It’s no question that content is an integral part of any marketing strategy and has consistently proven to be effective for lead generation.
While creating content is relatively easy, the challenge most marketers face is whizzing up relevant content that truly appeals to their target audience.
Your content means very little if you can’t fuel your viewers with enough information that excites and invites them to patronise your business. So ensuring you write interesting pieces and develop engaging visuals that are consistent with your marketing objectives is a top priority.
Here are three tips to help achieve smart content for your audience:
Think of your topic and stick to it
Before penning your content, carefully map out all your ideas. Then figure out exactly what story you want to share and how you wish to narrate it.
Determining your subject will help you create better content and you’ll be able to deliver more meaningful information. Your readers will also find it easier to follow your story when you haven’t been specific and provided a clear trail of thought.
Aim to inform, not to promote
Very few people, if anyone, wants to read something that’s basically screaming ‘Buy me now!’ It’s purpose should instead be to is to share information about your brand, and educate your reader. Excessive promotion can make you appear weak and desperate. Instead aim to build trust and show the value of your brand through engaging content.
Keep it short and don’t ramble
We all have have short-attention spans. Use simple words when expressing your thoughts and eliminate qualifying words to effectively get your message across.
Think less is more and your audience will appreciate it. Avoid rambling and always stick to your main subject.
Creating content should be fun and is a great way to get your creative juices flowing.
If you need help putting some life into your content, get in touch with us at hello@mutant.com.sg.
In Asia Pacific alone, it’s estimated there are more than 1 billion mobile users – and this is expected to grow to 1.4 billion users by 2019. Over the last five years we have witnessed a massive shift to digital (after all, an estimated 87% of smartphone users regularly have their device near them), which means we have to adapt our marketing communications to fit mobile.
This doesn’t just mean having an app or mobile-friendly website (yes, those are important from a UX perspective), but also maximising the use of content in the mobile space. I’m talking about creating content fit for a small screen that makes a big impact.
Here are three ways to help get your brand noticed:
Get visual
If you’re anything like me, you get bored and lose interest when reading large paragraphs of boring text that never seem to end. Am I right? Instead, visually stimulating content – images, graphics, video – gets the message across quickly. Time is money and people like to absorb information in quick spurts, so don’t let your content get lost in the digital jungle.
Try mixing up your Facebook News Feed with some cool images or videos to capture interest. People like variety, so shake your content up!
Use emotive messaging
Most purchases are driven by pure emotions. What make you choose one brand over the other? Why did you buy that particular car, or pair of shoes? There is a massive divide between our needs and wants, and most of us opt for the want. Why? Because we experience certain emotions when we own a particular product or experience something new.
To tap into this emotion, you need to create content that pulls on people’s heartstrings. Create a heart-warming video or series of graphics – anything that can ignite a sense of desire for a particular product or service.
Create an immersive experience
No one likes feeling left out. We want to be in the know, and brands today are winning when they allow their audience to feel like they are a part of something.
Social media platforms like Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook enable brands to easily distribute content in a creative and engaging fashion. Take your fans on a journey – whether you are using Facebook’s 360 video feature to showcase your event, or are sharing behind the-scenes snaps of your latest clothing line on Snapchat. Think creatively and develop immersive experiences for your fans.
There are so many ways brands can present content. With our eyes fixated on the small screen, we all need to think about how we can tailor our marketing to meet the demands of our mobile audience.
Need help developing your content marketing strategy? Get in touch with us today at hello@mutant.com.sg.
What a great event the Olympics really are! It’s a chance for the world to come together and connect over a love of sport, patriotism and healthy competition. Every four years we witness some of the world’s greatest athletes achieve the unachievable, break records, and make us all proud.
Over time, the Olympic Games has had its fair share of PR disasters, and Rio 2016 didn’t exactly had the best start. From budget concerns, to toxic waters and pollution, Zika virus threats, angry citizens, and theft (and the list goes on), there was a point when we all wondered whether any athletes would even show up.
So how does an event this size return from the negative backlash that has been taunting it for the past few years?
