Proliferation

Jul 11
0

Less is More, Right?

By | advertising, content marketing, digital marketing, SEO, Social Media, Utah, web development | No Comments

Written by Ascari Pena

 

When it comes to advertising or marketing agencies, they come in all different shapes and sizes. Agencies can range anywhere from 10 to 1,000 people, and serve many different functions. As eyeballs continue to shift every single day, companies with large marketing budgets are trying to figure out the best ways to target the right people, spend dollars in the right places and ensure effectiveness in their messaging.

The debate of size in regard to an advertising agency is definitely a conversation to be had. Here are just a few differences to keep in mind when deciding to outsource your content marketing, SEO or video production to an advertising agency.

Contact With the ‘Head Honcho’

If you were to hire an agency that employs 500+ people, what are the odds you will be dealing directly with the CEO? Slim to none. If you are to work at an agency with under 50 people, the odds are much higher that you will work with the shot caller. When managing millions of marketing dollars, there needs to be streamlined communications to ensure tasks are completed effectively. The path of least resistance is the best route to travel.

The Workplace

With many companies that we see today, the ‘growing pains’ can sometimes be too much to handle. With a smaller agency, the vision and mission are able to be maintained with much less effort. Keeping an equal workplace mindset is crucial to the quality of the work produced for its clients. A loss in workplace continuity can cause headaches for everyone.

Attention to Your Work

At a larger agency, work can fall by the wayside very easily; a smaller agency overvalues its clients as each one is extremely vital to the company. Your marketing dollars are the lifeblood of your company, and the last thing needed is for your company to fall lower on the priority list because of your budget.

Agencies are ensuring the success of your marketing dollars on an everyday basis. As these agencies are analyzing the daily shifts in attention, marketing dollars need to be spent as efficiently as possible. When choosing an agency for your business, consider that bigger doesn’t mean better and agencies are not ‘one size fits all.’

Sources:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/deeppatel/2017/05/30/gen-z-hates-tv-and-what-that-means-for-traditional-advertising/#4934587a32ed

May 06
0

What Social Media Site Is Best for Your Business?

By | advertising, digital marketing, SEO, Social Media, Utah | No Comments

The most successful digital marketing agencies in the country know that no two clients are the same.

 That’s true when it comes to branding, voice, marketing, advertising and also choosing the appropriate social media channels for your client. Channels like Facebook and Twitter are pretty universal to have for all clients, but some companies might thrive greatly by posting videos on their YouTube account or by having boards on a company Pinterest.

 How you find out what social media site is best for you is pretty simple: Find out what your voice and demographic is, and see what site best facilitates your mission.

Nov 23
0

Snapchat’s Newest Snap-tics

By | digital marketing, Snapchat, Social Media | No Comments

All you have to do is point at your designated target, zero in and shoot — with the camera in your Snapchat app, of course — to paint the world around you with colorful animations. Lenses have always been the best part of Snapchat.

As digital marketing firms begin implementing Snap-tics (Snapchat tactics) into their strategic marketing plans, there is a whole new world of possibilities available. Always remember the 9th of November, also known as the day Snapchat graced the planet with their new world lenses.

What Is a World Lens?

With 150 million daily users, Snapchat is the social media platform that seems impossible to beat. Instagram’s newest Stories feature attempted to break into the market. However, with Snapchat’s innovative features rolling out regularly, digital marketing firms are eager to make the platform work for them.

These lenses are slightly different than your typical Snapchat lens. Instead of face augmentation, your background world will be morphed into something new. Bring the drab of the grey world around you through the transformation to especially fabulous.

As Nick Gambino from NewsWatchTV so simply stated, “It’s basically adding an acid trip to the whole captured moment.”

The Anticipation Is Killing Me

It is assumed that the world lenses are simply a hype machine for none other than Snapchat’s new Spectacles. The second attempt at something similar to Google Glasses will retail at $130. These Spectacles will record moments of your daily life to be saved to your “Memories” file on the app.

This is yet another tool in the arsenal of digital marketing firms across the country. Snapchat continues to prove that it’s less about the financial backing or who did it first, rather it’s about who did it better.

With augmented reality glasses, adding a sleeping cloud that vomits rainbows to your personal world can be as easy as clicking a button.

Oct 28
0

Bringing Your Big Bad Brand to Social Media

By | content marketing, Social Media | No Comments

You’ve done it — you’ve branded yourself as the coolest cat on the block. You’ve got a product that will fly off the shelves. You know your target. Now you’ve just got to do the easy stuff, and bring it all to social media.

