Let’s face it, you’re probably flooded with data. When everything has a metric, it’s easy to find yourself deep in the rabbit hole. That’s why so many marketers avoid making a decision without a key stat to justify it. But there’s a fundamental flaw in this thinking.

Data looks at what has been, it doesn’t account for what could be.

At 3rdspace, we believe in diving into data to look for themes and insights. We want to expose the underlying human truth. Because when an idea resonates with people, that’s when it’s powerful.

We look at data differently. Our search is for a factual or emotional insight. Something which will spark creative storytelling. Crucially, it has to help us understand the plight and values of our audience. We then mix creative intuition with crafted storytelling to build campaigns.

What we never do is take a single stat, slap on our client’s solution and call it communication.

Instead, 3rdspace looks deep behind the stat to find out what’s truly driving it. Then, instead of stacking on 3x product attributes and a brand message, we look for ways to make the customer the hero and your brand their guide.

It’s the secret to telling more relatable and authentic stories.

For your audience, it highlights how your brand truly understand them and will help them their journey. Then, and only then do we apply a story structures so the viewer doesn’t have to work too hard. Specifically:

What’s the major mistake marketers make?

They lose focus on the product attributes which will help customers survive and/or thrive.

One technique we’ve used successfully is to dial up the plight of the customer. We highlight all the challenges they face and then use the brand as the guide out of the maze. The brand helps them save the day – but they customer is still the hero.

Or, if you’re marketing an FMCG product, you can surprise and delight your customers with unexpected stories. This is particularly effective as customers no longer simply buy based on product and price. Decision-making now includes ingredient sources, sustainably practices, packaging materials. 3rdspace have had huge success in telling powerful stories of the people who grow the produce behind the product.

Importantly, ours is a collaborative approach. We’re passionate about working with clients to change the way they think about campaigns. We’re experts are identifying golden sparks in data which reveal the customer’s real plight and can be built into an engaging solution.

After all, an engaged customer is more likely to change their attitude and their behaviour.

And that’s what build businesses.

If you’d like to know more, please reach out:

rob@3rdspace.com.au

0419 722 151

This year content 3rdspace entered the virtual events space - a fairly logical development given that these kinds of events are all about well-crafted content designed to deliver an engaged experience... and that being our raison d’etre.

As part of our move into this territory we embarked on a due diligence program that had us immersing ourselves in a range of scalable platforms. We wanted to define what was possible and pressure test the respective digital back ends.

With a range of live-streamed and virtual events now under our belt and lots of lessons learned, we’ve compiled our top 6 planning questions to help ensure your virtual event delivers for your brand.

1. Start with the end in mind: why are you hosting this event and what are the KPIs?

Like any piece of great content, your virtual event needs a content strategy that supports your brand purpose. That includes:

2. What are the hooks that will attract attendees?

This is where the show biz magic comes in. Just like an IRL event, a live-streamed event should tick the following boxes:

3. What is the supporting content?

A quality virtual event should offer a variety of break-out areas and booths where attendees are encouraged to deep dive into the content. That might include:

4. How will you promote it and define and demonstrate the experience?

With so much “stuff” being live streamed it’s crucial to highlight not only what makes your event special, but also: 

5. How will you keep them engaged through the event?

Giving a website-level user experience isn’t enough. 3rdspace spent months researching how we could elevate the consumer experience, talking to backend suppliers across the globe to find scaled approaches. We were looking for:

6. How will you build your event into a community with shared purpose? 

This is the bit content creators get and events people often miss: your event should be the start of a conversation, not the finale. You need to create a real reason to continue the conversation.

Up to 50% of learnings at real-world conferences are forgotten within 24 hours if they’re not reinforced, So make sure you have a range of key content highlights ready to go the following day. Your aim might be to:

The great thing about virtual events is they take less effort to attend. They can be as entertaining, thought provoking and involving as a real world event and like content (when it’s done well), can start a quality conversation with your potential customers,

If you’re interested in more of our learnings and keen to investigate some of the quality back-end platforms we’ve scoped, drop us a note here.

Avid social media users will be familiar with the ‘stories’ format: highly-visual, snackable content that disappears within 24 hours. Stories allow people to share moments from their day quickly and easily; for brands, it’s an engaging, interactive and user-friendly way to tell your brand story without having to dedicate too much production time and effort. 

