Have you noticed that the drivers of optimizing marketing campaigns success are changing? A big cliché, yes? Yes, it is, but the changes are having a significant impact and can’t be ignored.
We live in a world where over 4 million blog posts are published every day. How do you stand out in a sea of bloggers who have probably covered all the key topics from a thousand different angles? Do you follow the trend or create a technique of your own?
Everyone loves a good story. It’s the part of your copy even skimmers take time to read. I try to start every article on my blog with a story attacking the reader’s pain point. I want them to know this is not just another article from a blogger trying to make a quick buck but someone who genuinely understands their problems.
The changes are rapid and accelerating. Traditional media vehicles are losing effectiveness as people communicate in new and different ways. Here we will illustrate learning from the optimizing marketing campaigns performance we have come across.
Mass audiences are fragmenting into small segments. Developing a point of difference is harder than ever. It takes a lot of creativeness, but it is certainly doable.
Here’s the deal.
Related post: 11 Steps to Media Framing Messages for Optimum Engagement
Let’s consider the significant recipes that are contributing the most success to today’s marketing campaigns in the rapidly changing environment:
Play to emotions
When I saw my boss cry when watching a recent ad, I knew the ad would perform well. Emotional stimuli, happiness, sadness, inspiration, anger and beyond, have proven to activate the human nervous system and boost social transmission.
In other words, if you can cause an emotional reaction in people, they are far more likely to talk about and share your message. And that is your most important objective, isn’t it?
This notion is clear when you look at what gets shared online. Go to a website like Upworthy or any other content aggregator and see what gets the most attention. It’s stories about unlikely heroes, or videos of soldiers coming back from the war and surprising their families, or stories of people and their pets.
These videos, to use an internet expression, catch us ‘right in the feels’ and that’s why they succeed. Brands should be striving to make that same impression, and WestJet Brand is proof as to why.
The WestJet airline made its service a secondary element of their remarkable Christmas ad, which might seem counterintuitive to many brands but can actually pay off big time on social media. Many people are inherently hesitant to share brand-heavy content on social networks.
You need to be very unique.
Be very unique
Restaurants have a lot of overhead: plates, utensils, pots, pans, glassware, and the like. And this doesn’t last forever either. As tablecloths wear out or coffee mugs chip, restaurants have to replace them. But at Cotogna and Quince, two neighboring restaurants in San Francisco, they use this aging inventory as an opportunity.
They set out this type of used material for their annual “Smallwares Sidewalk Sale” and invite the community to shop, catch some brunch, and help them clean house.
Now that’s a fantastic way to address a standard problem and turn it into clever marketing. They’re saving a little money, bringing people into their restaurant, and getting rid of stuff they don’t want all at the same time.
Create surprise
Surely you have seen the tear-jerker commercials for abused or abandoned puppies or kittens. Not something you’ll often share with friends, is it? North Carolina’s Wake County SPCA tried a very different approach to this problem.
A success? It was watched on YouTube over 3.4 million times the last time we looked. Just because others do the standard tear-jerking videos doesn’t mean they are popular. Surprise your audience with original things that are fun and approachable like this SPCA did. It may even surprise you.
Use many channels
In this day of fantastic growth of social media channels and sharing, it is hard to keep up. But keep up you must with all these new ways to communicate with customers.
Be good at trying and experimenting with new channels and ways to create new messages. Pay attention and learn the ones that work the best.
Personalize your messages
Personalize your messages
Have you ever tried to create conversation starters, either face to face or online? Consider this technique by Kroschel Kids Intl. Every product they make has a tag that is signed by the person who made it. They are not the standard garment tag.
They are large and prominently displayed on the outside of the clothing. It makes each product one of a kind that makes the clothing stand out.
With this kind of visual message, your customers don’t have to bring up the subject because their friends usually ask about it.
Make customers smile
This one is not rocket science, but none-the-less still most effective. Consider this example:
Fleur, a florist shop in Chicago, puts a bucket full of bright balloons by the door of their shop both inside and out, with a handwritten sign that says: “Take a balloon.”
That’s all. No logos, no catch. It is just a small action to make people smile. Inside the store, it makes a pretty display, and outside the store, people are likely to ask where you got the balloon.
