Mediaboss Marketing

Social marketing campaigns are those that borrow from commercial marketing techniques for social engagement influencing a target audience to change their social behaviours and to benefit society.

Whether its related to the environment, public health, safety, or community development, marketing for good is a methodology for creating change.

As a formal discipline, social marketing started in 1971 when Philip Kotler and Gerald Zaltman published their article Social Marketing: An Approach to Planned Social Change in the Journal of Marketing.

Since then, marketers have been playing with social marketing ideas, refining the strategies, and working on the most effective means of spurring widespread changes in social behaviour in a variety of fields.

In , public health and environmental concerns top the list of most used social marketing topics.

There are many approaches to obtaining a societal change through effective social cause marketingprograms, but the central tenant always remains the same: the social good is always the primary focus.

Whether its trying to convince the public to stop smoking or encouraging men in developing counties to use condoms, the focus is always on the public good first.

The concept of societal marketing, therefore, revolves around driving change to local, national, and international communities in creative ways, for the public interest.

Social marketing, therefore, should not be confused with other similar terms: social media marketing, green or sustainable marketing, and commercial marketing with a social focus.

According to the Institute for Social Marketing, these are the most important social marketing strategies and techniques:

The best examples of social cause marketing campaigns, which result in actual change, are the ones designed to shock, provoke, inform, and remind all at once!

Social marketing campaigns are not limited to advertising either, they are often used in magazine covers.

One example of this includes a series by the National Geographic calledPlanet or Plastic, published in June 2018.

In this campaign, NatGeo featured a photo of a plastic bag in the form of an iceberg as their front cover, to raise awareness ofthe billions of plastic wastage polluting the oceans.

Similarly, newspapers also engage in social cause marketing for the public interest.

An example of this includes when mainstream Australian newspapers blacked-out their own front pages in October 2019, to raise awareness against government clampdown of media freedom.

Or most commonly, social good marketing campaigns come in the form of placards, used by activists during boycotts, demonstrations, and other forms of protests, like the Business As Usual = Death poster by the Extinction Rebellion.

More:
What Is Social Marketing? How Does It Work? (17 EXAMPLES)

Marketers Expect to Invest Heavily in Social Automation Technology to Streamline Inefficiencies

Smartly.io, the leading social media advertising automation platform for creative and performance marketers, announced new research outlining how retail marketers plan to spend their advertising budgets in 2020. Commissioned by Smartly.io and conducted by WBR Insights, the research arm of the eTail event series, the survey results indicate that social media advertising will be a primary focus for retail brands hoping to reach consumers where they are most active.

The past decade put social advertising on the map for most retail marketers, and our findings indicate that it will only continue to grow in 2020

Smartly.ios research revealed that 52 percent of retail marketers will spend more on social advertising than they did in 2019. Further, 50 percent of retail advertisers are planning to spend at least half of their annual marketing budget on social media advertising. With eMarketer estimating that U.S. digital ad spend would reach $129 billion by the end of 2019, Smartly.ios data indicates that retail marketers plan to allocate nearly $65 billion to social media ads in the decades first year. When compared to 2019, 96 percent of respondents plan to bump up their spending on Facebook this year, while Twitter (56 percent) and Instagram (22 percent) also see healthy increases.

Marketing Technology News: Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Projected as a Game-Changer for Future of Content

In terms of where retail marketers currently advertise, Twitter (75 percent) and Instagram (59 percent) fare well, but Facebook is far and away their favorite social advertising platform, with 96 percent adoption. In fact, 36 percent reported that Facebook is the platform they dedicate the most spend toward, and 41 percent say it also gives them the best return on ad spend (ROAS).

The past decade put social advertising on the map for most retail marketers, and our findings indicate that it will only continue to grow in 2020, said Robert Rothschild, VP and global head of marketing at Smartly.io. Retail marketers recognize the value that social media ads bring to their campaigns, and they are focused on understanding which levers to pull to generate even more engagement and revenue. Capturing the attention of todays consumer demands that advertisers tell stories that seamlessly blend with the organic content that their audience already consumes. Investing in visual storytelling enables retail marketers to connect with consumers on an emotional and highly relevant level. Shifting spend to story ads, diversifying across social networks like Pinterest, bridging the gap between performance and creative teams, and investing in technology to scale creative and deliver incrementality in ad performance are ideal solutions that will allow teams to work faster and smarter in the year to come.

Marketing Technology News: Future CEO: Top 6 Skills That You Need in 2020

Although marketers see a positive return on their dollar, many admit that the process is often still too manual and inefficient to easily manage. Survey results showed that 83 percent feel that there is room for improvement when it comes to automating parts of their ad creation and deployment, and 66 percent do not use any automation technology. To reduce these inefficiencies, 39 percent of retail marketing teams indicated that they will invest in more robust social advertising tools in 2020.