Until recently, the stories format has been the domain of Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat. In June 2020, Linkedin entered the fray with their own offering, a tool to help professionals share day-to-day realities around their work, support colleagues and peers, spread important news and information and generally share how they’re coping with massive levels of change.

So how can you start using LinkedIn Stories to elevate your brand and tell your story?

First, how do LinkedIn Stories work?

Just like Instagram and Facebook Stories, LinkedIn Stories have a 24-hour expiration period, meaning the content only remains live for a one-day window. When uploading a story, you’re able to post content directly from your camera roll, adding coloured text and animated stickers, and you can also tag other members in your network to include them in the story. This is a great function for tagging co-workers, clients or others in your network to let them know that you’ve shared a new Story. 

The LinkedIn Stories feature is currently in BETA mode, meaning at this time it’s only available to members and select LinkedIn Pages located in Australia, Brazil, France, the Netherlands, and the UAE. If your brand isn’t in that bracket, don’t worry - LinkedIn will be making the feature available to a wider audience soon. 

Why should I start posting LinkedIn Stories?

Because these Stories can be seen by your LinkedIn connections and the public, you can use the feature to enhance your professional persona by authentically showcasing the real you across the following three work-related categories:
1. Things you do at work
2. Things you do around work
3. Things relevant to your work 

You already use LinkedIn to nurture and expand your professional network, and Stories is perfect for highlighting these efforts and helping them better resonate with your network. Even more than in-feed posts, Stories encourage direct interaction and engagement with your network.

What should I share on LinkedIn Stories? 

With so many of us currently working from home (WFH), LinkedIn Stories is a lightweight, no-pressure way for brands to stay in touch with their employees, customers, prospects, and wider professional communities. 

Stuck for ideas on what to post? How about showing your WFH set-up, sharing how you’re staying connected with teammates, highlighting your productivity tips, showing a virtual event or giving a look into what you’re reading or listening to. Remember, Stories content doesn’t need to be overly polished or produced – it’s only live for 24 hours, so it’s a great opportunity to have a bit of fun with your content strategy.  

Our suggestions for getting the most out of the Stories feature include: 

• Asking your network questions
• Using the member tag feature
• Following profiles that interest you so you can see their Stories; and
• Updating your personal LinkedIn profile CTA from ‘connect’ to ‘follow’ to grow your audience and profile reach

If you are looking to integrate LinkedIn Stories into your brand’s marketing strategy, we’ve pulled together six simple tips to get you started. 

1. Share brand announcements and current news 
Why reserve all your latest brand news just for your company’s LinkedIn page? Reach your audience in real time by sharing brand announcements and company news through the Stories format. 

2. Create a brand personality 
Hiring and developing a great team is a significant investment of time – no point in keeping it to yourself. Show your audience the faces behind the projects, products and services your company delivers. Brands and customers who identify with your personality will be most attracted to you, so show off that individuality. 

3. Share behind-the-scenes footage 
Capturing the attention of current and potential stakeholders when your campaign goes live is a top priority for almost every brand. Using the ‘Stories’ function, taking your followers on the campaign journey with exclusive behind-the-scenes footage creates more meaningful connections and excites your audience for launch day. 

4. Share your thoughts and knowledge with a Q&A
Create informal and educational dialogue with your audience via a Q&A segment on LinkedIn ‘Stories’. According to Sprout Social research, 71% of customers were more likely to buy from a company after a positive interaction. Try and address all question topics and let those who have submitted a question feel appreciated, acknowledging the time they’ve taken to seek your advice and expertise. 

5. Real people, in real time 
Your brand is made up of real people, having real experiences. Showcase these moments in real time to connect with your audience. Awards ceremonies, workshop snippets or a snap of your team lunch are all real moments that you can informally share with your audience to make your brand more human. 

6. Your personal, and informal resumé
LinkedIn stories are not only beneficial to your business image, but also your own image. Share your virtual, informal resumé by capturing your interests, how you work, mid-week meditation, or whatever defines your professional and non-professional personality. 

So, now you know the ins and outs of LinkedIn Stories, it’s time to use this feature to its full advantage.

In light of a worldwide pandemic, last week, Australia’s unemployment rate surged to 7.1%, the highest rate seen since 2001. As experts suggest a nearing recession, the first repercussion may be to tighten marketing and advertising budgets. But if we look back at the 1980’s recession, the 1990 slowdown and the 2000 bust, tightening the marketing budget, and putting your marketing and content strategy on hold, will actually have an adverse effect. 

What we can learn from the mistakes of others…

In 2010, Harvard Business Review assessed business growth in the three years before, during and after that recession – differentiating business that put everything on hold and those who pushed through with strategic spending. The results? Businesses who made quick, deep budget cuts, didn’t come out on top. In fact they had the lowest chance, at 21%, of survival and any chance of  getting back ahead of their competition when things got better. On the other hand it was the businesses that found “the delicate balance between cutting costs to survive today and investing in marketing to grow tomorrow” (Gulati, March 2010) who came out on top. 

Another common denominator amongst the flourishing businesses, was the increased spend on Research & Development, and Marketing. Though only reaping moderate financial benefit during the recession, profit grew as the world returned to normal. (Gulati, March 2010).

Marketing consultant, Mark Ritson also advocates the importance of a thorough marketing strategy, especially during times of financial uncertainty. Encouraging brands to think long term. Ritson explains that recessions serve marketers “fertile grounds” (Ritson, April 2020) to set up and implement long term growth of market share. In times like these it’s important to focus in on your competitive edge and tell that story in innovative ways to remain relevant with consumers.

It’s not enough to be present. Here’s why you need to show off your purpose and values be top of mind.

If your brand isn’t there for consumers, another will be. That’s Professor Peter Fader’s advice (November 2008). The Wharton University professor argues that an absence of your brand leaves room for competitors to fulfil consumer needs. However brand presence is not enough. Considering the present, ever changing times, and the relaxing of social distancing and quarantine regulations, now is the time to make yourself known. Your audience needs to know who your brand is, your purpose and value proposition. We know you know these answers, but are you conveying it in a creative and innovative way?

All in all, it’s essential for brands big and small, to think long term. 

Brand presence is important, but combine it with a powerful content marketing strategy that is purpose driven and relevant to your audience, and you will separate your brand from the rest of the pack.

Show off your ‘why’ and let people know what your purpose is, align your content with the cultural context and the values that are most important to your customers right now and highlight how your business understands and can add value to your customers lives. You don’t have to spend a lot of money on a massive TV campaign, you just need to stand up…live your purpose and tell that story through innovative content. 

Need help growing your brand and business through content - We’d love to share some potential strategies 

The US race riots following George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis have spilled over into the national conversation in Australia. We’re seeing television debates, Black Lives Matter protests and social media battles challenging racial injustice locally. So - which brands will be brave enough to reflect cultural context and address race issues in their content marketing?

As marketers, we’re told we need to be sensitive to the cultural context that our brands exist in, so that we can communicate in a way that’s relevant to how our audience is thinking and feeling and have more meaningful conversations with our customers.

To that end, maybe we should start by watching actor Meyne Wyatt’s two-minute monologue on the ABC’s Q&A program, about systematic racism and discrimination against Australia’s Indigenous population. It’s been described as the “best two minutes of Australian TV ever” and shared on every news outlet from The Guardian to 9 News and news.com.au.

Meyne’s words kicked it out of the park with not only a powerful message but a tone that is truly Australian: no beating about the bush, no sensitive empathy, just in-your-face honesty.

Then there are the tens of thousands of Australian protestors who defied state governments’ COVID-19 rules and the advice of medical officers, taking to the streets and demanding an end to black deaths in custody and other racial injustices.

And the thousands of Australians who blacked out their social media profile pictures for Black Out Tuesday, engaging in debate about #BlackLivesMatter versus #AllLivesMatter, bringing the conversation squarely into people’s social media feeds.

What does all of this tell us? We can see that diversity, authenticity and fairness are valued by increasing numbers of consumers, and content that ticks these boxes may well resonate with them.

The brand response so far

Many brands have showed support for the movement; not all have done well out of it. 

In the US, Ben & Jerry’s has been one of the most militant mainstream brands to tackle the issue. The ice-cream brand has been spreading their values of social, economic and environmental justice and equality for decades, so when they published a blog titled ‘Silence is NOT an Option’ detailing a four-step plan towards anti-racism in the US, using a graphic that read “Dismantle White Supremacy”, they were actually praised by activists. 

