Monday, 12 February 2018

18 Instagram Stats Every Marketer Should Know for 2018

Buying a Belief: 4 Brands That Won by Taking a Stand

Stay out of it.

Take the path of least resistance.

Avoid hot-button issues.

Up until now, this has been the predominant mindset of brands amidst major sociopolitical change, division or scandal.

But as today’s political climate continues to spiral and trust in institutions is at an all-time low, consumers have begun looking to brands to step up and take the lead in effecting change.

According to a 2018 survey by Sprout Social, two-thirds of consumers (66%) say it’s important for brands to take public stands on social and political issues. And Edelman’s 2017 study, “Beyond No Brand’s Land,” found that more than half (51%) of respondents believe that brands have more power to solve social issues than the government.

Never before have brands held so much influence over societal changes. And although some brands may be uncomfortable stepping into this new role, they may not have a choice.

Nearly 60% (57%) of consumers are more likely to buy from or boycott a brand because of its stance on a social or political issue. And for these “belief-driven buyers,” silence is not an option.

But with the recent missteps of brands like Pepsi and Uber, it’s understandable why brands may be wary to speak up. Luckily there are some brands that have gotten it right and whose success can provide a lesson to others looking to follow in their footsteps:

1. Patagonia – “The President Stole Your Land

Last year when President Trump gave the order to dramatically reduce the size of two national monuments in Utah, Patagonia–along with the greater environmentalist community–responded with outrage and fear for the integrity and protection of these public lands.

To publicize the brand’s position and further educate the general public on the issue, Patagonia replaced its website’s traditional homepage with a confrontational headline followed by the company’s stance on the issue, further resources and suggestions to donate.

Why it worked: We learned in the Sprout study that relevance is key to reception. Environmental conservatism is at the heart of Patagonia’s brand. It’s in their company’s mission statement to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis. So not only was their response a legitimate, warranted stance, but it was almost necessary given the values the brand was built upon.

It also worked because the revamped homepage was not simply an empty, isolated gesture or media stunt. Not only does Patagonia already have a proven track record of grassroots environmental efforts and generous donations, this particular campaign was accompanied by a giant resource catalog with education around public lands and next steps for visitors looking to take action.

2. Airbnb – #WeAccept

The popular home-sharing site drew national attention with the airing of their politically-charged TV commercial during Super Bowl LI. In response to President Trump’s nation-dividing travel ban, the aid boldly declared, “we believe no matter who you are, where you’re from, who you love or who you worship, we all belong. The world is more beautiful the more you accept,” followed by the hashtag #weaccept.

In addition to the ad, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky released a statement a few days after the commercial aired stating the company’s goal “to provide short-term housing over the next five years for 100,000 people in need.” The company also pledged to contribute $4 million to the International Rescue Committee to support the needs of the globally displaced.

Why it worked: Again, this was a stance on an issue that directly aligned with the service that Airbnb offers. It was a natural space for the company to occupy.

And like Patagonia, Airbnb didn’t just stop at the controversial tactic. It was backed up by the promise of real action that offered to directly–and quite significantly – reduce the negative impact of the ban.

On top of that, the company’s very own CEO was the one making public statements—not a PR spokesperson or generic company entity. According to the #BrandsGetReal study, people like to see CEOs speaking up.

3. Heineken – “Worlds Apart

Often described as the antidote to the disastrous Kendall Jenner Pepsi ad, Heineken’s “Worlds Apart” social-experiment-turned-TV-commercial is an example of a beverage company tackling tough cultural issues the right way.

In the experiment, two strangers are paired together to complete several DIY tasks while simultaneously getting to know a little bit about one another. After a level of respect and rapport is reached, it’s then revealed to the strangers that they each hold drastically opposing views on today’s most divisive, hot-button cultural/societal topics (ie. transgender rights, climate change and feminism).

The participants are then given the choice to either stay and talk it over with a Heineken in hand or part ways. After some expertly edited tense moments it’s revealed that everyone decides to stay and the audience is gifted with a montage of clips showcasing humanity’s very real capacity for kindness, empathy and acceptance—despite our differences.

Why it worked: Heineken does a lot of things right in this video. One, the lower production value and reality-TV vibe makes it feel less contrived and more authentic. Consumers can actually see themselves in that very situation. This demonstrates another facet of relatability that’s also very important.

