Proliferation

Aug 03
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Does T-Swift Need a Rebrand Effort?

By | digital marketing | No Comments

Previously on ‘Celebrities With Way too Much Time on Their Hands’, digital marketing firms watched on the edge of their seats as Kimye and Taylor finally shouted “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”.

Something about a released video on Snapchat and a naughty song lyric ended with Kimye nearly committing a felony and Swift destroying her image of America’s Sweetheart. Should T-Swizzle disappear for her own good? Or is this the ideal opportunity for a rebrand, since she hasn’t released new music since 2014?

Master of Personal Brand

If you can see past the “Teardrops on Her Guitar” after being involved in Kimye’s most recent attempt at character assassination, you will see why digital marketing firms everywhere marvel at her personal branding talent. This country star turned pop princess mastered the formula of defining who she was well before getting interrupted at the VMAs.

Taylor went with the times when she decided to use social media to connect with her audience. By regularly engaging with fans and sending out replies like no other star had, she developed a loyal fan base. The personalized experiences are exactly what digital marketing firms hope to attain for their clients.

The partnerships she forged allowed companies like Coke, Twitter and Target to profit from her popularity. She was also able to advertise her 1989 tour on television. The mutually beneficial relationships don’t stop there. Taylor used her voice to fight for all artists on Apple Music in receiving proper loyalties. With the backing of both communities, it’s surprising that her brand is even in question.

Rebrand?

Those watching on the sidelines are contemplating whether the “Bad Blood” is going to be too much this time. Will Swifty be able to “Shake It Off”? I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling a 22-track punk rock revenge album. Swizzle, don’t let me down.

Jul 27
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Three Ways to Combat Writer’s Block

By | content marketing | No Comments

Writer’s block doesn’t always mean that you have to stare at a wall for hours until an idea hits you; on the contrary, you should view writer’s block as a way to formulate new, fresh ideas. Content marketing doesn’t have to be tough — especially if you’re producing a high volume of content for clients all over Utah and beyond. But with a few simple tips, you can get out of that rut that you’ve been in for the past few hours. Here are three pointers to help you break out of your writer’s block — without throwing anything at your kitchen walls.

writers-block-real

Jul 26
0

Advertising During the Olympics Faces Change

By | advertising, marketing agencies | No Comments

Advertising for the Olympics is second only to advertising done during the super bowl. Marketing agencies across the country are pulling up a chair and grabbing their popcorn to watch. This year, the marketing changes put in place by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will make it one we can’t forget.

Exclusivity Is No More

For years brands like Coca Cola, Nike and McDonalds had a “You can’t sit with us!” kind of attitude. These 40 official Olympic sponsors created a blackout for all other advertisers. The other advertisers weren’t allowed to use the athletes or any Olympic intellectual property that might detract from these few special weeks. Athletes couldn’t even tweet a “Thank you!” to their promoters if their sponsors weren’t part of the special 40 club.

After complaints from athletes who pointed out that this was the only time the great people of America know their names, the IOC made the decision to even the playing field for other advertisers. Marketing agencies that represent these athletes now have the opportunity to feature them in generic ads throughout the entirety of the summer Olympics.

Companies like Under Armor are shouting for joy. Under Armor supports 250 athletes during the games. They have already included Michael Phelps in their newest “Rule Yourself” campaign.

Step Your Game Up

Some are complaining that evening the playing field is going to ruin the prestige that came with being part of the exclusive 40. The toughest of the marketing agencies are saying, “Bring it on.” No, I’m not quoting the cheerleader movie (Go Toros!).

Top agencies are promising to fight for the customer’s attention. Great advertising campaigns are more important than they ever were before. Who will get the gold and who’s about to belly flop? Turn off “Pokemon Go” during the commercials, because you are bound to see some legendary material.

Jul 20
0

The Gaga Principle: Making Your Content Stand Out

By | content marketing, Utah | No Comments

In the past few years, content marketing has exploded from a relatively new concept to the industry standard. Everyone from marketers in Utah to entrepreneurs on the East Coast creates content, which means it’s becoming ever more difficult to be relevant. With so much content available, how can you make your content stand out?

Take a minute and think about Lady Gaga. That’s right, Gaga. You’re thinking, “What in the world does Lady Gaga have to do with content marketing in Utah?” Well, wherever she goes, the woman stands out. Her popularity soared because she was able to find a niche audience and give them what they wanted.

Being relevant in content marketing follows this same principle — the Gaga principle, if you will. The Gaga principle states that to be relevant your content must be unique, be directed to a specific audience and be valuable to that audience.

When we say that your content should be unique, you say, “duh.” However, creating unique content is easier said than done. Writers tend to glean inspiration from others, but if you search “content marketing in Utah” and then write an article about the exact same topic as the top article on the web, you’re just saying something somebody else has said in a different way. Search the web for ideas, but instead of looking at what is out there, ask yourself, “What isn’t in these search results? What is missing?” That’s what you should write about.

