Tag Archive for: digital marketing

How to Inspire Advocates and Influencers in Your Marketing

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Marketing to influencers and advocates is all the rage, fueled by social media. But if you’ve ever developed a consumer campaign with influencers and/or advocates, you know it can be filled with land mines.
Part of that is what inspires advocates and influencers is different. In my last post about Captivation Motivations, I shared with you the secret driver you’ve already heard of behind so many of our snap decisions and just BARELY touched on rewards and lures.

But they’re actually super closely related to what’s behind our fastest decisions to click, like, join, sign up, or buy. If you’ve played an app or computer game, you’ve probably noticed that these games are getting more addictive (eh, em, Candy Crush anyone?). It’s not just better graphics and faster speeds that are making these games addictive, it’s the deeper understanding of what really motivates people to continue playing and one of those is the power of rewards.

I will get to the secret successful games used in a minute, but first, I want to share something else with you. If you’re thinking of running a giveaway, a promotion, or even thinking of starting an app, you want to keep reading. If you’re using digital and social media to market your brand (and I know you are), you’ll want to keep reading. If you’re doing affiliate marketing, you will want to keep reading.  What I’m about to share with you is essential and will ultimately make or break your product or promotion and even marketing relationships with influencers and advocates, including journalists.

 

You Scratch My Back…Carefully.

The last time someone bought you lunch, I bet your parting words were, “It’s on me next time!” You probably said it without asking where you might go or checking your bank account or calendar. You just blurted it out. The truth is, we’re hard-wired to return favors. Think about that for a minute. We are deeply, sincerely uncomfortable when we think we must return a favor. Next time you run a promotion on Facebook, do a test. Ask people to like the page BEFORE entering the contest and compare that to the results if you ask AFTER you’ve given them something, even if it’s just a chance to win. Chances are you’ll find that if you ask AFTERwards, your conversion percentage goes way up, AND those people remain engaged for longer.
This is because lures trigger our sense of reciprocity.

Want to hear an old-school example of this?
Ever received mailing labels from a nonprofit that you didn’t ask for? Did you know that sending mailing labels with a request for a donation has been shown to DOUBLE donations? And guess what? The average donation is way, way more than the value of the labels.
Why? Because reciprocity is a compelling motivation, and it comes with a quirk: what we give for what we receive has very little to do with the financial value of either. You give something, ANYTHING, of some value without placing a value on it, and the reciprocity trigger kicks in. This is the idea behind successful content marketing.

 

Why You Should Never Pay Your Advocates

There’s a lot of discussion today about influencer and advocate marketing. Lures and rewards are different. Lures give without the expectation on the giver’s part of receiving anything in return. That triggers reciprocity by the receiver.
Rewards are given with the expectation of the receiver to get something in exchange, so no sense of reciprocity is triggered.

Rewards (generally) kill reciprocity, but they can create habits if done correctly (like training your dog).
But it’s tough for marketers to get the consistency required to create a habit. Hell, it’s hard to get the consistency required to create a habit in dog; ask anyone who’s tried.

But marketers can more easily create reciprocity, which is an extremely powerful motivation that rewards do not trigger. Here’s the rub though: reciprocity has some limitations too.
If you offered rewards to those who were already advocating for you to do what they were already doing, you’d see that their desire to support you moving forward would be slipping. That’s because offering a reward on contingency (do this 3X/week and receive that reward) for something someone is ALREADY motivated to do, decreases the desire. And unless you understood this motivational fact, you’d probably be left scratching your head about what happened.
Tread lightly with your advocates, because your appreciation can decrease their motivation if you aren’t careful.

This isn’t to say rewards aren’t effective. They can be very effective. “Share this and receive that…” you see it all the time. That’s a reward, not a lure. Again, ask my dogs. They know if they do something, there’s a good chance there’s a treat for them. That’s a reward; they’ve been conditioned to expect it. Rewards can be potent tools for increasing reach. It creates increased reach by those who AREN’T your advocates; depending on your strategy, that can be very important. Just don’t confuse people you give a reward to as an advocate.

Time: The Biggest Reciprocity Trigger

If you’re really interested in triggering reciprocity, then you should probably do two things:
1) get to know your customer really well
2) think beyond monetary lures (discounts, coupons, even product giveaways).

