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3 Tips for Creating Sustainable Business Growth

AUGUST 28, 2022

Growing too fast or in the wrong directions can end up in failure or growing pains that overstay their welcome. You’ll have to put your planning hats on to get a harness on your growth and manage it in an efficient and long-term way.

Here are some tips to get it done:

Start with stepping stones. Every business planning to stick around should have 1-year, 5-year, and maybe even 10-year goals. That can include client growth, employees, revenue, and products. But to get to bigger goals, smaller steps need to be taken upfront. Focusing on quarterly action items towards smaller, two-year goals is great for creating this sustainable growth strategy.
You better have these two departments. While not all growth is in terms of dollars, you will need a firm grasp of your finances to ensure profitability and sustainability. So it’s crucial to have a financial department that helps you understand their meaning. Another department to keep in mind is operations. This department is responsible for creating and delivering products or services. Your sales, marketing, and production teams are essential but finances ensures you can afford them and operations make their promises happen.
Align your strategy. A strategy should be continuously revisited. Doing quarterly reviews can be a great way to maintain your path. Regularly meeting with your financial advisors and employees is essential to keep a pulse. There should be short-term and long-term visions that everyone needs to be aware of and working towards.

Check out the full Forbes article for more planning tips and steps you can take towards making a vision a reality.

9 Concepts to Sharpen your Analytical Thinking

AUGUST 24, 2022

Not everyone is blessed (or cursed?) to be a “numbers person.” But when it comes to marketing, ignoring data and numbers is not a luxury brands can afford. So here are some tips to sharpen your analytical skills and find stories in data.

Patterns & pattern breaks: This can be visual. Which peaks and valleys are “normal” and what sticks out?
Absolute numbers & percentages: Look at both numbers and percentages to see the relationship between the parts and the whole.
Variance: How much did X change month over month? Year over year? Have industry standards changed, too?
Expected vs. actual: Compare expected vs. actualized numbers so you can better understand your performance.
Percent contribution to whole: Think in if-then statements like “X accounts for X% of total dollars/visitors/whatever.”
Zoom out to a broader scale: We mentioned peaks and valleys. Figure out the “why” behind those to see how you can repeat the peaks.
Check profit margins: Revenue is cool, but what about low margins and profits?
Consider incentives: If someone tells you x, how do they benefit?
Poke holes in your own logic: Look for data that proves or disproves your hypothesis.

These tips are from a LinkedIn post by Wes Kao. Check out the full post for more tips and conversations in the comments!

Should You be Investing in Streaming TV Marketing?

AUGUST 23, 2022

It’s nothing new that video advertising is thriving despite the recent dip in ad spend. Use of CTV and OTT channels has grown and they’re only getting more popular as streaming services adjust their subscription tiers and open advertising to larger audiences.

Let’s break down why your brand should start taking more advtange of the shift and some tips to do it.

Streaming Ad Growth Facts to Know:

In 2022, there has been a 35% increase in ad spending, which translated to more than $6.4 billion.
Two-thirds of the digital video dollars committed upfront were spent against streaming services.
eMarketer projects that total U.S. CTV spend (upfront and scatter) will reach nearly $19 billion this year.

The Benefits of CTV:

Audience targeting ― It goes without saying that the days of cable guesswork are gone. More accurate and strategic allocation of budgets to specific, high-value audiences.
Original programming ― You have more options for the type of content you can be feature alongside.
Better measurement ― Data allows for more accurate view of who each ad has reached.
More video eyeballs ― The pool of additional impressions helps offset linear TV viewing declines

Potential CTV Challenges:

Uniformity and measurement ― This is where too many options are a hit against CTV ads. It prevents the ease of buying across streaming vendors and the sharing of data between them.
Frequency capping – The lack of shared data and the sheer number of vendors running CTV makes it difficult to set frequency caps.

What Does It Mean for Brands?

Overall, the positives of spending on CTV advertising outweigh the challenges.

Brands should be experimenting with multiple vendors to determine what content and format fits your marketing objectives the best.

Check out the full piece by Advantage Solutions for more tips on CTV media plans and predictions for Netflix and Disney+.

8 Types of Remarketing to Consider

AUGUST 22, 2022

Remarketing (or “retargeting,” whichever term floats your boat) can be an effective paid media tactic because it serves ads to users who have already engaged with your brand. Those users are more likely to fully convert!