Not so fast, cowboy. Transferring your brand to social media successfully isn’t nearly as easy as it sounds. Something that used to be the job you’d pass off to the intern now has entire branches of content marketing companies devoted to it. Your social media not only needs to be engaging, but it has to encompass that brand in its entirety.

Find the Right Outlet

When starting social media you may be tempted to join every social media outlet. But before hopping on everything right down to the Tinder train, ask yourself, “Will I reach my target demographic in an effective way through these efforts?”

Facebook consistently has the best reach, though platforms like Instagram reach a younger demographic. Follow in the footsteps of the great content marketing companies and do your research before diving all in.

Provide Sharable Content

Social media is one of the few channels where you can have paid, earned, shared and owned media all in one place. Try saying that five times fast. To grow your brand, you need to extend your reach with genuinely interesting and engaging content. It’s imperative to make something your consumer will want to read and share your work — so they can come across as cool cats as well.

Tie It Together With “The Look”

The power of displaying your brand visually is unmatched, just ask employees of content marketing companies. Bring consistency to all your channels by using the same theme and images across all platforms. In doing so, your audience will begin to recognize you and identify with your content.

Make social media great again, be the brand you were born to be through all mediums.

Oct 10
0

Making Your Videos Stand Out on Social Media

By | advertising, Social Media | No Comments

As advertising and marketing evolve, it is important that as an advertising agency, we evolve as well. The old days of lengthy content are gone. In their place stands short articles, catchy photographs and attention-grabbing videos. We, as an innovated advertising agency, have responded to the call, and have begun producing content so catchy that you’re bound to want to copy it.

There are hundreds of articles online that claim that a serious advertising agency should do this or a smart advertising should do that, but these claims are often unfounded. The tried and true methods propagated here though have not only seen proven success but outstanding results, as well.

Keep It Short

When creating video, only make the video as long as it needs to be. Do not waste your viewer’s time, or they will likely quit watching halfway through. Make sure that your content is engaging and that the views have a compelling reason to keep watching, from start to finish.

Closed Captions Are Key

The vast majority of videos online are watched without sound, so captions are key. If you want to keep your audience, give them captions that not only keep them informed, but make them want to turn the sound on. Closed captions also keep your videos accessible to a wider audience, which is a great thing.

Auto Play

Very rarely do viewers click directly on a video, so auto play is a surefire way to get people’s attention and keep it. When uploading your video, make sure to upload it so that it will auto play and when creating the video, make the first content to be seen, catchy.

Hashtags

Perhaps your video contains lots of hiking spots in Utah, and your company wishes to promote outdoor recreation in Utah. By developing a hashtag that not only pertains to Utah, but also links the video to the viewers, you give your content the chance to expand and reach and even wider audience.

Ultimately, as an advertising agency or small company, the more you do to plan and prepare for your video before you launch it, the more successful it will be.

Jun 20
0

Gearing Infographics Toward Social Media

By | digital marketing, Facebook, Mobile marketing, Social Media | No Comments

Infographics were created as a way to keep readers engaged in content. In a world where attention spans are shorter than ever, large blocks of text quickly turn readers away. With the visually engaging appeal of an infographic, it is easier than ever to keep readers reading.

Many companies create infographics, but some do not know how to optimize these infographics for social media. Since social media platforms warrant a large number of infographic shares, it is important that these images are properly optimized. Digital marketing agencies can aid companies in their efforts to take infographics to the next level — both visually and SEO wise.

Five-Star File Names

As the wise wizard Albus Dumbledore one told young Harry Potter, “Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.” Little did Dumbledore know, but his ideas epitomize the key to making your infographics social media friendly.
Digital marketing agencies strategically name infographics because it is one major way that the infographics become searchable and social media friendly — don’t be afraid to follow suit. These digital marketing agencies know that Google crawlers read file names as well as page content, so names are important.

When naming infographics, always use keywords and relevant terms that describe the image. Carry the proper file name over into the alt attribute. This provides Google with enough information to properly identify your infographic.

Subject Matter Matters

Just because a company sells hand sanitizer doesn’t mean all of its infographics must be about hand sanitizer. Picking a relevant infographic topic is vital, because people only read about what they are interested in reading. Just because hand sanitizer might be a boring subject, winter health tips might be more intriguing.
Picking a relevant infographic topic that relates to both your product and your audience is key to infographic success. Digital marketing agencies are equipped with the skills needed to help companies discover existing and pertinent infographic topics. The more searched your topic is, the more social media friendly it is.