The reasons for this are two-fold:

Our 90% of the brain (the oldest, largest, and most primitive part of our brain) inherently knows that time is more valuable than items. We inherently value experiences (millennials especially) more than items, so although the default is often a coupon or discount, experiences are more highly valued. Receiving an experience from a product or brand increases reciprocity. So if you use an experience as a reward, you can trigger reciprocity. But to offer a highly valued experience, you really have to know your customer. What YOU think your customer values may differ completely from what they actually value. In the last post, we discussed information seeking as a dopamine trigger, which can also be a reward. So can mastery-this is the essence of gamification. Becoming good at something is its reward and the longer we spend on achieving that reward, the more we value it. Again, what your customers value may include inclusion in a tribe, recognition, or status. All these things can be valuable rewards AND lures for brands.

The other thing to understand is that placing a distinct financial value on a lure (or a reward) kinks up the perceived value. Let me give you an example: If I invited you to dinner at my house for a homemade dinner that was wonderful (of course it would be FABULOUS), but then I spent all night talking about how much I spent on buying the ingredients of the dinner, two things would happen. 1) you would view the dinner as a sum of parts rather than its whole value of time, effort, and community, and 2) you probably wouldn’t feel a sense of reciprocity, no matter how fabulous the dinner was. Don’t force your influencers OR your advocates to view your rewards or lures as a sum of parts by involving money too heavily; it kills goodwill AND reciprocity. This is part of the power of consumer PR – it triggers goodwill and reciprocity with journalists. If you’re going to use rewards or lures, remember, make it something the customer values and think about how to make more valuable than money.

Here’s the bottom line: use rewards for influencers and lures for advocates.

Can you think of a time when a marketing strategy with lures or rewards turned you off? Share them with me here or in social media; it’s a fascinating discussion I love hearing about.

About the Captivation Motivations:

The Captivation Motivations are all built around the “other 90%” of our brain. The part of our brain that is the oldest and most developed part of our brain.
I didn’t make up the Captivation Motivations; I’ve simply been studying them and their effects since 2008. I’ve been testing them in my strategies and tactics, reading and writing about them.
These motivations are not some flash-in-the-pan-do-whats-trendy-now strategy, these are strategies that trigger reactions from the oldest part of our brain. Over the last few years, more and more has been understood about these motivations. But one thing is clear: even though these motivations developed in the earliest days of humanity’s survival of the fittest experiences, these motivations are very much alive and well today. What triggers them in the modern world differs from what triggered them in our earliest evolutionary days.

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How to Decide When Choosing PR, Marketing or Branding Agency?

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At Avaans,  we offer those services to our clients, but sometimes we find our clients think they need one thing when what they actually need is another. So what’s the difference and when should you use each as a strategy.

In truth, your business probably needs ongoing campaigns for each of those, but breaking it down helps prioritize when choosing an agency, it helps to know which of the three disciplines (branding, PR, and, marketing) you should select the agency for. Many agencies offer services in all three categories, like Avaans, but most lead with one of the primary disciplines. So how do you decide when choosing a PR, Marketing or Branding Agency?

What’s the difference between marketing, branding and PR?

Branding: Building Loyalty and Affinity

When to do use it: At brand launch, product launch and throughout the brand’s existence to ensure consistency.

Many people think creating a logo is the extent of branding, but nothing could be further from the truth. brand is your company’s personality.

Branding drives the emotional response your audience has to your message and brand. Branding means having a solid understanding of your audience, their emotional triggers. Branding will touch every single thing you do in marketing and PR too. Think about your social media voice – is it sassy or supportive? That’s a branding decision.

B2B firms often think they can skip the branding step, but it’s even more important for B2B brands to invest in clear, concise, industry consistent branding.

A strong brand has a clear voice and gives their customers & clients something they can self-identify with. When your brand fits into their self-story of how they seem themselves you’ll increase affinity and loyalty. The strongest brands have simple identities that rarely change. Think: Coca-Cola (happiness), Apple (innovation) Lady Gaga (acceptance). The strongest brands also always consider their brand when making big decisions (is this consistent with our brand and our customer’s expectations of us?)

All of the below-mentioned tools will support a brand initiative, the biggest key to a branding initiative is to be sure your company has complete clarity on the audience, key messages, and the desired emotional connection. Branding initiatives may include a call to action, but most prominently elicit an emotional reaction or response.

  • Website: with an emphasis design and layout that matches desired emotional response
  • Content: whether 3rd party or branded, designed and selected to enhance brand’s status in the customer’s mind
  • Advertising: with an emphasis on “WHY” the brand is relevant rather than the “how or where”
  • Events: designed with imprint a memorable experience, or attach a brand to a memorable experience, in the customer’s mind, as opposed to a “lead retrieval” strategy

PR: Influence & Social Proof


When to use it: to create awareness, educate consumers, develop trust with stakeholders.
PR is the art of influence and raising awareness. It’s the ultimate in social proof.