Two tea brands in the UK – Yorkshire Tea and PG Tips called out a racist on their Instagram page and told them to find another brand of tea. Their audience loved them for it, embracing #solidaritea.

In Australia, skincare brand Aesop told its Instagram audience it would donate US$100,000 to organisations that fight racial injustice and promote opportunities for black people, and was well received.

In contrast, Zimmermann copped flak for its message of support for the Black Lives Matter movement after people commented on the lack of diversity in Zimmerman’s marketing campaigns and its racist brand guidelines.

In the US, L’Oreal suffered a similar fate when it published the message ‘SPEAKING OUT IS WORTH IT’ on Instagram. A former L’Oreal ambassador, trans-model Munroe Bergdorf who had been sacked because her views were “at odds” with their values, called L’Oreal “racist snakes” and the story quickly went crazy online.

Walk the walk, not just talk the talk

If you think you can cynically tap into public sentiment and support popular causes, beware: if your own beliefs and behaviours don’t match what you’re preaching, there will be a backlash. You need to be true to your organisation’s values. 

And you need to back it up with action. Which includes protesting, sure, but it could also be celebrating and creating positive opportunities for Indigenous kids, from outback Australia to Redfern. For my money, that action would include getting behind Adam Goodes’ and Michael O’Louglin’s charity The Go Foundation.

So yes, we need to be plugged in to what is happening in society when creating content, and communicate in the channels our audience prefers to engage on. But who’s brave enough to not only support but crusade this moment with content that provokes action? If you really want to reflect cultural context, ACT NOW.

As Meyne Wyatt says in his monologue, “Never trade your authenticity for approval. Be crazy. Take a risk. Be different. Offend your family. Call them out. Silence is violence. Complacency is complicity.”

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, developed by Abraham Maslow in 1943 defines the natural human inclination to fulfil more basic needs before fulfilling more advanced needs. We’ve all, I’m sure, been able to relate to the pyramid of needs at pivotal times in our lives. Bushfires, a house move, divorce, a new job. When life throws us lemons or the preverbal bone we feel the psychological shift within as we oscillate between stages in the hierarchy.

Never has there been a time in this generation when we have endured such changing and uncertain times collectively as a society, country and species. Nearly 80 years on, we quickly begin to recognise the ever evolving relevance and meaning of each level on the hierarchy of needs pyramid. 

Is Maslow's hierarchy of needs more relevant than ever?
Let’s start at the bottom of the pyramid: 

Physiological needs. 

Defining the most basic needs of them all, the need for food, water, shelter, love and breathing are usually inherent and assumed. When we fulfil these physiological needs, we become satisfied with a sense of environmental security and safety. However, when unprecedented changes such as the Covid-19 pandemic kick in, our sense of safety and security is compromised. This leads to irrational decision making and bizarre behaviour such as panic buying, which left supermarkets empty. 

Security and Safety needs

Moving up the pyramid, these needs are more complex and define human inclination to have control over their life. For example, financial security, health and wellness, and the need to feel safe from physical harm in any environment. Whilst these desires come naturally to most, threats to our security seen in 2020 have never caused such disruption. Governments began to micromanage our lives, controlling where we go and how we travel, the risk of catching a life threatening virus beyond the confinement of your home and the implications of this on financial security, came down on our international community like never before, risking a global financial crisis. Many of us found ourselves confined to this level and all of its frustration in lockdown unable to fulfil our social needs. 

Social needs

Humans are social beings, relationships with friends, families, coworkers and beyond, being at the core of our mental health. Healthy relationships make us feel wanted and contribute to our sense of belonging. In today’s ever changing world, and with the majority of us staying home for extended periods, it’s undeniable that our sense of closeness to others and social well being will be impacted. As we face the pandemic, there has been an increase in depression, anxiety and feelings of loneliness. As such, it has never been more important to creatively and virtually enhance our sense of belonging. Video conferencing has come into its own during lockdown as people try to fill their needs for connection and human interaction. Businesses and brands help here by creating involving content with a purpose that helps customers feel part of a community. We are incredibly lucky that the technology accessible in 2020 makes maintaining relationships and creating involving content online so easy! 

Esteem needs

As the more basic needs are fulfilled, humans seek to improve their self esteem and personal wealth. With the speed for innovation and agility to create extra value coming to a halt, the Coronavirus pandemic puts a pause on the focus of outperforming the competition. Linking back to social needs and the quest to feel a sense of belonging, these dramatic changes affect human needs to boost self esteem. Subsequently, feelings of lack of self worth can present themselves.

Self Actualisation needs 

Peaking at the top of the pyramid, self actualisation needs explore all talents and strengths, using them for the benefit of society or a higher purpose. Though Covid-19 has caused so much disruption and prevented the fulfilment of the lower level needs, we can also see this time as an opportunity to self reflect on strengths, weaknesses and opportunities. It’s also been a time to celebrate and appreciate jobs in society we have taken for granted. Our health care workers, emergency services, supermarket employees and delivery drivers. Self actualisation requires a shift in perspective and if nothing else COVID-19 has shifted the world's perspective on what it means to be under threat. It has required people to come together, to support each other, to comprise and work together remotely and physically in ways previously never imagined for the greater good, to keep society safe. 

So what can we learn from Maslow's hierarchy of needs in 2020? 

Firstly, it’s largely still relevant today. But perhaps the real learning for Australian business is that having been stuck at the esteem level of decades that a sharp drop to remind us of how much we need to value our security and safety needs has paved a quicker route to becoming more self-actualised. For brands, now is the perfect time to reflect, take stock of how your business and marketing plan is serving the needs both positively and negatively of your customers, employees and society. Asking where the real economic and societal value lies? 

The leaders and brands that take the time and focus to do this will be the ones that come out of this crisis not only self actualised but with much customer love and appreciation in return. 

It’s just a few months old and still in BETA testing mode in Australia (meaning businesses need to submit an application and be approved before they can live stream on the platform), but LinkedIn Live is quickly becoming one of the hottest new ways to reach your audience. With livestreams on the platform receiving 24x more comments than native video* and 62% of companies planning to adopt the broadcasting feature in the future*, now is the time to think about how LinkedIn Live fits in your business’ marketing strategy. The question is, with over 610 million members on LinkedIn, how do you reach them through your live stream in a way that’s engaging, effective and stress-free? Read on...  

CASTING IS KING  

Live streaming has added to content's potential, giving it a new look and platform. Through live video streams, connecting with your audience has never been easier. Providing raw, authentic and (guaranteed) unedited content, is what users want to see. It’s how they gain insights into your brand and build trust.  

With all this in mind, it’s crucial to cast the right people in your livestream who will not only serve as great representation for your business, but also handle the interactive nature of live streaming. LinkedIn Live’s most powerful benefit is the ability to foster real-time conversations with your professional audience. By doing this is real time, you’re building a relationship with your current and potential clients in a way never possible in other modes of digital communication.  

PRE-PRODUCTION TIPS AND TRICKS  

Pre-production is a vital step in planning a successful LinkedIn Live stream. Really think about a topic your business has a strong point of view on. Encourage more than one point of view by inviting guests with differing opinions or from different organisations to boost audience engagement and encourage authentic conversations. Decide what topics you want to focus on and ensure these topics generate conversations, not yes or no answers. Connecting with your audience is what live streaming is all about.  

If the topics to be discussed are too broad, divide them into a series of live streams and let your audience know. For example, you may stream every Tuesday at 11am for the next 5 weeks. This keeps viewers interested and boosts marketing efficiency. However, be sure not to stream more than once a day to avoid ambushing your audience with notifications. 

Selecting candidates to host your live stream is just as important as selecting topics to focus on. Don’t get the boss to do it just because they are the boss. Try running auditions to select your best people on camera, remember that how they communicate in this environment is just as important as their knowledge of the topic. At the end of the day, it’s all about engaging your viewers! 

SET UP FOR SUCCESS  

Now that you’ve got the right content and the right people, it’s time to choose the gear. We advise against streaming straight from your mobile phone. Like a good boxing match, you want the debate to be produced well. At 3rdspace, we use 3 cameras, a live switching console with a TV director to ensure the live action is caught – and caught well! If you need some help let us know.  

Part of a good set up means that the presenter has enough access to the live questions and reactions coming in. Eliminate any downtime or awkward communication with anyone behind the camera. Remember the audience is focusing on you and this is live, they see everything. Keep answers short and to the point, remembering to thank people asking questions and keep it pacey.  

