Brief #132: Best Marketing Practices to Implement (Yesterday)

Welcome to Future of Marketing! 

In today’s fast-paced digital world, traditional advertising methods just won’t cut it. You need strategies that scale, content that converts, and a deep understanding of your target audience’s needs and preferences.  

Let’s explore some of the most effective marketing tactics successful brands use today. 

8 Effective Marketing Tactics

1. User-Generated Content (UGC)

75% of marketers agree that adding UGC to brand channels boosts trust and conversions.

Ask customers for reviews and UGC, and re-share it across key conversion points – your website, product pages, check-out pages, and social media profiles. 

Chaco re-sharing UGC of a person's feet – wearing Chaco sandals – dangling over the ocean

2. Request Legal Rights

Reposting someone’s content and tagging them for credit is not enough… you still need their permission to repost (or else risk facing legal consequences).

Pssttt… You can use TINT to easily manage legal rights requests and organize approved social content in one place (and more). 

3. Hyper-personalization

UGC and reviews on checkout pages increase conversions by 29% – so why not hyper-personalize content to each user? 

Think “recommended products” or “you may also like” visual sections across your website, product pages, or emails featuring content your customers are sharing. Also, consider using UGC and reviews in paid ads instead of stock photography. 

Loews Hotels paid ad featuring UGC

4. Social Commerce

Keyword(s): Shoppable Content

By integrating shoppable features into your content across your website and social media, you can create a seamless experience for your audience to discover, learn about, and purchase your products – without leaving the platform.

Yeti resharing shoppable UGC - you can purchase the tumbler the customer is holding in the image without leaving to another app.

5. Creators & Influencers

They’re both similar, but each requires a different strategy. 

Influencers focus on promoting products or services to an engaged audience, while creators focus on creating engaging content (and don’t necessarily need followers).

Experiment with both depending on your needs. 

Deep dive: Creators, Influencers, UGC – What’s the Difference?

6. Ratings & Reviews

72% of consumers agree ratings & reviews submitted by customers are more credible than the brand talking about their products. 

Consider the most exciting parts of the post-purchase journey:

  • Post-purchase anticipation as customers wait for their order to arrive
    • Send a thank you email featuring visual reviews or unboxing videos. 
  • Product arrives (yay!)
    • Use the packaging experience to your full advantage and guide customers towards the next step you want them to take (i.e. “share your experience for a chance to be featured”) – whether it’s on the box, receipt, a thank you card. 
  • Experiencing the product
    • Encourage customers to share reviews, and follow-up with personalized emails or surveys to gather feedback and improve their experience. 

MUD\WTR does a lovely job at engaging customers every step of the way – from thank you emails to packaging.

 MUD\WTR box that says "started from the mud now we here" with fun instructions and a smiley

7. Contests & Giveaways

Contests & giveaways are low-cost, high-impact tactics that drive engagement. Consider the content you need and design a campaign that lets your fans create it. 

Canon engages photographers with 2,000+ social media entries - learn more

8. Omnichannel Distribution

Being across every channel is easier than done – but it’s not impossible.

  • Have customer reviews? Sprinkle them across your website, social media, and other channels your audience may come across.
  • Someone tagged you in an awesome photo showing your product? Re-share it in an email or a paid ad (with their permission).  

ICYMI

The Ultimate Combo: Influencer & UGC. 

Watch the playback of a webinar with our friends at Klear and University of Victoria as we discuss combining these two strategies to tap into your audience’s hunger for genuine content and establish a deeper connection with your brand.

As always, thanks for reading.

Until next time!