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Archive

Category: Media

Part 1: Podcasts are here to stay

Posted on by administir
podcasting microphone in front of podcasting table

“There’s a podcast for that.” It’s true: No matter the topic, you’re likely to find a podcast that fits a certain niche. With more than 2 million podcasts in existence, there is bound to be one that piques someone’s interest. 

Podcasts – episodic series of digital audio files users can download and listen to at their convenience – continue to explode in popularity. A 2021 study conducted by Edison Research revealed that podcast listenership in America has grown a mighty 29.5% over the past three years. Podcasts’ average monthly audience size is 116 million people – a 61.5% increase over three years. It was also found that 57% of Americans have listened to a podcast. So, how can brands take advantage of this forum? 

As global social media engagement has plateaued, per the latest GWI study, podcasts have the power to offer brands a new, growing medium to captivate new audiences. They provide different means of connecting with audiences in ways social media cannot. Here are some key reasons to consider adding a podcast to your company’s digital marketing toolkit.  

Empower your audience on the go

Podcasts are long-form pieces of content with virtually no boundaries on length. For example, you can create an episode anywhere between a few minutes and a few hours. And unlike most video platforms and social networks, podcasts don’t always rely on internet connection. Once the podcast is downloaded to the device, listening can happen over the Atlantic Ocean or in the middle of a cornfield in Iowa. Not only is Wi-Fi not a constant barrier, but podcasts can also be listened to whenever, wherever without missing a beat. The pause/start button enables the listener to tune in when their schedule allows. In other words, your audience is free to choose the time and place to listen to your content. 

When it comes to podcasts, the content you create empowers the audience’s control over when they want to listen. This is a significant advantage when compared to other forms of content that live on social media, which might be missed if the audience is not active during the time posts are published. Podcast listeners are opting to interact with your brand, which can make a greater impact on the success of your podcast and overall marketing goals.  

Drive stronger connections

Podcasts, like the radio and other traditional media, are a one-way form of communication in which the sender is speaking to the listener, but the listener cannot provide immediate feedback nor participate in a dialogue. This form of communication often comes with a negative response. In other words, the receiver of the communication, i.e., the audience, may feel unseen or underappreciated, thus potentially hurting the brand’s long-term content goals. This is a possible concern for podcasts, but due to the nature of the technology, the receiver already understands the setup of the communication, as they voluntarily engage with the platform. 

As listeners carry podcasts wherever they go – from their morning commute to the gym to doing chores at home – a bond is created between the podcast and listener – both literally and figuratively. The listeners can take a deep dive into assorted topics, no matter how niche or broad. Podcasts also humanize your brand by clarifying your values and displaying thought leadership and expertise. The bond grows stronger between the hosts and listener each episode, developing an emotional connection that is hard to break. It has been shown repeatedly that strong emotional connections between brands and consumers can generate more sales and foster loyalty. Additionally, the dialogue is longer and more in-depth on podcasts than on other channels. 

Podcasts are an effective way to elaborate on topics related to the brand and feature guests with aligned values and opinions. Brands can elevate and amplify different voices otherwise not enabled to be heard on other channels. These unique opportunities build loyal relationships with audiences, which ultimately leads to trust. Trust drives repeat and new business, marketing responsiveness, loyalty, and even goodwill during hardships. 

Podcasts are an affordable, versatile, and powerful way to engage with audiences, but should they be a part of your brand’s marketing strategy? In part 2, we’ll discuss how to incorporate podcasting into your digital marketing toolkit.

Earth Day Is Every Day in Marketing

Posted on by administir

This year, Earth Day hits 49 – nearly eligible for its own AARP card. But instead of feeling like an old idea, thriving brands are making sustainability and responsibility a critical part of their marketing strategy from ocean waste transforming into Adidas shoes to Patagonia donating millions of dollars to environmental groups. In virtually every industry, marketing is the fertilizer that helps these eco-minded brands grow. It’s keeping environmentalism alive in a healthy win-win relationship.

Take the food industry, for example. It’s celebrity-turned-health gurus like Gwyneth Paltrow, creator of “GOOP,” and Kourtney Kardashian, producer of “Poosh,’ that popularized the concept of ‘clean eating.’ This diet that eliminates processed food, a challenging feat considering the saturated fast-food industry we live in, started with vegetarians and vegans but it didn’t take long for marketers to catch on. Recognizing the epidemic, companies are incorporating wholesome ingredients and responding with more transparency on nutrition labels. It’s a move that will benefit consumers’ health but also provides the opportunity for even more marketing revenue.

Even the fast food market has opened its deep fryers to the idea, with brands like Burger King providing a health conscious veggie burger.

Sometimes sustainability gets a boost through marketing controversy. This was true with the heated Miller versus Bud Light attack ‘corn syrup’ ads. It started with multimillion dollar, 30 second spots during the Super Bowl and continued on home turf with three consistent billboards by Bud Light, calling Miller Lite and Coors out for using corn syrup. Did this pay off for Bud Light? Not really considering Miller Coors quickly debunked the myth that yeast consumes rice and corn syrup in the fermentation process (maybe we’re biased here). However, this campaign did remind previously content beer drinkers that they may want to check the ingredients label!

https://oohtoday.com/ooh-beer-wars-continue-in-milwaukee/

No matter what local brewery tour you decide to hop on, you’ll hear about their love for sustainability. At Miller, they’ll talk about their water conservation efforts or how they created the first recyclable, aluminum can. Craft-breweries like MKE Brewery take pride in their local ingredients and solar panels, and Lakefront, who claimed the title of being organic certified and even created gluten-free beer.