The more specific your audience, the better. The most common problem when creating content is trying to appeal to multiple audiences at once. Pick one, and the more niche the audience the better. Don’t just write for adults ages 18–30. Write for adults ages 18–30 in Utah who own dogs. When this demographic searches, your content will appear instead of being lost in a sea of hundreds of pieces.

After you select a niche audience, write content that is valuable to them. The best content gives people useful information. A good rule of thumb is that the more in-depth your content is, the more valuable your content will be.

You can make your content relevant. You really can. It takes time, research and planning, but it’s worth it. By working to give a specific audience unique and valuable content, your popularity will grow. As Lady Gaga would say, you’re on the edge of glory.

Jul 20
0

How to Get Consumers to Love Advertising Like We Do

By | advertising | No Comments

We love advertising. We do. We love it. We love it more than Kanye loves Kanye, more than Olivia Newton John honestly loves you, more than Whitney will always love you. There’s just one problem. Sometimes we think we might be the only ones. You see, marketing agencies live and breathe advertisements, but it’s becoming more and more simple for consumers to avoid them if they want to.

It started with DVR. Don’t want to watch commercials? Just skip over them. Then, there were ad-blockers. The internet was suddenly ad free. Now you can pay extra on services such as Hulu or YouTube Red to avoid watching commercials and advertisements as you stream entertainment. You can cut the cord and use streaming apps and devices like Roku to watch TV without really watching TV.

Part of us thinks that all of this is great. For decades the job of marketing agencies has been to help consumers get what they want. But we can’t break up with advertising. We love it. We want consumers to love it too.

How do you help a consumer fall in love with advertising? Make it relevant to them. The days of tossing a catchy jingle out into the open air and hoping for the best are over. Most consumers will never even hear the jingle.

Today, marketing agencies have to work together with brands to produce advertising that is less display and more distribution. Advertisements must become something consumers don’t want to live without. What will your advertisement teach consumers? What information will it provide that they absolutely need to know? Will it make their lives better? Will it make them feel something — nostalgia, pride or… love?

When in doubt, think Super Bowl. Super Bowl commercials are probably some of the last advertisements consumers actively seek after. Why? Because they inform them, teach them and make them feel something. For 30 seconds, they make consumers love advertising too. Don’t break up with advertising. Just make it better.

Jul 18
0

Reading and Content Marketing? Yes, There’s a Link

By | content marketing, Utah | No Comments

It’s a fairly known fact that avid readers make avid writers; however, does reading on a regular basis contribute directly to a higher success rate for content marketers? Reading on a regular basis expands vocabulary, heightens the ability to empathize and stretches personal world-views. How do these attributes contribute directly to a successful content marketing campaign —and is there a link between the two?

 

Edward Abbey’s Unintentional Content Marketing Move
Edward Abbey’s novel, The Monkey Wrench Gang, chronicled a group of environmental terror-ists/activists who traveled frequently throughout the American West (with quite a few references to Southern Utah). The novel was well-written and quickly became one of the most influential pieces of fiction to protect environmentally questionable activities.

The writer, Edward Abbey perhaps inadvertently used his voracious reading skills and witty writ-ing style to create a piece of environmentally-conscious fiction that would go on to unintention-ally became a content marketing centerpiece for political activism, specifically throughout the Southern Utah region.

 

Reading to Adapt to Different Brand Voices
Avid readers don’t just adapt the diction of whatever author they’re currently engrossed in; they also learn to embody the distinct voices, personalities and quirks of protagonists. The ability to embody a wide variety of different brand voices is the golden fleece of content marketing — and a skill set that any avid reader picked up long ago.

Reading on a regular basis — whether it’s sci-fi, fantasy, fiction, non-fiction or autobiographical — familiarizes the reader with different character and author voices, which ultimately serves greater positive purposes within the content marketing spectrum.

 

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Read Everything
Here’s our advice for any current content marketing experts or wannabe content marketers: Read. Read everything you can get your hands on, whether it’s a discount, trash novel that you’ve found at a garage sale or it’s a non-fiction guide to the deserts of Southern Utah. Read-ing on a regular basis will up your content marketing game.

Jul 18
0

In-App Advertising or In-App Purchasing?

By | marketing agencies, Mobile marketing | No Comments

In the world of advertising and marketing, we’re always looking for the next big thing. Marketing agencies thrive on being ahead of the game, leading the pack, blazing new trails and all that good stuff. The best marketing agencies tackle the questions that actually affect the industry. Here’s one we’d like to take on: Which business model is better — in-app advertising or in-app purchasing?

In-App Advertising

We’ll take on in-app advertising first. Right now, in-app advertising works like this: Developers offer app downloads for free with the idea that a growing base of app users will provide data to help drive advertising sales. It’s basically the same approach that began two decades ago with internet banner ads. But they were boring, so today video ads are all the rage.