Mobile Friendly

A large portion of Americans access their social media accounts from smartphones — that is why it is so important that your infographics remain mobile friendly.
Perhaps you create an amazing infographic, but if it becomes distorted on a small mobile screen your readership decreases. If a graphic does not read well on a smartphone or a tablet, not even all of Dumbledore’s wise advice can save it.
Digital marketing agencies use infographics as a form of content marketing — and infographics must not only be widely viewed, but widely shared as well. These digital marketing agencies know that if your infographic is unreadable on a smartphone, no one will share it — which can be devastating.

Jun 08
0

Twitter’s New Changes: What They Mean for Marketing

By | digital marketing, marketing agencies, Social Media | No Comments

Lift up your voice and rejoice! Twitter just announced some major changes that will make life at marketing agencies much easier. The changes are a step towards loosening Twitter’s strict 140-character limit in tweets, while still preserving its signature micro blogging charm.

Adios “.@”

 Under Twitter’s current formula, tweets starting with another user’s Twitter handle were only seen by the shared followers of the person tweeting and the recipient. Twitter users created the “.@” to circumvent this rule. When the new changes take effect, users can do away with that pesky period before the handle. Tweets beginning with a handle will be seen by everyone instead of being restricted.

Media Files

 In the past, photos, GIFs, videos, polls and quote tweets could take up to 25 characters each. The new rules do not count media files towards the character total. This is especially welcomed news for marketing agencies that rely increasingly on visual and interactive elements to engage with audiences. Not having to worry about characters being sucked up by media files means more room to be creative and share your message.

Twitter Handles in Replies

 When replying to another user, Twitter handles will no longer count toward the character limit, with one exception: Only names already in the conversation will be exempt from counting. Adding new handles to the conversation will still count toward the character limit.

Retweet Yourself

 That’s right, Kanye. The new Twitter will allow you to retweet and quote yourself. You’re so vain. You probably think this tweet is about you … oh wait, it is.

When Will It Come to Pass?

 In the blog post announcing the changes, Twitter’s Senior Project Manager Todd Sherman said users could expect the updates to roll out in the next few months. He also announced plans to help users get even more from their tweets. Marketing agencies can only hope that means URL links will one day not count toward those precious 140 characters either. Twitter gods, hear our plea.

May 18
0

Social Media in the 2016 Presidential Election

By | public relations, Social Media | No Comments

It’s election season. Some of you may feel like your voice is finally being heard — and others may feel straight outta options. That’s the beauty of the American election system. It’s what makes the United States great. For 240 years, Americans have been throwing aside old ideals and starting revolutions.

One of those revolutions took place in 2008. That year, Barack Obama made history as the first United States presidential candidate to use social media for a campaign advantage. The Obama campaign harnessed the power of social media to reach young voters. Marketing agencies say the strategy was so effective because Obama supporters didn’t just send out a few clever tweets; they used social media to start a movement, with Barack Obama as the leader.

The 2008 election cycle forever changed the way presidential campaigns are run. Candidates today must scramble to find the best marketing agencies and consultants to help them connect with the masses. They look to marketing agencies to tell them how their messages are received. The 2016 presidential candidates are no different. Social media is the new political bread and butter.

Figures current as of May 28, 2016.

Facebook

Facebook is a staple of any social media campaign. It’s an oldie but a goodie — kind of like the presidential candidates (though goodie is debatable depending on your political inclinations).

Donald Trump by far leads the pack with 7.8 million likes, more than double Hillary Clinton’s 3.5 million likes and well ahead of Bernie Sanders’ 4.2 million. Why the huge difference? Marketing agencies will tell you that Trump uses the platform to his full advantage. His posts feel real, helping potential voters form a connection to him on a personal level. Other candidates’ pages feel like someone else is writing for them. Some of Trump’s Facebook posts may come off a little brash, but you know he’s the one writing them.

Twitter

Trump takes the cake again on Twitter with 8.27 million followers to Clinton’s 6.28 million and Sanders’ 2.2 million and for pretty much the same reason he rules Facebook. Both Clinton and Sanders disclaim that tweets come from staff members. Clinton does sign personal tweets so followers know when something is coming directly from her, but many marketing agencies would agree this might do more harm than good. It shows followers that Clinton only tweets personally every 4-7 days. Trump on the other hand, well, that dude is always tweeting.

trump twitter

Instagram

Instagram is the new social media frontier for this election cycle. All three candidates dance around 1.5 million followers, and it seems they are all trying to work with their staff and marketing agencies to figure out how to best use this platform to further their campaigns.

