We are back with another round up of the most interesting and important developments in digital marketing from the past week, but before scrolling down, have you caught up on last weeks instalment? If not, we covered mobile video consumption, the importance of verified reviews and took a look at changes in Facebook’s organic reach strategy – which we continue to discuss this week… Read on for the following:
Research has shown that most SMEs are planning to attribute more of their budget – around 16% – to their digital marketing efforts, including social media, content, PR and performance. This upsurge in spending in this area is thought to be due to the impressive ROIs of those companies who invested in the previous year, according to over half of the 1,394 SME business owners who partook in the survey.
The marketing spend in 2017 was of less importance, with 61% of respondents noting that although it was something that they dedicated money and time towards, it was not a core focus for their business.
For the coming year, the majority of SME owners (67%) said that they will ‘be dedicating more financial budget to marketing efforts in the year ahead than in previous years.’ Social media marketing is the main focus, with content marketing, public relations and performance marketing also ranking with SME owners.
As part of the survey, the respondents were questioned on the reasons behind their increased spend – and the results reveal that the most popular reason was that these SMEs had seen other companies get great results and ROI with their marketing efforts (51%).
Other companies cited having had a successful year, which can support a higher marketing spend (32%); that they are aware that without a modern marketing strategy their company will be left behind (28%); to top up an existing and successful marketing strategy (24%); and 13% of SMEs were investing more in marketing to counteract a bad previous year in business.
Rick Leake, Client Services Director at Affilinet said:
“In the modern digital age, your marketing strategy is key for creating awareness amongst customers, generating interest and sales, and continuing engagement.
“As an SME budgets can be tight, but the need to implement a strong and clear marketing strategy is especially important as many small business owners can get caught up with the daily marketing activities (sending emails, tweeting, writing a blog etc) without keeping track of the bigger, long term picture.”
The forthcoming changes implemented by the GDPR are set to see 34% of consumers opt out of giving their data to companies. According to a recent survey by the7stars in which 1000 UK consumers were questioned, 34% said that they are planning to exercise their new ‘right to be forgotten’.
The reasons behind the consumers uptake of the new rules put in place by the GDPR include concerns over data protection and privacy, a lack of trust, and a feeling that their data was not being used in the ‘best possible way’. The survey also showed that 58% of respondents had questioned how and where their personal data is used since the GDPR was announced.
58% of the survey respondents viewed the regulations set out in the GDPR as positive changes to the digital landscape, and 32% noted that they would feel more trust in online brands after the changes come into effect on the 25th May. Frances Revel of the7stars notes that for those companies that,
“tackle consumer concerns around data protection and privacy head on, [are] the brands [that] stand to gain the most.”
READ MORE: GDPR and Digital Marketing
Social media platforms are becoming increasingly popular for customer service issues, taking over from calls and emails. In 2013, 70% of consumers used social media at least once for a customer service issue, a number which is thought to have grown significantly over time. Customers spend 20-40% more with companies that engage and respond with them on social media.
Customer service like this is reactive – responding to customers queries and complaints as they come in – but what would proactive customer service look like?
As brands have realised that great customer service could be a differentiator from their competition, they are investing in technologies that will anticipate the needs of their customers, thereby delivering relevant and personalised service…
If you’re looking to create more proactive customer service, we have four tips to get you there:
Use bots to reply to simple, routine queries from customers, as this still provides a quick and efficient response to the query, and most importantly it frees up the staff in the team to answer the complex, nuanced queries and complaints. Staff can then be proactive in engaging with customers, creating relationships and finding ways to please.
Invest in analytics and social listening tools, as these spot the trends in behaviour, spikes in queries and the ever changing demands of your customers.
Whilst data analysis will present your brand with what your customers are saying, emotional analytics shows how they feel. Customers react to products and campaigns, and by listening to these reactions it will help to create more proactive content that is tailored to the topics that your customers are talking about (as well as informing future campaigns and products).
It takes the right people to deliver great customer service, so choose staff that can take the insights from the data to proactively engage customers. The right person will be able to resolve issues before they grow, create personal positive relationships with customers and will make the most of each opportunity that the online community offers.
Content can be both a successful and integral part of a business, whilst also sometimes being only a one-hit wonder. Adding only short-term value, it is preferable for content to have a long shelf life, delivering value in the long term rather than only generating ‘click throughs’ when fresh.
In order to achieve longer term content, we have some strategies to share…
For long term content, you have to create reasons for their long term engagement with your brand. A good example of this is the car manufacturer, Tesla, as their after-sale service includes anything from online software updates to physical adaptations and additions to the car.
Each of these opportunities for the customer to update their car is also an opportunity for Tesla to stay in touch with their customers, and to gain insights as to how they use and adapt their cars in relation to their personal lives. Upselling is far easier to loyal customers, and Tesla is most certainly building loyalty amongst their users.
Clever personalisation is a great way to bring each customer a brand experience that is relevant to them, however, bad personalisation is a great way to alienate your customers.
Research has shown that 66% of the UK consumers that were surveyed strongly dislike when brands use out-of-date personal information, and 63% dislike when brands get their personal details wrong.
Mass personalisation is all about gathering, tracking and analysing your customers data across all channels – mobile, social, in store and online. Creating a strong presence on social media sites is vital – as the information gathered from here will inform the rest of your marketing tactics for each individual customer.
Another way to personalise your marketing is through a data-driven strategy, where powerful content marketing and management software analyses which topics and products are popular for your target audience, meaning that you can direct your marketing to these areas.
Integrate your data! Having your data kept separately in a marketing automation platform, a siloed application, website analytics or, even worse, your salesperson’s head is a complete waste, as the insights from the data aren’t easy to act on.
On average, a company will keep customer information in six different places, which makes it a struggle to combine and analyse for successful personalisation.
These sorts of internal obstacles are keeping companies from using their data to tailor their brand and products to their customers, so ensuring that your data is managed in a way that is efficient and streamlined.
Marketers need to make their brand stand out from the crowd – getting and maintaining their customers attention. Following the above tips will help your content achieve a long term value, rather than simply an initial spike in interest…
We recently covered the latest updates from Facebook, where they have changed their algorithm to emphasise meaningful interactions from family and friends (and de-emphasise those of brands and businesses). Brands and marketers sprang into action, coming up with ways that the new algorithm could be used to their advantage.
As the key phrase for Facebook’s new strategy was ‘meaningful interactions’, and therefore brands need to move towards building engaging conversation on the platform. The changes have also seen Group conversations gain more space on the Facebook feed, as Groups are great places for like-minded people to meet and converse.
Brands can use Groups in many ways, and Facebook has also introduced a series of tools to make it easier for Group Admins and Members. These tools include: Group Insights that creates a report for each Group, Group Announcements where admins can post up to 10 announcements that are shown at the top of the group, as well as Group Rules and Personalisation.
For brands that have already set up a Group, the results have been positive in most cases. Groups provide companies with a great way around the new Facebook rules, so we take a look at how to best use them.
Before creating a Group, remember to think of your target audience and their needs, make goals for the Group, set rules, plan the Group’s management, and make sure to keep the conversation going so that the Group is a fun and active space for customers.
A Group can improve engagement with your brand, create a community, it is a great way to promote your content and a successful group will grow your audience and increase your subscribers.
READ MORE: A Guide to Facebook Remarketing
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