In this bucket, we find tactics like:

  • Events: brand-hosted events for customers, community or likely customers
  • Word of Mouth: campaigns that get people talking about your product, brand and key message
  • Media Relations: relationship building with journalists, writers, and bloggers with an emphasis on collaboration
  • Social Media: with an emphasis on key messaging and influencing the market

In PR you may not get editorial control, so don’t count on a strong call to action, although you may get a link or product recommendation, it will rarely come with a heavy sales action. The best PR is earned PR which means it didn’t come with a quid-pro-quo and that’s part of what gives PR enhanced credibility over marketing.

It’s not as if these tactics aren’t supportive of one another (of COURSE you can get leads from PR tactics), but your brand’s maturity, customers, and community will determine your overall mix among other things.

Marketing: Driving Leads

When to use it: after your brand is established and you’ve earned some brand trust.

Acquiring leads is job number 1 for marketing. Depending on your product marketing may also be the science/artform of conversion also.

In this bucket, we find top-of-the-funnel tactics including:

DIGITAL 

  • Website: Landing pages with a strong call to action
  • Content: blogging, lead magnets designed to support the customer’s buying cycle
  • Content: Webinars
  • Social Media: with a link-building and custom content emphasis
  • Email marketing: shopping cart abandonment, new product announcements, customer campaigns and promotions
  • Digital Ads: social ads and banner ads with a strong call to action for potential customers
  • Remarketing: including shopping cart abandonment and past and current customers

IN PERSON

  • Tradeshows/Festivals
  • Seminars

When to use marketing tactics:
Use marketing when your sales people are trained and ready to follow up with leads. Training your sales people to understand the lead source and where the customer is in the decision-making funnel will help increase conversion. Notice one of the key differences between marketing and branding content is the use of a strong call to action.

Have more questions about how and when to use these tactics? Get in touch with us.

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What is Content Marketing? A Comprehensive Guide

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Picture this: you’re a talented baker, and you’ve opened up a little bakery in your neighborhood.

You know your pastries are divine, but somehow, customers aren’t lining up at your door.

The culprit?

It’s not the quality of your baked goods but the lack of a specific secret ingredient: content marketing.

In this post, we’ll unravel the mysteries behind this powerful business tool, discover its many forms, and show you how to make it work for you.

By the end, you’ll have the recipe for successful content marketing to keep your customers returning for more.

What is Content Marketing?

Content marketing is the calling card of modern companies. Content marketing involves crafting and disseminating valuable, pertinent, and steady material to engage your audience and own your reputation. The goal is to drive profitable customer action and tell your story. However, instead of selling your products or services outright, you provide information that educates, entertains, or inspires your audience, making them more likely to trust your brand and become loyal customers. Content marketing for PR means creating highly trustworthy, premium content that builds your brand and company’s authority. Owned media is today’s calling card for fast-growing companies and ambitious brands.

The Tantalizing Types of Content Marketing

You may be surprised to learn that content marketing comes in many flavors, each with its unique appeal. Here’s an array of the most popular types of content marketing:

Blogs: The quintessential form of content marketing, blogs are excellent for showcasing your expertise, offering helpful advice, and building trust with your audience. They’re also highly shareable, increasing your brand’s visibility on social media.

  • Listicles: These viral blog posts feature lists of tips, tools, or resources, making them easy to digest and highly shareable.
  • How-to Guides: These in-depth articles provide step-by-step instructions for solving specific problems, making them highly valuable to readers looking for solutions.
  • Thought Leadership: By sharing your unique insights and expertise on industry trends and challenges, you can position yourself as a thought leader and build credibility with your audience.

Infographics: Infographics are the perfect way to convey complex data or ideas in an easy-to-understand and visually appealing format. They’re also highly shareable and can drive significant traffic to your website when promoted on social media.

Videos: From how-to tutorials to behind-the-scenes glimpses, videos offer a dynamic and engaging way to connect with your audience. They’re also an excellent format for storytelling, allowing you to convey your brand’s personality and values effectively.

  • Webinars: These live or recorded presentations enable you to dive deep into specific topics and provide value to your audience through expert advice and Q&A sessions.
  • Video Series: By creating episodic video content, you can keep your audience engaged and returning for more.

