We all know by now that content marketing has become the top way to generate more leads, keep reader’s attention, improve loyalty and trust. The list goes on and on. Actually, a stat by demand metric research shows that 86% of businesses use B2C content marketing. As they should, it costs 62% less and the benefits are great (as mentioned above). This being said, there are a lot of content creators out there now so how do you know which one(s) to choose for your brand and its campaigns? There are a lot of things that you should look out for but we’ll list those that we feel are the most important.
Types of UGC
While our company deals a lot with still and video content, there are many types of user generated content out there. UGC or UCC can be defined as any form of content created by a user that is organic, original and published somewhere online. It comes in many forms and it can come from anyone: customers, loyalists, employees, creators and/or just regular people with a social media account. Here are the types of UGC out there:
Social Media Advertising
At this point, you should know the benefits of social media marketing. There are billions of people on social media platforms. That’s billions of potential customers just waiting to be tapped into. Your brand can use data from users to target a certain customer demographic when using social media ads and track ROI directly. Here are some tips to get the best bang for your buck on social media ads.
Holiday Advertising 2022
We’ve recently been looking into current consumer trends, such as Found Content: Recession Proofing Costs. In this article we talk about how consumers are now spending more on essentials and less on luxury in the wake of economic downturns. It is important that brands are not being insensitive with their messaging in regards to their audiences’ financial positions. This is especially true for luxury item brands. Yesterday, we posted the 2023 consumer trends from a GWI Report that shows consumers are beginning to exhibit even more particularity with their budgets going into the new year. Consumers’ top three reasons to decide to buy from a brand right now are quality at 53%, cost at 36% and trust at 32%.
History of User Generated Content
Did you know that the first massive user generated content composition was the Oxford English Dictionary? Yep, that’s right! It was composed solely of contributions aggregate by the public in 1857. To look back throughout the history of UGC in the media however, one would have to go all the way back to 1840 with the first U.S. patent for photography. Because if you think about it, this was when the rise of photography and film began. You can’t have user generated content without users having access to cameras and although, it won’t become publicly available until much later this was the when the birth of UGC would be.
Neuromarketing
Well, we really went down the rabbit hole on this one. This topic has so many ins and outs that we could write an infinite number of articles about on the different aspects. Let’s start by defining what neuromarketing actually is. You can probably guess, it combines neuroscience and marketing techniques. Neuromarketing studies the neurological responses, including brainwave activity, eye tracking and skin changes to certain marketing stimuli in order to better understand consumer behaviors. It’s fairly new and has only been around since the early 2000’s. Once considered controversial, it is now starting to be viewed as promising, since scientifically it has improved greatly over the past five years and it can be used to test product design, UX testing, A/B testing, CTA, images in ads, rebrand campaigns etc. let’s jump into some of the techniques used to track and what insight each offers to brands and advertisers.
Staying Focused at Work During the Holidays
The holiday season is a time of year when we’re all enjoying parties, gift exchanges, travelling and shopping. It can be difficult to stay focused at work until your holiday vacation actually begins. It’s very easy to get overloaded in your personal & professional life. In fact, a study done by Ladders found that 50% of U.S. employees start losing focus at work in mid-December. Here are some tips on things you can do to combat that FOMO at work during the holidays so you can finish your professional year out strong.
Found Content: Recession Proofing Costs
Americans feel terribly about the state of the economy right now. We can’t say we disagree. Just this week we wrote an article on holiday consumer spending trends during times of financial distress this season. Advertising agencies and brands are not immune to the economic hardships that we are all currently facing. Everyone is navigating budget cuts for advertising spend. This is yet another reason how found content in your marketing and advertising strategies can help recession proof your brand’s budget this year. The cost effectiveness of UGC makes for a good plan to combat these budget cuts and rising cost of production.
Found Content in Holiday Marketing & Advertising
We recently read an interesting article from AdAge about the state of holiday marketing this year and according to them, “promotional tops emotional.” Honestly, it makes sense with the state of the economy being what it is right now. The financial uncertainty during these times makes for a more discretionary consumer. That being said, we firmly believe that you don’t have to remove one to use the other. Why not use promotional and emotional messaging? You can have your cake and eat it to.