Marketing Technology News: ACA, Alliance Bank of Arizona, KEO Marketing and MDSL Executives Elected to the Arizona Technology Councils Board of Directors

More:
Smartly.io Research Finds Half of 2020 Marketing Budgets Will be Allocated to Social Media Ads - MarTech Series

30-second summary:

The current marketing landscape can often defined as an unpredictable sector, where the customer is ever evolving.

Unfortunately, this only means that marketers have to spend a significant amount of time keeping up with news trends to entice the customer, rather than focusing on different ways to drive revenue.

How can marketers free up their time to focus on more important aspects, do you ask? Well, the answer lies in automating or marketing automation.

By simply adopting marketing automation technology, a company can significantly free up a marketers time and enable them to focus on more important revenue building projects as these tools can help to automate numerous repetitive tasks such as emails, campaign management, website analysis and social media marketing.

The fact that companies and marketers are increasingly looking at adopting marketing automation software can be seen in Ultimates Marketing Automation July 2019 update, that stated that while over 51% of companies had already adopted marketing automation tools, more than half of B2B companies (58%) were also planning to adopt the technology.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are also playing a significant part in bolstering marketing automation technology and helping to drive adoption of the technology among companies.

In its first ever Marketing Automation Technology Forecast, Forrester had also predicted that the global spending on marketing automation tools will pass $25 billion by 2023, a 14% annual growth rate.

All of which is to say that if you as a marketer, are not using any marketing automation tools, then you should start to reconsider.

Marketers need to choose the right marketing automation tool that fits the size and spread of their brand.

In order to pick the most apt tool, marketers will need to keep in mind the usability, pricing, ease of integration, capabilities around email, social media, content, ecommerce, CRM and sales competencies, while choosing the right marketing automation software.

In this article, we have focused on the top 10 tools that marketers should definitely know about.

Perfect for: Content Marketing

Hubspot is currently one of the most popular marketing automation tools. Holding a marketshare of 30%, the inbound marketing and sales software provides web analytics, landing page, social media marketing, search engine optimization and content management.

The tool has been designed for small and medium-size businesses and enables them to launch marketing campaigns in a quick and effective manner.

Key Features:

Perfect for: Driving lead management

Marketo is a multi-functional cloud-based marketing automation software that enables businesses to drive revenue with lead management and mobile marketing.

Designed for enterprises, the tool provides customer engagement marketing, real-time personalization to offer personalized messaging across marketing channels, and marketing management functionality, including budgeting tools and marketing calendars.

Key Features:

Perfect for: Marketing analytics

Pardot is a full-featured marketing automation tool that enables companies to streamline their marketing and sales teams by accelerate pipelines and drive sales through email marketing, lead generation, social marketing and provides sales intelligence.

Its customers also find the product easy to use and its interface effectively guides them to build campaigns.

Key Features:

Perfect for: Delivering personalized marketing campaigns

Oracle Eloqua is a cloud-based cross-channel marketing solution that primarily helps marketers to target customers and track them across all phases of the buying cycle.

Using this tool, marketers can plan automated campaigns while simultaneously personalizing them.

The tool is an effective personalization device that can be used across various channels like email, video, and mobile.

Key Features:

Perfect for: powerful email marketing campaigns

Boasting of numerous features and integrations, Activecampaign can often be described as a powerhouse email marketing software.

One of the key features of this tool is automation.

Not only does ActiveCampaigns provide autoresponders, but also automates a customers contacts, list management and its CRM system.

In addition, the tool also tracks website visits, various events of the customer and based on that it provides real-time analysis.

Key Features:

Perfect for: All types of email marketing

SendinBlue offers services such as email marketing, SMS campaign, and transactional emails.

It requires no specific skill to create email designs or templates.

The interface is so simple to use with a drag and drop facility and customized template gallery which helps to create a simple but unique email template.

This email template is supported by all types of mobile devices with any version.

There are various other features such as importing contacts from another platform, customized contact search, responsive email design, campaign reporting, trigger marketing email as per the user interest, etc.

Perfect for: a turbocharged lead capturing engine

Launched in 2012, LeadSquared is a marketing automation tool that helps to drive leads effectively through a companys sales funnels.

The tool effectively accelerates the lead capture process by capturing leads from various sources, such as, email, campaign and websites.

The tool can also build customizable responsive landing pages with landing page builder, thereby, easily capturing more leads.

LeadSquared also helps to boost sales as it automates lead assignment within sales team by predefining distribution rules.

