Creative Execution Tips for Small and Medium Sized Businesses in the Digital Space!
(Note: This was written for the Postmedia Network Inc. Sales page during my internship there!)
A marketing campaign does not always require a creative execution. But it does seem to be that strong creative coupled with smart communications results in a successful venture. While many have already embraced the use of digital marketing, current circumstances mean that more traditional avenues are less effective than ever and that the digital sphere will become increasingly competitive. Creative execution is what can help set a brand, service, or business apart from each other within the same industry, sector, or even neighborhood!
Businesses have continued to shift towards more interactive online advertising. Display advertising has the top spot, followed by social media, video, email and search marketing respectively. Each of these marketing methods can be used in a variety of ways to deliver a compelling marketing message to further brand outreach. Recently in the digital space, trends have emerged among these competitive avenues as they have proven to be very effective in business to consumer communications and advertising. 1
Display Advertising and Marketing
Display advertising has a strong effect on visibility in the digital space. One trend in display marketing campaigns is the placement of advertisements on social media. The sophistication of audience tracking data on socials makes for a much more targeted approach via user interests and surfing habits. These ads are likely to drive traffic to a website, blog, microsite or through to a branded social media account due to the proven relevance of the content to users seeing the ads.
Display advertising can be leveraged as sponsorship for relevant events, with opportunities to use humor and informational appeals. This could be done through tongue in cheek placement of ads on industry adjacent websites, or sponsored posts on social media that offer solutions to searcher problems. This can be an effective strategy for increasing brand awareness, much more so than traditional display advertising.
This list has Shopify at number 5, with great examples of how to place display ads onto user social media feeds in such a way that feels organic and unintrusive:
https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2016/05/23/facebook-ad-examples
Social Media Marketing
Social media trends have highlighted the importance in brand image and outreach, in addition to monitoring brand reputation and competitor activity. For small to medium sized business (SMB’s) with smaller followers counts, marketing campaigns have been about both the journey and the destination with campaigns focused on giveaways. Having customers engage in conversations with customers such as through Q&A’s or open-ended product questions allow for a marketing campaign that can provide strong data and feedback on what a business is doing well (or not!) and give some lucky fans the chance to win a prize.
This can be an effective strategy to increase brand visibility. Social media has the potential for a variety of creative uses with its interactive nature. Garnering user generated content is a creative way to incorporate consumers and leverage the viral nature of social channels. This is great way to build strong brand engagement.
In this example listed at number 8, a local clothing brand promoted their appearance at a Toronto craft show by giving away free tickets in a contest aimed at learning what fans liked about the brand through Instagram comments:
Video Marketing
Video consumption is on the rise and has proven to be more effective than text-based advertising. For video marketing campaigns, the use of in-video captions has been the standout trend. With an increase in muted timeline scrolling, captions can allow people to follow the content of the video. It also makes for more accessible content, and well-designed captions with graphical elements can be pleasing to the eye.
Video campaigns are a fantastic way to showcase a product or service, breakdown exactly what businesses provide, and give tips and tricks so consumers might fully realize the value of their purchased products. It also has the added benefit of having content to cross post to social media, a blog, or to the company website where all the content can be housed. There is a lot of potential for brand recognition, awareness and can be the gateway to becoming a thought leader in a respective industry.
While this example has been the gold standard since its first internet appearance, the Dollar Shave Club launch commercial is worth the revisit to serve as a reminder that a strong idea pitched with strong creative execution does not require a huge budget to be successful:
Email Marketing
Email marketing campaigns have existed since the dawn of the internet. Recent email marketing campaign trends have seen a marked effort to personalize the content sent to inboxes. Newsletters addressing readers by name, recent purchase or last item viewed on site have been featuring animations, GIFS, and videos for a more interactive feel. In addition, including user generated content gives an air of relatability to users and makes consistent company messaging feel more like an online community instead of a sales pitch.
Email campaigns can be very creative, with the important caveat of not filling up and cluttering inboxes! A creative campaign can focus on remarketing to existing customers and offers the opportunity to cross sell, upsell and make consumers brand advocates with thoughtful and sincere personalization. A good example is the gamification of surveys, polls and chance-based discount reveals to give branded email communication a very fun feel and have users look forward to the next email!
Perhaps the ultimate personalization is the birthday wish email, masterfully executed on this list at number 13 by Harpoon Brewery. While it is a message that is undoubtedly automated, it feels very personalized and offers a vehicle for special one-time discounts and building brand loyalty.
Why is Good Creative Important?
Good creative is really just good storytelling, just like going to see a movie. The trailer and accompanying posters can garner a strong interest in an audience. By providing a preview of the story users are given context of what the film experience will be like. A booming voice announcing, “coming soon!” is an exciting call to action for consumers. These well-made supplementary materials within a marketing campaign can make all the difference in ensuring success when launching a new product or service into the marketplace.
The success of all of these trends and formats relies on the execution of strong and compelling creative content. It has to do with capturing the attention of an audience in a saturated digital world. While being funny and entertaining is great, it is important to remember that there must be some sort of messaging that accompanies the antics. The ability to get an idea across is the goal, and even better if it can illicit an action from the consumer.
More than this, good creative is what allows the kinds of messages that brands and business need to speak directly to prospective customers and excel in the marketplace. It is how consumers decide which products and services are specifically for them. The tree that fell in the forest did make a sound, but nobody was around to hear it because the messaging was not strong enough!
Outside of Creative
While many of the aforementioned creative strategies can be done in house, it can be very beneficial to seek outside help. A small investment now can have huge dividends with the success of creative marketing campaigns. Outsourcing talent to get good creative to audiences can help business make sure people know it was their specific tree in the forest that made the sound! Copywriters can help write strong copy for a paid marketing campaign. Social media management software like Hootsuite and Sprout Social can help in managing a social media campaign and operations. Videographers and influencers can have an impact on a video marketing campaign with strong and compelling visuals. Email list services like MailChimp, GetResponse, or ConstantContact allow for email list automation that can make it easier to keep an audience engaged and informed.
A successful marketing campaign will have a beneficial butterfly effect for all of those involved. The company running the campaign will gain new business, customers, and an increased reputation. The department or outside marketing team who came up with the campaign will have their hard work and vision recognized through results. Consumers will have found a new product, service or asset bringing value to their daily lives through whatever that may be. In the case of small and medium sized businesses, this is often the key to success in maximizing outreach, creativity, and business no matter the number of resources available.
1 “SMB Online Marketing in 2020: Your Executive Summary.” SMB Online Marketing in 2020 | Stats, Strategies, and Challenges, www.webfx.com/internet-marketing/smb-online-marketing.html.
REFERENCE:
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/small-business-marketing-guide