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Code for Conversions: Lastest Mobile Advertising Trends

February 7th, 2012

Are you taking your mobile advertising campaigns to the next level? Why not learn from others? Did you get a chance to read the Search Engine Watch (SEW) blog article, QR Marketing Evolving Rapidly [Study], posted last week? SEW shared some stats from a recent study conducted by Nellymoser of the top 100 U.S. magazines by circulation. The focus of the study was to learn more about how QR codes are being used in magazine advertising.

The bottom line is that there is an explosion of growth in the use of marketing action codes, and we can learn plenty by diving into the data in this study. Download the entire report on QR Codes and Tags in Magazine Advertising, so you can learn, compare and apply the information to your marketing campaign experiences. The stats and graphs shared here are from Nellymoser.

Highlights:

In 2011, advertising drove a 439% increase in use of action codes
QR codes boast 72% of code market share over Microsoft Tag and others
Video engagement most common action after scan, 54%
By Q4, only 3% included SMS campaigns for people without code readers

Personally, what I took away from this study is that the magazine medium has experienced an amazing adoption trend, and as a result best practices have been refined for their market. For example, in Q4 only 23% of the action codes had instructions to get the scanning app. In Q2, 48% of the action codes had these instructions. Does this mean you should not include instructions? Do your research, and test your theories?

The other stat I find fascinating is the 3% choice to use SMS. Although the percentage hasn’t dropped, it is extremely low given the number of people that still do not have a smartphone. I believe SMS is still a relevant action code element for some types of businesses. Especially if at the point of viewing the code, there isn’t time to download an app or get the camera ready to snap a photo. This situation is not as likely for people browsing a magazine. Therefore, this stat makes sense here, but I would expect a variance across other advertising mediums.

I didn’t find any shocking information on the mobile engagements after scanning, but maybe this list will help get you thinking about how you might incorporate mobile action codes into your campaigns.

Some examples of branding and demonstrations by video provided in the Nellymoser report include:

A behind-the-scenes look
A product demonstration
A how-to video
An entertaining video

On a side note, I attended a cancer fundraising function this last weekend, and I tried to scan a QR code printed on a large sign. In creating their signage, they didn’t take into account the distance of the attendees in relationship to the sign. It was too small. However, they also included the QR code on their collateral and giveaways.

I see these codes popping up on more and more of my medical, insurance, grocery and food direct mail and packaging. Some brands are getting very clever in how they use them. I am very interested to see how adoption grows for logo specific action codes, like SnapTag. Especially since this reports shows customization of action codes has dropped over the course of the year.

If you are just getting started with action codes, I put together a few links that will help you learn the basics of mobile action codes and some recommended best practices.

Let me know if you have any questions or additional topic suggestions. In the meantime, share some of your favorite QR code campaigns here, so we can explore new ideas for engagement!

Thanks.

-Kim

Additional Resources

Social Media Examiner – How QR Codes can Grow Your Business

Search Engine Watch – Top 14 Things Marketers Need to Know About QR Codes

Microsoft Tag – Best Practices (This site includes recommended minimum image sizes.)

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Advertising Error – It’s Not a Cloud. It’s Fog!

January 27th, 2012

Ok, maybe it wasn’t an advertising error. With all the advertising clouds I’ve seen, I guess that many clouds couldn’t be wrong, right? Are you sitting in meetings listening to the cost-savings your company will recognize when it starts using the cloud? Does anyone actually ask, “what do you mean by the cloud?” Considering the cloud paints a wonderful, uplifting image of the future, businesses are grappling with a foggy reality that isn’t quite that simple. Is it a cloud solution, or do they really mean SAAS, a web solution, or maybe a hybrid?

It’s all a little confusing. The term cloud is overused, misused, and can be just plain confusing. Regardless, the technology will play an amazing part in the success and demise of businesses over the next few years. Who will make the cut? We are past the point of early adopters now. According to a study conducted posted on Forbes Insights, Clarity in the Cloud: A global study of the business adoption of Cloud, KPMG International reported “81% of businesses are either planning their initial forays, are in early or advanced stages of experimentation, or have full implementations. In many cases the projects are isolated areas of the business like email, customer relationship management (CRM), or additional services. This approach allows the organization to test the waters while they mitigate risk.

As a marketer why is this fog, ur, uh..I mean cloud, transition so important? Well, first of all, many businesses haven’t quite figured out who should own this initiative yet. Should it be the CEO (40%) or the CIO (55%) that drive cloud adoption across the business?

And no wonder this cloud adoption process is foggy. Cloud adoption will change the way we do business. These changes will ultimately require a significant change in the sales process and overall business model.

