Understanding a Creative Imagery Advertising Strategy

Jun 17, 2016 | blog, Content | 0 comments

Understanding a Creative Imagery Advertising Strategy

In a world where online marketing rules, we are constantly faced with finding more ways to attract and engage potential customers. Although there are plenty of ways to capture their attention, a simple creative imagery advertising strategy can go a long way. Instead of investing in volume or reach, it's time to refocus on your brand. Taking the time to develop an ad with "zap" might be your best idea yet..

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Seeing an ad for the first time can cause three different types of reactions. You immediately feel a sense of emotion through relevance, humor, or even anger; You instantly assimilate the ad with a brand; or you stare at the ad impression with confusion. Advertising can take your brand from nothing to something quickly – but it can also be devastating. It’s important that you use your imagination, but even more important to promote clarity.

If you’re struggling to develop an ad, then don’t worry, you’re not alone. Surprisingly, overthinking during the design process happens quite often. Some design teams implement too much copy while others completely miss their target audience with the presentation. How many times have you had to squint or press pause just to understand the purpose of an ad? There are some occasions where advertisements are so overwhelming that I don’t even remember what I was doing. In my opinion, this is unacceptable. Aside from resonating with your audience for an ad campaign, I urge you to not overlook the power of a creative imagery advertising strategy.

In an age where content is king, engaging customers seems to be the main focus. But, far too many advertisers forget that converting them is the key. Grabbing the consumer’s attention is normally the first step of what can be ab extensive sales cycle. So, why would you want to risk screwing it up from the get-go?

If bounce rates or time on site is killing your business, it’s time to re-evaluate your creative advertisements. You may be receiving “clicks” but your message needs to align with your brand identity. It all begins with making sure you’re targeting the right audience. Once you understand who you’re marketing to, you can serve them a creative image that speaks in their language. Anything else will more than likely miss the mark. Taking the time to do this ensures that once they arrive, they’re actually interested in your offering. Below, I decided to analyze a few of my favorite creative imagery ads to show you just how effective a simple picture can be.

prefocus-faber-castell-colored-pencils-creative-advertising-imagery-strategy-banana

Faber-Castell is the world’s leading manufacturer of wood-cased pencils. Aside from their website’s landing page (that could use a serious facelift), this display ad is a great example of creative imagery advertising. After a few seconds, you begin to realize that the banana isn’t being used for it’s edibility or even shape. Here, they focused on portraying the perfect yellow.

Instead of using another form of the color, like a yield sign or lemon, they decided to go with a healthy alternative that many consumers see on a daily basis. They’re not monkeying around with this strategy.

display-nike-creative-imagery-advertisement-strategic-ad-for-their-free-running-shoes

First of all, the colors used in this ad are perfect. When I came across this creative use of a imagery, I wasn’t sure if they were depicting a long jump or an ability to float. Once I realized the woman is wearing Nike Frees I understood the concept.

Nike’s recent marketing strategy targets the active individual that craves alone time with a burn. The advertisement is meant to create a sense of being free. Even if it makes you think of “free fall” instead, their revolution in motion marketing campaigns are on-point.

Hellmanns-creative-display-ad-using-imagery-and-hotdogs-in-the-shape-of-a-bomb-as-their-advertising-imagery-strategy

I know, this advertisement doesn’t exactly use only one image, but it still intrigues me. Although “hunger” might be your first response, this ad focuses on the condiment. It might take a second to digest, but that’s all the time Hellmann’s needs.

The best part about this strategy is they use relevancy to engage you. Not only will consumers think of Hellmann’s when buying hotdogs, but they’ll also remember to top it with some “bomb” ketchup from the well-known American brand.

imagery-advertisement-by-audi-to-capture-the-attention-of-soccer-lovers-and-show-futbal-support

So, do you think there is a purpose to this ad? Audi is a large supporting of Major League Soccer and recently launched a Player Index campaign that aims to engage fans through statistical data while testing their knowledge.

In the above advertisement, Audi is simply promoting the fact they approve of the sport. But, a simple message like this can live with a consumer for a long time. Aligning with their interests goes a long way when it comes to them making a decision.

Advertising is ever evolving. Whether you’re airing a commercial during the Superbowl, or investing in an Ad in your local newspaper – Advertisements will always bring in the big bucks for those that play their cards right. So, next time your brainstorming towards a creative approach of new acquisition, consider keeping it simple. Either way, content that makes sense will always churn positive results – just don’t overthink it.