Key Features:

Perfect for: Connecting inbound and outbound leads

Defined as a comprehensive marketing automation tool, Act-On primarily offers a complete suite of applications, including email marketing, website visitor tracking, lead management, social media management, reporting and analytics, as well as integrations with webinar and event planning.

To its customers, the tool also enables its customers to track and segment its visitors as per their behavior.

Key Features:

Perfect for: Visual marketing automation

Ontraport is often described as a full-featured email marketing platform that features extensive marketing automation capabilities and a built-in CRM for managing contacts.

Although, email marketing is the marketing automation tools core product, it also provides a full-lifecycle CRM system that uses visual maps to track the companys interaction with its customers.

The tool tracks the customer as it moves along the funnel and tweaks certain details to maximize the conversions and provide a holistic view on what is working and what is not.

Not only does it automate marketing efforts, but also combines offline and online campaign to provide a fully integrated campaign strategy.

Key Features:

Perfect for: Automating ad campaigns

AdRoll is helpful for retargeting customers through re-engagement on Facebook, Twitter, and the web.

With cross-device and cross-platform retargeting capabilities as well as flexible segmentation, you can provide customized experiences that dramatically improve marketing efficiency.

Key features:

Although not an exhaustive list, the article has taken an in-depth look at some of the top marketing automation examples that are available in the market today and will help guide marketers to pick the right tool for their company.

Visit link:
Top 10 marketing automation tools every marketer must have - ClickZ

Following Spotifys confirmation of a new Stories feature, initially being tested by social media influencers, the company this morning announced it will now allow artists to reach their Instagram fan bases in a new way, too. However, in this case, they arent creating Spotify Stories they can market elsewhere on their social media, but instead are able to share their unique video art from Spotifys Canvas feature directly to their Instagram.

Canvas launched into beta last fall, allowing artists to replace the album art that appears when a song is playing with a moving, visual experience that plays in a short loop. Canvas videos have had mixed reviews, as some users find the imagery distracting while others seem to prefer it.

Starting today, the thousands of artists in the Canvas beta will be able to share their looping videos to Instagram with just a tap.

From the apps Artists profile, each track that included a Canvas will have a Share icon next to it. By tapping that icon, artists can share the song and its Canvas to Instagram Stories. The post will look like a regular Spotify share, with cover art and a link to play the track on Spotify. However, now their looping video will be the backdrop.

Currently, the Canvas beta is only available to those using the Spotify for Artists app on iOS. Spotify says its working to bring the sharing feature to Android users soon.

In addition, fans seeing the Canvas on Instagram arent counted in the Canvas metrics, unless they click through to Spotify, the company says.

The feature itself is intended to aid artists who are marketing their new songs to fans on Instagram, as well as for highlighting updates to Canvas like those that are updated to include clips from a new music video, new art or live performances, for example.

One high-profile artist whos taking advantage of Canvas is Billie Eilish the artist whojust swept last nights Grammy Awards by winning the four biggest prizes best new artist, record of the year, album of the year and song of the year. Eilish has used Canvas to share animated versions of fan art, which helps her to better engage with her fan base.

Spotify claims that adding a high-quality Canvas has increased track shares by up to 200%, in addition to lifting streams, saves and artist profile visits. By expanding Canvas to Instagram, those shares should bump up even higher, the company believes.

Despite its social media media-inspired features, like the new Stories addition or the looping videos of Canvas, Spotify doesnt intend for its streaming app to become a new social platform. Instead, its focus is on building features that artists and listeners can leverage to better connect with social media fan bases elsewhere either to help market themselves and their music or to improve discoverability of new music among their followers.

Artists interested in Canvas can sign up for the waitlist here.

Read the original post:
Get ready to see Spotifys looping videos on Instagram - TechCrunch

Comic-Brand Purpose

Marketers are running toward purpose-driven (or values-driven, issues-based, politically and socially-conscious) ads. Its all the rage. Look at Nike. Or Gillette. Or Pepsi. Or Audi. Or Coke. And so on...and so on. Marketers have seemingly bought into a spate of research that suggests consumers want brands to stand for something. I believe marketers are misreading the research. Consumers want brands to make a differencenot talk about how virtuous they are. When it comes to values or purpose, consumers care about what brands donot what they say. And on Super Bowl Sunday, they want ads that entertain.

Because marketers are so committed to purpose-driven advertising, I decided to do a little research. This is not academic quality research. It is a convenience sample of 52 marketers. I asked a simple question: Why do you watch the Super Bowl ads? and gave them choices (1) entertainment value, (2) brand purposepolitical/social stance, (3) have tobecause they are marketers, or (4) some other reason. I also asked them to share their thoughts if they were so inclined.

