Locomotive is now based out of Philadelphia, so what more appropriate topic than the Ben Franklin effect in our home city of the founding father? Otherwise known as the cognitive dissonance theory, the Ben Franklin effect is a phenomenon when asking someone to do you a favor can make them like you more. The idea is that because that person does you a favor they are more likely to be convinced that the person is likable. Here’s how the process works inside our brains:
Ways to Collect Customer Feedback
Customer feedback is one of the most useful tools for a brand to improve areas of dissatisfaction if there are any. Not only that, it can help you get to know your audience better and you can see what your brand is doing right too. It can strengthen your brand reputation as one who cares about its audience and sees them as more than just a paycheck. Here are a few of our top choices for collecting customer feedback.
1. Surveys with incentives: these are a great tool and entice people to take them to receive something in return for their time.
Customer Lifecycle Management Strategies
Every one of us goes on a journey when we decide to become a customer of a brand. Good brands understand that it is more than just getting a one-time deal closed and building lasting relationships with their audience. Customer lifecycle is the process of an individual becoming aware of a brand, purchasing from them, and sticking around for repeat business. Customer lifecycle management is all about managing this journey by tracking the stages, assigning metrics, and measuring the successes of those metrics. There are several stages of the customer lifecycle: 1. Reach 2. Acquisition 3. Conversion 4. Retention 5. Loyalty. Analysis of each stage is pivotal to managing each customer’s journey.
Foot in the Door Method
This method seems a little scary because it was used in brainwashing techniques in 1940s Nazi Germany propaganda. The idea is that if someone will comply with a small request then they are likely to comply with a larger request later. Obviously, not all foot-in-the-door methods are unethical. The famous test was conducted by Jonathan Freedman and Scott Fraser when they went to homeowners in Palo Alto asking them if they would put up a large sign in their yards that said, “Drive Carefully.” Only 17% said yes. The second group was asked to place a small 3” sign in their windows advocating safe driving. They almost all agreed. Then, after two weeks that second group was asked to put up a large sign advocating safe driving and 76% of them said yes. This was proof that this method does, in fact, work. At the core of this method is the principle of commitment and consistency which serves as the customer’s first action. This sets the precedent for their behavior and attitude toward the brand. They almost feel obligated to complete a second task asked of them by the brand since they’ve already committed to them. In order for this to work in marketing the first action must bevoluntary! If the first action is public, personal, or expensive, the more likely they will commit to a second action. Here are some ways to invest in the foot-in-the-door method.
The Endowment Effect on Marketing/Advertising
The endowment effect is a byproduct of loss aversion. It states that once people own something they have established the property right that they now own it. Now that they feel it is there it automatically has more value to that person. Think about when stocks fall and shareholders hold on to their shares for too long because they’re afraid of losing money. They inevitably lose in the end in this situation. The point here is that it’s the cognitive bias that creates the endowment effect, making them value their shares and hold them for too long when the smart thing to do would be to sell them off as soon as possible to minimize loss. An example of the endowment effect in marketing and advertising would be in the way of coupons or discounts. The shopper already feels that they own a part of the product and it increases their willingness to pay. Here are some other ways to use the endowment effect in your marketing strategy.
Search Advertising: A Deeper Look
We’ve written articles on pay-per-click advertising but we wanted to know how search advertising works on a deeper level so we did a dive. First, let’s define search advertising. We all search for things every day on Google. Do you know those sponsored ads that are placed at the top of your search results? Those are search ads. All search engines offer search advertising for advertisers. You’re probably wondering, “What other search engines are there besides Google?” Well, there are a few other than Google but they take the number one spot with 77.43% of the market. After that you have something called Baidu at 8.13%, Microsoft Bing with 7.31%, Yahoo with 5.6%, and lastly, Ask at a whopping 0.13%. As you can see they really dominate the market. So, how do these ads work?
Using UGC for Social Proof
Building the credibility of your brand can be as simple as harnessing user-generated content in the way of reviews, shoppable content, galleries, etc. When your current audience already positively advocates for you on public social media spaces, it fuels growth. We’ve done great campaigns that utilize social proof user-generated content in their advertisements, such as IT Cosmetics and Marshalls. Most of these videos were videos of people either using the product, conducting real-time shopping, unboxing, product review, and/or generally flaunting their purchases. When the audience sees the average-day person vouch for a product or service, it’s more relatable to themselves. They’re more likely to trust the opinion of someone who seems genuine, invested, and honest.
How to Build Lasting Content Creator Relationships
“93% of marketing professionals use influencer marketing to increase brand awareness, build trust, reach their target audience, drive conversions, and connect to a wider market” (Influencer Marketing Hub). We know we work with content creators every day as well as influencers. Brands using real people to get their name out there to the right audience are really on to something. We may be biased since we know the power of UGC ad campaigns firsthand, but we want to chat a little about the importance of creating a relationship with creators that will last a long time.
Fun Friday Feature 7/14
We wanted to do something fun for today and go back to our ad of the week article. Today we want to feature the ad recently done by Maybelline. They pulled a great stunt where they put eyelashes on the tube in London. When the underground got close to the platform they had a mascara brush that combed the lashes back as it came to a stop. To read more about the ad or view it visit the Evening Standard.
Technical Marketing
The devil is in the details…. That’s exactly what technical marketing is all about. It focuses on the specifications features of a product and/or service. It comes in useful for a number of industries but especially software, manufacturing, healthcare, and electronics. They can be marketing efforts in the way of instruction manuals, help articles, user manuals, etc. Technical marketing appeals to new customers who may not know about a certain product or service that you offer. Typically, advertising stays away from being overly explicit to appeal to people but technical marketing is the opposite so people will become interested and develop and interest in the product.