Here are three key PR takeaways from this year’s games:
Control your story
Haters are always gonna hate! It’s hard to change people’s minds, and so the best thing you can do is change the narrative and re-direct the focus. It’s easier to sway public opinion with the right connections and resources. At Rio 2016, having Supermodel Gisele Bundchen strut her stuff in the Opening Ceremony was the start of something good for the Games. I quickly noticed the news angle change from talking about what has gone wrong so far, to the start of a great Olympic Games. The media focus then began to shift to the events and athletes – which is where it should have been from the start.
The show must go on
The Olympics will go ahead one way or another. If negative news is to happen, let it happen, and move on. The ‘negatives’ are always going to be more controversial and juicier to read about. Large-scale events like the Olympics undoubtedly have their fair share of blunders, so it’s best to just accept it, plan for it and keep the momentum going on the topics that really matter.
Take your gold medal
Even when you win, you need to reflect on your performance. Walk away from an event with good memories, but break down the situation entirely – the good, bad and the ugly. I doubt many of us will really be talking about the negative aspects of Rio 2016 in two weeks time – instead we’ll be talking about the gold medals Michael Phelps walked away with, how Joseph Schooling put Singapore on the sporting map, and whether Usain Bolt broke another world record. Those are the lasting impressions that matter.
Events are hard, and you will never be able to please everyone. But managing expectations and planning ahead is part of the job. If your event is garnering negative press, look above it, go to your back-up plan and work with your PR team to help navigate the narrative during and after the event.
Need help creating a winning PR strategy for your brand? Get in touch with us at hello@mutant.com.sg.
It’s extremely easy for brands to build up a library of original content. The real challenge at hand is adapting that content to suit social media. In the age of short attention spans, brands need to keep up and tailor their content to suit each platform’s features or face being seen as irrelevant.
For brands, having a social media presence does not simply mean dumping the same content and format on every single social media channel possible. Doing it for the sake of it is ineffective and a waste of time and resources.
As intimidating as social media seems, brands need to craft content that fits. Results will follow when the outcome reflects consistent brand messaging and meaningful engagement with the brand’s audience.
When in doubt, repurpose
When posting articles on social media, always consider the fact that sometimes, less may be more. Because people are getting increasingly visual with their social media habits, brands can meet them halfway and start repurposing content instead.
Even if you’ve got a concise listicle, think about how that can be translated visually. Take a look and see what other brands have done:
HipVan remodels their blog posts into lean 5-6 images that provide a snapshot of the article’s best points. The 500×500 pixel image size gives people a full look at those images without needing them to take any extra action. On the overall, the simplicity and easy access of this format will no doubt increase the shareability on Facebook and other platforms.
Instead of posting a product link, Etch & Bolts made a visually appealing gif that summed up their new collection.
Size matters
Use people’s short attention spans to your advantage. Because people tend to swipe past brands very easily, it is your job to make sure you grab their attention even BEFORE they have a chance to look at the next post – this means you have about two seconds!
Get familiar with universal image sizes that work well on any platform and device. If you’re posting a photo on Twitter, make sure the size is optimised for all devices. What looks nice on desktops might look totally butchered on mobile phones.
Take a lesson from Instagram’s success – Square images/videos tend to do better on mobile displays because it takes up more space on the screen versus a landscape-oriented visual.
But…keep it short and sweet
If people are faced with a 300-word long caption on Facebook, chances are their thumbs have already swiped onto the next post. Keep your messages short and straight to the point. If anyone wanted to read that caption, they’d read a book.
Check out @sg_now’s example. The square image is universally friendly on all devices and the caption is snappy but let’s you in on sufficient detail.
TIP: Don’t see Twitter’s character count as a limitation, but as inspiration instead.
Sometimes, less may not be more
Though I’ve been preaching the ‘short and sweet’ message, there are exceptions. Take a look at Nicholas Kristof, a New York Times columnist’s Facebook post:
You’ll see that the engagement on his post is insane – 13,637 likes and 1,816 shares! Notice his caption wasn’t exactly the most concise yet he still managed to rake in the numbers.
Bottomline? This example shows that there still is a place for in-depth content on Facebook but you need to be knee-deep in your analytics to see if that’s the best way of content delivery.
Producing viral content isn’t always the solution. Brands need to realise that not everything will go viral. Furthermore, creating content for the sake of achieving the almighty viral status ties up resources and isn’t sustainable in the long run.