Have any questions about your ad strategy?

I specialize in helping you develop a creative approach to the concept of advertising. All you have to do is ask.

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Ensuring Consumers Can Trust Your Brand Online

Jun 11, 2016 | blog, Branding, Content | 0 comments

Ensuring That Consumers Can Trust Your Brand Online.

Improving conversion rates can be a lot more simple than you think. Although sales tactics will always exists, it's important that we all begin to understand what consumers are currently valuing online: Their ability to trust a brand during their buying process..

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Before the world wide web, the foundation of purchases, relationships, and even partnerships was significantly different. Aside from convenience, many leaned on trust and reliability when executing business transactions. Reviews consisted of “asking around” and most referrals came from local recommendations. Once the internet became prevalent, spammy tactics and even misleading information was used to persuade consumers and business owners. There were no parameters and guerrilla marketing efforts created success for those that didn’t even provide a solution. Persuading consumers to trust your brand online wasn’t even being considered.

Although a majority of these strategies ceased once people became more educated in the digital world, we still live in a competitive age that focuses on grabbing the attention of those strolling through. Engaging catch phrases or relevant images are used to capture one’s attention, but are we reaching a point where this becomes ineffective as well? Are business owners starting to figure out that user’s experience is now being considered and valued?

So much has changed in the last decade alone. Instead of going to the local establishment and hand-picking our needs, we now immerse ourselves in an extensive conversion funnel that includes comparison, research, and even leverage. In addition to the decision-making process, there’s also an array of things that can go wrong. Shipping, manufacturing, customization, human error, and quality can often negatively impact the user experience. Although our “on-demand” culture may seem to address fingertip convenience, we quite possibly could be less productive than before. So how can we combat this and reach sustainability? It’s simple. Consumers want to know how they can trust a brand online – and let’s be frank, if they aren’t sure, then they’re probably going to bounce.

Providing clarity throughout the sales cycle will help you begin to build online relationships while creating a sense of loyalty. More so, developing your marketing strategy around the user experience will help ensure that consumers can trust your brand online. Although it’s inevitably up to you to provide the need your visitors crave, here are a few examples that enable them to eliminate you from their conversion funnel.

1. Your Message Doesn’t Make Sense.

If you follow my writing, you’ll soon realize that messaging is one of the most important factors when it comes to marketing. No matter if you’re advertising in the newspaper or on social media, your message needs to be consistent. If you find yourself wavering from the specific products or services you provide, simply to attract potential customers, then you’re setting yourself up for failure. This may work from time to time, but if you’re looking to consistently grow, then it’s important that you establish your brand and stay within your niche.

2. You’re Trying to Hard.

A potential customer has visited your website but they aren’t quite ready to pull the trigger. Their decision-making process is stagnant because other priorities have trumped their initial purchase attempt. In the meantime, you’ve begun to execute retargeting efforts to keep them engaged. The problem is, you’re overwhelming them with information. They begin to see your ad on Facebook and after the 3rd or 4th email, they’ve now placed you in their spam folder. Consider their intelligence, for once. If you engage them with quality content from the start, they’ll remember you in a positive manner.

3. You’re Not Getting to the Point.

How many times have you been immersed in the buying process and landed on a site with far too much information? With content currently being king, and SEO not far behind, it’s understandable why this is common. But, it doesn’t make it effective when addressing trustability. Continuously revising your copy or adding content to your landing page in order to improve rankings might backfire on you in the long run. If you’re expecting visitors to convert on your landing page, then get to the point – or at least organize your content in a way that’s presentable to avoid overwhelming consumers.

4. You’re Too Focused on Adsense.

If the main objective of your website surrounds traffic, then you’re probably pretty focused on charging affiliates for their ads. Although this is a great source of income, don’t allow it to distract users from your offering. Aside from news or blogging, you’re not going to make a living off of advertisements – especially if traffic declines. If a visitor has to “X” out of an immediate ad, then search for a contact form amongst other call-to-actions, how long do you think they’ll stay? Ensuring that consumers can trust your brand online includes your ability to provide them with the only solution they’re looking for right now.