Search Engine Journal put together 8 different approaches to consider for your paid media planning. Here are our top 5:

Pricing Page Visitors: If a shopper visits a pricing page, that’s a good sign they are further along in the product research process than the average homepage visitor. Separate out this audience and serve them an ad with higher intent to see a demo or speak with sales.
Industry-Specific Page Visitors: Segmenting audiences by industry can be easy if you have pages on your site dedicated to each industry. Build separate remarketing audiences for each of those pages. Target unique ads tailored by industry to speak more specifically to these people based on their needs.
Previous Purchasers: Repeat customers are more likely to convert again than a brand new customer. The products you promote and the timing for future remarketing depend on the type of product purchased. If you have solid customer account tracking, you can market related products based on their previous purchases.
Higher Funnel Converters: Converting a prospect to a sale rarely happens on a single touchpoint. Offering a high-value asset like a guide or webinar can build an audience of people who are interested in your insight. Think through buying stages and build out remarketing for each part of the process.
Video Viewers: Video view remarketing can capture intent from people who haven’t even visited your website. YouTube, Meta, and LinkedIn are three popular channels allowing for the creation of view remarketing audiences.

Check out the full Search Engine Journal article for the other 3 retargeting approaches that you could be using in your paid media planning.

What’s the “Toothpick Rule” for Marketing?

AUGUST 21, 2022

The “toothpick rule” was born thanks to politics. To cut down on bribing, meals were banned for lobbying discussions. An exception was made for “food that you have to eat standing up using a toothpick.”

So now, officials have to be primed with finger foods and more convincing conversation than a prime rib and rare vintage. The goal was to reduce lobbyist influence on politicians. Did it get the job done? Not entirely. But it’s a step forward towards that larger goal.

So what does the toothpick rule have to do with marketing measurement? It’s about starting small. Let’s paint a little picture for you here…

The Problem: Fear of imperfection

Too many companies get lost in the sauce when it comes to developing a strategy or product or organizing their own data. They want everything to be perfect and they don’t move forward until it is.

On the road to perfection, their actual goal is lost.

The Solution: Focus on small improvements

To avoid getting analysis paralysis, seek progress, not perfection. Take smaller iterations towards the big picture. This is where it can pay off to be scrappy or take risks as well.

Is an imperfect step less attractive, less transformative, and less exciting? Yeah, but the truth is that large, sweeping fixes are hard to come by. It’s more productive to focus on what you can do each day to make your marketing practices slightly better. Then watch them add up.

Check out the full exerpt from Converted: The Data-Driven Way to Win Customers’ Hearts on Think with Google’s blog for example on small changes you can make in your marketing. This includes small tweaks to your personalization, surveys, spending.

7 Ways to Save Money in Google Ads

AUGUST 17, 2022

Go ahead, run ads. Everybody’s doing it!

That’s kind of the problem, though, innit? Google Ads can be so competitive that you could be spending more to outbid words and placements without the payoff. To prevent this, you have to make every ad detail count.

Here are some tactics to help you spend wisely and get that sweet ROI:

Narrow down your location: Don’t let ads default to country alone and don’t use zip codes. Use the “Those in my area” setting.
Target high(er) intent keywords: No Google advice would be complete without a reminder to research the heck out of words that match you best.
Use only phrase and exact match keywords: Broad match often runs the risk of burning through your budget quickly.
Use all of the ad extensions!: Give your ad some visual cut through the competition by utilizing every element available.
Differentiate your messaging: Use the Auction Insights report to identify your competitors and stand out from them.
Don’t skimp on landing pages: Clicks don’t pay the bills, conversions do. Be sure ad click-throughs have clear CTAs on a following landing page.
Be strategic with conversion goals: Ads are not a magic button to convert and sometimes are just one of many more steps in the customer journey. Think through your capture vs. conversion touch points before you invest too much in your ads to go full send into convert mode.

Check out the full Wordstream post for all the little details needed to crush your paid media strategy without crushing your budget with it.

3 Powerful Micro-Conversion Strategies for Paid Social

AUGUST 16, 2022

Social advertising is a competitive game. It’s important to take advantage of available capabilities and data to maximize performance. One way of doing that is taking at a look at micro-conversions.

Micro-conversions signal high intent for a user to convert on a primary conversion goal, resulting in a significant improvement in conversion metrics. For paid social, micro-conversions could be time spent watching a video, following your brand pages, or just general ad engagement.