Instead of spending time trying to make content go viral, focus on sustainable ways to grow and engage your audience. Brands cannot be built on viral videos but on strategies that focus on long term and sustainable growth.
Don’t see social media as another platform for you to dump all your branded content on. Take the time and see how your content can fit on a particular platform – each one’s different and will help you fulfill different objectives.
Get in touch with us at hello@mutant.com.sg to see how we can help you create compelling content for your social media platforms.
According to an article published by TechinAsia last year, 100 million internet users watch online videos every day and 64% of them are likely to buy a product online after watching a video.
Today, you can view videos not only on YouTube, but on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook…and the list goes on. Likewise, brands are able to upload videos directly onto these platforms without a host. However, many brands recognise the opportunity of creating a YouTube account in order to reach out to its 1 billion users.
We won’t be giving you a list of reasons why you should be creating video content as we all know this is important, instead here are some superb examples of brands who have mastered the art of video marketing:
Apple
Notice how it doesn’t scream, “BUY THE IPHONE NOW”? Instead, this short 15-second video is clean-cut and simple, perfect for Apple’s minimalist branding. This straight-to-the-point video by Apple is part of a series that merely exhibits what the iPhone’s camera is capable of capturing but well, it has us sold.
Tastemade
You’ve probably seen countless of Tastemade videos on your Facebook News Feed. And we’re also certain you’ve stopped to watch them at least once. What makes these recipe videos so engaging? First and most importantly, they’re sped up. In today’s fast-paced digital world, the last thing we need is to watch someone whisking egg-whites till stiff-peaks form. Second, they’re shot in high definition and against a mirage of colours – easily capturing the audience. Lastly, these videos are fun and shareable. You want your videos to be watched, liked and shared by as many as possible because it essentially increases your reach beyond your own pool of followers.
Dove
Renowned for being the first few brands to use video to raise awareness of beauty and body image, Dove’s YouTube profile is categorised into different series, with its most recent one being the #MyBeautyMySay stories. The idea behind portraying “real” beauty is good, but leveraging on video campaigns to carry it out is brilliant. Dove’s ambassadors are regular women. Although the videos may be cut and edited, the women’s body-types and emotions are real and raw.
Blendtec
The Blendtec’s videos are fantastic! They are funny, innovative and out of this world – who would even think about blending selfie-sticks? Blendtec’s confidence in their products gives them an added advantage because again, you can’t fake it on video. “Will It Blend” is a flashy series that demonstrates the power of Blendtec’s blenders. Conveying this via videos on YouTube created a fan base for the company and its products and this is certainly a lesson many brands can learn from.
Ben & Jerry’s
Doesn’t this video make you want to grab a BRRR-ito from the nearest scoop shop, especially in Singapore’s sweltering heat? Ben and Jerry’s YouTube videos slay – they not only introduce new flavours on their channel to create suspense amongst their fans, but they entice viewers to buy their pints through short recipe clips that are simple and hassle-free.
Establishing a YouTube channel for your brand is great because it acts as a host platform for you to share your videos on other social media platforms like Facebook. At the same time, you can create and share incredible videos without a YouTube channel. Remember that your videos should always convey your key message in a subtle manner. Videos should be quick and to the point, and the key is to inform, educate and inspire. You want to create sharable content that also draws on consumers emotions.
It’s the age of the visual culture which means more visual content. With shortening attention spans, marketers and content creators have to constantly think of new ways to capture our attention. According to an article published by Hubspot this year, coloured visuals increase willingness to read a piece of content by 80%.
You’re definitely on the right track if you’ve been integrating visuals into your content strategy, but when does an image work better over a video?, or a GIF over an image?
Images
With social networks becoming increasingly image-centric, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that brands should be including high-definition images in their marketing mix. Images are visually-captivating and easily shareable.
When should I use images?
Besides images being easily shareable on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, Pinterest is another brilliant image-sharing medium with 100 million daily active users. The shift to visual content is clearly emulated here as brands can ‘pin’ beautifully captured images to their ‘boards’.
Tory Burch, an international fashion brand, has had success in marketing their products through images on Pinterest. With almost 200,000 followers, the brand’s images on Pinterest are carefully curated and categorised.