Gaining the trust of potential customers online is a lot harder than it’s made out to be. At the end of the day, always lean on consistency. Sometimes users only count on you to provide them with one solution – and that’s OK. When you’re attempting to grow your brand and expand online, it’s important that you have a strategy.

Most importantly, once you’re able to finally get them on your page, don’t lose them. Get to the point, provide clarity, and let them make the best decision, for themselves. If you take the time to be precise on the front end, then you have nothing to worry about. You can begin talking about other ventures and expansion once you scale and own the niche you set out to dominate. Be patient and build your brand one brick at a time and consumers will easily begin to trust your brand online.

If you're currently in the market for a strategic approach..

Feel free to analyze the the current strategic marketing solutions I provide. By working together, I assist passionate business owners with reaching their potential by developing proper brand messaging through the right channels. Most importantly, through trust.

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A Qualitative Guide for On-Page SEO Keyword Selection.

Jun 7, 2016 | blog, Content, strategy | 0 comments

A Qualitative Guide for On-Page SEO and Keyword Selection

Don't overthink an SEO strategy when you're building service or landing pages for a professional website. Trying to cram too much into the presentation makes it difficult to communicate the ideal value specific consumers are searching for. My qualitative guide for on-page SEO and keyword selection will help you maximize, structure, and personalize every form of content you produce.

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As of late, search engine optimization has become more tactical than process-driven. Far too many “marketing” agencies and freelancers and cutting corners to increase views. This just isn’t sustainable in today’s ever-evolving digital landscape. Instead of investing in original means to create memories, most publishers are chasing popular search phrases and trends. But intent is where it’s at!

Even though you may be presented with a promising organic gameplan, it doesn’t mean it’s your best bet. In fact, it could very well be a devastating gamble. Search services are never cheap. Nearly every “marketer” slangs a slew of unnecessary add-ons (that they talk their clients into) in order to drive up their residual income. The more you know the better.

Phony SEO Experts Hinder Any Organic Strategy.

The guarantee of higher rankings doesn’t always mean better profit margins. Since SEO is an upfront cost (rarely providing a return in less than 60 days), a lot of money can be spent before any proof is in the pudding. Conveyer belt SEO is solely responsible for the high turnover in my space. And quite frankly, it’s the main reason why quality brands won’t take people like me seriously.

Trust is a big problem. It’s hard for decision-makers to know what is going to pay off when they don’t understand what they need. No matter what you think or feel about organic methods, you have to be able to hold your marketing team accountable. Creating a unique story that resonates with visitors needs to be incorporated and at the forefront of your SEO strategy (even if you’re covering a trending topic).

Quality SEO implementation is not something you can just hand to someone and expect done in a few days. It takes time and understanding. Investing in the reach of your definitive value is important. There are tons of ways to improve organic traffic. Here are some ways keyword selection can enhance your on page optimization efforts.

1. Find Descriptive Search Phrases.

Every qualitative guide for on-page SEO needs to begin with the brand’s reason-for-being. In other words, quality optimization requires certainty and boundaries. Far too often, I see companies chasing quantitative results instead of targeted returns. It’s not about duplicating a successful competitor and hoping to win people over with pricing. It’s about finding the genuine pockets you speak to best. Basic SEO practices leave a ton of money on the table – every single day!

When analyzing SEO strategies, I often find that a majority of keyword outlines (title tags, page structures, content mapping, etc..) surround broad, high volume search phrases instead of detailed search variations that magnify a problem, want or need. Unless you have a true, tailored approach to converting online visitors, you’re competing with buckets and buckets of options. Dialing things in and dominating smaller pockets of less-popular-keywords is far more rewarding.

Now, I’m not saying high volume keywords should be ignored. But when you’re developing a webpage or blog, you have to be willing and able to expand the search horizon and see where opportunity lies. You store might be located next to all of your competitors – but are you really going to purchase billboard ads next to them all too? On-page efforts should always cater to the most intentful user searches without compromising company goals and brand standards. Anything less us pure laziness and extremely wasteful.

When there is certainty behind the keywords you target, the job of any content writer is a whole lot easier. Boundaries and vision help them get directly to the point. Continuously adding copy or cramming keywords to boost rankings only makes things worse. Being found is only one step of the process. Less competition, detailed answers, and clear value is a recipe for high conversion rates.