Top Brands That Leverage UGC Advertising
“85% of the users are found to be more influenced by the UGC than the content made by the brands directly.” We’ve had the pleasure of working with some of these brands on more than one occasion. Here is a list of brands that have experienced the positives effects of UGC advertisements with great spots!
Current State of Remote Work 2023: The Evolution of the Work from Home Model
“As of 2023, 12.7% of full-time employees work from home, while 28.2% work a hybrid model” …. It’s also estimates that, “by 2025, 32.6 million Americans will work remotely.” (Forbes). I think it’s safe to say that the pandemic changed the workforce as we know it but what do management teams think and where is it headed? Certain CEO’s like Bob Iger are announcing that employees are expected to return into office at least four days a week soon and Drum recently reported that companies who “put up with [remote work] for a long time are finally getting sick of it.” Although some report being more productive at home, the data that companies are getting is proving otherwise. Here are there reasonings:
1. Remote work is hard for new hires: the onboarding experience seems to take hold better in person than virtual they say.
2. People work less: everyone says that they work more but some data sets are showing otherwise. People tend to work 3.5 hours less per week when working from home. However, the remote workers argue that they have a better work-life balance and are more focused when at home. Quality of work is much higher.
3. Productivity is very low on days when everyone works remotely: certain CEO’s believe that when their whole team is remote, they are less productive overall. While we can’t speak for an entire group of people, most are just the same if not more productive.
It seems that higher ups are trying to remove remote work from the equation but we think that their efforts won’t pan out. People say that if they aren’t offered the option of at least hybrid work they’ll find a job that will. If bosses want their employees back in the office full-time they’ll have to make a stronger argument. We just don’t think that the “data” they have is feasible enough to require full-time in office employment with all the remote work benefits. Not only is it mentally better for employees, it is better for our planet. We love our remote business structure at Locomotive and we won’t be changing it any time soon.
Benefits of Working in the Ad Industry
We absolutely love what we do! We would scream it to the rooftops if we could. Not only are we part of the advertising industry, we are a niche brand that focuses on user-generated content and found content campaigns, so we get to work with agencies and content creators. We know there are pitfalls in any industry, including the Advertising game, but since we aren’t your typical ad agency, we don’t have to deal with many of the talked about issues. Here are some of our favorite things about working in the industry!
Plastic Free July 2023
1 million plastic bottles are purchased every minute (Tenstsile) and it’s estimated that 75-200 million tons of this plastic is currently floating around in the ocean (Recycle Track Systems). If you know us as a brand, you know that we’re passionate about the environment and doing our part to lower emissions to reduce climate change. That said, this month is plastic free July. We ask that you please join us the movement to set forward lifestyle changes that we can pass to future generations. You can start with something as simple as buying a reusable water bottle and coffee cup. If you want to get really into it, you can avoid using single use plastic bathroom supplies by making your own mouthwash. The choice is yours but here are some tips for you to get started for plastic free July.
The Horn Effect
We wrote an article recently on the halo effect and touched briefly on its ugly sibling, the horn effect. But, we didn’t’ dive too deep into the topic so we wanted to circle back here today and chat about it a little. The human brain is such an amazing organ. It categorizes through the lenses of our experiences, creating cognitive bias.
Supporting Content Creators
“44% of content creators say their creator business is their family’s primary source of income,” according to The Tilt, but only “12% of those full-time creators make more than $50K in annual income” (Linktree). If you do the math here that’s not a whole lot of rich and famous for these people. Well, maybe a little bit of famous, minus the rich. Depending on where you live, $50,000 isn’t a whole lot for one person to make annually, especially if they have families to support.
Skills for Success in Advertising
Advertising is a very creative field and if you have a passion for what you do, everything you create will embody this. It’s a very social driven field as well, especially since we specialize in user-generated content. As in any business there are specific traits that will lead to success. Here are our top 5.
Creating a Marketing Strategy That Stands Out
We all know how to create a marketing strategy but with every brand out there doing the same things, how do you make your marketing stand out from all the rest? With advertising overload, it is very important to make your brand stand out. Every brand will start out with the same with usual 7 step guide to create their marketing strategy: 1. Build a marketing plan. 2. Create buyer personas. 3. Identify goals. 4. Select the right tools. 5. Review media. 6. Audit and plan. 7. Create it. Great! Now, you’ve got that same start as every other company out there. So now, let’s talk about some extra things that will help give you that extra push to be different in a sea of similarities.
Increasing Brand Advocacy
We all know that word of mouth marketing is the best type of marketing. So, how does a brand increase its brand advocacy among its loyal audience? Well, it all starts with making sure that your audience and employees are happy. People who enjoy working for you will speak highly about your brand. The same goes for your audience. They can do so through reviews, word of mouth, social media, blogs, etc. UGC is a BIG component here and it’s what we specialize in. Organic brand advocacy is unparalleled. It has a farther reach and it is trusted far more. There are a couple of other things that your brand can do to increase its brand advocacy.
Let’s Get Visual: Importance of Visual Hierarchy in Advertising
The eyes are the window into the soul! But, how do you reach your audience on a deep level through visual mastery? Well, you can achieve this through using the selective arrangements of particular visual elements in a specific order of their importance. This is otherwise known as visual hierarchy. Elements are laid out logically and strategically to guide the viewer through their visual journey. Users tend to act very quickly to decide whether or not they want to stay and read or watch something or not. Their eyes will follow predictable reading paths that are culturally influenced. For example, westerners read left to right whereas Asian cultures will not. These patterns can be followed or broken in order to bring the reader’s attention to certain points on advertisements. You will want to put the most visual things first to make it stand out so they won't miss it. Here are the particular components that can be manipulated to grab the user’s attention:
