Tag Archives: social media

Livestream Shopping: The New Online Shopping Experience

Marketing No Comments
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Do you remember watching TV infomercials and shopping channels? The host would address common pain points in their industry, show off the featured products, demonstrate how to use them, and offer limited-time deals to encourage viewers to purchase. They always created a sense of urgency with phrases such as “not sold in stores,” “limited TV offer,” “but wait, there’s more,” and “for the low, low price of $19.95.” 

This style of marketing and sales has morphed and evolved in recent years. Though still focusing on product promotion, it has moved from televised pre-recorded infomercials to unedited, real-time videos streamed through e-commerce apps, social media platforms, and websites. During these live virtual shopping events, viewers can leave questions about the product or service in the comments and get an immediate answer from the streamer. The livestream is less scripted and focused on demonstrating the product or service, so it is more authentic than traditional marketing strategies. As a result, brands that use livestream shopping as a strategy report conversion rates ten times greater than e-commerce conversions. The success of this marketing technique is largely due to the appeal: livestream shopping is entertaining, people are bored, and people love to shop.

There are four main elements of a livestream: the platform, the host, the product or service, and the content of the video. The shopping event can be hosted on e-commerce sites or social media platforms. YouTube is the most popular, with 30.2% of U.S. businesses marketing through its platform. Close behind are Facebook (29.2%) and Instagram (28.9%), then Amazon (20.7%) and TikTok (19.8%). As with all marketing strategies, it’s important to use the platform that best fits your target audience demographic – you want to broadcast where your audience is.

The host of the livestream can make or break its success: if the host is not entertaining and engaging, consumers will continue on to the next video. Influencers or celebrities are highly effective, as they have an established audience that trusts and engages with them. In fact, 17% of U.S. consumers frequently watch influencer livestreams. However, if partnering with influencers is not your style, there is nothing wrong with hosting it yourself!

Livestream shopping can be used by any industry, ranging from fashion to technology. The majority of these events (36%) are hosted by apparel and fashion brands, followed by beauty (8%), fresh food (7%), electronics (5%), home decor (4%), and automobile (1%).

The final piece of livestream shopping is the content, or rather, the experience offered to the audience. While the main goal is to sell or increase awareness, the best consumer experience occurs when there is an entertaining demonstration as well as a reward for watching. Raffles, giveaways, promotions, limited-time deals… These are all common tactics to keep viewers engaged throughout the process. They build hype and a sense of urgency while you educate, entertain, inform, or connect with your audience. 

Livestream shopping is a rising marketing trend, not just for sales but for awareness and engagement, as well. 78% of brands indicate that they use it to build deeper connections with their audience. Brands also implement livestream shopping events to make their videos more accessible (66%), humanize their brand (59%), engage with their audience (57%), and achieve higher conversion rates (28%).

Utilizing this strategy can result in boosted customer relationships, marketing reach, and sales conversions. It has boomed in China over the last three years, growing from a market worth $3 billion to $171 billion. It is currently estimated to be worth $11 billion in the United States and is projected to reach $35 billion by 2024. 

If you need help navigating livestream shopping, or want help with your marketing strategy in general, reach out to us today!

A Closer Look At The Leading Social Media Marketing Strategy: Short Form Video Content

Marketing No Comments
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The year is 2013. You and your friends just finished sharing the newest, funniest Vines with each other, watching these 6-second looping videos on repeat. Fast forward to 2020. While Vines are still referenced, the platform itself has been archived. TikTok is emerging as the leader in social media, causing other platforms to shift their strategy to stay relevant. We start to see Instagram and Facebook Reels, YouTube Shorts, Snapchat Spotlight. Since then, short form video content has become the leading growth strategy across the social media realm and businesses that have implemented this strategy have seen great return on investment. In 2021, the average person watched 18 hours’ worth of video content per week.

But what, exactly, is short form video? Basically, it encompasses any video that’s up to 5 minutes in length, though data shows that the optimal length for engagement is just under 1 minute. The idea is to create small bites of content that are easy to consume, easy to digest, and leave the viewer wanting more.