YouTube

Hold up! You are now entering Bernie-town. Bernie Sanders leaves the other candidates in the dust when it comes to YouTube subscribers, coming in at 132,362 subscribers to Clinton’s 46,139 and Trump’s 36,568. Sanders simply posts more videos than anyone else. His official YouTube channel has uploaded 513 videos compared to Clinton’s 164 and Trump’s 45. Video is the future, so good for Bernie.

bernie webpage

Snapchat

There’s not much to say about Snapchat because the platform doesn’t release information on how actively users snap, but we do know that Hillary Clinton is by far the most vocal lover of this social media channel. She even snaps during interviews.

Apr 29
0

The Double-Edged Sword of Data and Content Marketing

By | content marketing, marketing, Social Media, Utah | No Comments

In the abyss known as content marketing, creativity is usually deemed king; however, one vital and often overlooked quality of content marketing is data. Content without data is like an unmanned paper airplane; there’s no way to tell where it will go or how soon it will get there. However, data has the potential to turn content into pure gold — specifically if that content is targeting a particular location.

The data for content marketing in Utah might look drastically different than the data for marketing on the East Coast, which is exactly why you need to understand the different layers of data to turn your content into pure marketing gold.

Mastering the Art of Owned Analytics

Owned content has already been established as an integral aspect of marketing; however, how many times have you heard the phrase “owned analytics”? Owned analytics refers to data that is produced directly from a company or brand’s personal website and social media accounts. Owned data might include user reach, shares, engagement and so on. This type of data allows marketers to target their audiences more effectively — whether it’s an audience of outdoor enthusiasts in southern Utah or a group of engineers in Silicon Valley.

What Are the Benefits of Earned Content?

After completing the footwork of owned data, earned content comes into play. Earned content is content produced around a brand; for example, how a brand is trending on Twitter, how people are responding to content shared on Facebook and Instagram or how audiences are reacting to videos and blog posts. The benefit of earned content gives marketers a critical look at how targeted audiences are receiving content — which ultimately helps marketers tweak and fine-tune their content for optimal engagement.

Contextualize, Contextualize, Contextualize

The hardest part of using data in content marketing? Contextualizing it. Marketing to an audience in Salt Lake City, Utah will be substantially different than marketing to an audience in the Midwest. Fortunately, at Fusion 360 we’re pros at turning data into marketing gold — no matter where you’re at.

Apr 19
0

The Facebook Metrics You Should Care Most About

By | content marketing, digital marketing, Facebook, marketing agencies, Social Media, web development, website design | No Comments

Facebook boasts just over a billion daily active users, making it a huge storehouse of potential customers that businesses can pursue. Since most businesses and digital marketing firms are on board the Facebook train by now, the next step for them is understanding some of the metrics Facebook provides — and how those metrics can be used to improve posts.

Page Views

Page views refer to how many people have visited your Facebook page. This is useful because it can show you how many people were either curious enough about your brand to look you up, or wanted to interact with more of your posts after seeing them on their news feed.

Reach

For Facebook, reach refers to how many users viewed your post. This helps digital marketing firms because you can see which posts gather the most reach, compared to which aren’t doing so well. While this information is useful, it it’s not nearly as useful as seeing how many people engaged with a particular post.

Impressions

While reach refers to number of people who saw your post, impressions refer to how many times your post was seen. This is different, because the same user can see your post more than once if one of his or her friends shares the post. Impressions are a useful metric because they give you a clearer picture of how many times your message is appearing to your audience — and can be a good indicator of how shareable it is.

Engagement

For digital marketing firms in particular, the keyword for social media is, of course, “social.” Engagement measures the percentage of people who interacted with your posts, either through commenting, liking, sharing, etc. This is one of the most useful metrics — because the best type of content is the kind that’s interesting enough for people to share with their friends. The beauty of Facebook is that if you’re sharing something your audience likes, they will do a lot of the legwork for you.

Videos

A major focus for all digital marketing firms is video. If you’re posting videos to your Facebook page, you’ll want to know how many people are actually watching them, right? What’s more useful, though, is seeing how long people have watched your video. Facebook will provide you with the number of times your video has been viewed for at least ten seconds. If videos consistently under perform and people begin to watch but quickly bounce, that’s a solid indicator that your videos need some improvement.

In Summary

Facebook provides these statistics for a reason, so don’t forget to make studying them a regular part of your social media strategy. Only by analyzing stats and understanding how your posts are performing can you continually improve your digital marketing game.