Friday Feature 10/7/22
We’re taking you to the sunny beaches of your living room. Wait what? That’s right! You heard us. This surf video went viral back in March of 2020 of Sailah Nicol and her brother surfing on the rug in their living room. Their father is pro surfer, Yadin Nicol who is also featured in this video pulling the rug up into a wave. This video is probably up there with one our favorites that we’ve licensed over our years here at Locomotive. Head over to Instagram and show her page some love and support with a follow.
Psychology of Advertising
Friday Feature
This week we turn to a producer and director, Christin Baker. She is co-founder of tellofilms.com and proud creator of lesbian content. We worked with her on a Rapinoe spot many moons ago now. It’s our pleasure to showcase her talent. She was great to work with. To read more on the amazing work she produces, visit her IMDb page.
Brief History of Advertising
It all started with newspaper. Someone wanted to place an ad in the paper so they reached out to an agent who represented newspapers. They compiled lists of papers and placed ads in them on behalf of brands who wanted to advertise. Newspapers would negotiate with the agent who would get on the list. The agent also contracted with the newspaper for large amounts of space at discounted rates. They would then resell these spaces to advertisers at a marked-up rate….
Customer Retention Strategies
Almost 65% of a business comes from repeat customers. That’s a big chunk of revenue. It’s also cheaper to retain customers than it is to get new ones. Customer satisfaction is greatly linked to retention numbers but there are some strategies to consider on top of this.
Ad Fatigue
We all know what fatigue is and many of experience it often but what in the world is advertising fatigue? Think about it like this. You know that new song that you love and can’t get enough? Yea that one. Then, your favorite radio station plays it over and over and over and over. You get the idea. Now, it’s become you’re least favorite song. You’re sick of hearing it. This is what ad fatigue is except that it’s for advertisements that we’ve seen one too many freakin’ times! What’s the first thing we do when that once favorite, now annoying song comes on the radio? We change the channel. Same thing applies here for ads or your audience will become “blind” to them. As an advertiser how do you know if your ad is causing ad fatigue? Here are a couple of signs.
Business Podcasts for Advertisers
Did you know that listening to podcasts can stimulate multiple parts of your brain, such as an adrenaline rush or releasing endorphins? (UC Berkley, 2016). Podcasts have been quite the popular topic recently and we know that we listen to one every morning. It’s a great way to learn, cut down on screen time and support small businesses. Whether you’re looking to learn something specific, meditate or just be entertained, there is something out there for everyone. This short will comprise of our top 3 recommended advertising podcasts.
How to Develop Good KPI’s for Ad Campaigns
Measuring your ad campaign metrics are crucial for your campaigns in order to see what is working and what may need to be adjusted. There is no one size fits all to determine what KPI’s your brand should be using. It will depend on the overall goals of the brand and what the goal is for the campaign. Here are some steps to take when determining what KPI’s to use for your campaign efforts.
Friday Feature
This is our first Friday content creator feature. We thought it about time to switch it up a bit from our Friday fun favorite campaigns. If you loved it, don’t worry. It’s not gone. Just taking a break for a while. This week’s creator shout out goes to Vibe Salon in Atlanta. We recently worked with them on one of our campaigns helping source content for an Oreo spot. If you live in the Atlanta area you should check them out! It was a pleasure working with them and it seems they do amazing things with hair! Have a great weekend all!
Evergreen Content
We just wrote about topical content, which touched on evergreen content slightly. So, what is evergreen content? If topical content is on current events or things that are trending, then evergreen content is just the opposite. It’s really stated in the name, evergreen. Like the evergreen trees, evergreen content lives over the long periods of time and is not time sensitive. If topical to evergreen content creation ratio is 1:4, then what are some key reasons to create so much more evergreen content over topical content?
Friday Favorite 9/23/2022
This week’s favorite is a tribute to Serena Williams and her recent retirement. She is a role model for women and athletes all over the world! She leaves behind a legacy of a changed world because she refused to become the status quo. She remained true to herself despite all of the odds. The Nike ad coined with the tagline, “She didn’t change who she was-and that changed everything, for all of us,” was created by advertising company, Wieden+Kennedy Portland.