POST-PRODUCTION SLICE ‘N’ DICE  

After you’ve gone live, recycle and repurpose the footage! Download the content, slice and package it up into thought leadership clips. Post these clips to social media and use them to excite your followers and encourage them to tune in next time. You can also transcribe the conversation and develop it into a blog post.  

In Australia, LinkedIn Live is still in BETA mode. If you’d like to be one of the first streamers in Australia, contact us and our Official Content Partnership with LinkedIn will help get you there. 

Drop us a note here 

* Statistics via Hootsuite’s “Social Media Trends 2019” report 

All too often, we hear from brands who are questioning the effectiveness of their content strategies. They’re struggling to understand why engagement is low or why their fan base isn’t growing. Often, these symptoms are accompanied by a generic, overflow of content that, let’s face it... may or may not be relevant to their audience.  

It seems some brands have forgotten that content is in fact a two-way conversation. The nature of social media and the internet means it’s never been easier for your audience to reach out and talk directly to you. It’s the brands that are actually listening to that voice – the voice of their collective audience – who are kicking goals in their content strategy and garnering a loyal, engaged fan base.  

So, how can you take advantage of what’s being said online to strengthen your brand’s digital presence? Introducing your new social listening strategy.  

Think of social listening as your new strategy that will help you track, analyse and respond to pretty much anything to do with your company or industry. By adding social listening into your regular marketing repertoire, you’re essentially giving your brand the tools to get to know your audience and engage with them on a level that’s going to resonate.  

Social listening can include anything from comments on your Instagram page, tracking mentions of your brand on stories and hashtags, new research about an ingredient used in your brand’s products, and everything in between! 

Look at what’s being said about your brand and industry – this can be done through hashtag monitoring, Google searches, exploring trending content on Twitter and LinkedIn and even by asking your customers directly. Make sure to track regularly and note any changes. It’s important to make changes as deemed necessary in order to be actively demonstrating social listening- not just social monitoring! 

Without a social listening strategy, it’s hard to gauge where your company stands - in the industry, amongst your competitors, and with your customers and clients. Your social listening strategy is where you’ll find the answers to the hard questions and discover authentic opinions and genuine sentiment within your brand and its broader industry and competitor landscape.  

Think of social listening as a total quality management method- allowing you to detect flaws in your content, content strategy or maybe even in your logistics department! Assessing and renewing process is key to success and social listening is a simple and accessible vehicle in delivering high results.  

If you’re still not convinced, we’ve shortlisted a few benefits of social listening below... 

If you think your brand may need help listening, or if you’re feeling a little stuck in your content strategy, get in touch! We’d love to hear from you.  

Change is inevitable. It’s what has shaped every aspect of life as we know it. Whilst change can seem scary at first, the most successful people are those who take opportunities for change and use it to their advantage by forcing themselves out of the comfort zone.  

 Establishing and enforcing new process and ways of thinking can seem unnecessary and resource inefficient – particularly when current processes are working. However, it is important to remember that failure to change means that your business will be left behind.  

At 3rdspace we’re always looking to reignite our purpose, learning from our wins and most definitely our mistakes. Here’s three key drivers to fostering an open-minded, change-centric culture.  

ONE: Just because it works for you, it doesn’t mean there isn’t a better way of doing things.  

We’re all guilty of it. We have a strategy, a way of thinking or one route that gets us to where we want to go. But what if there was an express route? Starting small and considering new perspectives will harness your change-centric mindset and allow you to personalize whatever it is you chose to apply this mindset to. From a content perspective engage in thought provoking conversations with specialists in the field to understand the perspectives and processes of thought leaders and gain knowledge to shape your content strategy to drive greater results.  

TWO: Foster a data-centric culture.  

Almost every single day, we hear about the importance of data. However, it isn’t the data which will benefit your business- it's the way in which it’s used. Analyze data and use it to establish and shape the identities of your audience personas. Determine who your audience is, not by assuming from industry, but rather, understanding who is engaging with your content, on what platforms and how that engagement is nurturing new clients for your business.  

Adobe pledged to stay ahead of the game, implementing the concept of the ‘subscription economy’. Whilst most businesses neglected change, Adobe has taken advantage of an eager market hungry for doing things differently and its sales skyrocketed. Fostering this data centric culture allowed Adobe to understand the value of this investment assisted by data backed forecasts. The results speak for themselves! 

THREE: Look at the scoreboard. 

