Mediaboss Marketing

Pure Barre plots expansion. Credit: Pure Barre

Pure Barre is beefing up its previously gaunt marketing with the hire of its first agency-of-record. The 16-year-old fitness chain, which teaches a ballet barre-based workout, recently hired its first chief marketing officer and is planning a robust branding campaign as part of a business strategy to more than double its locations in the next four years.

"The company has successfully grown to date without any real brand identity, any national or paid social campaignsjust word of mouth," said Scott Breault, who joined Pure Barre as CMO two months ago from a marketing stint at fitness competitor Orangetheory. But now the brand is in "evolution" he said, noting that "the goal is to find a long-term brand identity."

Fort Lauderdale-based Zimmerman is tasked with building a strong branding presence across Pure Barre's more than 450 locationsthe majority of which are franchises. The new push will include a branding identity, new website, digital and paid social marketing and user-generated content. TV may come later, but will not be in the immediate future, Breault said.

"This year, we want to reach the largest audience in the most cost-effective way and that's through a strong digital and paid social campaign," he said. He declined to say how much Pure Barre is spending but noted it is "significant." Last year, the brand, which maintains a dual headquarters in Denver, Colo., and Spartanburg, S.C., spent $307,000 on measured media in the U.S., according to Kantar Media.

Playing up user content could be a wise strategy, as fitness enthusiasts often share their experiences socially, according to a recent interview with Matt Powell, a sports industry analyst at market research firm NPD Group.

"There's an overarching trend of social fitnessdoing fitness activities with a group and sharing that experience with your friends," said Powell.

Pure Barre has about 550,000 members for its U.S. and Canadian locations. It's planning to increase the number of studios to over 1,000 by 2021. To that end, the company hired new executive leadership earlier this year, tapping David Keil from the Honey Baked Ham Co. as chief executive as well as a new chief operations officer and chief development officer.

"Pure Barre is a brand with a cult following because of their commitment to transform people's lives," said Michael Goldberg, CEO of Zimmerman, in a statement. "Our job is to help them pave the way for new members, new franchise locations and new profit centers that accelerate that growth."

Of course, the fitness landscape, even for boutique brands, is increasingly competitive as fickle consumers ping-pong between the latest and greatest fads. Last month, SoulCycle, the spinning chain that has been gearing up for an IPO, debuted its first branding campaign, an effort with Laird & Partners.

Rick Caro, president of sports consultancy Management Vision, recently spoke with Ad Age about what brands need to do to differentiate in order to maintain growth momentum.

"What you need to do is reinvest in the brand and make sure everyone sees it the way you do," he said.

Originally posted here:
This Fitness Chain Is Adding Muscle to Its Marketing With New AOR Zimmerman - AdAge.com

Pepsi Fox News Uber. Look at recent headlines, and youll see the impact social media can have on a brand. In todays 24/7 news cycle, responding quickly and appropriately to customers on social media can be the difference between success and disaster.

Why do brands still struggle with social media? Its complex: new social networks and touch points are constantly emerging, its hard to scale and integrate multiple departments and martech systems, and its unpredictable. You have to be ready for anything to go viral.

Join our social marketing experts from MMI Agency and Lithium as they show how to improve social engagement and go from broadcasting to conversing with customers. Youll hear best practices and results of a recent research study on the social engagement of 70 global consumer brands across hundreds of social channels.

Register today for Start Listening! 7 Real-World Tips for Better Social Engagement produced by Digital Marketing Depot and sponsored by Lithium.

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Start Listening! 7 Real-World Tips for Better Social Engagement - Search Engine Land

Kristina: What do digital brands need to know about the influencer trend?

