Analytics. Algorithms. Metrics. The new “buzz” words in marketing have hit a hot button with developers who have been seeking accountability in a field previously managed by gut reactions or feedback from the sales office. In today’s world, art is driven by science, providing clearer insight into buyer psychology.
Real estate developers and builders have long recognized the quality of potential leads driven from personal referrals. This assumption is now supported by research from Socialnomics.net that indicates only 14% of consumers believe advertising messages, but 90% trust peer recommendations.While many recognize this new dynamic, few sales organizations know how to utilize today’s technology to expand their reach. Yes, friends and family continue to make the seasonal trip to South Florida and other warm destinations. Often they become envious of the lifestyle they experience while on vacation:holiday celebrations in shorts, poolside barbecues on Super Bowl Sunday or simply slipping into a pair of flip flops instead of snow boots. Who wouldn’t love blue skies and 70-degree temperatures in February? Tapping into visiting…
Don’t like what’s hanging in your closet? Can’t decide what to buy in the store? Always sending photos of yourself to your friends asking – “What do you think?” When looking to purchase items, social media marketing is a game changer. Today 90% of consumers look to “friends” and ‘Liked’ pages or ‘Pins’ to decide what to purchase. Social media and peer recommendations are being taken to a whole new level, especially in Brazil. Brazilian retailer, C&A, has teamed up with Facebook in creating real time fashion feedback. They have already asked the question and are giving you the answer right on the hanger.
Increasing brand affinity has always been about building relationships with people. Today brands everywhere can achieve this through social marketing. Social marketing is taking a strategic and digital approach to using social media to reach and engage consumers while encouraging word of mouth sharing and brand loyalty. Cotton & Company offers social marketing as a key service line and welcome the opportunity to grow your brand using this new marketing medium.
Today is a holiday. No doubt about it. Tax season is over. Well, at least for this year. I for one dread doing taxes. That’s why I have preferred in the past to hand over the documents to an outside service provider and walk away knowing they will be completed. I didn’t care about the cost, as long as I didn’t have to figure it out on my own. This year, however, my fiance put up a very convincing argument for why we should complete our own taxes using Turbo Tax online. He finished his and helped me with mine. We submitted (after a few frustrations and a couple words of annoyance) on Friday night (4/15) just before midnight. I…
What emotions are conveyed when consumers hear your company’s name? Proper branding is critical to the success of any business. Branding is more than just a logo (although the logo is high in the hierarchy of consumer impressions)—it’s an intangible asset. Do you stand for something? What is it? Are you marketing just a product or service, or do you stand for something consumers can relate to? People respond positively to companies that have passion and negatively to those who are perceived as trying to make a quick buck off them. Wouldn’t it be awful if you actually wanted to improve peoples’ lives by your product or service, but because of poor branding, you were being treating as just another…
What would Don Draper do with Google and an iMac? The savvy ad executive of ”Mad Men,” accustomed to cocktail-induced, cigarette-filled and feet-kicked-on-the- desk-style of creative meetings, might feel a tad nostalgic for his Lucky Strike days in 2011. What ever happened to the days of creative exchanges in person? Together Everyone Achieves More (TEAM): but do they?As a result of the increased use of technology, collaboration seems to be decreasing among colleagues and business partners. The days of collective brainstorming—in person—have been replaced by the sound of dinging Smartphones and the sight of a zillion unread e-mails.
For the first time in the history of marketing, a company that sells a legal item is being forced to package and sell it’s own product in the most negative way possible: starting in September 2012, cigarette packs will be required to contain a rotating series of grisly images depicting the health hazards and possible results of smoking. The FDA is ordering the new packaging as a way to call fresh attention to a message that has gone stale: that smoking is exceedingly bad for your health.The full color images must take up 50% of the package, on both the front and back, and 20% of all advertising. Up until now, the anti-smoking message has come in the form of…
Ugh. It’s that damn song again. I can’t get it out of my head. “NAPA know how, Napa know how”If you’re an avid sports fan, odds are you tuned in for some March Madness. And if you did, then you are like millions of others who were introduced to Napa’s “catchy” little jingle. The funny thing is I saw more negative comments about this tune on the Internet and Twitter than I can count. But you know what? It worked. I don’t have numbers to quote, but I think it’s safe to assume, from pure media spend, that Capitol One dominated the commercial rotation during the tournament. And as good as Alec Baldwin may have been, I don’t see too…
Social media has been a buzz-topic across all industries for a number of years now. People are discussing its benefits and its handicaps, its global reach, its popularity, how fast it’s growing. Businesses- large and small- are all hopping on the band wagon and developing profiles, pages, handles and groups. Everyone wants to be involved, but before you jump in, make sure you know what you’re getting into. What many people don’t understand is the bigger picture of social media; take the words apart – and social media is just really a type of media. Dictionary.com describes media as a “means of communication…that reaches or influences people” and social as “pertaining to, devoted to, or characterized by friendly companionship or…