It’s easy to think that our ways are the best- at least the best for ourselves. It’s not uncommon to hear businesses preaching about their great strategy or product that you need. From a content perspective brands often get caught up in vanity metrics. We need to be thinking about results results results, How those engagement metrics and brand building content campaigns are also nurturing new data – new leads and new opportunities for the business. 

In 2020 it’s one of the most exciting times in content marketing, so if you’d like a fresh opinion and some more information on what we see happening in the world of content, we’d love to chat about how your content can provoke consumer action  

Talk to us here

Since its inception, social media vehicles, such as Facebook and Instagram, have reshaped the world of marketing. With over six million advertisers on those platforms in 2019, and a commitment to the philosophy of “content is king,” both Facebook and Instagram are also highly competitive environments, and taking advantage of them takes skill and experience.

Facebook wants you to take advantage of its targeting strategies as a means of providing a good user experience. After all, good, highly targeted ads also make them more money from engaged users. If your ad doesn’t meet Facebook’s standards, that then the algorithm won’t show you much mercy.

With that in mind, here are five ways to maximise your social marketing investment:

1. Mobile madness – target those devices in people’s pockets, and target them hard

We touch our phones over two and a half thousand times a day. It’s one of those rare things that we carry with us everywhere, and an increasing number of people feel more anxious about losing the phone than their wallets.

Facebook and Instagram know all-too-well how much we love our phone; over 90 per cent of Facebook advertising revenues come from mobile devices. Knowing this, it’s important to make sure your ads and tone of voice are compatible phones, as your audience’s number #1 preferred platform for content consumption.

2. You had me at hello

Maybe it’s just us but the last time our Aunty Susan posted a text-only Facebook status on her trip to London, we missed it. However, when she posted that picture in front of the departure gate, we liked it and even commented with a little emoji: pictures are vibrant and pull us in. Text is boring. Facebook and Instagram know that too.

The power of the picture has never been stronger. Now, with an expanded standardised image size, the number of lines on caption preview has been shrunk. Notice that little grey ‘see more’ function?That’s only going to get attention if you’ve got a great picture, and the headline is catchy, to the point, and makes us want to actually read more. All content for these social media platforms needs to be enticing and engaging in order to get people to want to drill down to the deeper elements of your content.

3. Understand that it’s not hide-and-seek

Now that we know why our captions aren’t going to always show in full, it’s time to master the use of the preview function. From your desktop, images will display both a headline and a subhead. This feature on mobile however, behaves a little bit differently, and you need to be really aware of that. Particularly when there’s a click to action such as Learn more, read more, download now etc. which will most likely cut off part of your headline. Your headline is the most important, most engaging part of your caption, this can affect your click through and engagement rates. Which is why it’s crucial to preview your ad, and understand what it will look like on all platforms, before it goes live.

4. If it’s not a video, it’s no good.

When we combine three of the most powerful features in advertising today, we get an Instagram video story. Users consuming video content is staggering, and stories is potentially the fastest and cheapest way to access and distribute video content. Advertisements appearing between stories can last up to 45 seconds.

It’s essential that the video content being posted on your business account is eye-catching and purpose-lead. Generally, the beginning of video will be muted to allow for seamless user experience. So assume that sound won’t be heard at first. Instead, you should encourage users to watch and listen, starting with a scroll-stopping frame and opening line that which can be read in the captions. But be careful to minimise text per frame as text covering more than 20 per cent of the screen will drive away your audience. After sending any video live, make sure that youanalyse the metrics and consider the number of views on your video, as well as the percentage watched. Dissect these results and reconsider your targeting strategies for your next post if you’re not happy with the results.
https://vimeo.com/344941077

5. Finally, Optimiseoptimiseoptimise

Last but not least, optimise. Learning about your audience, your business and your results is the most effective way to launch eye capturing content. Placement optimisation will determine your most probable customer leads. It will analyse where the results are going to happen, and with what audience. Testing multiple ad variations and choosing which ads to sponsor, otherwise known as content optimisation, is another essential in maximising ad potential. Even though we think technology will soon be able to do this for us, it can be extremely useful to test different versions of your headlines, ads, images and videos to consider what your audience like best. Or work with a partner who does know how to get the best from social media and content creation

If you’d like to boost your content in the new year, and start 2020 with a bang, let us know.

Contact us here.

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