fbpx

 

Have We Just Had The First Snapchat Election?

 

When the Electoral Commission launched its Snapchat geo filter across the UK to encourage Britain’s youth to register to vote in  the General Election it received a mixed response. The filter, which carried a voter registration message to encourage engagement and conversation among young people was called a ‘gimmick’ by some, while others praised the Commission for reaching out to this elusive audience. At the time their research showed that young people were typically less likely to be registered than older voters, with only 69% of 18-34 year olds correctly registered in the UK compared to 96% of those aged 65 and over.

“By working with Snapchat we can get this important message across in a new way and help ensure fewer people lose their chance to cast their vote” a spokesman said. And why not? With the average user spending 30 minutes a day on Snapchat* it appears to have been key in attracting this demographic to not only engage but to actually vote.

After all 3 candidates in the recent French elections used it to take questions, Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn seems to have been the main benefactor of adopting Snapchat, and as reports are of a staggering 72% turn out of the youth vote this platform may have changed the way we approach politics, voting and social media.

If you would like to optimise your social media activity or turn your handles into revenue generating tools, Zest Media can help. For information on our social media management service contact us here. We’d love to hear from you!

 

*’eMarketer Releases New Snapchat Usage Numbers’, eMarketing, 07/06/2014, https://www.emarketer.com/Article/eMarketer-Releases-New-Snapchat-Usage-Numbers/1015324

To ensure your content is reaching the right people on the best forums, you’ll need to strategise effectively. From the awareness to the decision stage, people will be digesting content in a variety of ways. We take you through the key stages your potential customer will traverse on their way from stranger to active business promoter.

Attract

At the attraction stage, a customer may not yet be aware of your brand. Your job now is to alert them to what you offer. Below are some of the best types of content to utilise at the attraction stages:

Blogs are a great way to attract new customers. By creating informative content you’ll be providing your potential customers with guidance and answers to their questions, and, at the same time will build your brand awareness.

Convert

By the time you’ve reached the convert stage, the potential customer will be aware of your brand. The job here is to collect information about your potential customer in order to build your database and convert them into leads. Below are some of the best types of content to utilise at the convert stages:

Close

Once you’ve got your potential customer’s attention and contact details, it’s time to close the deal. Below are some of the best devices to utilise at the close stages:

One of the best ways to keep in contact with your new client is by sending them informative emails. By regularly staying in touch with relevant content, you’ll be able to close the deal when they are ready to make the purchase.

Delight

After you’ve won their business, your next goal is customer retention. If you provide your client with top-level service, you’ll ensure repeat business and turn them into business promoters as they recommend you to friends and colleagues. Try sending them surveys and calls to action, to ensure you’re getting feedback and keeping in touch.

Get in touch to learn more about Zest’s content services.

 

 

How To Make Your Content Work

To ensure your content is reaching the right people on the best forums, you’ll need to strategise effectively. From the awareness to the decision stage, people will be digesting content in a variety of ways. We take you through the key stages your potential customer will traverse on their way from stranger to active business promoter.

Attract

At the attraction stage, a customer may not yet be aware of your brand. Your job now is to alert them to what you offer. Below are some of the best types of content to utilise at the attraction stages:

• Blogs

Blogs are a great way to attract new customers. By creating informative content you’ll be providing your potential customers with guidance and answers to their questions, and, at the same time will build your brand awareness.

• SEO
By ensuring you are using focus keywords, meta descriptions and so forth effectively, you’ll be building your SEO levels and climbing up the Google search pages.

Convert

By the time you’ve reached the convert stage, the potential customer will be aware of your brand. The job here is to collect information about your potential customer in order to build your database and convert them into leads. Below are some of the best types of content to utilise at the convert stages:

• Whitepapers
Offer educational, consultative, downloadable content such as whitepapers to your client that requires them to enter information before the content is released. You get contact details; they receive the information they need.

• Landing pages
Ensure you’re sending potential customers to the correct landing page through calls to action.

