Therefore, you want to look at those mentions outside of your pages and find your audience in spaces and scenarios with tailored responses instead of automated chats.Placing your brand on social media is something that every business should consider. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments section below.

Digital marketing Social media marketing Traditional marketing Brand engagement amaSocial

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The do's and don'ts of marketing your brand on social media - Media Update

MIAMI, FL / ACCESSWIRE / May 15, 2020 / The value of social media in society is increasing every day, and not only as part of a routine but as a fundamental work tool. Leyes Media has understood this concept, and it arises with the purpose of helping public figures, companies, and entrepreneurs in their growth within the networks.

The agency, owned by the entrepreneur Kevin Leyes, was born as an indispensable part of the projects he carried out to make his brand and company known, Team Leyes. At only 19 years old, this young Argentinean has a considerable background and knowledge of social media and the Internet in general.

He owns the portfolio and group of companies Leyes Enterprises, and Team Leyes, a company dedicated to the design and customization of urban jewelry, which began as a simple venture in social media and now is an internationally recognized brand.

It has been precisely the techniques applied for the growth of this latter company in social media and previous experiences full of stumbling and learning, which have led this young entrepreneur to start with this international agency.

From Kevin's own conceptualization, "Leyes Media is a social media marketing and public relations agency dedicated to helping influencers, public figures, artists, and entrepreneurs to have a greater reach and growth in social media". The results show that clients become leaders and references in their niches, and all this is possible through the growth and marketing strategies employed by the agency and its team of experts.

Generation Z: The New Ways of Exposure and Marketing

Until recently, a TV or radio campaign was more than enough to sell or simply to gain social recognition. Explaining the benefits of a product through a television spot was enough to ensure sales. This has changed, with the arrival of Generation Z.

Those born between 1996 and 2010 are known as this generation. That is the digital natives par excellence. Since they have grown up in the midst of a technological boom, information and entertainment for this generation are available in one place: the Internet.

So, how can a brand or company come to attract the attention of these young people? That's the big challenge, and that's where Leyes Media focuses its goals.

Kevin Leyes, CEO of Leyes Media, points out that nowadays consumers do not want to know the characteristics of a product, but "why" they should be part of it. There is talk of being part of it, given that beyond buying, it consists of joining the brand.

In this context, he highlights that nowadays, artists, influencers, and entrepreneurs need to bet and open space in new communication channels: social media. Where it is not a question of promoting your brand, or company, but of creating a connection with your followers that will allow you to obtain that recognition and thus gain greater influence in this scenario.

In view of this, Leyes Media promotes the necessary actions to give its clients the possibility of achieving this recognition. Besides helping to create value proposals that generate in the followers the need to establish a connection with them.

The advertising and marketing agency in social media has an experienced staff that guides its clients in the process and instructs about the importance of maintaining a well trained digital presence on the Internet.

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The latter, because the content of social media, is the first impression users will get of a brand, person, or company. Therefore, having knowledge about the proper handling of the content will provide greater authenticity and value to the brand.

Connection and Authenticity in Social Media

Nowadays, the transmission of values, two-way communication, and authenticity are more important than creating advertisements without the content-generating a positive impact on potential followers.

It is here that influencing marketing has become very important, which has allowed people with a large number of followers to serve as partners of companies or brands to publicize their products.

However, Leyes Media emphasizes that this aspect requires taking into account the elements mentioned, especially authenticity. Because they consider that it is more profitable to make use of influencing marketing more focused on the naturalness of a person, than on the number of followers they have.

At present, the advertising agency has an established portfolio of clients, to whom they provide the necessary advice to obtain exceptional results. While they focus on the performance and internal growth of the company, through constant learning.

"This technological environment requires constant updating, learning, and progress," says Leyes, who is also characterized as a self-taught person and advises other entrepreneurs to remain willing to take advantage of the current technological tools to ensure a positive evolution of their company or brand.

To learn more about Leyes Media and Leyes Enterprises, visit leyesmedia.com and leyesent.com. You can contact Kevin's team at booking@kevinleyes.com or phone them through +54 9 11 2267-9932.

SOURCE: Leyes Enterprises

View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/590096/Leyes-Media-and-The-Relevance-of-Social-Media-Marketing-During-This-Digital-Age

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Leyes Media and The Relevance of Social Media Marketing During This Digital Age - Yahoo Finance

Social media influencers have survived and in some rare cases thrived in the age of social ... [+] distancing.

