Author: Martin Communications

As we enter the second half of 2021, more brands left the first half with new campaigns and products, and our agency brings home the bronze. Keep reading to learn more.

McDonald’s and BTS Collab

After the Travis Scott meal at McDonald’s rose its stock and earnings in late 2020, they wanted to continue their growth with a new collaboration. And who better than the biggest boy band? BTS, a South Korean music group, joined McDonald’s to release the BTS meal: a 10-piece Chicken McNuggets meal with two limited edition sauces. Their marketing campaign not only includes digital advertising, but also custom food packaging and apparel.

PetSmart Will Do Anything for Your Pet

It’s no secret we love our pets. But do our pet retailers feel the same? PetSmart has your answer. As one of the largest pet retailers in the nation, PetSmart took their love of pets and turned it into a campaign. “Anything for Pets” consists of a commercial showing how the company goes above and beyond for their customers, both human and animal, and uses the phrase as their newest tagline.

Instagram Takes on E-Commerce

Instagram released a new shopping feature, Drops, to keep up with rising ecommerce trends. Drop is a section under the Shops tab that allows users to buy products directly on the app rather than be directed to a new webpage. A representative from Instagram stated, “Brands that want to be in the center of commerce are choosing to launch products on Instagram, and some top apparel retailers were the first brands to use Drops.” Instagram isn’t the only platform adjusting to e-commerce trends, as TikTok, Snapchat, and Twitter are creating features on their platforms, too.

Martin Communications, Inc., Receives Aster Award

We are happy to share our winning of a bronze award for the 2021 Aster Award’s Home Health/Hospice category. Our submitted campaign for Hospice of Central PA titled, Then and Now, was advertised across out-of-home, digital, print, and social media outlets. The Aster Awards is a competition recognizing healthcare marketing professionals for outstanding excellence in advertising, marketing, and communications.

Sources: AdAge

TikTok: Generating Leads for Small Business Growth

Looking for a way to get fun, creative, engaging video content out to over 500 million users at the tip of your fingers? TikTok is the name of the game. It’s the hottest, latest, and fastest growing social media platform to get your small business out there in a compelling, unique way. Users create a variety of 15 and 60 second videos ranging from challenges, dances, skits, and more. Since the largest demographic of TikTok is the age range of 16-24, trends pertaining sound clips are constantly filtered through your For You Page (content shown on your page based on your preferences). While most of the content is silly and playful, TikTok has become an advertising gold mine for businesses – just make sure your content is creative, engaging, and on trend.

Research Your Audience

Before you start rolling out a TikTok media strategy, do your research. Find out if your audience uses TikTok. Look into the types of content that would represent your brand and suit your audience. Your online presence can still be relevant even if your audience using TikTok doesn’t fall in the 16-24 age demographic. It’s important to maintain the trust established with your current audience.

Create Your Own Content

As a TikTok beginner, it’s best to keep things simple. Don’t worry about having professional camera equipment – your camera on your phone will do the trick. Content use depends on research and what works best for your brand. If your business uses other social media accounts such as Instagram or Facebook, you might want to consider repurposing content from there to start with. When you get more comfortable with using the app, look at content that is already successful and put your own twist on it (4 Ways to Use TikTok for Business, Broudie, 2020). Hashtag challenges (found on the Discover page within the app), are very helpful in finding existing, trending content that can be used to incorporate with your brand’s niche. The more experience you have with the platform, the more varieties of content you can create.

 Consider User Generated Content for Brand Exposure

As a small business, you probably don’t want to spend money on advertisements generated by TikTok. Instead, create User Generated Content – content made by people rather than brands (A Marketers Guide to Using User-Generated Content on social media, Newberry, 2019). Let’s say your company is tagged in a post about your brand. You can comment and ask for their approval to use their content in your next post (this occurs mostly on Instagram but can be applicable on any platform). Be sure to credit the original creator. User Generated Content is an authentic way to bring positive attention to your brand and can lead to higher purchasing decisions.

In conclusion, TikTok is a social media game changer with the latest, most trending topics of content creation. Its recent spike in popularity opens the door for a new (possibly younger) market of buyers not included in your original social media plan. Now is the time to consider the thriving, new and exciting industry of TikTok. If you’re not sure where to start, consider reaching out to Martin Communications, Inc., for advertising strategies  here.

See below for some useful guides on TikTok use for small businesses and how to generate business leads:

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/340216

https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/4-ways-to-use-tiktok-business/

https://www.zenefits.com/workest/tiktok-for-your-small-business-what-it-is-and-how-to-get-started/

https://blog.hootsuite.com/user-generated-content-ugc/

What is E-Marketing?

