There are so many ways for companies to get noticed online and many events - like the one our client helped organised - are full of tips.
Marketing matters!
A central London university was the recent location for a digital marketing event. The internet is forever increasing in size and businesses face lots of competition to get their brands noticed. This is why the event is such an important date in my organisations’ calendars, and we were only too happy to provide chrome poseur tables and aluminium high bar stools for it, which you can see pictured here!
Five simple marketing tricks
Digital marketing events like this one are stuffed full of tips on how to use the online world to get your business noticed, and we thought we’d put together this short guide on the advice we’ve encountered ourself. Some of the below points are so simple you may yet have thought of them…
1. Make it fun
If you were working this April Fool’s Day then you might have enjoyed a game on Pac-Man… on a map! Even if you weren’t working then you may have heard about people doing this via the web or on the news. This is because Google transformed it’s maps page to allow the little hungry Pac-Man blobs to be navigated around roads by internet surfers - taking lots of people back to the 80s when the game first hit the headlines! Google aren’t the only company adding fun to the internet in a bid to be noticed, lots of businesses do so like Fanta, who launched a an entire online platform featuring playable content.
2. Short & sweet
US home improvement company Lowe’s creating an award winning campaign that really took into account the time element of looking online. The business created six-second-long vines that showed how people could tackle everyday problems, like stuck screws and removing stickers that want to stay put! These vines used speeded up stop-motion animation and had the added benefit that they were easy to view on mobile devices, which is a very important factor as more and more people browse the net on phones.
3. Get personal
There’s something very attractive about getting personalised gifts, shopping and online experiences - I think lots of us get a small feeling of triumph when we find our own names on Coca-Cola bottles for example! Heinz’s Get Well Soon campaign has been so popular it’s now in its fifth year. It offers a limited number of personalised cans for sale, with the message Get Well Soon written on the label along with a space for your/a friend’s name. What’s more, Heinz also donate money to charity for every can purchased, a feel good product in more ways than one.
4. Matters with impact
Although making campaigns fun is a good way to be memorable and create content that is shared across all kinds of online platforms, companies shouldn't be scared about addressing important issues and making an impact. Mexican restaurant chain Chipotle took a similar tactic when they released a heartfelt animation starring a scarecrow that goes on an ominous journey regarding the negative side of food processing. The ethical thinking brand also released a game alongside the video, which can help their message be understood even more widely.
5. Virtual-turned-real
Not all companies have large budgets for massive discounts and deals, but offering customers a real-life reward can really get digital campaigns off the ground. Customers may want that foreign holiday in the sun when it comes to winning competitions, but many also appreciate much ‘smaller’ gifts, and if you can add a unique spin… even better. Airbnb offered exactly this as part of a campaign, when they gave web visitors the chance to stay in a luxury cable car 9,000ft in the air! All entrants had to do was write 100 words why they should be chosen, and also prepare themselves for sleeping at such a great height.