Another big contributing factor is more about what the brand didn’t do. Unlike the Pepsi ad, Heineken didn’t position their product as the solution to these problems. It’s simply there to represent a bridge for discussion. Talking it over over a cold one is a common human experience. The brand didn’t over-promise or over-dramatize its role and what resulted felt genuine and authentic.

It was also very strategic in that it didn’t take a stance one way or the other on any of the topics. As mentioned above, Heineken took a lot of care in carving out exactly what the brand’s role is. It was less about choosing a side and more about positioning themselves as a way to unite people in the middle.

4. Ben & Jerry’s – “Save Our World

Even before President Trump’s controversial withdrawal from the Paris Agreement made climate change a household topic, Ben & Jerry’s had been championing the fight for cleaner energy sources. Never one to shy away from social issues, the ice cream brand launched a full-scale campaign/movement to join the fight against climate change in 2015.

As part of the campaign, the brand released a new ice cream flavor, “Save Our Swirled,” as a message to their fans to share their stance (“if it’s melted, it’s ruined”). They also published a list on their website of “endangered flavors” that used ingredients at risk should climate change continue to affect global farming and food production. Their creative efforts culminated in the video linked above, highlighting the significance and severity of this movement using the clever analogy of melted ice cream.

These however were just the marketing pieces of the campaign puzzle. More active components included an emissions-free road tour to spread the message and a partnership with community-based organization Avaaz to help distribute their petition demanding action from the United Nations.That partnership contributed more than 10% of the 3 million total signatures Avaaz presented to the UN.

Why it Worked: Why this particular campaign worked is also why any of the brand’s political activism works: taking a stand on social issues is part of the brand’s DNA. It has been a part of their brand story from the very beginning when proceeds from company profit as well as generous donations were gifted to fund various community projects. The brand believes, “the strongest bond you can build with your consumers is over shared values.”

The company doesn’t view an issue as an opportunity to sell more ice cream, but rather the ice cream as an opportunity to shed light on the issue. It’s a completely value-first mission and mindset that’s rare in the marketplace.

And even when some brand backlash arose regarding the dairy industry’s heavy effect on climate change, the company took action pledging to take steps to lower their carbon footprint, as well as the long-awaited release of a line of vegan/non-dairy flavors.

Gone are the days when consumers only bought what you were selling. Now they’re buying what you believe in. And since staying out of the conversation may no longer be an option in the future, your brand may want to take a page from the playbooks of these brands doing it right.

This post Buying a Belief: 4 Brands That Won by Taking a Stand originally appeared on Sprout Social.



from Sprout Social http://ift.tt/2nUarbi
via IFTTT

Saturday, 10 February 2018

Digital Natives Group’s Jonathan Jacobs on Adding Value Through Collaboration

#SproutPartner Jonathan Jacobs is Co-founder and Partner at Digital Natives Group—a digital marketing agency proudly located in “one of New York’s creative capitals,” Long Island City, NY.

The aptly named agency boasts an instinctive, inherent understanding of today’s connective technologies as a result of being “born into digital.”

We recently spoke with Jacobs about how he and DNG approach and accomplish effective collaboration with multiple client and partner stakeholders.

In your work at Digital Natives, where do you find the greatest need for collaboration?

For some of our clients, especially some of the larger organizations, there are a ton of different parties we need to collaborate across—whether it’s another digital agency, an internal party we don’t interface with as frequently or an outside PR agency. And although we consider all of our client relationships a partnership, we’ve got several clients that are pretty hands-on so collaboration in those cases is a must.

Tell us a little more about what that client collaboration looks like.

Our team produces content on a monthly basis, but on occasion our clients might have something they want to say, a link that’s of interest or an advocate they want to support. So we’ll have them go into the platform and save that content as a draft. At the end of the week we go in and take a look at everything, make sure everything is in the right brand voice with the right brand imagery and then we go ahead and queue it up.

We also use the shared Asset Library as a repository for visual inspiration. If our client happens to be a photographer or sees a graphic they like that they want us to recreate, they just drop it in the library. Now we’ve got a grouping of images or graphics we can use to help create a more collaborative aesthetic.

It’s no secret that collaborating across agencies can be difficult at times. With it being such an important part of your process, how do you ensure it’s more collaborative than competitive?

I think it’s important to remember the ultimate goal—to amplify each other’s work and improve the efficacy and success of the campaign. When we hear what another agency or internal party is working on, we try to have the mindset of, “What is a way that we can create something that will add value to what they’re doing? And what valuable tools can we provide them with to amplify their program?”