When it comes to shopping for clothes, appliances, whatever the case may be, it’s almost impossible to visit a website’s landing page and not be asked to sign-up for the latest promotion using your email address. I think we all are familiar with the standard pop-up that reads: “Get exclusive offers when you sign up to our email list” or something along those lines. From there, you start getting promotions from brands you love (or hate). Speaking from personal experience, they really do a number on grabbing your attention in those subject lines (yes, I’ve fallen into the trap quite a few times). On the other hand, these emails can be considered “spam-like” and drive customers away due to high frequency and repetition. This is a form of email marketing. It falls under the large umbrella of internet marketing (encompassing online marketing via websites, social media, blogs, etc.). In simple terms, e-marketing allows businesses to keep their customers informed and tailor their marketing messages. (Ward, 2020)

How Does E-Marketing Work?

Adding a newsletter sign-up option is a good way to send updates, upcoming events, and offers about your company. To grow an even stronger relationship with your customers, special birthday offers on merchandise are often sent out for a more personalized experience. Congratulations! You just earned an increase in sales and a valued, loyal customer.

Effective E-Marketing Strategies

To land a successful email marketing campaign, you can:

• Build a List
  • Keep track of those who opted-in to receiving updates and promotional emails
• Change up Message Delivery
  • Share information such as tips and tricks that are useful and relevant to your business
• Follow a Schedule
  • Make note of the time and day of the week your email is sent out and keep it consistent
• Optimize Email Display
  • Studies show that just under half of all emails are opened on mobile devices
    • Make sure your emails are scaled to fit mobile device dimensions

Measuring E-Marketing Success

When you finalize your email marketing campaign, you can measure its effectiveness a few different ways. Eliminate the subscribers who are not receptive to your emails. Those who do not even bother to click and open your emails can be removed from your list. Another way is to test your subject lines is by sending different subject lines to 10% to 20% of those who subscribed to your email list. The effectiveness of your subject line can either make or break company earnings. You can also survey your customers. Leave the door open to your customers to understand the types of content they would like to read (this could include storytelling – an effective attention grabber).

In conclusion, e-marketing has been (and still is) an effective way of getting information out about your brand. The methods you use to inform your subscribers are completely up to you and how they align with your business goals. Creating a list of receptive subscribers, spicing up your content, sending emails to users at consistent times, and optimizing email display are all great starting points. E-Marketing is a great way to build customer relationships, and most importantly, maintain them.

Learn more effective ways to inform and promote your services by visiting:

Email Marketing: What Is It? (thebalancesmb.com)

The first quarter of 2021 started with a banned commercial, a royal interview, and some social media controversy. Keep reading to learn more.

Aunt Jemima Rebrands to Pearl Milling Company

Aunt Jemima has been renamed to Pearl Milling Company, the company who originated self-rising pancake mix. The new packaging will have the same colors and font but will not include the woman to create an inclusive image. The rebranded packaging is scheduled to be in grocery store shelves this June.

T-Mobile Super Bowl Ad Gets Cut

T-Mobile said their commercial starring Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski was rejected from airing during the Super Bowl due to “a protected rights deal with the official telecom sponsor.” References of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was mentioned, which may have led to why the spot was not allowed that Sunday. Interested viewers can watch the commercial here.

Burger King Upsets Queens

To raise awareness of the lack of women in chef and restaurant kitchen positions, Burger King took to Twitter on International Women’s Day tweeting, “women belong in the kitchen.” Supporting tweets explained their new initiative to help women land jobs in restaurant-related roles but received more backlash than support. Burger King deleted the tweets and released the following statement to apologize.

“We hear you. We got our initial tweet wrong and we’re sorry. Our aim was to draw attention to the fact that only 20% of professional chefs in UK kitchens are women and to help change that by awarding culinary scholarships. We will do better next time.”

Introducing Spotify Audience Network

Spotify’s newest advertising marketplace will let brands tap into the audience of audio consumers. The Audience Network will combine Spotify’s audience generated from music, exclusive shows, and podcasts from its platform Anchor. Brands will also have access to Megaphone, Spotify’s publishing ad platform.

Oprah’s Royal Interview Attracts Millions

Oprah Winfrey’s two-hour interview with Prince Harry and Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle was watched live by over 17 million people on CBS and became one of the most live-streamed events outside of the NFL and Super Bowl. The interview also took over social media, generating 12 billion impressions across major platforms. Watch the full interview on CBS.

Meet a Martin – Lindsay Sowers, Graphic Designer

I have always had a niche for art for as long as I can remember. Art was one of my favorite subjects growing up, and I knew I wanted to turn this passion into a career. I graduated from Kutztown University in 2012 with a degree in Art Education. After about a year of substitute teaching, I realized it wasn’t for me, so back to school I went! I graduated in 2015 from the Art Institute of York with a degree in Graphic Design.

The beginning of 2021 marked four years with MC. I started as a freelancer, grew to part-time, and then was offered a full-time position. MC is an ever-growing company, and I find myself learning new techniques every day to better meet the needs of our clients.

I rock the aunt and dog-mom life to the fullest. Outside of work, you can find me snuggling with my handsome lab mix, Dak, coaching/playing softball, or catching some rays on the beach with friends and family.

Sources: AdAge, AdExchanger, FoodDive.com