ENewsletter 
July 2017
Thanks so much for reading this newsletter for tips and trends in digital marketing, branding and business communication. If you'd like to see a particular topic addressed, just let me know!  Enjoy!


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In This Issue
Are you using social media as effectively as you can? It all starts with understanding your customer and the platforms that they're using.  I'm excited to share information on this subject with the members of the Incentive Marketing Association  at our IMA Summit.  Here's a preview:

Who's Using Wha t?

Internet users report that these are the platforms they're using:
  • Facebook - 72%
  • YouTube - 65%
  • Instagram - 40%
  • Twitter - 24%
  • Linkedin - 23%
Are you positioning your business where your prospects live?

Even given the above figures, there are some platforms that are more appropriate than others. For instance, Facebook is very effective for Business-to-Consumer organizations; Linkedin is far more effective for Business-to-Business applications.

How Important is Mobile?

Very. Almost  80% of time spent  on this internet is via a mobile device. Here are the top 5 ways that we're using our smart phones:
  1. Messaging  (70%
  2. Phone calls (y62%)
  3. Email (54%)
  4. Social networking (51%)
  5. Camera (37%)
It's no longer enough to have a website that's mobile responsive. We must now have mobile applications that allow seamless interactions across all channels. (This information is also kind of interesting if you are a camera manufacturer....)

Top Reasons for Using Social Media
  • 88% - Exposure & increased traffic to website
  • 69% - Develop loyal fans/customers
  • 66% - Gain market intelligence
And, according to those who spend 6+ hours/week on social media marketing, they are achieving their goals.

Content Marketing

"Content Marketing is the art of communicating with your customers and prospects without selling." (Content Marketing Institute).

Top content marketing vehicles:
  • Visual images - 85%
  • Blogging - 66%
  • Video - 57%
  • Live video - 28%
  • Podcasting - 8%
Whether you create your own or curate content, it's important to publish your content in relevant channels. And if it all sounds too overwhelming, understand that one piece of content can be edited to serve a variety of purposes. For instance, one article on "6 ways to ...." can be a blog post, can be broken into 6 tweets or 6 short podcasts, can be reformatted into an ebook, a slideshare presentation for Linkedin, a YouTube video...and more.

What to do?

Think about how you use social media as a consumer. Do you look at Yelp reviews before visiting a restaurant or business? Do you search YouTube or Google when you're looking for information or instructions on how to do something? Do you use Linkedin to check out a potential supplier's or employee's experience or qualifications? Do you remember stories that advertisers tell better than you remember product features & benefits?

So do your customers.

Let the ways in which you use social media as a consumer inform that way that you market to your audience. Position your organization in the places that your prospects are likely to look when they're ready to buy or make a decision about a service provider.
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