2. Stop Force Feeding Focus Keywords.

Optimizing a webpage with one single keyword is one of the most common misrepresentations of search engine optimization. Again, quantitative methods don’t work as well for SEO. It may seem like a no-brainer to force feed a specific search phrase (evenly) throughout the copy, but you’re going about it all wrong. If you take anything away from my qualitative guide for on-page SEO, it better be the use of search phrase variations. Like I mentioned before, diversity matters.

Methodically writing copy that doesn’t come off as repetitive and spammy gives the site a chance to rank for multiple keywords that are relevant to the purpose of your on-page copy. Remember, search engines don’t just count keywords. They measure they experience; or quality of writing and user navigation. Sometimes, breaking down copy into sections with unique titles drives tremendous results!

Map Out the Flow of SEO Verbiage.

Once you’ve identified a slew of keywords, organize them. If you’re breaking down the on-page SEO for a webpage about gardening – what’s the main focus? Are you an expert of a certain climate, soil, region? What types of plants? How much experience? Will people want to follow you or simply read about to your journey? Will they be experts or beginners? What type of verbiage will they appreciate, or possibly misunderstand? How can you capture your personality as a gardener.

Asking a lot of questions will give you insight on which keywords will compliment to primary search you’re targeting. The title, “Planting My First Rose Garden After Years in My Scottish Apple Orchard” (with detailed supporting keywords) is a lot more effective than, “How to Start a Rose Garden”. There are probably thousands of blogs on the latter – while the first is almost certain to draw local appeal.

Search Phrases Can Fluctuate and Improve Rankings.

If you want to improve SEO rankings so you can sell more of something (like shoes), then you better be able to communicate the unique specificities of the shoe to search engines. Little things, like imagery and quality web designs help – but they do nothing if people can’t find you! So start with differentiation, then proceed with variation. A focus keyword, such as, “white leather and pink lace little girl shoes,” can be broken down in so many ways. Make the primary phrase prominent, but sprinkle in some contrast to broaden the reach.

Expanding on the purpose of your content will draw more visitors that are specifically looking for this solution – and search engines are more likely to rank you higher based on relevance.

3. Readability Matters With SEO.

Once you’ve solidified your purpose and uncovered correlating keywords, it’s time to organize your thoughts. Landing page development is no different than writing a research paper or even a blog. Organizing the presentation and structure is key. This is why I use a content map and SEO outline with all of my clients. Every transition, new paragraph or sub-heading needs to read well and involve pertinent information.

Most website visitors skim headings, bullet points or even pictures to find what they’re looking for. Not everyone is interested in the entire article. At the same time, you still want to be detailed regarding the topic. Any time a consumer can completely understand the purpose, value, or offer you’re promoting – the better. I’d be wasting your time if I didn’t mention this in my qualitative guide to on-page SEO.

Don’t Be Afraid to Create Distinct Content.

Although extensive details do matter, try not to pack everything about one topic onto one page. Breaking content down into a series or separate ideas is rarely a bad idea. It may take longer, but the reach is far greater. Doing so helps you maximize keyword variations even more. For example, the title, “What Girls Love Most About Horseback Riding Lessons in the Rockies” doesn’t have to summarize 4000 words. You could create three separate topics for women, teen gals and young ladies – and even optimize the heading by replacing “the Rockies” with Rocky ridge trails, Colorado mountain ranges and foothills.

Take the time to see what people are going to need or take the time to read. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by the benefits of breaking down content ideas. A simple “horseback riding for girls” blog article could evolve into a full blown marketing campaign that changes the entire outlook of your business! You never know until you consider what you’re doing – and not just how cheaply you can get it done!

How Can You Avoid Poorly Written SEO?

In order to garner the organic results you’re seeking, consider the following tips that will drastically address the readability of your on-page content.

Tone down outbound links and avoid sending visitors to a site or page that will distract them from their search.
Bolded words can help visitors find the right information but it can also overwhelm them.
Adsense income is great and all, but not if display ads take away from your conversion funnel.
Long paragraphs that don’t get to the point can cause disinterest and hurt your credibility.
A lack of headings and a breakdown of content can also disengage consumers.
Misspellings and poorly written sentences are a reflection of your professionalism and respect.
Big words and extravagant verbiage can be deterring.

Readability is probably the most overlooked element of quality SEO. A lot of times, the technical side of things (outlines, backend tags, links) are fine – but the copy is a mess. This only ruins the first impression, which halts the entire sales cycle. Don’t sabotage yourself and hire a cheap write that’s out of touch with your value and identity.