So, as you plan for this business transformation, you really need to evaluate your cloud marketing strategy. Is your message targeted to the right audience? Is the message relevant at each phase of the sales cycle? Remember, the sales obstacles (ie. cloud security) and value statements may be very different. Make sure your content strategy and messaging are appropriate and provide prospects with the information they need to move through the sales cycle. So, dust of your buyer personas, brainstorm with your customer-facing teams, and create some killer content.

Here is a great Hubspot resource to help you out: A Practical Guide to Killer Marketing Content.

So, from where you sit, is the fog clearing?

-Kim

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Advertising: The Power of Unsolved Questions

January 19th, 2012

Have you ever wondered why we feel compelled to solve a mystery? Why we must unravel the unsolved questions? Our fascination and the power evoked by the desire to answer these questions creates an amazing advertising opportunity. Think about the years of advertising by McDonalds and KFC to trigger consumer’s need to learn more.

Remember the commercials with the Big Mac jingle? Big Mac contests were run around the world, and the Big Mac special sauce, similar to KFC’s secret spices, was a mystery to be solved for years to come. And, think about Coca Cola’s long run of advertising around their soda’s secret ingredients.

Coca-Cola’s secret ingredient has remained a secret since the soda’s invention in 1886. The company has kept its prized list of ingredients in a vault inside the Trust Company’s bank since 1925. While that is fact, who really knows what information after that is fact or fiction? Coca-Cola, brilliantly uses mythology to build the mistique through reporters and consumers. Have you ever heard the myth that only two Coca-Cola executives know Coke’s formula; however, they each know only half. And, executives who know the recipe cannot travel in the same airplane, because in case of a crash, the recipe would be lost forever. Regardless of what is true, Coke has simply captured the “how-to” in using the mistique trigger in advertising. And, they are still doing it! In Feb, 2011, Coke gave the promise of a reveal, but only showed a flash, a tease, of the secret formula during the Super Bowl playoffs. Take a look:

While Coke has leveraged their secret formula to create a specialness around their product, I don’t believe this has been the result of pure brilliance. Perhaps their success actually comes from the fact that it doesn’t makes sense to share your secret ingredients when they could be considered a drug. The Coke recipe, which originally included cocaine, became cocaine-free in the 1920s. While the drink is now made with cocaine-free coca leaves, a little conversation buzz still remains. (Wikipedia has more on the “decocainization” process Coke uses to process the coca leaves)

Your brand can learn how to create mistique without having a secret history like making Coke from “Coke”. Sally Hogshead, author of Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation, shares 3 rules to creating mistique:

Spark Curiosity – Ask questions without giving the answers.
Withhold Information – Reveal less than expected.
Build Mythology – Use Stories. Not facts.

In some cases it might be too challenging to create mistique around your product or service, but you can apply these three rules to your marketing campaigns. Just remember, when the secret is revealed, it is over. The mystery is solved.

Share you next unsolved marketing mystery here!

-Kim

Learn more about the 7 Triggers in these related blog posts:

*Hogshead, Sally (2010-01-21). Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation. Harper Collins, Inc., Kindle Edition.

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Is Your Brand Embracing Technology Addiction?

January 11th, 2012

When was the last time you went out to dinner without anyone checking their mobile device? It’s funny that we call them mobile devices, since even in the privacy of our homes, the same crazy addiction takes place. My husband can’t watch a football game without texting his friends to add his color to the game. What is it that drives us to constantly check into our virtual world?

According to Nielsen, consumers aren’t just watching TV, they are leveraging technology to tap into their virtual world at the same time. And although they are tuned into a specific station, consumers are more likely to engage in simultaneous tasks that are not even related to what they’re watching. Instead, they are more likely to check email, surf the web, and connect with others on social networks.

Source: http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/mediauniverse/

Over 40% of consumers used their tablet to lookup information related to the TV program, and over 30% checked out an advertised product. Where do you think they looked for information? The top two sources for information simply reinforce the power of Trust Agents and social commerce. Consumers want to hear from their peers. Check out these stats by Power Reviews:

70% of consumers use their mobile to comparison shop.
A highly-rated product will increase the likelihood of purchase for 55% of consumers.
65% use their phones to read customer reviews of products.
68% of consumers trust “people like me” first for product advice.

Take a look at how your organization. Are you leveraging technology to support the growth of social commerce? In addition to using the typical social media networks, consider the power of ratings and reviews. Companies like Bazaarvoice and PowerReviews provide the tools and expertise to assist in enabling brands to capture customer feedback. Brands can then leverage these actionable insights used to improve products and services and create customer-powered marketing campaigns.

What mobile activities have you addicted to your device?

-Kim

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So-LO-MO Advertising: Is it for you?

December 29th, 2011

Social Local Mobile (SO-LO-MO) advertising has some great benefits. Reaching local customers while their shopping is just one. So, how can you extend your reach?

