LinkedIn has published a new marketing guide for what they’re calling “times of uncertainty”. This “new normal” conversation is getting tiresome, but a few stats caught my attention: 

• Last year, 54% of B2B businesses planned on hosting more events. 
• We’re now six months into this disaster of a year; 78% of these businesses now are expecting budget increases for online content. 
• For 52% of marketers, shifting priorities has been their biggest challenge. They’ve switched from those expensive and difficult-to-quantify events and are investing their marketing dollars in content marketing. 

Shifting strategies; being nimble is key

While many of us have continued working through the lockdown, others have been furloughed, idle, bored, spending even more time online. 

Let’s stop whining about COVID and get to work

This disease is going to be part of our lives for a while, so make sure you and your family are doing everything you can to stay safe, and let’s get to work. 

A strong content marketing strategy is a long-term plan to drive business growth

Content marketing involves publishing relevant content in a variety of forms on the channels where your audience spends the most time. 

• You don’t need to be pushing out huge volumes of text every week. 
• Instead, think strategically. Create a single theme—a product or service. It could be your team—a highly trained and informed group of people who can’t wait to solve thorny problems.
• Use this message in different ways to add value. It can be turned into a case study, a video, an animated explainer video, a blog, a white paper, an ebook. It can drive your newsletters. 
• It may be time to embrace online advertising/pay-per-click (PPC). Carefully managed and monitored, this can be an important lead-generation strategy. PPC works if you work it. 

What’s good messaging?

I always like this description: A good blog, article or post isn’t about you. It should be something that helps people do their jobs. A tip, a workaround, a new application that’s a productivity enhancer. If you can find ways to help your audience recover, you’re in a stronger position to attract, engage and convert new customers in the process. Customer service has never been more important. Going the extra mile for your clients is a very good investment and never goes out of style. 

We kicked off the year with high expectations

None of us could have imagined that 2020 would turn into a year of such stunning challenges. An election year, a pandemic, a tanking economy and a global uprising over racial injustice. It’s a consequence of the economic disparity that is fundamental to so many of our social problems. People are losing family members and their jobs with diminished opportunities on the horizon. 

Now is the time to feature humanity, generosity and humor in your messaging. Try to reach people on an emotional level, demonstrating compassion.

Get back in the game

If you need help developing or implementing your content marketing program, contact Top of Mind Marketing. We’re writers and content marketing experts.

COVID, Chaos and Your Marketing Plan

If you developed a marketing plan for 2020, there’s a good chance you’re revising it right now

One of my clients is a small Oakland construction company. They started out the year with some terrific new commercial projects in their pipeline. In March, COVID brought these projects to a screeching halt. While the company started back to work a week ago, some of those projects have stalled indefinitely. Now we’re refocusing, looking for smaller projects that we can turn around quickly to generate cash flow. Our target is homeowners converting spare rooms, garages and attics into home offices to meet the demands of the new virtual workforce. 

Another client is a complete sucker for ad salespeople

He’s a really busy guy, and getting on his calendar is a challenge. But somehow these ad folks not only get through to him, but they convince him that their exclusive deals, reaching thousands of households in his upscale demographic, are exactly how he should be spending his marketing dollars. These great deals are generally one-time offers and a complete waste of money. 

This is why you need a marketing plan: One-off spends are really bad ideas

Whether it’s a print ad, pay-per-click (PPC) or direct mail, you need to be in this for the long haul. It’s relationship-building. If you’re doing PPC advertising on Facebook, Google or YouTube, you need to monitor your ads and make adjustments. Think carefully about how you define conversion. You need to able to track the effectiveness of your advertising. If it’s successful, include it in next year’s marketing budget, if not, cut your losses and move on. And my client? We’ve successfully circumvented these one-off ad spends because they weren’t in the marketing plan! 

Smart business owners create detailed marketing plans, budgets and timelines every year so they know how much they’re spending, who’s responsible for executing each tactic. A plan will help identify your audience and the ROI of your marketing dollars. Even small businesses with limited budgets should be tracking their spend—and that includes pro-bono donations. A few hundred dollars here and there—these add up. Think instead about cause marketing—supporting one cause and becoming known for this. Team with another company to extend your resources. 

In its simplest form, a marketing plan is a blueprint for your communication activities

A marketing plan is a detailed roadmap that outlines strategies, tactics, activities, costs and projected results over a period of time. It can be as simple as a spreadsheet or it can be detailed in a CRM system. It can include attachments. It’s the marketing actions you take to achieve the objectives that meet profit goals. It includes your website, newsletters, online marketing, new collateral development, branding, networking, etc. It’s a working document that changes as the economy and other external factors affect your business.

How is your business adapting to the COVID-altered economy? 

Let’s talk about a marketing plan and tactics that will help you identify and meet new objectives. Contact Top of Mind Marketing. We’re writers and content marketing experts. Stay safe!