Far too often, I come across pages that annoy and overwhelm me. In turn, I look elsewhere for a solution. If you don’t have the money to hire an SEO strategist to help you with your message and overall presentation, there are some great tools that help you improve your readability online. But the easiest way to keep people on-site is to find a quality copywriter.

You don't always have to hire someone to improve rankings..

At PreFocus, I’m passionate about helping brands enhance their search engine optimization. It’s such a detailed process that always needs work. This qualitative guide for on-page SEO is only the tip of the iceberg, but it’ll bring you a step closer to higher rankings. If you’re still confused or want to learn more about a customized search strategy, your first consultation is always free!

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Understanding a Marketing Mix.

Jun 4, 2016 | blog, Branding | 0 comments

Understanding Your Marketing Mix

My name is Jordan Trask and I specialize in providing businesses with conceptual processes that build sustainability and brand recognition. Here, I expand on brand development by discussing the value of understanding a marketing mix. I’m passionate about helping companies think things through before they spend their hard earned dollars on branding and marketing services.

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When it comes to developing and promoting products or services, many businesses don’t exactly know where to start. From my experience, a majority of business owners look into SEO or paid advertising strategies before they even consider defining their brand. But this can hinder their short and long term goals due to lack of clarity. Understanding a marketing mix and all it entails gives business owners an sense of direction and purpose.

Positioning a brand effectively on the front end enables growth on the back end – no matter how sticky the competition is. Let me explain..

Understanding What a Marketing Mix is.

As defined by the Business Dictionary, a marketing mix develops the overview of your product or service’s location, price, and promotability. Simple market research can help you determine a general snapshot of what this looks like and how you should approach it with a plan. You can pay someone to analyze the market for you, but it’s important that you understand the findings. Not taking this seriously can literally leave opportunity on the table – or under it.

The Advantages of Mixing Up Your Marketing.

Understanding your marketing mix gives you a chance to magnify your brand voice, culture and definitive value. Every channel and message on it is purposed and cohesive. Even the flow of internal functions line up. It’s a lot easier to be transparent with brand standards when a quality market mix is involved. Synergy throughout the business generates a peace of mind for customers, employees, partners and prospects.

Invest Heavily in Every Single First Impression.

Now that the digital age is a decade in, consumers are beginning to value genuine content that speaks to their obvious and hidden needs – not just address them cheaply. If you’re looking to achieve your business goals and reach sustainability, it’s important to identify with the market you currently dwell in.

Jumping right into persuasive tactics can leave you disconnected with your audience. If you’re not in tune with (or even considering) the actual people in your marketplace, then failure is inevitable. Let’s look into every facet of the mix in order to explain the why..

1. Marketing Location & Logistics.

Although it may sound cliche, location is everything. For example, pitching flip flops in the Alaskan wilderness can be an uphill battle. But, if you provide specific value in that location (like creating a campaign for Alaskans traveling to Hawaii), you’ll be happily surprised by the results.

Considering the location plays a big role in the messaging of the campaign. You just can’t market the same value in different areas and across different cultures – it’s just not intelligent. When developing a marketing mix, take advantage of geographical targeting and use relevant, unique content to speak to people – not at them.

Changing Up Messaging and Delivery.

Is your product or service offered in different parts of the United States? Don’t market the same message to every region! Define the elements of each location and use it in your marketing efforts. This takes a lot of organization but is always worth the return.

In reality, every business should be able to paint a clear picture of how each market acts, thinks and even believes. Living in the Bible belt is a lot different than the west coast! A poorly curated message can detour credibility (or even trust) and ruin perception altogether.

Getting a better understanding of your locational marketing mix really helps creative teams during the planning process. People are able to think ahead and attend meetings with great ideas or even fresh taglines for certain locations.

2. Strategically Setting Prices.

Determining the pricing of a product or service is one of the hardest decisions a new company faces. There are a number of factors that reside in price positioning. Within the process, an operation is forced to consider manufacturing, development, promotion, salaries, other expenses, setbacks and even goals.

Overthinking your pricing strategy can make or break your business quickly. No matter the approach, your ability to plan with contingency is imperative. Although some of you may be looking for a definitive solution to this problem, every business (industry and market) is different. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Product pricing can range depending on value, functionality, uniqueness and quality.