Here are three micro-conversion strategies to look at for your next social campaign:

Optimize top-of-funnel campaigns for website engagements, not clicks: Decrease your cost-per-landing page view by optimizing for more engagement. To do this on Facebook campaigns, you have to choose landing page actions you’d like to track. Facebook’s Event Setup Tool is an easy way to set up engagement events. Then you can set up tracking on other social platforms by placing tracking tags on each action within your tag manager or your site’s developer code.
Build High-Intent Retargeting Audiences: You can create audiences based on specific micro-conversion actions to improve bottom-funnel conversion metrics. A great way to do this is to create a website audience based on time spent by a user or specific product views.
Capture missed leads: Using micro-conversions, you can track users who opened a lead gen form ad or began to fill out a form on your website. LinkedIn and Facebook both have Lead Gen ad formats that automatically track users who open or submit forms. You’re going to have to play a bit with your form open segments, just wait for them to populate in each platform before you can try serving them educational/nurturing content.

Note: You must have the pixel already placed across your website for some of these strategies to work.

Check out the full article by Search Engine Land for step-by-step instructions for managing ads and tracking micro-conversions.

6 TikTok Marketing Tips for You

AUGUST 15, 2022

It’s another happy TikTok Tuesday! We know TikTok strategies can be time-consuming, frustrating, or even intimidating. To get brands pointed in the right direction to get started, or adjust their current paths, here are the top TikTok tips to know.

Tip 1: Find your niche

Don’t focus on going viral or keeping it all comedy all the time.
Adapt trends to your brand, not your brand to trends.
Whatever you make, provide value.

Tip 2: Show your brand’s human side

Don’t worry about perfect, polished video content.
This is your chance to get personal with your team, environment, process, maybe even pets.

Tip 3: Use TikTok’s Unique Features

Go full send into TikTok features to increase your chances of getting discovered.
Leave no stone unturned for making your content easier to digest and accessibile.

Tip 4: Repurpose your video content

Because of TikTok’s popularity, Instagram has followed suit with Reels. Be sure to repurpose in a way that you can put the final touches on the video within the native app’s editor.
Be wary of sounds, though. Not every platform has the same trending sound or music usage rights.

Tip 5: Partner with TikTok creators

Creators are great for reaching niche audiences or to build trust with consumers on TikTok.
Try and partner with creators or celebrities who are authentic — including authentic to your brand.

Tip 6: Learn what works best for you

At the end of the day, experimentation is key. That’s the scary part.
Like we said, TikTok does not always reward perfection. It rewards relatable, entertaining content.
Play with formats until you get a better understanding for what works for you, not just your competition.

The full video is less than 10 minutes, so check it out. If you aren’t following Sprout Social’s YouTube channel, you’re missing out on the other helpful videos on all social platforms!

TikTok Slang 2022: A Complete Guide for Brands

AUGUST 14, 2022

How well do you know TikTok slang? Abbreviations, colloquialisms, and emojis have a different meaning when it comes to this platform. It has a huge influence from Gen Z speak.

Let’s start with some stats:

63% of Gen Z use TikTok on a daily basis
TikTok has 1 billion users and counting
50% of Americans admit to using slang without knowing what it means … we don’t want to be part of this statistic

Abbreviations:

ASL – If you were around in the Wild West of Myspace and messengers, ASL meant Age Sex Location. On TikTok, it’s a shortened version of “as hell.”
IB – Don’t forget to give credit where it’s due (or the comments will come after you. IB means “inspired by.” You will usually see a user tagged next to this abbreviation.
TfW – This means “That Feeling When.” It is often referring to a particular emotion that people find relatable.
#xyzbca – No one fully knows what this abbreviation or set of letters is for. It is used in a similar way to #fyp and #foryou.

Descriptions/Names/Labels:

CEO – On TikTok, CEO still means chief executive officer, but it’s said as a way to say someone is the absolute best at something.
Cheugy – It’s a word that refers to people or objects that are out of touch, not trendy, or trying too hard.
Mid – Basically it means something is mediocre.
Cap / No Cap – “Cap” means “lie.” So “no cap” means “no lie.”
Slay – To “slay” means you’re killing it. It’s used as a term of encouragement and is particularly prevalent among the Drag community.
Yeet – This was originally meant throwing something at high speed. On TikTok, it’s become a new word for “Yay!”

Emojis:

✨ _ ✨ – Used to emphasise a word or phrase. It’s often done in a slight tongue in cheek humorous way.
💀/⚰️ – Gen Z now communicates that they are “dying/dead/deceased” from laughter if they found something funny.
🤡 – The clown emoji is used to signify foolishness or feeling dumb.
👁👄👁 – This emoji combo is meant to express shock or surprise.
👉 👈️ – This shows hesitation or shyness.

We could only a couple of each phrase in here, so check out the full slang guide from FanBytes for dozens MORE TikTok terms (plus a WHOLE bunch of challenge types).