Have you every waited until the last minute to buy a gift? Of course you haven’t! However, maybe you have a…umm…”friend” that was stuck in this situation. So, you can probably relate to the example below on SO-LO-MO. The diagram walks you through an example of how someone (you know who you are) might use SO-LO-MO to buy a last minute gift.

Source: Nielson: The Mobile Media Report: State of the Media 2011

(Click to enlarge image)

The sidebar stats are interesting. There is a increase in adoption and some insight on how 35 – 44 year olds are using mobile devices. And, in the full Nielson report, there are some other highlights that will ultimately make a difference in how businesses consider mobile in the marketing mix. I found this specific example interesting, because the story telling approach gives a great foundation for understanding how the apps contribute value to the mobile user.

After reading through the research and taking a look at the top apps downloaded from various sites, it is clear that most mobile users are using their phones for communication (of course), gaming, and getting discounts. The productivity tools really haven’t been embraced by the majority yet. Many of the productivity tools are just too early in their development cycle yet to offer compelling time-saving features. Take a look at the survey results conducted on mobile users that have downloaded an application to their device in the last 30 days.

Clearly, customers are using mobile phones for discounts.

As a marketer, you really need to look at all of the pros and cons of using Deal-of-the-day advertising companies.

Pros:

Great exposure (multi-platform, great adoption)
Can significantly drive new business
Easy to promote sharing incentives
No upfront costs

Cons:

Steep price discounts required
Advertising company often keeps up to 50% of the revenue
Customer satisfaction risk for returns and order changes

If your looking at new ways to advertise and want to reach consumers at the right time, you might want to give these types of deal a try. But, make sure you review some of the consumer complaints, and be sure to build a closed loop approach that allows you to refine your process and ensure customer satisfaction. Finally, do the math. How much product or service can you give away at that price? Consider short term, and longer term value of return business.

You may want to conduct some research to determine what apps your existing customers download on their smartphones. You might be able to generate more business advertising with a third party app provider that captivates your market.

Maybe some of the additional report highlights will spark some ideas of your own. I would be very interested to hear your experiences with some of the latest discount and retail apps.

Additional Nielson Report highlights:

Smartphone subscribers using the mobile Internet have grown 45% since 2010
This quarter, 26.3 million mobile consumers viewed mobile video
62% of smartphone owners have downloaded apps on their devices
87% of app downloaders have used deal-of-the day websites (e.g. Groupon, Living Social)
Marketers can now reach consumers while they shop: 49% of smartphone owners claim to use their mobile handsets frequently while shopping
Older segments present the greatest growth opportunities
Android platform: Older generations like games, and rely on their mobile devices for productivity (e.g. Google properties)
Android platform: Younger folks will use entertainment apps with social dimensions (e.g. Pandora, YouTube, Words with Friends)

-Kim

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Warm Wishes From The Bigfish Team

December 23rd, 2011

From our mug to yours, happy holidays!

We thank you for another amazing year. Best wishes for a New Year of health, happiness, and prosperity. Here’s to a great 2012 full of experiences worth sharing.

Cheers,

The Bigfish Team

P.S. What’s on your wishlist for 2012? Let us know how we can help. Research? Explore new technologies?

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Lust in Advertising? Absolutely!

December 16th, 2011

Well, how about you? Got LUST in your advertising? Don’t be so quick to rule out the use of Lust in your strategy and ad creative. Lust is a powerful trigger that causes people to lower their defenses and consider something they might not otherwise.

Source: http://sallyhogshead.com/archives/320

Last month I wrote an article about Sally Hogshead, author of Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation, and I thought it would be helpful to dive into each of the triggers in more detail, and learn more about how to use them for advertising. The first trigger, Lust, is one of the most exciting, because it throws all sense of logic right out the window.

How many times have you made a choice that absolutely was not rational, but you did it anyway, or bought it anyway? Well, I hate to admit it, but I have…plenty of times. That candy apple at The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory simply had my name on it–in marshmallows. I am sure I complained about the sugar dripping off the corner piece, as I shoved it in my mouth. Yup…lust! A craving that you just want to satisfy. You may find when you give in to it, it often doesn’t satisfy you anyway. But, at least you no longer have the craving. Why is that? Forget about the why…how can you create that same lust with products that just aren’t, well, sexy or alluring?

Sally Hoghead shares her bag of sensory tricks for Lust:

Stop thinking, start feeling.
Make the ordinary more emotional.
Use all five senses.
And tease and flirt.