Podcasts: Audio content is on the rise, and podcasts offer a convenient way to consume information on the go. They’re ideal for sharing interviews, stories, and expert insights and can help you reach a wider audience.

eBooks: If you’ve got a lot to say on a topic, consider creating a comprehensive eBook that provides in-depth insights and establishes you as an authority in your field. eBooks can also serve as lead magnets, enticing visitors to provide their contact information in exchange for valuable content.

Social Media: Platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn are excellent ways to share your content, build a community around your brand, and engage with your audience. You can optimize your social media content marketing efforts by tailoring your content to each platform’s unique strengths and audience preferences.

  • LinkedIn: This professional networking platform is ideal for sharing industry news, articles about thought leadership, and company updates.
  • Instagram: This visually driven platform is perfect for sharing eye-catching images, behind-the-scenes looks, and short-form video content.
  • Twitter: With its short-form format, Twitter is ideal for sharing quick updates and news and engaging with your audience in real-time.

 

Case Studies: By showcasing the success stories of your customers, case studies provide social proof and demonstrate the effectiveness of your products or services, which are beneficial for B2B companies looking to build credibility and trust with potential clients.

Email newsletters: A well-crafted email newsletter can help you maintain regular contact with your subscribers, informing them about your latest content, promotions, and company news. Personalization and segmentation can further enhance the effectiveness of your email marketing efforts.

The Irresistible Importance of Content Marketing

“Great,” you might say, “but why should I bother with content marketing?” Here’s a taste of the benefits that successful content marketing campaigns can offer:

  • Builds trust and credibility: By providing valuable information, you demonstrate your expertise and show your audience that you understand their needs and challenges. It helps establish your brand as a trustworthy source of information and advice.
  • Boosts brand awareness: High-quality content gets shared and discussed, increasing your brand’s visibility and attracting more potential customers. Content marketing also enables you to reach new audiences by targeting specific keywords and topics that resonate with them.
  • Improves SEO: Search engines love fresh, relevant content. Regularly updating your website with new content will enhance your search rankings and make it easier for people to find you online. Well-structured content with proper headings, meta tags, and internal linking can improve your SEO efforts.
  • Generates leads: Content marketing enables you to capture leads through forms, gated content, and email subscriptions to give you a direct line of communication with potential customers. By offering valuable content in exchange for their contact information, you can build a robust email list that you can nurture into paying customers.
  • Nurtures relationships: By consistently offering valuable content, you can nurture relationships with your audience, turning casual readers into loyal customers who will spread the word about your brand. Personalized content and targeted email campaigns can further deepen these relationships and increase customer loyalty.

What is Content Marketing of the Future

The world of content marketing is ever-evolving. The future promises even more innovative and exciting ways to connect with your audience. Some content marketing trends to keep an eye on include:

  • Voice Search: As voice-activated devices like Alexa and Google Home continue to gain popularity, optimizing your content for voice search is becoming increasingly crucial. It includes focusing on long-tail keywords, natural language, and conversational tone.
  • Virtual and Augmented Reality: As technology advances, immersive experiences like virtual and augmented reality will offer new ways for brands to engage with their audience and create unique content. It could range from virtual product demos to interactive brand experiences.
  • AI-Generated Content: Artificial intelligence is already making waves in content marketing, with tools that can generate written content, design visuals, and even create personalized content for each user. While AI-generated content might not fully replace human-created content, it can enhance productivity and efficiency in content creation.
  • Interactive Content: From quizzes and polls to interactive infographics, audiences increasingly seek content they can actively engage with, offering brands a chance to stand out. Interactive content can also provide valuable insights into your audience’s preferences and behavior.
  • Web3: Some call this the next evolution of social media: a digital world in which we purchase products and interact with one another and brands.

 

The Art of Content Marketing Activities and Media

Now that you have some basic understanding of content marketing, it’s time to dive into the nitty-gritty. Here’s a rundown of the most shared content marketing activities and media you’ll want to explore:

  • Content Creation: This is where the magic happens. Develop a content strategy that outlines your goals, target audience, and the types of content you’ll create. Ensure your content is well-researched, engaging, and aligned with your brand voice. Allocate resources for content creation, such as hiring writers, designers, or videographers, and invest in tools that can streamline your content production process.
  • Content Curation: You don’t always have to create original content. Curating content from other sources can provide added value to your audience and establish your brand as a thought leader. Share relevant articles, infographics, or videos from industry experts, offering your unique perspective or insights, acknowledging the sources of curated content, and ensuring that the selected material aligns seamlessly with your brand message.
  • Content Distribution: Creating great content is only half the battle. It’s imperative to have a distribution plan that utilizes a variety of channels to guarantee that your content effectively reaches your intended audience. It might include email marketing, social media, guest posting on industry blogs, and syndication platforms. Tailor your distribution strategy to your audience’s preferences and habits, and continuously refine your approach based on performance data.
  • Content Promotion: Boost your content through paid advertising, influencer partnerships, or co-marketing campaigns with complementary brands. Experiment with promotion tactics, such as sponsored social media posts, native advertising, or content discovery platforms, to find your business’s most cost-effective and impactful methods.
  • Content Analytics: Keep track of your content marketing performance by monitoring key metrics like website traffic, social shares, engagement, and conversion rates. Use this data to identify patterns and trends, pinpoint areas for improvement, and make data-driven resolutions about your content strategy. Invest in analytics tools and platforms that can help you collect, analyze, and visualize your performance data.

PR: What is Content Marketing’s Role?

A content marketing campaign is only as good as the strategy behind it.  It takes time and energy to craft delectable content, whether that’s for social media, a blog post, or a compelling video; doing it right in a way that enhances your reputation with all stakeholders is worth the extra effort.  Follow these steps to create a breathtaking plan that will leave your audience craving more:

  • Define your objective: What do you like to achieve with your content marketing efforts? Whether it’s increasing brand awareness, launching a product, generating leads, boosting sales, or improving customer retention, having clear objectives will guide your game plan and help you measure success.
  • Know your audience: Develop detailed buyer personas that outline your target audience’s demographics, preferences, and pain points. By conducting market research and analyzing your customer data to refine your personas, you can create content that resonates with your audience to meet their needs. This approach can help you fine-tune your content creation strategy and ensure your messaging hits the mark.
  • Choose the proper content formats: Based on your audience’s preferences and your brand’s strengths, determine which content formats will be most effective for your campaign. Experiment with various designs and monitor their performance to find the perfect mix for your audience.
  • Audit your existing content: Look at your current content and evaluate what’s working and what’s not. Identify gaps in your content library and brainstorm ideas to fill them. Repurpose high-performing content into new formats to maximize its reach and impact.
  • Create a content calendar: Plan out your content in advance by creating a calendar outlining your content’s topics, formats, and publishing dates. It will help you stay organized, maintain a consistent publishing schedule, and produce fresh content that aligns with your marketing goals.
  • Establish your brand voice and style: To ensure consistency across your content, develop a clear brand voice and style guide. It should include guidelines on tone, language, visuals, and any industry-specific terminology or jargon.
  • Optimize for SEO: Perform keyword research to identify the terms your audience is searching for and incorporate them into your content. In addition, it’s essential to optimize your website for search engines by implementing appropriate meta tags, headings, and URL structures. It can improve your website’s visibility on search engine results pages and drive more traffic.Remember to optimize for voice search and local SEO, as these are becoming increasingly important.
  • Promote your content: A substantial content promotion strategy is essential for reaching your target audience. Leverage owned, earned, and paid channels to amplify your content’s reach. Feel free to repurpose or repackage content for different platforms.
  • Engage with your audience: Encourage them to interact with your content by asking questions, inviting comments, and responding to their feedback. Monitor your audience’s engagement and use the insights to tailor your content strategy and improve your content’s effectiveness. It will help build a community around your brand and foster loyalty.
  • Measure and analyze: Track your content marketing performance using key performance indicators (KPIs) such as website traffic, social shares, and conversion rates. Use the data you gather to make data-driven decisions and refine your content strategy for maximum impact.
  • Iterate and improve: Embrace an agile approach to content marketing by constantly testing, learning, and iterating on your strategy. Be prepared to pivot your plan as your audience’s preferences and the content landscape evolve. Always look for new trends and techniques to keep your content fresh and relevant.

Content Marketing Success Awaits

By understanding the importance of content marketing, exploring various types and formats, and crafting a well-thought-out plan, you’ll be well on your way to achieving content marketing success.

As you embark on this journey, always remember that the fundamental element of a prosperous content marketing campaign is generating valuable, engaging, and distinctive material that genuinely connects with your audience. Dare to be bold and innovative, and be proactive in experimenting with new ideas and formats. With creativity, hard work, and persistence, you’ll soon see your content marketing efforts translate into tangible results for your business.