All good things come to an end, and hopefully the same holds true for bad things as well. Whether it is in the coming weeks, next year or the hard-to-think-about four to five years that World Health Organization scientists have predicted, the fact is that the COVID-19 pandemic will end.

What we do know is that the post-pandemic world could be very different, with handshakes and hugs being far less common, but the way people react to brands will evolve. Social media influencers have survived and in some rare cases thrived in the age of social distancing. As the world settles into a new normal what will the role of influencers be?

In part one of a three part series on post-pandemic social media marketing, a number of experts were asked about the role that social media influencers could play in the coming weeks and months, including how to reconnect with their audience and how to remain authentic.

It is a brave new world indeed.

Make A Reconnection

For social media influencers it has long been about making a connection with an audience, but as we come out of lockdowns and quarantines even as social distancing needs to be maintained the question becomes how influencers can "reconnect" with an audience that may not have been so focused on brands for the past two months.

"Since the lockdowns and quarantines began, influencers have been an important resource for readers, many of whom were new to cooking and needed their advice, tips and recipes," said Laurie Buckle, founder of CookIt Media, an influencer marketing agency that specializes in food and lifestyle content creation.

"They weren't so focused on what product to buy, since they often didn't have a choice at the store," added Buckle. "But now, with online shopping continuing to grow at a rapid pace, and readers discovering brands they love and plan to keep buying it's more important than ever for the influencer to be truly authentic about the brands they use and share with their readers."

It isn't just the influencers that will need to adapt however.

"Coming out of lockdown, it's not the influencers that need to reconnect with their audiences, it's the brands that need to find more meaningful ways to engage," explained Jared Augustine, co-founder & CEO of social media marketing platform Julius.

"Brands should focus on two things as they select influencer partnersstorytelling, and engagement rate," says Augustine. "They must ask themselves: which influencers can add depth to my brand, with content that drives engagement? As brands compete for consumer attention, possibly more than ever before, they must lean into influencers that can personally reconnect with target audiences. Marketers must remember that influencers already have a foot in the door with their target audiences, and in 2020, emotional currency is going to be the most important part of retaining attention as the world blossoms into a post-lockdown world."

However, even as many people are ready to head to bars, restaurants and get back to "normal," there are still as many who could be continuing social distancing.

"After spending months in quarantine, social media users will have a heightened interest in getting back to their pre-quarantine lives, and visiting the fitness, health, beauty, and fashion establishments they used to, but with caution," admitted Marshall Sandman, host of the Instagram Live series @SpillingtheQuarantea and influencer marketing expert. "Influencers will need to be very careful in their messaging promoting these gyms, salons, and venues, keeping health guidelines in mind, and making a point to be sensitive in their wording."

Remain Authentic

While no one expects social media influencers to look like they've come out of solitary confinement or have the island look of Tom Hanks in Cast Away, at the same time looking ready for the red carpet isn't going to be the way to go either.

"They should also focus on being authentic with their content vs. 'showing off' many are struggling or are overwhelmed due to the pandemic, so they may be able to relate better to influencers who open their doors to how this crisis has affected them, or that offer an escape via light and comedic content. Being overly promotional is a turnoff to most followers," added Sandman.

In addition, influencers shouldn't go too far to try to embrace pandemic-specific brands or products.

"Influencers should work with the brandsthey use in everyday life," suggested Bucklet. "Instead of one-off posts, they should focus on creating true brand partnerships, and sharing their enthusiasm for those products organically in their content. And their content should highlight the ways in which the product solves a problem or provides a benefit without being 'sales-y.' Finally, influencers need to be open and honest with their audience about their partnerships, something thats especially important now."

As the pandemic isn't over and there is the possibility of resurgence of the outbreak, some influencers may still need to do their quarantine thing.

"Just like all of us, creators should lean into virtual events in order to connect with their audiences," said Mahzad Babayan, vice president of talent management and partnerships at Fullscreen, which offers tools, services, and consultation to social media content creators and brands. "We are seeing virtual events getting more and more innovative and immersive and its likely where a lot of us are going to be spending our time over the next few weeks and potentially months."

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Influencer Marketing Experts Discuss How To Use Social Media In The Post Pandemic World: Part 1 - Forbes