That’s a simple, fun way to get a conversation started without a marketing message. A bucket full of balloons is a bucket full of the word of mouth memories waiting to happen. It doesn’t have to be branded or a part of a larger campaign — in fact, the simpler you make it, the better.
Continually consider competitiveness
Always pay attention to what creates better competitiveness for your company. Talk about REAL differences by competing for offers and continually polish the value propositions the business offers.
Tell an awesome story
Here is a different example that should open your creative thinking. When several guys had to give up the 1957 Land Rover they bought together in college, they were disappointed. So when Land Rover saw the boys’ ad for the sale, they bought the car and restored it down to the smallest of details.
But before surprising the guys with the return as a gift, they created a video commercial. Each place in the commercial reflected memory of a car adventure from the group.
Your customers will often surprise you with many more great memories than you can build yourself. Look for them and put them to good use.
Create mystery
Are you mysterious? Do you think you can be? We looked at how people delight in the puzzle-solving aspect of pattern recognition. Now, let’s go a bit deeper and explore what drives this pattern-seeking behavior: curiosity.
Great storytellers know how to turn an ordinary event—say, a trip to the grocer—into a suspenseful one by withholding information. In new relationships, flirtation often involves some element of playful teasing, whether through conversation or more sensual revelations.
And newsrooms have made a science out of crafting irresistible headlines: “Your PC might be infected!” or “Are you prepared for the tax law changes?”
We are captivated by unanswered questions. So try and put this mystery to good use
Utilize creativity
Invent new ways to talk about products and services. Don’t hold back on ways that seem far out there. Know what we mean?
Creative people ship remarkable work because they seek to complete something, to heal something, to change something for the better. To move from where they are now to a more centered, more complete place. You don’t get creative once everything is okay. In fact, we are creative because everything isn’t okay (yet).
Delight customers
Here is a simple idea to delight customers and illustrate what we mean. Headsets.com sells headsets and phone accessories, but they are most likely remembered for adding Tootsie Rolls to every order they ship. It’s a great word of mouth tactic and they like feedback.
They use it to do something even more special. When customers thank their operator for the Tootsie Rolls received in order and mentioned their favorite flavor, you can guess that information is noted for the next time.
Little actions to surprise and delight your customers can easily be created all the time. Follow Headsets.com example and treat feedback like a well-oiled machine, carefully gathering the information and doing something about it every time.
Marketing campaign … take risks.
With social media, users are empowered to skip over any ad they don’t find interesting. This puts the onus on brands to somehow catch people off guard or otherwise keep their attention. Humor is one of the most effective ways to do that.
Much like with Old Spice, K-Mart used humor in a way that you might not have expected from their brand. While it’s easy to call it juvenile, the results speak for themselves.
The humor made the K-Mart campaign videos so shareable that more people shared it on Facebook than commented on it. That type of engagement is invaluable for the brand.
This marketing campaign was also special because it was a risk. It wasn’t just a risk for K-Mart, it was a risk for any brand. Swear words and childish jokes aren’t something most retail brands would strive to be associated with. But social media is about creating discussion.
Safe bets don’t create discussion, risks do. K-Mart put themselves out there and social media users appreciated the humor and the risk. They took a chance and it paid off.
Awesome consumer targeting
Here is a great example of targeting that you may have missed. Dollar Shave Club isn’t just marketing to men of shaving age; they’re marketing to tech-savvy younger men, the audience most likely open to buying razors online.
“Young men” is written all over the video. There are toys in the background. They swear and use humor.
There’s a machete. They make fun of tennis. It ends with a party.
This isn’t an energy drink ad. There aren’t explosions and extreme sports. But it nails the target demographic in a simple, straightforward way.
People often talk about targeting on social media. You can target your content once it’s created, or you can target it from the outset. Doing the latter made this video into a hit.
What about distinguishing their brand? Did you notice, there isn’t a single image of anyone actually using the razor in the video. Don’t you find that amazing? Why wouldn’t they show the razor in use?
Maybe because they know (correctly) assumed that men wouldn’t be sold on how the razor looks while in use, especially since it will essentially look the same as every other razor.
The bottom line
The recipes for successful marketing campaigns are all around us. All we have to do is be open-minded in how we look.
Now it’s your turn. What are some of the recipes that you have found that improved your marketing success?
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step. Call today.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
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Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find him on Twitter, and LinkedIn.
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