Marketing in the Time of COVID

While we’ve been confined to quarters, consumer buying behavior shifted significantly—and there’s more bad news for brick-and-mortar retailers. COVID has created new marketing challenges. 

These stats tell the story:

• eCommerce orders are up a whopping 108%
• Our daily Facebook habit has increased 27%, YouTube 15%, TikTok 15%
• 42% of us believe the way we shop will fundamentally change

The shift towards eCommerce has revved into high gear

The shocking bankruptcy/closing of some of retail’s oldest and most storied brands—the department stores—will further impact the way we shop. These behemoths have traditionally filled mall parking lots. Now those malls will likely shutter as consumers switch to online shopping.

The challenges of change

Smart businesses need to be nimble and adapt to change. I know one business owner who closed down one office, furloughed a few employees and began offering virtual services. All within one week. This is a guy who’s not afraid to make decisions and move on them.

One approach might rely on the messaging that so many have been sharing—that we’re all in this together. Somehow that’s comforting. 

With increased online engagement, conversion is now essential to business success

With reduced budgets, we are all content creators. We’re sharing photos and videos across social platforms. These are personal brand experiences that now have an official name: User-Generated Content (UGC); and it’s UGC that potential customers trust. People are looking for authenticity and connection. UGC can be sustainable and cost-effective, the way to build trust, grow sales and deepen relationships.

Building trust: Be the source of consumer confidence

One way to generate trust is through shared, authentic experiences. How to do this? By showing off our happy customers. Think case studies, showcasing successes. According to Nielsen Research, 92% of consumers trust earned media, like UGC, more than any other form of content.

In that same study, 87%  testified that social media posts help them decide what to buy, and 56% say that they rely on reviews to make informed online purchasing decisions. These findings transcend the high-priced photos and product descriptions on websites.

The power of Zooming in your PJs

One unintended side effect of the lockdown has been the dismantling of the corporate façade, of office formalities. Doing a Zoom meeting in your pajamas with kids wrestling in the background tends to humanize us. It brings us together. 

Preparing ourselves for what comes next

We all want our lives back. We’re angry about the way our government has mismanaged this crisis, heartbroken by the unnecessary loss of lives. But by now, we all understand that our former lives are going to be out of reach for a long, long time. 

This is the perfect time to be developing a marketing plan that leverages online delivery

Think about creating some case studies. Then think about how you’re going to use these. I’m working with one client and we’re creating animated explainer videos for YouTube advertising. Or maybe it’s time to finally update your website. Need help rethinking your marketing strategy? Contact Top of Mind Marketing. We’re writers and content marketing experts. 

COVID Downtime: Learn to Use Promo

I was in Europe when the coronavirus began to manifest itself. Those from Asia were wearing masks and gloves when I flew out of SFO. On my way home a month later in Paris, there were a few more masks and gloves, but no one seemed to be alarmed, including me. I was just delighted to be on an airplane with the luxury of empty seats. More than two months later, our pleasant, predictable lives have irrevocably changed. We’re in lockdown. We’ve stooped to hording toilet paper and bleach. Fantasizing about meeting our friends for drinks, going to a movie or getting a haircut. 

They tell us to stay productive

One article recommended setting goals and deadlines, scheduling breaks and lunch. I don’t know about you, but I’m not having any problem with breaks, and lunch is way too easy. Many of us wonder what we’ll look like when this is over. 

So now we have a little more time on our hands

While I’m busy, I’m saving time by not having to drive back and forth to meetings. I want to use this time productively.

Promo.com: A snappy promo application

I wanted a promotion application, and I found Promo.com. This little tool is pretty snappy. It’s fun, easy to use and affordable. I spent a few hours figuring out how to create my own little four-frame video that I can use in a number of ways—on social media sites or a website to promote a new product or sale. I’m doing a YouTube advertising campaign with one client, and this application will pair with the video, then link to a landing page on our website.

Use Promo as a turnkey product or customize

Promo.com be used as a turnkey product. Choose from millions of stock footage clips, high-quality photos and royalty-free music. Add your logo, swap out the text and it’s ready to go. But I like to customize this product. It’s very easy to import your own images or a video into the application. You have little frames where you can then select from Promo’s music choices and your own content. You can choose the font and how you want the text to show up on the video—it can slide in or pop and land on the page, etc. Wrap up your little video with a call to action–your name, contact and logo. 

This is a really great time to create or update your website

A website has a shelf life. Content becomes dated, styles change. If a website was built in WordPress, we can often apply a new template and create a completely fresh look, updating your site with a new look and feel without having to start from scratch. I’m using this time to completely redo my own site, and I’m going to simplify it. I’ve got more than 300 blogs on my site. Time for some serious housecleaning before migrating these into the new environment. 

If you’re thinking that this is a great time to redo your own website, contact Top of Mind Marketing. We’re writers and content marketing experts.