Ted Dhanik, CEO & Co-Founder, engage:BDR: Influencer marketing is a great way to connect with audiences in a genuine way (when executed properly, of course). One of our most unexpected tips is to not underestimate micro-influencers. Working with genuine content and very relevant influencers is really key to success in this channel, and micro-influencers are often a great way to achieve that, since they maintain niche audiences and see great engagement. Obviously, scale is important, but we're aiming to help marketers ensure that that scale is reached in a way that doesn't sacrifice engagement, relevance, or tone.

Kristina: How can influencers help digital brands?

Ted: Many people think of influencer marketing as a way to drive sales, but influencers can also be incredibly effective in helping to build an online following for a brand. If a brand has a quality digital presence and is creating great content, being able to own their audience is huge. Brands like Glossier and Fashion Nova do this super effectively. Their products are exposed to audiences through influencer collaborations, but they're also driving people to opt-in to follow the brand account. This works because they are pumping out fantastic content, which creates a win-win for consumers, who are self-selecting to receive the brand messaging, and the brand, who now owns an audience they can message directly.

Kristina: Is this the time for brands to try to build relevance through influencers?

Ted: Absolutely! More and more people are connecting with their favorite influencers online, so the opportunities for marketers are growing. Additionally, new tech is allowing the process of influencer discovery, campaign planning, transaction, execution, and validation to be streamlined, making this type of marketing accessible to brands who may not have the resources to dedicate a team to it.

Tags: engage:BDR, Iconic Research, influencer marketing, instagram advertising, social marketing

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What brands need to know about the Instagram influencer platform ... - BizReport

Social marketing makes sense for digital businesses, right? Theyre online-based, so of course their marketing would be digital.

Well kind of.

There are many web-based businesses that have had incredible success with traditional print/outdoor/TV/mail marketing efforts.

And there are many local brick-and-mortar businesses that have enjoyed explosive growth through digital marketing.

When it comes down to which avenue you choose (or which combination, more likely), the type of business you are has little to do with it.

So, when I hear brick-and-mortar businesses say social marketing hasnt worked for them in the past or that theyre too late to the game I say, no way. Social marketing can and does work for local brick-and-mortar businesses. Weve seen it work at BuzzPlant with countless local businesses in Franklin, TN, from restaurants and coffee shops to retail and event spaces.

Why not you?

Webcast, May 4th: The Death of Email Marketing and How to Avoid It

Today Im excited to share with you five local social marketing tactics, which are based on 2,139 survey responses and 75,000 data points accumulated by Brandmuscle. Were going to hit some of the highlights below. You can find the full infographic at the bottom of this post.

Local marketers tend to use

and those who pay to advertise generate more leads. 29% of survey respondents said their paid social ads generated leads, while only 13% said their paid social ads did not.

While nearly three in four businesses had claimed their Facebook Page, only one in four paid to advertise on Facebook. Simply being there is not enough. If you want to get results, you are almost always going to have to pay whether thats a campaign for generating impressions or an action-based campaign (email sign-ups, website visits, bookings, etc.). And thats not a bad thing; it means youre in control of what happens with your strategy!

Hosting a local event is said to be the most effective marketing tactic (and the hardest tactic to implement). But if it were easy, everybody would be doing it, right?

92% of local businesses believe they will increase or maintain local event spending in 2017. Dont miss the opportunity to amplify your local event through social media and after-event content.

Lastly, no matter what your local marketing plan consists of just start by making a plan! Only one in three survey respondents said they had a plan! Of course theyre not getting the results they want when theres no course of action or measureable objectives!

Bob Hutchins (Franklin, TN) runs Buzzplant (www.buzzplant.com), A 12+ year old Internet marketing agency targeting the faith/family market. His team was an integral part of the online campaign for Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, The Chronicles of Narnia, Soul Surfer, and many other movies, books, music releases, and Viewfullprofile

Link:
2017 Tactics for Local Social Marketing [Infographic] - Business 2 Community

Reality bites and sometimes what we picture in our head doesnt always play out in real life.

At this point most businesses know that Social Media Marketing and Advertising are crucial for growth and success. However, some businesses still have some misconceptions about how Social Media works versus the reality.