GIFs
Remember the moving photos in photo-frames and newspapers in the hit movie series, Harry Potter? Well, the brilliant invention of the GIF brought us a step closer to the wizarding world! GIFs are the hybrid between images and videos. They move, of course, but they’re not as lengthy as videos. Because they’re short and have no sound attached to them, GIFs are easy to digest. A GIF typically focuses on a specific moment in a larger picture. GIFs are also cheaper to produce than videos and take up less resources.
When should I use GIFs?
GIFs work best in e-newsletters. They are quirky and provide marketers with the opportunity to draw attention to specific products. Here is an example from an email sent out by NastyGal, an online clothing store, to promote their gift card:
Videos
According to a report published by Cisco, video will account for 69% of all consumer internet traffic by 2017. You don’t need a host site like YouTube to publish videos because you can now post directly to social media sites like Facebook and Instagram. These platforms have become more video-friendly, with Facebook pushing out Facebook 360 and Instagram allowing longer video posts.
When should I use videos?
Videos are great pieces of marketing and allow brands to tell their stories in more comeplling ways. A video is more immersive and offers viewers a more engaging experience. With YouTube amassing 4 billion daily views, your brand’s online reach is endless. Always consider the audience you are trying to reach out to and make sure you get your message across articulately. Creativity is a must! GoPro’s YouTube channel has more than 4 million subscribers. What makes the brand so popular? Their videos are cleverly grouped into several categories that showcase the different uses of its main product. Here is an example:
It’s great to integrate images, GIFs and videos into your content marketing strategy but remember not to overdo it. The last thing you want is to overwhelm people and have them flag your content as spam.
“What’s your Instagram account?” is probably one of the most frequently asked questions by everyone, everywhere. While Instagram used to be known as a mere trendy “millennial” hangout platform, it has evolved into an incredible social networking and advertising tool for businesses to utilise. In fact, it is the fastest growing social media site worldwide with over 500 million active users, 300 million of which use it at least once a day. We all know that Instagram offers visual content, but what exactly makes it so successful, engaging, and popular? Here are some compelling reasons why your business should hop onto the Insta-bandwagon:
1) A picture tells a thousand words
Sure, you can always slap on a paragraph of text for your readers to digest, but having your consumers recognise your brand personality through jaw-dropping images effectively takes engagement to a whole new level. Coca-Cola sure knows a thing or two about Instagram – they successfully demonstrate the fun, unique, and vibrant brand through great imagery.
Source: @cocacola on Intagram
2) We live in a mobile world
Every business is looking for creative ways to produce thumb-stopping content. Luckily, Instagram is one of the very few apps where the interface itself is designed to be optimised on mobile. As such, visual content is the main focus simply because it’s easy to digest. Swiping through Instagram has never been easier and successful businesses can capitalise on this opportunity to directly reach key audiences.
3) In-app opportunities are endless
Instagram provides a whole range of activities which allow you to not only reach out to your audience, but also let them interact directly with you. For instance, one of the most effective Instagram uses is to host giveaways or contests. Lancome launched the #bareselfie campaign to promote its DreamTone serum and the results were miraculous – generating more than 500 fan Instagram photos, 50% of the serum’s sales, and a 4% conversion rate on Lancome’s site. Initiatives such as contests help to increase visibility, and gives your audience a chance to react to and participate in your campaigns.
Source: @lancomeusa on Instagram
4) Ads are beautiful too
Let’s face it, everything on Instagram is breath-taking, even sponsored ads. Instagram utilises native advertising strategically, where ads are curated to blend in together with the platform’s original posts. People usually avoid ads the second they see one, but on Instagram you probably won’t mind taking a short glance. Ads, such are the examples below, are also paired with an effective call-to-action, helping to further drive engagement and increase website site traffic.
Sources: @magnum and @beautifullovewedding on Instagram
It’s time to strip away the stereotype that Instagram is only for attention-seeking teenage users.
This increasingly popular platform can do amazing things for your brand’s presence, visibility, and overall performance. If your brand is not already on Instagram, it’s time to jump onboard.
Follow our Instagram page @mutantcomms and drop us a note at hello@mutant.com.sg to see how we can help build your social media presence through great content.