Now conquer the content marketing world, one captivating piece at a time!

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Can Growth Marketing and Public Relations Work Together?

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Can growth marketing and public relations work together. Growth marketing is about customer acquisition and retention, often through paid media, with relentless iterations and deeply engaged knowledge of the consumer. Public relations is reputation management of a company’s image, often through earned media and deep understanding of broader cultural and media trends. So what do they have in common? On the surface, not much, but when you dig deeper into the tactics and the metrics, we can see where together growth marketing and public relations can work together successfully.

Suppose the business objective for a consumer product launch is to increase sales through decreasing competitors’ market share. In that case, a digitally savvy PR agency knows how to do competitive research of the entire digital landscape and media landscape and use that data to determine the opportunities to overtake a competitor, while a growth marketer is reviewing how the company attracts customers and retains customers. But where do growth marketing and public relations work together?

Data Driven KPIs

Today’s modern PR firms and PR campaigns should be tied to business goals and identified public relations metrics that support and funnel up into that goal.  While growth marketers are developing ads, PR agencies are developing ways to capture the target audience’s imagination. PR agencies may present a word-of-mouth activation or a targeted quality over-quantity earned media campaign that overlaps targeted audiences. A PR agency might also recommend content which can boost SEO and support brand values that interest and retain customers.  Just like a growth marketer, a modern PR agency is tracking metrics. What metrics might a PR agency track in the above scenario?

  • Mention Quality
  • Article Reach
  • Brand Placement in Article
  • Share of Voice
  • Domain Authority

All of the above PR metrics are measures of awareness and credibility. These metrics support top-of-funnel AND bottom-of-funnel customer journeys and can support growth marketing efforts with a keen eye on target audiences and messaging which supports growth marketing.

The Digital PR Toolkit

For growth marketers, the digital tool kit is primarily paid (but not exclusively); for growth marketing PR, the digital tool kit is primarily owned (but not solely). But there are a few areas where growth marketing and growth PR connect. One of those is SEO. For the growth marketer, SEO provides opportunities for retargeting and organic acquisition, growth marketing PR adds value to both. With a savvy eye on keywords and quality inbound links, PR supports growth marketing objectives to funnel into business objectives.

That’s not all; PR agencies working with media outlets to build revenue opportunities can help growth marketing with a high domain authority on inbound links as well as excellent reviews from credible media outlets, which send potential new customers searching for the product. These reviews could be in gift guides or hero reviews where the consumer product receives an in-depth study that meets Google’s product review update recommendations. Meanwhile, growth marketers will typically focus on reviews from influencers or existing customers. And a brand with positive customer reviews gives a journalist further confidence in a brand and a product.

Today, PR and growth marketing can use some of the same tools, they use them slightly differently:

  • Inbound Links
  • Owned Media
  • Credible Review Acquisition

Credibility: Where PR Fills The Gap

I often tell our clients PR creates the awareness and solidifies reputation; ads are the conversion driver – that’s how they work together, and they both work better. Why? It’s simple: earned media from credible media outlets is more trusted than paid ads. But few journalists look at it as their job to write conversion-focused marketing copy. The journalist’s job is traditionally to create the content that keeps you on the pages. From a longer tail and more strategic point of view – PR also builds brand credibility on the corporate level, trusted brands have faster aquisition and they have longer customer retention, meaning growth marketing is even more influential.

So when someone sees a great review of a product, and THEN they see the ad, they get the trigger to purchase the product, or maybe they sign up for a newsletter, or maybe the look for more reviews and do a Google search that lands them on another referral site. The pathways are endless, but they all come back to one thing: supporting the brand’s business goal.

I’m a fan of understanding and maximizing the media environment for our clients. The Avaans Media client is ambitious and goal driven, so understanding how our jobs support overall marketing strategies and business goals is essential. When we evaluate the landscape for our clients, we find a distinct point of view, and because our tools are different than growth marketers, we can glean insights and data that drive new insights. To be honest, I’m not concerned with being a purist about owned, earned, and paid. It’s the job of a digitally savvy PR agency to know what levers to pull when and how to shape campaigns that create success. That’s our job – and that’s why growth marketers and public relations can be best buddies.