There are generally five different types of short form video:

  1. User Generated Content: These videos are created by your audience based on parameters set by you. This could involve using a specific hashtag, an original audio you created, or a branded filter. A great example is GoPro. The majority of their content is user generated and submitted through hashtags. Using this strategy is easy and budget friendly, perceived as more authentic than branded content, and provides you with data about your audience (who they are, what their pain points are, how they think, what they like, etc.) which then leads to improved targeting.
  1. Influencer Videos: Influencers have an established audience that engages with, enjoys, and is influenced by their content. Partnering with an influencer can significantly boost your brand’s awareness and reach, as they can place your brand in front of an entirely new audience. An influencer’s followers are also more likely to try products and services recommended by them since a relationship of trust has been developed. For more on influencer marketing, check out our blog post.
  1. Product or Promotion Teasers: These videos are a great way to build intrigue and suspense about an upcoming product or promotion. A common example is musicians teasing the release of their newest single or album. This could be anything from cryptic video clips to hint at what the song is about to soundbites of the song itself. Another example is artists showing a work in progress without revealing what the whole piece looks like.
  1. Educational Content: These videos are excellent for establishing your brand as a knowledge base in your niche by addressing common pain points. Demonstrate a product. Provide a tutorial. Take a blog post you’ve written and turn it into a series. Regardless of what kind of educational content you choose to provide, doing so provides value to your audience and sets you apart from competitors that focus on sales over connection.
  1. Behind-The-Scenes: Speaking of connection, these videos are the best way to show your audience the people and personalities behind your brand. This could include taking a tour of the office, showing off how a product is made, documenting a team building activity, or even doing a blooper video. The point here is to relate to your audience in a likable and authentic way that builds relationships and connections.

As the most popular – and most preferred – form of content on social media, using short form video can increase your brand’s visibility, relatability, and authenticity. Many of the platforms’ algorithms prioritize video content since it is more attention-grabbing and engaging than photos or text posts. To successfully implement short form video into your marketing strategy, it’s important to remember that each platform is different, both in terms of demographics and in terms of how users interact with content. Tailor your content to each platform you use. What works on Instagram may not work on TikTok. That being said, content is king, so any video you put out there is better than none at all!

If you need help with creating short form videos or have any questions about new and emerging trends, reach out to us today for more information!

The Increasing Popularity of Micro-Influencers

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Building a strategy around micro-influencers has been increasingly popular in recent years. The entire influencer market is growing from $1.7 billion in 2016 to an expected $16.4 billion this year.

Micro-influencers are gaining popularity and allow businesses to target up-and-coming creators with smaller, more niche audiences compared to larger creators. This has a big impact on your marketing plan and how you want to focus your target audience. 

It is always exciting to land a big influencer partnership to showcase your product or service to different audiences and prove it is the best among competitors. Consider going deeper and adding micro-influencers with a few thousand followers related to your business category into your influencer marketing strategy.

If you need help with your marketing strategy or have any questions about micro-influencer marketing, reach out to us today for more information.

Influencer Marketing

Marketing No Comments
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Influencer marketing has grown exponentially in the past few years. In 2021, the total influencer marketing expenditure was estimated to be $13.8 billion. While the pandemic influenced this accelerated growth, it has continued to grow.

Thirty-four percent of marketing professionals across the globe indicate that influencer marketing is at the top of their investment list for 2022 – placed above mobile web design as well as short-form video. Of those professionals who are currently using influencer marketing, 57% speak to its effectiveness, 46% plan to increase their current investments, and 11% indicate it is the top ROI-generating trend they’ve used.

Why do influencers work so well? Simply put, they are skilled with the platform(s) they use and experts in their niche. Influencers have an established audience that engages with, enjoys, and is influenced by their content. Whether they are widely-known with millions of followers or local with thousands of followers (also known as micro-influencers), investing in influencers can increase your brand awareness and boost sales.

When deciding which influencer to partner with, it’s important to not only look at their follower count, but also the demographics and engagement rates of their following. After partnering with your chosen influencer, it’s important to monitor the campaign performance to make sure your investment is producing the results you are looking for.

If you need help with your marketing strategy or have any questions about influencer marketing, reach out to us today for more information.

Spam Bots on Instagram  

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If you have spent any time on platforms such as Instagram or Facebook, you have probably encountered bots commenting on posts stating how you have won a free iPhone or promoting fake accounts. You know how annoying it can be when bots tag you in random giveaways and potential scams.

Spam bots are the most prevalent on Instagram. It can be tempting to pay for bots on Instagram
to quickly get likes, followers, and comments. It is always better to organically grow your reach by showing the authenticity of your brand vs. paying for the superficial numbers. Posting curated, quality content is worth it in the long run over short-term gains.

If you’re looking to mitigate the number of bot messages you receive, there are 3 methods:

Change your privacy settings. On Instagram, for instance, you can change your settings to restrict who can tag you to just people you follow. The downside to this is that people you may not follow yet may want to tag you in a product or service you provided.

Block and report the account as spam. This will restrict their ability to tag you in spam posts in the future, and reporting the account can result in the account being taken down.

Finally, you can choose to ignore them and hope it stops on its own!

If you need help with organically growing your presence on social media or have any questions, reach out to us today for more information.