Close

Once you’ve got your potential customer’s attention and contact details, it’s time to close the deal. Below are some of the best devices to utilise at the close stages:

•Email
One of the best ways to keep in contact with your new client is by sending them informative emails. By regularly staying in touch with relevant content, you’ll be able to close the deal when they are ready to make the purchase.

• CRM
Use your CRM system to monitor the customer information you have, and make sure you are tailoring the content to the right client. 

Delight

After you’ve won their business, your next goal is customer retention. If you provide your client with top-level service, you’ll ensure repeat business and turn them into business promoters as they recommend you to friends and colleagues. Try sending them surveys and calls to action, to ensure you’re getting feedback and keeping in touch.

Get in touch to learn more about Zest’s content services.

Zest had the pleasure of attending the B2B Marketing Expo at London’s ExCel Centre last week. With a lineup of marketing specialists and keynote speakers across the schedule there were many insightful ideas and intriguing strategies to be heard. Eighty of the industry’s most recognised companies got involved, including the IDMGoogle and Digital Doughnut. The seminars and lectures were packed with great bite-sized tips that would give any Marketer the tools they need to elevate their campaigns and profiles to the next level.

Amongst all the discussions and analysis of emerging trends content marketing remained one of the hot topics.

Here were our three key takeaways from the day:

1. Let your brand do the talking

To establish a reputation and build trust, companies should always have consistent but transparent values across all of its content and communications. Customers need to believe in a brand, so that they come to you instead of you going to them.

2. Sell a story

Give your content a narrative, so that it can be relatable and give your brand a character. Stories and personalities are what people remember, even when they forget who told it.

3. Build relationships

Don’t use content only to make sales. People don’t like to be talked at, they want to be entertained, educated and inspired. Building personal connections with your target audience will encourage engagement and will ultimately increase website traffic.

Our verdict is that the B2B Marketing Expo is a recommended event for any marketers who are looking to find out the latest educational content and networking opportunities.

How To: Content Marketing

At Zest we understand the importance of properly planning your content output. From the initial consideration stage, through to implementation and reporting, all are imperative to achieving your marketing goals. To help guide you through the process, we take you through the Six Pillars of Content.

Strategy

First you need to define your goals. These can range from marketing goals (i.e. establishing yourself as a thought leader), business goals (growing revenue), or others, such as simply improving the quality of your content.

Next, identify your personas. Personas are fictionalised representations of your ideal customer, and they are determined by looking at different demographics, their goals, objectives and their response to different marketing types.

After you have collected your goals and personas, it is time to brainstorm your targeted content. Map out your content using your personas and their life cycle stages, so the content is reaching your ideal audience on the right channels at the best time.

Audit

Second, take an objective look at the content you are currently creating. Thoroughly research your offline content (sales scripts), online platforms (blogs), and marketing materials (brochures) to identify patterns and trends in your output.

Then do the same with your competitors’ content; find out what they’re posting, where they’re posting and how they’re doing it. This will enable you to establish your place in the market, and help you on your way to becoming a thought leader.

Create

Next, it’s time to get cracking on the content. Whether you’re writing, designing or filming, remember to structure it so it appeals to your targeted audience.

At Zest Media, our award winning, well informed digital and print editors have experience working for national publications such as Grazia, The Times and The Guardian, and are well versed in working to a commercial brief. When we create content, we optimise its readability, boost its SEO, and speak your personas’ language.

Amplify

Push out your content on the right channels after you’ve researched the best platforms for your personas. These can be through your owned channels, i.e. a blog page or social handles, paid for media channels, i.e. social ads and PPC, or Zest’s owned media channels.

Analyse

Using detailed analysis and reporting, from sources such as Google Analytics, work out what worked well and start plotting trends. This will help you to refine and optimise your strategy to ensure you’re grabbing the attention of your ideal customer. Detailed reporting will also help you map out the next stage of content and brainstorm new features.

Repeat

Taking what you’ve learnt, refine and optimise your strategy. Its time to start the cycle again!

Content Marketing and Positivity – What’s the Connection?

(more…)