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3 Must Have Tips to Improve Cannabis Digital Marketing in 2023

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Well-crafted content is so much more valuable than promotional content. What should cannabis brands focus on right now? When the 2019 Farm Act passed, the CBD industry widely celebrated it. But not long after, newcomers overran the CBD industry and even established brands found themselves surprised by the competitive environment. Despite the challenges, the biggest brands, the most well-known, continue to thrive. In fact, Charlotte’s Web recently became the first CBD brand to sponsor Major League Baseball.  There are a few reasons for this. The first is from the start, CW invested in branding and PR.  But there’s an even bigger reason – they immediately embraced the realities of DTC sales and their website had digital authority because they had been investing in it for years. That’s why it’s more important than ever for cannabis brands to commit to their online presence with these 3 tips to improve cannabis digital marketing with quality content that pays dividends for years to come.

When federal legalization happens – history will repeat itself. It will excite marketers in the industry that FINALLY Instagram can’t boot them. But social media sites come and go (apparently, IG is already “over”), and owning your own corner of the internet has never been more important. While it remains important to HAVE an Insta account, it isn’t a place where cannabis brands can maximize their digital marketing or their content. Once cannabis brands can sell online more directly or even advertise more freely, in a more DTC fashion, mature digital destinations will thrive.

Building an authoritative website takes time, and it takes strategy. You can not start too soon.  Make 2023 the year you invest in your cannabis digital marketing with these 3 digital marketing tips that supercharge digital PR.

Create Lifestyle, Not Medical Content

Historically, cannabis brands have built content to educate consumers. And that’s been a really important step in cannabis normalization. But between new formats that make cannabis more accessible to Google’s suppression of “fake news,” including non-authoritative sites providing anything akin to medical advice, you’re just wasting your time by creating anything that could be considered health advice, or expertise.

Unless you’re already a credible, published authority on these matters,  you’d be better off taking a page out of a publisher’s took kit and creating like “5 Games That Are Better When You’re High.”

The better you know your customer, the more dialed in you’ll be to creating content for them. Be disciplined. Be consistent. If you create 3 pieces of content a month, you are already miles ahead of 99% of cannabis brands. Not only does this help people find you today, but it will be a rich resource tomorrow. Creating content YOU own is still the most impactful marketing and PR tactic you can do.

Trigger The Seeking Hormone

A while back, I wrote about creating Instagram content that would trigger anticipation while also solving some of the Instagram violation problems by using anticipation triggers in cannabis digital marketing.

Use can use that to your advantage right now while circumventing Instagram challenges, and even advertising challenges while ALSO adding authority to your website. Use unexpected prompts, both audio and visual, to keep consumers on your site longer. And while we’re at it, if you aren’t already, you MUST incentivize people to join your email list. Again, owning your list is an actual asset, while Instagram followers are so fluid, and Instagram itself so unreliable, it’s questionable whether there is any long-term value there at all. And believe me, as one of the earliest adopters of social media for brands, it truly pains me to say that.

But there are lessons to be learned from Instagram. The scrolling feed, for example, is an outstanding example of a “seeking hormone” trigger. In the early days, it was genius. The way it scrolled felt like a slot machine, juuuust enough of the next post would appear on the phone screen. It was nearly impossible to stop scrolling. TikTok’s interface triggers that too. The latest digital website designs use a similar approach. Your cannabis digital marketing can mimic some of the most tried and true digital best practices used by today’s leading consumer brands.

QUALITY Inbound Links Still Matter

 

Your current and past coverage from respected, authoritative sites is your hedge against link inflation.

Google says it’s deprioritizing inbound links, but that’s only compared to how much they’re increasing the value of trusted content. Simply having inbound links isn’t enough. Gone are the days when thousands of low-value affiliate links could stack up to a credible website in Google’s eyes.

Today, Google wants to improve its search algorithm by presenting trusted answers. The recipe to trust is a closely guarded Google, but what we DO know is credible content = trust. And Publishers have Google’s trust. And when Google presents it, consumers trust it more too, so your site gets a super boost. Customers who trust you buy faster and stay longer, so incorporating quality inbound links is a triple home run for your cannabis brand.

Preparing for federal cannabis legalization is THE business strategy for 2023 and digital marketing and PR are the levers to pull your brand along. Since our earliest days, we’ve been the best cannabis PR agency for digitally savvy brands. We know successful cannabis digital marketing and PR advice of today is the backbone of tomorrow’s most successful cannabis brands. Today, it’s more important than ever to coordinate cannabis digital marketing with cannabis digital PR.

