We decided to combine some of our favourite things; digital marketing, coffee, talking (often talking about coffee, sometimes technology) and blogging (and now blogging about coffee, sometimes technology). This mornings lucky duo; Karen and Ollie our product and brand marketing duo.
Destination
What better place to start than Uncommon Ground Coffee Roastery, a panini’s throw from our window, situated in the Royal Arcade in Cardiff.
Described as an ‘independent gourmet coffee bar in Cardiff, we are genuinely passionate about roasting and serving great fresh coffee.’ … the verdict, they are and they do! Have a look at the rather snazzy virtual tour.
Digital Marketing in 2016
As its the beginning of the year, it seemed an appropriate time. So, What are some of the challenges that brands will face? On this occasion we steered clear of having a crystal ball on the table. Several key messages and consensus emerged with much discussion around use of video within digital marketing, let us know your thoughts!
- A shift in focus was identified as essential, a need to curtail the tactics of lazy communication so many marketers have fallen back upon and start bringing in-person social skills to the digital world!
“Drummed into my head and my rationale behind so much of my personal marketing activity is the absolute essential of customer trust.”
- The customer brand relationship has been discussed at length, and accordingly 2016 will be a big year for ad-blocker. The cry that’s let’s get rid of the traditional noise! Proof we can’t be as lazy as we’ve been before, customers demand more. Ad Blockers topped the appstore a day after ios9’s release!
- The need for marketers to produce more content with fewer resources. The approach must be a focus on creating high quality content experiences at every customer interaction without breaking the bank. Personalisation and segmentation are key here, email campaigns for example need to be more personalised and catered to actual individuals.
“My belief is that 2016 will be a big year of learning for brands. They’ll finally start to streamline their process, select the right influencers, execute campaigns, and get the most bang for their buck.”
- Social platforms as well need to develop to allow publishers, brands, consumers to navigate content in a meaningful way. Ever present importance of content distribution and new methods to integrate. These are not new instances but still crucial ‘how will publishers fair with Facebook’s instant articles?’
“Brave and Bold content is essential!”
- Visual playing such a vital role in all forms of content creation, the further development of live streaming services, there emergence offers a more personalised customer experience…what our customers demand.
- The development of effective live streaming integration (periscope/meerkat/blab) ‘live reporting’ but specifically how this appears in social media timelines. This development gives the opportunity to put a human face to the brand, mapping out a buyer persona’s, so many advantages for marketers.
- Distribution of mobile and social-ready video is a competitive area for everyone but within this lies the challenge. How much of your budget do you allow for distribution and how much on video production*
“Video is a representation of you so make interesting and engaging content that speaks to the people you are trying to sell to”
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Suggested Reading
Have a read of ‘Video Content : You’re Doing it Wrong‘ by Gary Vaynerchuck this will tell you all you need to know on how so many focus on distribution over video production. A year old article, still completely relevant, its still a mistake made by so many.