What do you think agencies need in order to attain that goal?

With what we do, transparency is huge. For a lot of organizations or individuals we work with, it’s their first time investing in a digital agency and making a commitment to the digital space. In those cases we advocate for bi-weekly calls for sharing and discussing projects. Ensuring they have a regular outlet to ask questions and talk openly helps to prevent the potentially problematic build up of underlying concerns and issues.

These calls also provide the opportunity to surface what everyone is working on and allows us to add value wherever possible with our own tools and expertise. So when a team is working on an offline program that doesn’t seem to have a digital activation, we can come in and say, “actually, if you’re able to capture some of those photo assets we can either amplify it after the fact online, or create a social campaign around it to help attract more individuals before the event even takes place.”

We also encourage monthly roundups featuring the projects everyone is working on for the campaign. For those parties that may not necessarily have that digital-first mindset, they might not realize how much we’re able to do online. So showing them some of the projects and initiatives we’re working on might just spark an idea for further collaboration.

This transparency definitely goes both ways as well. Whenever possible we grant external stakeholders with read-only access to our content in the platform, so they always have an insight into what we’re working on. This also helps keep messaging consistent and helps avoid any duplicate or competing efforts.

On that note of transparency, at what point do you think it’s most important to connect and/or align with other project stakeholders?

One of the things that’s been top of mind for me recently has been this idea of proper preparation and planning. Getting people to learn how to have an eye for and an understanding of what goes into producing good digital campaigns can be difficult. I think some people who don’t have a digital-first mindset think that because something’s online means it can happen really fast. So we’ve really pushed our partners to start thinking about campaigns three, four, five months in advance so we can really plan to launch at the right time of the cycle. We’ve seen some of our best work come from collaboration early on in the process.

This post Digital Natives Group’s Jonathan Jacobs on Adding Value Through Collaboration originally appeared on Sprout Social.



from Sprout Social http://ift.tt/2snqpPB
via IFTTT

Friday, 9 February 2018

How to Efficiently Set up Your Content Planning for 2018

#SproutChat Recap: The Importance of Case Studies

We all understand that customer stories are a hugely integral part of marketing collateral, but how exactly does one go about creating a case study? And how can one showcase these case studies to their audiences and prospects?

In this week’s #SproutChat, Sprout All Star Elite, Erika Heald, joined us to share her insights on the value of case studies. This week’s participants chatted about the distinctions between case studies and use cases, best practices for conducting a case study and how to leverage them in your social strategy.

Full Context Creates a Better Story

We often conflate the terms use case and case study. Both are great for highlighting customer stories in your content strategy, but there are key differences. A use cases speaks to the benefit of a specific feature or use, while case studies provide a story in full-context—including the issue at hand, the resolution reached and key metrics throughout.

Think Beyond B2B

While case studies may seem like a strictly B2B marketing move, they can be used in consumer marketing as well. Consumers are genuinely interested in hearing how brands have helped people achieve their goals.

Highlight Quick Information for Social

If you want to pull from case study content for social keep in mind that speaking to your social audience is much different than a one-on-one sales call. Tailor how you deliver content on your social platforms by sharing small nuggets of hard-hitting information or engaging visuals.

Communicate With Success Teams

While in the process of identifying potential case study interviewees, take care to connect with any individual that has an existing relationship with the point of contact for the account. This might be someone on your client success or sales team, but could also be a personal contact. Be sure to check in on the status of this person’s account and how happy they are as a client.

Test out Videos

Videos can be a great addition to your overall content plan for case studies. Even if you don’t have the resources for larger video production, you can utilize video for conversations with your interviewee to set a more conversational tone.

Put the Customer First

First and foremost, when interviewing someone for a case study, take the time to get to know them. Start the conversation off about their role at the company and background about themselves professionally. Setting this tone from the start tells customers right off the bat that this project isn’t merely about work, but about putting them first.

Join us next Wednesday, February 14, to chat with special guest, Marketo, about the relationship between social media and email marketing. Until then be sure to join our Facebook group to connect with other folks in the industry.

This post #SproutChat Recap: The Importance of Case Studies originally appeared on Sprout Social.



from Sprout Social http://ift.tt/2nW62nr
via IFTTT

14 Ways to Outsmart the Instagram Algorithm