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Building Trust with PR in a Volatile Environment

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Building trust with PR is what tomorrow’s leading companies are doing today. Trust is a truly earned currency. There’s no fast tracking it and it’s easier to gain than it is to get back, so trust is a cherished and worthy asset for any company with ambitions. It’s essential for companies to build trust with key constituencies, whether those be consumers, investors, or other community stakeholders. After all, it’s virtually impossible to succeed if your audience can’t trust your company. And yet, it’s getting harder and harder for companies to win over skeptical consumers and communities.

Many factors have contributed to this volatile, and sometimes outright hostile, business environment. We’re all more engaged with the news and the world than ever before, which means we are more aware of what goes on “behind the curtain” at major companies.

Social media platforms are unethically harvesting and profiting from their users’ data. Major corporations are coming under the microscope for how they treat their employees. Income inequality has become a hot-button political issue. The environment is being irreparably damaged by companies exploiting it for a profit with little thought to how it will affect us and future generations.

Faced with innumerable examples of corporate greed and misconduct, it’s no wonder that the public’s trust in the business community has crashed. The 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer found that only 56 percent of people trust the business community to do the right thing. When nearly half of the marketplace harbors fundamental misgivings about businesses’ willingness to behave ethically, companies that want to earn consumers’ trust have their work cut out for them.

The world of business is hardly alone in coming under greater scrutiny from the public. Many people have grown increasingly distrustful of government entities, nonprofits, the news media, and other institutions. In the minds of a skeptical public, these organizations are in business for themselves, not their community or the world at large. That same 2019 report from Edelman found that only 57 percent of the public trusts NGOs to do the right thing, and the figure is even lower for the news media at 47 percent. A 2019 study from the Pew Research Center found that only 14 percent of Americans trust the government to do the right thing “most of the time.”

 

How to Use PR to Earn the Trust of Your Consumers, Investors & Stakeholders

So, what can companies do to earn the trust of an increasingly skeptical public? The study suggests the right way to do it. The lone bright spot for companies is that while much of the public doesn’t trust the business community as a whole, they tend to trust their own employers. The 2019 Edelman report found that 75 percent of people generally trust their employer to do what’s right. This data suggests that when people get a chance to know a company better, they can be convinced to give that company the benefit of the doubt.

Edelman’s research found that 58 percent of employees count on their employers to be reliable sources of information about social and political issues. Furthermore, 67 percent of employees expect their employers to join them in taking a stand on issues they care about. Employees also have high expectations of CEOs and other executives, with 71 percent believing their CEO should respond to social and political challenges. The general public agrees, with 76 percent saying that CEOs should directly address societal issues instead of waiting for governments to respond.

These data points offer a roadmap for brands looking to increase trust with their customers. Consumers are looking for businesses to drop their old ways of doing things and embrace the challenge of change. Brands that rise to meet this challenge can tap into the zeitgeist and build a better, healthier relationship with their customers.

One of the most effective tools to building trust with the public is a well-crafted public relations campaign. Why PR for trust building instead of advertising or marketing? It all comes back to the trust factor. Advertising and marketing are what you say about yourself, while PR is what other people say about you. Many people either ignore the content they see in ads or reject it out of hand because they don’t trust it. They believe that advertisers aren’t truthful or that companies exaggerate the claims in their marketing materials.

By contrast, PR is all about crafting a message for your company. There’s a risk here, as you don’t control the entire story yourself, but the potential benefits are worth the trade-offs. Because so many consumers don’t trust what they see or hear in ads, they look to third parties like news media, blogs, and other sources to verify those claims. A well-placed story in the right publication will do more for your credibility than any ad spend ever could. Furthermore, external links from reputable publications are a key factor in search engine results, meaning good PR can also make it easier for people to find your company.

 

Need Help With Your Trust Building PR Campaign?

Creating effective, striking PR campaigns for purpose-driven brands is what we do at Avaans Media, and we’d love to bring our expertise to your company. We have the media contacts, talent, and creative vision to craft the perfect PR campaign for companies of all sizes and in all manner of industries.

Our past clients have included consumer packaged goods manufacturers, nonprofits, and tech startups. We’ve even led a global campaign focused on boosting tourism for an entire country. In each case, we made sure to highlight the organizations’ values and strengths, and in each case, we achieved resounding success.

When you partner with Avaans Media, you’re getting a PR agency that knows how to showcase what makes purpose-driven brands special. We’ve been helping companies build trust since 2008. If you’re ready to see what we can do for you, visit our contact page to set up a phone call with one of our offices. You can also find our team locally in Denver, Phoenix, San Diego, Honolulu, Los Angeles, and New York.

CONTACT US TODAY

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