Interestingly, almost all of the respondents indicated that they watch Super Bowl ads for entertainment value (97%) and/or for learning value because they are marketers (54%). Only one person indicated that they watched them to learn about the political/social (i.e., purpose) stance of brands (and that one person also checked the other categoriesshe watches the ads for all of the provided reasons). Of note, one person indicated he watched the ads because he is an investora novel and unexpected answer.

The takeaway? When marketing leaders put on their consumer hats, they really just want to be entertained. I want to repeat this because of the irony ... marketers dont want to watch issue-driven ads during the Super Bowl. Of course, my next question then is: Why are we making such ads to foist onto our consumers?

Some Reasons Why Marketers Watch Super Bowl Ads

As Jeremy Korst, President GBH Insights (and former executive from Microsoft) said, I watch them for a combination of entertainment value and to enjoy experiencing the creative juices of the best agencies, but also because I love to try to intuit the underlying strategies and trends that the ads imply, e.g, what are the major brands trying to get consumers to do in the coming months and how are they trying to differentially and competitively position themselves?

SVP at large, global CPG firm: The Super Bowl ads are fun to watch as an observer and marketer because its the intersection of creativity and maximum pressure.Most times it does not end well. As an insider to several ads the stakes are higher and that puts more people in the mix and that usually winds up with the safe vanilla flavor of not taking risk or with the kitchen sink of trying too hard.When it works people praise it as massive coverage. When it doesnt, they say it was just another ad day.

Paul Farris, Landmarks Communications Professor Emeritus of Business Administration, suggests: I am always looking to guess both how much the ads cost to produce and how much air time they will get after the game.

Lee Susen, Head of Innovation for E. & J. Gallo, indicates: Im not a football fan, so I usually watch the ads before or after the event because Im a marketer and want to understand how my counterparts are choosing to share their message on this particular stage. I do it because I want to not because I have to though.My rationale is zeitgeistI want to be part of the cultural conversation the days after the Super Bowl. As a marketing professional, I will be asked my opinion (and most definitely wont have one on the game).

Margaret Molloy, Global CMO, Siegel+Gale: I watch the Super Bowl ads to uncover clues as to what todays brands are promising customers. Subsequently, its fascinating to see how this communication maps to real customer experience.

Kristina Loftus, Co-Founder of Rhoback, I watch them primarily for entertainment value. But since starting my own business, Im really interested in learning what other brands are doing to get customers attention (so now its more educational for me).

Judd Marcello, EVP Global Marketing at Cheetah Digital: I always watch the ads ahead of time. The marketer in me is curious about not only who chose to spend the money, but why and how they did. I expect to see some the same brands every year, but I am most interested in the brands buying in for the first time. I want to know the story behind why they felt the need and what they hoped to achieve. Were they launching a product? Was it purely about elevating their brand? Or was it some kind of moonshot play to become part of the conversation?If I see something that really jumps out at me, Ill dig in and look for articles and interviews about it and research what agency makes it.

Tom Gonzales, Consultant at Boston Consulting Group: Its always entertaining to see which social media trends/influencers brands get behind.

Ryan Langan, Assistant Professor, University of San Francisco: I am a football fan, so I watch the Super Bowl primarily for the game itself. However, I watch the ads both for my own entertainment and through the lens of a marketing academicianwhat can I learn that I can share with students or incorporate into research.

Executive at financial services firm: I watch primarily for entertainment, to see what they were able to come up with. However, if a brand takes a significant stance one way or the other on a political or social issue, Id probably take note.Usually not for the positive as I dont think corporations made up of thousands of individuals should take a political stance unless it is to support their business model as there are probably 30-40% of their workforce that may object to that position.

Scott Brinker, VP Platform Ecosystem at Hubspot: The collection of ads that air with the Super Bowl give you a terrific 2-3 hour window into the minds of the top creative leaders in the advertising industry. Not necessarily always aligned with what resonates with consumers. But the misses are as instructive as the hits.

Brand Manager at a large firm (anonymous because of corporate policy): With brands/companies placing big bets on the reach of the Super Bowl as a platform, it's a great way to evaluate these ads for trends, competitive intelligence, and understanding where different industries are lookingfor future growth.

Special thanks to Tom Fishburne for allowing me to use his cartoon (which you can find here). His cartoons are a must-see for anybody interested in marketing (and you can sign up for his newsletter).

Join the Discussion: @KimWhitler

Read the original:
I Asked Marketers Why They Watch Super Bowl Ads. The Answer Will Surprise You. - Forbes