Considerations for Price Positioning.

When you think of the service industry, for example, nearly every cost and offer has the potential to be customized. In most cases, competition plays a big role in the final strategy. Nonetheless, it’s important that you position your business with realistic standards.

When building a market mix and establishing pricing, consider these three questions:

How am I going to scale? Is there an opportunity to drive down costs in the future?
Am I selling affordability or quality? Do I need to price high or can I afford to wait?
Is there opportunity for return customer sales or is my foundation new acquisition?

More Value Should Cost More Money..

Whether your a large or small operation, taking the time to develop value propositions will help properly valuate the offer. If you’re really above average, then you need to be able to define why and how. No matter what the competition is doing, if you’re better, you’re better.

In other words, be confident in the outcomes that you plan for. Don’t settle for less, trying to increase profits. This sets a low bar – especially when you’re just getting started. On the flip side, if you don’t plan with purpose, then your expectations shouldn’t be too high. Price accordingly.

3. Appropriate Brand Promotion.

Your marketing mix cannot be complete without a vision to promote your product or service with intention. Even if your locational message is precise and your prices are on point, your marketing strategy needs to make sense. This is the final piece of the marketing mix puzzle that so many businesses screw up.

For whatever reason, it’s extremely tempting to duplicate what similar companies are doing to drive revenue instead of brand awareness. Poor marketing typically leads to the lower prices and more agressive sales. This usually takes a business off track. Although a lot of stuff plays into a promotional strategy, I thought it’d be a good idea to highlight channel and timing.

Where to Place a Marketing Campaign?

If you’re looking for a starting point, social media has pretty much emerged as a go-to platform for promoting anything. But before you jump in head first on every channel, you’ve got to find a sweet spot. Which platform best suits your brand voice and best represents the customer base that values you the most? Finding 1-2 channels that your target audience enjoys is enough.

Although it may sound odd, not everyone is on Facebook. Your most loyal customer may not even be on social media. Are you considering your current base when making decisions? Even though Twitter is growing, a lot of it’s users don’t even understand the structure and algorithms within. You could publish hundreds of posts on each platform and never gain any traction.

Getting Specific and Not Complacent with Ads.

If you’re thinking about advertising in a publication, don’t let viewership possibilities or sales charisma sway you. A magazine or local paper that’s rarely used as a phone book and loaded with competitors is not a good option for quick leads.

Even if you don’t care about a fast return, awareness campaigns aren’t for everyone. Publications with an ideal readership still can’t promise you anything. Besides the quality of the ad, placement and consumer behaviors all play a role. If your ideal audience uses Google or Siri for help, the paper ad is obsolete. Understanding your marketing mix helps you avoid these kinds of out-of-touch decisions.

Any advertising option needs to be able to at least guarantee some sort of snapshot. There has to be data on similar companies within your market and expected actions of potential users. If they can’t even describe what their subscribers or readers look like, they can’t help you. Your money will be spent better elsewhere.

Be Certain About Your Content and Adspend.

Brands are able to promote their value accordingly when they’re able to find their place – on or offline. There are so many different ways to generate recognition and present a solution. Finding the best ways to reach people in specific areas with the right price and message is the key to sustainability. Throwing too big of a net (or fishing in) the wrong places causes you to work backwards and lean on chance over reason.

Little Details Springboard Marketing Campaigns.

Even after you’ve configured your position, you can still fine tune your approach by identifying relevant dates, seasons, events and holidays that boost the relevance of your product or service. Functional positioning can also help you pinpoint certain causes that align with (or even enhance) your voice and value.

If you’re going to pay a social media manager, then make sure they’re tracking relevant trends and topics that support the message you relay. Cheap service and inexperience never pays off. Understanding a marketing mix is rarely on the mind of task-pushers. Forcing a rushing a marketing campaign just because it’s a holiday is extremely wasteful.

Understanding a Marketing Mix Takes Time.

Although brand promotion is a key factor of success, you must align this strategy with the locations you serve and the prices you provide. Every marketing decision ought to If you’re unable to make sense of it all then you’re setting yourself up for failure. Why wouldn’t you want to maximize opportunity and returns?

If defining and understanding a marketing mix is important to you, you’re already on the right track. But don’t rush the process. Take the time to find clarity and only settle on certainty. Vision and purpose make any kind of strategy a whole lot better.