Instead of selling a brand simply on rational benefits, this trigger focuses on creating an experiential attachment. Remember the commercial–sing it, “I am stuck on Band-aid brand, ‘ cause Band-aid’s stuck on me!” The ads I remember had images of kids that were so happy to have their boo-boos all fixed up. Any parent can relate to the emotion of a child having an emotional breakdown over the smallest little scratch. Johnson and Johnson (J&J) always humanize their products, making the ordinary more emotional. So, feelstorm with your teams. Well, you can’t brainstorm. You have to stop thinking and start feeling! Humanize your brand and invite your customers to come closer.

Sally Hoghead shares two great examples to compare, Windows and Apple. Is there anything more to say? You can incorporate all of your product information and facts on your websites, brochures, and campaigns. But, you will never win against a brand that can make the ordinary more emotional. In fact, when a company launches a new product, and other people create compelling advertisements, you can be sure they were triggered by lust. A perfect example is the video created by Jesse Rosten, iPad + Velcro = Love.

iPad + Velcro from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

Start thinking about how your product or services would could apply to all the senses, and rethink your creative strategy. I dare you! And, I can’t wait to hear about them. If you have examples of products you love that have done this well, share them here.

Thanks,

-Kim

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Advertising Focus: Twitter Enhances Design for Brands

December 9th, 2011

With the exciting changes in Twitter advertising, it isn’t a shock to see enhancements that help brand’s make a better impression on Twitter. Have you seen samples of the new Twitter enhanced profile pages? With their announcement of the the latest design changes, you are invited to witness the first exclusive 21 advertising partners, select charities and communities.

This select group includes:

@AmericanExpress, @BestBuy, @bing, @chevrolet, @CocaCola, @Dell, @DisneyPixar, @generalelectric, @Heineken, @HP, @intel, @JetBlue, @Kia, @McDonalds, @nikebasketball, @NYSE_Euronext, Paramount Pictures’ Mission: Impossible – @GhostProtocol, @pepsi, @Staples, @subwayfreshbuzz, and @VerizonWireless.

Good in theory, but I have yet to view any enhanced profiles that actually look like these pics. Perhaps I am just technology challenged. I did take the Twitter for Android app for a test drive. I like the new design and find the app to work much faster (thank you).

The theme of Twitter’s design changes is discovering what is happening now. These new profile enhancements were created to help marketers “create an even more compelling destination on Twitter, ” according to @TwitterAds. Profile enhancements include a larger header image, which provides room for a logo, tagline, and other visuals. In addition, you can promote a tweet (like featuring a post) that will be displayed at the top of your tweets in your enhanced profile page. The image of video included in the tweet will automatically be visible, as this tweet is by default expanded. You can get a visual of this in the picture above where you see the video on the right. FREE of charge!

What does this mean for brands?

Your profile page will have the information you designate as most relevant, or campaign relevant at any given time.
Competitive products are never promoted on your page. You own the page.
You can finally really integrate your twitter account into other marketing efforts via your @handle.

I am glad to see Twitter continues to improve the user experience. I find the adoption of Twitter a pleasant surprise given it’s overwhelming amount of information. For those non-techie people that haven’t found the right tools to listen and join conversations, your time will come. The social network platforms and tools are evolving daily. This design change brings Twitter one step closer.

Now, Twitter, about the “view conversation” feature–WHERE IS IT? And, about the ability to save and favorite direct messages, WHERE IS IT?

What’s on your Twitter Wish List?

-Kim

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Is Real-Time Marketing Missing From Your Strategy?

November 30th, 2011

Most companies are leveraging some type of real-time marketing or PR, but they may not even realize the power of being agile enough to respond to conditions RIGHT NOW. I don’t think anyone explains this concept better than David Meerman Scott. Through story telling, David shares the impact of leveraging speed and agility to gain a competitive advantage. And, really you can’t help relating this story to your own experience(s) of poor customer service. Listen to David share the new rules of marketing, and think about how things might have been different for United if they actually responded.

Real-Time Marketing & PR from David Meerman Scott on Vimeo

So what company will you be in 2012? Are you planning to leverage real-time marketing?

If you are monitoring real-time news and watching for opportunities using Google Alerts, Twitter, Industry blogs and news, how are you responding? David shares some great ideas in his book, The New Rules of Marketing & PR. Check these out:

Donating your product to those in need
Tweet thoughts to your market when they are watching (i.e. fans, consumers, are watching an interview, tweet relevant insider information)
Comment on regulatory changes in your industry
Use a news release to react to another company’s announcement

When you build your marketing strategy, be sure you have a plan in place to monitor the news and leverage real-time opportunities. Keep in mind the format you use to respond will need to be tailored to each situation. You may create a blog, issue a news release, create an infographic, video, or other creative assets. You may even bring the news to your internal product management, education, and support teams to make immediate changes to product and services. We recommend establishing a cross-functional response team to respond quickly and creatively. What additional ideas do you have?

-Kim

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Warm Wishes From The Bigfish Team

From our mug to yours, happy holidays!

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