Here are 5 cold, hard truths all businesses need to understand.

The truth here is that Social Media is not a magic bullet, success doesnt typically happen overnight. Social Media Marketing and Advertising are a vehicle to get your business and its products/services in front of as many people as possible and as often as possible so your business will have success, but it will take time and a serious commitment.

Just because it isnt going to work overnight doesnt mean it wont work. Implementing a consistent and aggressive marketing and advertising campaign will generate Social Sales Success in the long-run.

Nearly 70% of all online adults, of all age groups and demographics, are using Social Media. Over 90% of Millennials are using Social Media (in case you havent been paying attention, Millennials are the new consumers!)

No matter your industry or location, it is a safe bet your customers ARE using Social Media. If you arent reaching them through Social Media it is likely your competitors are taking advantage of the fact you arent there.

Get your business on Social Media. Use the sites that make sense for your industry. Each Social Site has a somewhat specific demographic, and Facebook is a pretty safe bet. Most online adults primarily use Facebook. The bottom-line is you need to be where your customers are, and your customers are on Social Media.

If you have tried Social Media Marketing in the past, posting here and there throughout the past few years, or you ran ads on Facebook without any results this does not mean it doesnt work.

Webcast, May 4th: The Death of Email Marketing and How to Avoid It

Social Media Marketing and Advertising has changed so much in the past few years that what you tried a year or two ago is likely not an issue today.

Or, perhaps you had your assistant or intern give Social Marketing a try, they are young and hip and have been using Social Media nearly all their lives and it still didnt work.

If you did not have a formal strategy with a consistent and professionally run Social Media Campaign it is no surprise it did not work.

Hire someone who knows what they are doing. A professional Social Media Marketer will know the ins and outs of the platforms and how to use them to your business advantage.

Keep your campaign running consistently, dont start, and stop, dont abandon your efforts, and dont think that your college intern knows how to seriously market your business because they have been using Instagram since they were 12.

There are Social Media Marketing firms that will guarantee that you will make back 3 times or 4 times or 50% what you spend, they will sell you on the idea that your ads will do nothing but generate revenue. While this can happen (and does happen) it is not the only reason to use Social Media, and generating revenue comes from several other places than just running an ad.

We understand the importance of revenue and sustaining your business, we get ROI, but sometimes that return is not immediately monetary. Additionally, if you are trying to use Social Media to just generate direct revenue and ignore its other benefits you are missing the entire point of Social Media.

Understand that the return on your investment of monthly Social Media Marketing and Advertising is not just direct revenue. Social Media helps your business improve Search Rank on the internet and optimizes your entire business and assisting with your SEO efforts. It creates branding and recognition, develops your online visibility, provides word-of-mouth referrals, and creates warm (sometimes hot) leads and, finally, when combining all of this together it will assist in generating revenue.

Traditional Marketing efforts cost a lot for what you get in return. Spending thousands of dollars a year to get in front of people once a month or quarter is not a wise investment or good use of your money. If you are still running ads in the phone book, sending out coupon mailers or mailing postcards and you arent getting any response it is time to rethink your marketing efforts. If you are getting responses, but not establishing quality leads it is time to rethink your budget.

It typically takes 7 touches to get a response. You need to showcase your business to your audience as many times as possible. The more people get to know your business the more likely they are to call when they need you. Its time to put Social Media first and use Traditional Marketing as an adjunct to your online efforts. Furthermore, dont let your competitors overshadow your business. Get out there and be where your competitors and your customers are, its a wise use of your money.

Laura Donovan is the President of The Word Pro, a national digital marketing company. She is a graduate of North Central College with a degree in Organizational Communications, a discipline that has proved valuable in her Social Media endeavors. Laura been managing Facebook, Google+ and Twitter pages for small and Viewfullprofile

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The Cold, Hard Truth About Social Media Marketing - Business 2 Community