In-app advertisers use video ads during apps’ natural breaks and pauses, some even incentivizing consumers with app perks for watching an entire advertisement. The Interactive Advertising Bureau released a study forecasting that mobile video ad revenue in the United States will exceed $4.4 billion in 2018. Not too shabby.

In-App Purchasing

On the other side of the aisle for marketing agencies is in-app purchasing. This advertising model depends on revenue from users paying to purchase the app and then continuing to purchase virtual or physical products within the app. The newest approach to in-app purchasing is sponsorship. Basically, this means an app developer joins up with advertisers who reward users for completing certain tasks within the app. The overall goal? Work ads into the app in a way that helps the app engage users.

Two Is Better Than One

So which is better for business? We say, why choose? Both strategies can work together as app development becomes more refined. App developers can start with an in-app advertising approach and offer the app for free download with ads. Then, developers can pull in the in-app purchasing model by offering added paid features. When it comes to in-app purchasing and in-app advertising, two is better than one.

Jul 14
0

Key Members of a Successful Content Marketing Team

By | content marketing, Utah | No Comments

If it takes a village to raise a child, then it is safe to say that it takes an entire team to create quality content. Content marketing can be difficult to master, but when done correctly — content marketing has the power to exponentially build business. From Utah to Europe, content marketing draws in consumers and functions as the driving force behind great online business.

If your business, be it located in Utah or beyond, wishes to grow its content marketing capabilities, it need only to create the content marketing dream team.

Strategists

No content marketing campaign is complete without the help of a strategist. A strategist looks at the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing a businesses and helps generate content pertinent to those areas.

The strategist helps the team find the best places to put content, the best topics to write on and the most effective way to reach audiences.

Writers

You won’t have content if someone does not create it, so without writers, content marketing is non-existent. Quality writing is always in style and the better the writing, the better for business. Writers must incorporate SEO and know the voice of each client individually.

Designers

In an increasingly digital world, it is important that a marketing team use designers. Designers lay the content out in a way that is easy to read and easy to find. If readers can’t navigate the content, they are not likely to continue reading, thus designers are vital.

Designers are the bridge between visual and textual information. Without them, a content marketing team would be nowhere near complete.

The prefect content marketing team does not end there, though. For each individual business, other content marketing team members can be added to create a perfect and personalized team. Whether you’re in Utah or beyond, great content is generated by a great content marketing team.

Jul 08
0

Print v. Digital: Why Your Money Should Be on The Digital Future

By | digital marketing | No Comments

Plenty of digital marketing firms struggle when deciding where to allocate portions of their marketing budgets. Should you go all in on digital? Should your split your budget down the center and drop some bread on print? Maybe ditch the paper goods altogether?

The reasons for going all-digital for your marketing strategy are many, though there are still plenty of marketers (and of course, print publishers) making a pitch for print advertising. Is there any credence to their words, or is print really breathing its final breath?

Let’s break down a few reasons why print can still be useful for marketing and explore why your best bet might be dropping cash on the digital future.

PRINT-V-DIGITAL

Jul 07
0

The Difference Between Content Marketing for a New Company vs. an Established Company

By | content marketing | No Comments

Content marketing is an art and sometimes it can be tricky to discern just what your company needs in terms of content marketing. Professional content marketing firms from Utah to Europe know the ins and outs of the marketing world, and whether your company has been around for 50 years or it is just starting, a content marketing firm can help.

Though many similarities exist, there is a difference in the approach to content marketing between new and establish companies. If young Luke Skywalker does different training exercises than established master Yoda, it stands to reason that new companies should be practicing different content marketing techniques than established companies.

New Companies

New companies often have a lot to figure out, and content marketing voice is one of those things. The voice and tone selected in the early phases of content marketing follow a company throughout its lifespan. Finding an appropriate voice is vital because this voice will be a part of every aspect of the company.

After a voice has been established, it is important that a formal strategy is created and plans and budgets are made. Without written plans, your marketing strategy is merely a wish.

In the beginning, do not over-exert yourself as you begin to grow an online following, this will come with quality content and time. In your efforts to create quality content and not over-exert though, don’t be afraid to branch out and try something new.

Established Companies

With a brand image and voice already well known, the biggest trick for established companies is remaining relevant in content marketing. No matter if your company resides in Utah or beyond, it is important to keep your content evolving.

Social media now plays a large role in content marketing because it connects Utah businesses not only with Utah but also with the world. Established companies often forget that in order to survive, they must adapt. Some companies refuse to adopt social media and because of that, marketing suffers.

Both established and new companies must be willing to make changes and sacrifices when it comes to successful content marketing. No matter the age of the company, with the right attitude and a solid creative team, success is attainable.