And what’s eco-friendly beer without sustainably made cheese! And one specifically (again, a little bias) is our client, Wisconsin’s own Meister Cheese Company. For more than 100 years, Meister has produced superior cheese and high-quality protein products for companies like Chipotle who go out of their way to source only healthy, responsibly made products, and it has become a key differentiator in their branding.

Producing and consuming sustainable products flow in a circular pattern, where everyone is rewarded. In this case, the dairy farmers, the quick service industry, and you, the consumer.

So, Earthlings – drink your beer, eat your cheese and go green!

Six Essential Ingredients of Optimization-Based Media and Campaign Planning

Posted on by Brian Bennett

There is a strategic transition being driven by a divergence between standard planning approaches and emerging best practices. The standard approach suggests plans are set in stone and that every element will perform exactly as anticipated. However, even the best-laid plans can go awry and optimization becomes critical.

A typical communications campaign planning process includes the following overarching steps:

  • Establish objectives and plan parameters
  • Plan development
  • Plan execution and monitoring

Once plan development is complete, the end result typically includes a flowchart showing tactics and where every penny of the budget is spent for the campaign’s duration. Plan optimization can sometimes fail to extend to offline tactics due to perceived challenges with measurement of non-digital elements. All forms of communication in the plan can, and should, be held to a higher, more measurable standard and be subject to the same level of scrutiny. Taking a more agile approach to planning, like optimization-based planning, can be an effective way to overcome these challenges.

Emerging Best Practice

Optimization-based planning means you go into a planning cycle with the intention to test a variety of tactics, and only the initial measurable time period for a campaign is planned and purchased, such as the first one to two months of an annual campaign. The budget balance is then set aside to reinvest into the most effective tactics or disciplines after the first cycle of reporting. Those that don’t meet specific performance criteria are eliminated.
There are many benefits to optimization-based planning:

  • It allows a team to plan in an integrated fashion and levels the playing field for all disciplines beyond traditional and digital media, such as social, public relations, inbound and account-based marketing, to contribute. Though metrics and measurement capabilities may be slightly different across tactics, a method to compare performance across tactics is essential (and possible!).
  • Budgets are not tied up in non-cancellable media contracts or other out-of-pocket costs. By formalizing plans only for the initial time period, the budget is not restricted within any tactic. This allows the team to modify the plan to concentrate spend on the efforts driving the most efficient results. The flexibility to focus on results or react to unexpected competitive situations increases.
  • Results and efficiency improve over time, often at a much stronger pace than typical planning approaches. If there is a tactic across any discipline that is driving conversions at a much stronger and cost-efficient rate, there is freedom in this approach to reinvest into that tactic.

Optimization-based planning can drive results for brands across categories and budget sizes due to the incredible amount of flexibility provided. Follow these best practices to take full advantage of optimization-based planning:

  1. Secure complete upfront alignment from all stakeholders on KPIs and elimination criteria before any purchases are made. Critical to this aspect is to ensure every element can be measured.
  2. Set a firm deadline by which the initial optimizations will be made – and stick to it.
  3. Establish a format for integrated campaign reporting that includes every discipline, including owned, earned and paid elements.
  4. Set aside a portion of the creative development budget to make modifications to assets during the flight so top-performing messaging can be incorporated into remaining plan elements.
  5. Identify an optimization process owner. While each subject matter expert will monitor and make recommendations for their respective disciplines, this process requires an ultimate owner to lead overall campaign stewardship. The owner must ensure all elements and optimizations are properly timed, executed and that measurements align.
  6. Have client and agency teams communicate on a frequent basis. This is perhaps the most important factor for success.

The key to optimization-based planning is to take a holistic view of all marketing efforts and establish a clear set of performance expectations upfront. With a proper foundation and strong team communication, you’ll be on your way to your next successful campaign.

Speak the Language: Writing Content for Different Media Types

Posted on by Brian Bennett

Marketing continues to evolve at a fast past. Shaping a campaign to integrate across a variety of platforms can be a challenge – each media has a unique task and communicates to consumers in different ways.

One way to understand the different mediums is to view them each like unique personalities. You need to speak that platform’s language, otherwise the message will be lost and your audience is on to the next thing.

Below are the top four digital personalities and how to speak their language:

Email marketing messaging – The salesman

Persuasive and clever, he needs to capture your attention in the midst of a crowd. With so many other salespeople out there like him, he gets his message across clearly with a personal flair. He always keeps in touch and finds ways to speak to new people.

Websites – The Waitstaff

They are is the customer-facing arm of the company, and needs as much information available as possible. However, they also needs to read the table. If a person is in a hurry and scanning the menu, she focuses on the important parts. For content, this means using headlines, bullet points or whitespace to highlight pertinent information. If a person needs detailed information, they can link with additional persons (or pages) to share the material requested.

Social media – The networker

At all the social scenes, she strikes up conversations and builds relationships. She doesn’t hard sell or continuously pester her audience. She’d have no one left if that happened! Through building relationships and listening to those around her, she’s able to offer solutions and things of interest that her company can provide to the right people at the right time.

Banner Ads – The speed dater

There are a lot of people in the room, so he has to get his point across in a clear and concise manner – quickly! While occasionally charming, he’s straightforward and tells you what you need to know. Either you’re interested or you’re not. Each medium requires specialized copy to fit its personality. However, as you’re writing, you need to make sure you don’t lose that original purpose and message. Continuously think of the time, place and content this message will be received, and if you are speaking in the company voice.