Ep 7: THE 2020 Marketing trends to FOLLOW
Episode Summary
Enjoy our first show of the year where we discuss the new digital marketing trends to follow, offer hot takes on current digital channels (is email dead? Are websites still as relevant?) and a marketing blueprint for your 2020 media strategy.
Stephen shares three key takeaways to start the year: How “newness” is the new template for brands, why businesses have to think like TV networks and a how-to on where to broadcast content throughout your owned properties and spheres of influence.
Refer to the links below including a free download to even more tips for 2020.
This episode will have 3 parts -
1. quick predictions
2. A lay of the land on today’s marketing channels
3. a 2020 marketing blueprint.
What are Emerging Tech predictions for 2020?
5G technology
Voice Shopping
SMS Marketing
Chatbots
Sustainability
How about today’s tools and marketing channels?
Email Marketing
Websites (in general as a strategy)
Instagram
Google and Search Engines
2020 Media Blueprint and Marketing Landscape
NEWNESS SELLS
New is the new “sale” - people used to do “sales” to drive volume.
They should use newness the same way. Entrepreneurs and commerce brands alike, newness is important. it keeps you in the conversation. Which means creating more content to distribute and more product launch announcements. In the past, brands used to launch seasons or do different deliveries each month. Now, brands are launching new items even weekly or biweekly to maximize the “new factor” Between limited editions and new styles, one benefit is maintaining full-price for a longer period of time and not needing sales as much to get rid of excess inventory. Ben & Jerry’s and MadHappy clothing are two different inspirations for how they incorporate newness into their brand. Either new flavors or frequent product drops.
Ever visit the flavor graveyard of Ben & Jerry’s?
THINK LIKE A TV NETWORK
everyone is capable of broadcasting content. Anyone can do this and it’s not outrageously expensive.
Think of yourself as a media brand. Like a network, you need to master different types of content to get your message out. This is big. because the shift to being a media brand. it changes how you run your business. How you allocate your time, resources and budgets. We’re at a point where business leaders need to spend substantial headspace on the media portion of their companies.
Brands need a following and that’s why a broad content strategy becomes more important. Entrepreneurs struggle with this concept because business owners are more focused on selling product versus creating brand fans.
The broad goals of content are the same attributes we like for people: smart, authentic, funny, good citizen.
Content strategy is creating media that will entertain, make people laugh, show them how-to use the product, answer questions or solve their problem.
Examples are:
how beauty brands and influencers use make-up tutorials
Shopify not just focusing on its features but helping brands and entrepreneurs become successful merchants.
A home decor brand that creates tutorial content to help its audience make faster, better, more affordable home renovation because after audience research, they found out that’s what their target audience wants to read out.
Shareable content has many forms
Infographics
anything funny (meme or otherwise)
blog posts that answer a FAQ, a common question
Video marketing is a 2020 trend
How-to videos have taken over YouTube . Video are so popular because they communicate so much quicker than text.
Some popular forms of video used by brands and entrepreneurs are:
Testimonials
Product Videos
Founder Videos
Hair Club for Men is a famous example of a founder video that went viral back in the 80s.
WE ARE IN A NEW AGE OF BROADCASTING
Brands and entrepreneurs have to distribute content wisely.
Here are their potential outlets. First we’ll review the owned channels.
Email marketing
social media channels
Influencers
Niche Media
Podcast Guest Appearances
think of your next announcement or a new product or service. Let’s walk thru the campaign.
An Overview of this Organic Marketing Strategy all this stuff adds up and exponentially increases your overall media impressions. Note: you don’t have to do everything on the list. It’s a broad overview. Would estimate that if you do four of the below items, you would be in good shape. And it’s something to build off of.
THE MARKETING LANDSCAPE AND ORGANIC MARKETING CHECKLIST
1. You have an announcement or a great piece of content that you want to spread
2. Prioritize email marketing and send out to your subscribers.
3. Publish it on your best-performing social media channels where you have a real presence.
4. Have over a dozen influencers sharing or publishing a review.
5. Line up a couple articles on a media property focused on your niche.
6. Get featured on a list of 10 emerging trends or must-have products.
7. Do ten podcast guest appearances telling your brand story
There are benefits in bypassing the traditional ad spends that were previously necessary for exposure. Now, you can use ads to augment the content that works and amplify the content that’s already been battle-tested for share ability.
That’s all for now… check out the show notes for this episode, including many links there…and the download for extra tips for 2020. And if you’re interested in talking more about how to do this for your brand, reach out to me directly at hello@needlemovement.com.
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