If you’re ever interested in hashing anything out, your first consultation is always free.

Need to Shake Up Your Marketing?

I’m passionate about helping my clients understand their marketing mix so they can develop a brand that makes sense. Far too often, new business overlook the power of these foundational elements of business development. I’m here to help you prefocus on opportunity by leaving no stone left unturned.

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Capturing Your Audience at the Right Time.

Jun 2, 2016 | blog | 0 comments

Capturing Your Audience at the Right Time.

Allocating potential customers isn't as simple as most make it out to be. In reality, too many companies pay thousands of dollars to marketing agencies that aren't personalizing their product or service. But, how can you drive sales with someone else's strategy? Let's dive into our suggestive approach on capturing your audience.

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Often times, I find myself immersed in conversations pertaining to micro moments or target based ads. Even more often, I witness marketers going about this all wrong. As the “data-selling” age comes to a close, we find ourselves facing a marketing realm full of consumer behavior instead. People don’t care about how many “likes” you have or how cool your website is – they want a solution to their problem right now. So, how do you capture them? When it the best time to strategize new acquisition? The answer is: there is no definitive answer.

I feel like you just looked at the computer screen sideways.. but, it’s true! As the industry continues to evolve, there is a general misconception about capturing your audience at the right time. Sure, you can mimic a strategy that inspires you, but who’s to say their following is interested in your product or solution? In my opinion, it’s just as effective as investing in a CPM campaign. The most troubling aspect is that people are actually attributing sales to this methodology. Just because your ad or marketing strategy makes sense to you, it doesn’t mean the same for your audience.

Have I lost you yet? That’s OK, I’m not going to bore you with reasoning, rather inspire you with strategy. So, instead of rambling, let me expand on a few simple steps that can help you capture your audience and budget at the same time. Hopefully, once you’re able to see where I’m coming from, the way you view marketing will change. If you’re already investing time in the development phase, then more power to you!

Create Your Brand Message

Messaging, regarding marketing, is far too often overlooked by marketers. It seems as though the buggy is being placed before the horse. Sure, your advertisement or post may be catchy, but if your message doesn’t make sense to your target audience, then you’re wasting valuable time and money. Have you ever seen a movie that sounded good? I think you catch my drift.. Setting yourself apart or creating your own niche presents the consumer with a unique opportunity they won’t find elsewhere. Once you develop the message that your brand lives by and solidify the solution you provide – you can move onto step two.

Develop Your Target First.

Once your messaging is complete, it’s time to paint a picture of your ideal customer. Traffic is great, but if your spending money attracting people that are only going to read your blog, then I ask you to reconsider. We live in a competitive era that is constantly bucketing consumers into assumptions. Assumptions are like metaphors – and not very adequate. For example, I bought Nike socks – so you can assume I’m going to buy Nike shoes.. But, what if I don’t wear sneakers at all? How do you know? Start by identifying what your customer looks like so you can transition into the next phase.

Research Your Personas

Establishing a target audience is essential to any campaign – but targeting them takes results to the next level. When most people think of personas, they assimilate a stereotype or demographic. Stay at home mom, or business professional always come to mind. But imagine the results you would garnish if you took each of these a few steps further. How about a stay at home fitness mom who is heavily involved at church and school. In most cases, your best bet to reach this persona is early in the morning or before bed. Exploring possibilities and testing your strategies will help you really uncover and capture your audience.

Create Your Capture.

Once you’ve developed your message, identified an audience, and created your personas – it’s time to plan accordingly. Now that you know your stay at home mom will be easily captured from 5-7am and 8-10pm, it’s time to unfold a campaign that resonates with them. Instead of shouting: “Hey Mom!” – consider a message they can relate to. Short phrases like, “long day?” or “early start” will more than likely attract them to the content your curating. Once you have their attention, present them with a purposeful message. But, don’t stop there. Determine what type of call-to-action is most effective. Getting them on-page is one thing, converting is another.

As you can see, capturing your audience at the right time takes more effort than guesstimation and your analyzing competition’s data. Brands that take the time to develop a strategy normally come out on top. If you’re in a rush to convert, remind yourself that a higher conversion rate is better than a poor campaign. For more information on how you can develop your own strategy, feel free to reach out.

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