A Semester’s Worth of Learning in One, All-Too-Short Blog

My final blog of this Emerging Media series is one of a reflection of what I have learned to be highly important as a potential marketer in today’s world of 24/7/365 mobile technology. To me, content marketing is of paramount importance among every single social media platform that is at our fingertips today.

With content marketing being on marketers’ hotlists today, I would like to take a few minutes to highlight several insights into this topic. I came across a recent HubSpot blog that was very informative to me, and I would like to share it with you! Some of the highlights include:

• When people hear information, they’re likely to remember only 10% of that information three days later. However, if a relevant image is paired with that same information, people retained 65% of the information three days later.

• Only 27% of marketers have a process in place to aggregate, organize, and manage the visual assets being used across their marketing teams.

• 9% of marketing professionals worldwide name video as the type of content with the best ROI.

• Between April 2015 and November 2015, the amount of average daily video views on Facebook doubled from 4 billion video views per day to 8 billion.

• Infographics are liked and shared on social media three times more than other any other type of content.

• Articles with an image once every 75-100 words got double the number of social shares than articles with fewer images.

 

So, what is a common thread among these statistics and the lessons we have learned throughout our course? Mobile consumers are highly visual. They/We better respond to messages with visual content in a variety of social media platforms. Consumers are inundated with information from every direction possible at any given time. Therefore, we/they require brief, direct messaging that cater to specific interests, needs and desires. A brand/company’s transparency and authenticity throughout its owned media platforms are ever-increasingly vital to the overall trust of that organization. Lastly, multi-channel communication that provides consumers with the opportunity for positive engagement is crucial in the world of emerging media today.

I also came across this great graphic that truly sums up the vast concept difference of what I formally learned while studying for my degree in Public Relations versus what I am studying now in Integrated Marketing Communications.

In both concepts, the consumer is the focus as both marketing efforts attempt to reach a brand’s audience. The key difference is in the two-way communicative relationship that emerging media affords each party today. That is exciting for both consumers and organizations.

I have learned a tremendous amount throughout this course that I am certain will benefit me. I am eager to apply these concepts both personally and professionally.

– Bethany

The Small Pieces Make the Big Picture

 

I have had a tough time thinking of a relatable topic to our lesson this week, which is about marketing campaigns in the general sense and our journeys as consumers in learning about new products or services. I guess I was getting too complicated in my thoughts, so I decided to take a step back. Then I asked myself what I thought makes or breaks a successful integrated marketing campaign. While I realize a great marketing mix is a combination of product, price, place and promotion, I think the key to successful marketing is the integration of it all. It is the connectivity or melding of every piece, which becomes better than the sum of its parts. It is in the combining of each marketing piece that makes the campaign successful. It forms a beautiful picture by incorporating each piece of the puzzle.

All the pieces of a multi-platform campaign form a type of a puzzle. Each complete puzzle must have the appropriate edge, side and middle pieces. Together, each piece has the exact fit that forms a unique puzzle. If even one of those pieces were either missing, duplicated or just a wrong fit, then the puzzle would be incomplete. Sure, as a consumer, you may still be able to see the vision and be affected positively by the puzzle/campaign, but it would have not met its full potential or impact.

I think successful campaigns must be relevant, consistent and convenient. I say relevant in terms of its target audience. If the message isn’t relevant, it can’t relate to the organization’s target audience. Consistency is also crucial in messaging across all platforms. Also, that message needs to go across multiple platforms in order to be convenient for consumers.

Today’s consumer requires quick, easily accessible information, from email to banking to news, and that includes branding marketing efforts. In a successful digital marketing campaign today, pieces of the puzzle would include:

Digital Platform Pieces:

• Website
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Pinterest
• Snapchat
• Vine
• Blogs
• SEO

Advertising Pieces:

• Print
• Direct Mail
• Digital (pop-up, banner, etc.)
• Television
• Mobile
• Email

Marketing Mix Pieces:

• Customer
• Cost
• Convenience
• Communication

It truly takes each of these pieces and many more that together create a puzzle that is unique, cohesive and tells a story. Take a look at this very long but highly informative Adweek infographic that may be beneficial in thinking on this topic.

Do you agree in my thoughts? What additional pieces would you incorporate into the campaign puzzle to make it more successful?

Bethany

Digital Landscape: Changing and Engaging

The focus of my next several blog posts will be on a variety of aspects of emerging media. How emerging media affects organizations, consumers and everyone in between is incredibly significant in the existing world in which we live. For the majority of us, the way we conduct ourselves, from our business to personal lives, has drastically changed in just the past few short years with the advent of this new buzz phrase “emerging media.” Essentially, emerging media deals with the way in which organizations communicate via digital technologies. Truly, the number of ways to communicate and interact increases and become more dynamic every single day. It is an ever-changing and ever-growing phenomenon that we have not merely embraced but have determined to be a necessary mainstay in our society today. It is an exciting time for both consumers and organizations, and it will be fascinating to see and be part of the digital evolution as we see it unfold and change shape constantly.

I love an infographic, and I found this one that demonstrates the digital changes from 2000-2011. Honestly, this info, although on a few years old, is amazingly out of date simply due to the rate at which the digital landscape endlessly changes.

With emerging media technologies, engagement is the key word, in my opinion. Take a look at this AdAge article for some great insight regarding the direction marketers should be heading toward, especially if they aren’t already. I look forward to delving into this topic together throughout the next several weeks!

– Bethany