So you’ve spent the past few weeks working on a social media campaign or advertisement. All the copy has been written, creatives have been approved and it finally goes live. Just as you mentally clink champagne-filled glasses in your head, the results come back and it becomes evident that your campaign just hasn’t worked the way you hoped it would – and if your target audience is not responding, something is definitely wrong.
The devil’s in the numbers and crafting great content is important, but so is making sure that there are quantifiable and measurable metrics that can help you see where you went wrong and how you can do better next time. Here’s what you should do:
1. Define your goals
Before you get too excited and start going into the creative side of things, it is vital that you first define your campaign goals. What exactly are you trying to achieve from this campaign?
To help you along, think about the kind of social actions (eg. like, react, share, comment, tag) you want your audience to take when interacting with your campaign. This can be measured in terms of impressions, shares, clicks, sessions or purchase actions.
2. Choose appropriate metrics that correspond with your goals
Most Facebook campaigns have two main goals: Driving traffic and increasing engagement & awareness.
To drive traffic, track all URLs you post on social media so you know how many clicks and conversions you’re getting. To do this, you can use Google’s URL builder to set your link’s parameters.
TIP: Google’s URL builder is linked to your Google Analytics account so it will reflect what your audience clicked on as well as other key insights. All this should give you a better understanding of what interests your audience
To measure engagement and awareness, look at the reach, number of shares, likes and comments under your posts. These are telling because it will provide you with insight into what prompts someone to take certain actions.
3. Measure
Now that you’ve got your campaign and the right metrics, the next step is to measure performance. What good is a campaign if you don’t know how or if it actually helps fulfill your goals?
Facebook’s Power Editor is a good tool for looking at different kinds of metrics that may be relevant to your campaign. However, you should also be looking at numbers from Google Analytics. Linking up your Facebook page to Google Analytics is key and it’s pretty simple.
TIP: Remember to link Facebook and Google Analytics BEFORE you launch your campaign.
4. Track and Optimise
Track your numbers over a period of time and review them weekly. You’ll have some good weeks and some bad ones so don’t stress if there are occasional dips in performance, but be alert to any trends that may be forming within your audience.
For example, if you notice that more women from your timeline tend to click into your website, while men visit via the Facebook ads on the right-hand-side column, the content that you push out can be better tailored to these specific behaviours. Knowing the small details will help you improve your content so you’ll be able to target your audience more accurately.
Next, optimise the results. Optimisation is a broad term and really depends on the situation. This might mean having to shut down posts or ads that aren’t doing well in certain placements. Instead, you can use that budget for others that are giving you good and consistent results. Try switching up your copy, your creatives or even changing your audience segments – see what works best for your business.
5. Evaluate
This is how you’ll know whether your campaign was a huge success or perhaps why it flopped. It may be a trial and error process in the beginning but dealing with analytics earlier helps you understand your audience so you can tailor your campaigns better.
When it comes to social media, the numbers don’t lie. You can have great content but it must be effective in reaching your audience, otherwise it’s like hosting an amazing party with no guests!
Need help getting your social media content in tip-top shape? Write to us at hello@mutant.com.sg.
Whether you’re writing a bio for yourself, the company you work for, or even for someone else, you want to make sure that it’s exciting enough for others to take an interest. Writing corporate content is hard. Very few people really know how to write informative pieces that aren’t front loaded with a heavy sales push – and our bios are no different. They act as a marketing tool that helps others understand who we are (or what our company does), and aim to educate the reader by providing useful background information.
But how exactly do we do this?
The most basic thing to look out for would be the point of view in which you are writing from. A corporate bio should always be written in third-person as it sounds more credible and professional. But don’t let us get you confused with a LinkedIn or social media bio, as this should be written in first-person. Suggested read: LinkedIn for the entrepreneur
Here are some essentials you should keep in mind when you’re writing your bio:
Establish your credentials
Grab the reader’s attention and showcase formal credentials like certificates, awards and job titles. At the same time, don’t let your informal credentials go unnoticed. How have your life experiences shaped you as an individual and how has that gained you an advantage in a particular industry? Only talk about your most relevant accomplishments because you don’t want to drown your reader in a long list of accolades.
Build credibility
Demonstrate your expertise in a particular field by proving that what you do is recognised by others. Where possible, add in a list of articles you’ve been featured in or anything you have published that’s relevant.
Be human
We know, you want to impress others by sounding as professional as you can. The thing is, we are all humans and come on, everybody loves a little humour. You want people to know that you take your work seriously, but at the same time can be relatable. Of course, always remember the context of your bio and where it’s like to appear, then tailor accordingly.
Keep it short and to the point
Speaking of space, the last thing your reader needs is a bio that just doesn’t seem to end…ever! With the human attention span getting shorter, it’s always good to only emphasise the most important points.
PRO TIP: Have both a short and long version of your bio.
Attach a photograph
This is probably the most underrated tip mentioned when it comes to writing bios. Yes, you’ve got your contact details there, you’ve included links to various social media profiles but you’re missing one of the most important features of a bio: a photograph. Readers like to put a face to the name, and when we say attach a photograph we don’t mean any casual selfie you took from your smartphone – get a professional shot taken as nobody likes to be let down by a sloppy picture.
Tone and format
Sit down and start thinking of how to best structure your bio. Where is it going to appear? Think about tone – formal or informal? Bios should be easily adapted to suit different situations. For example, a bio in a company media kit may be slightly different to one that you’d send off when pitching for an industry speaking slot, so it’s important to create something that you can adapt and repurpose.
If you’re a tech company operating in Asia, know this: you’re operating in the same region where 93% of mobile ad-blockers are located. As more browsers introduce built-in ad blocking, more of Asia will be cut off from online ads.
Ad-blocking hides most, if not all ads on a website. Its usage is growing rapidly in APAC because of potential bandwidth savings in countries with developing internet infrastructure. Using an ad blocker is typically a matter of downloading an app or browser extension, or turning on browser settings. With ad-block turned on, the area your ad is supposed to occupy is replaced with blank space.
The advertising industry is adapting by making ads more personalised and targeted, but there is also another channel that has existed long before digital advertising: Public Relations, aka PR.
PR targets readers by bringing the brand experience to the media they read, the people they follow or the places they visit. It is targeted messaging before Adwords Custom Affinities and Facebook Audience Insights; it is content marketing before your mailing lists started bringing in conversions.
Unlike other channels, most of PR is earned, and then supported by paid or owned content. Great PR can be a blessing for a startup looking for that big break, or an established multinational running a user acquisition campaign. Look no further than Pokémon Go for an example of how a product went viral on a wave of PR.
A journalist or influencer who writes about you positively is essentially giving a very valuable third party endorsement. This puts you on the radar of their readers and fans. Since the media decides what to post on their site, relevant content will go a long way. Instead of a direct sell, PR is a chance to tell a more personalised brand story readers can identify with and be inspired by.
Formulating a winning PR strategy
Earning PR coverage comes down to two things: good homework and good relationships. Homework means doing research on what people in your space are talking about. Some easy places to start are:
Your target publications
Social media insights of your fans and followers
Online professional communities such as LinkedIn groups and Quora
Google Trends
After finding out what people are talking about, think of how your brand can fit in, and the best way to communicate that. If it’s a press release, draft it. If it’s an infographic, map out the stats and design it. If it’s a cute cat video… good luck, there’s a lot of competition out there. If you need help creating great content, check out some of our useful resources such as the copywriting guide or the guide to writing tech content.
It’s wise to put yourself in the journalist’s shoes – imagine you are a very busy person receiving over 1,000 emails a day, sitting by a phone that never stops ringing. You also have a reputation to maintain as an unbiased authority in your field. So why should they cover your story?
Well, it’s not through luck. Your story must have a hook, but not a hard sell. It must be factual, yet sound exciting. It presents the complete picture to the journalist, yet stays concise enough to be scanned through. And it must grab attention within the first seven words they see. If you think you have that all down, run it by a trusted friend, or a professional just to make sure.
If you are ready to take your communications to the next level, drop us a note today at hello@mutant.com.sg.
Yesterday, a friend pulled into my parking lot to drop me off and asked to ‘sit for a while’. I thought he had to tell me something personal, as that’s what most ‘parking lot chats’ entail. He pulled the break and points his phone out the window, “DAMN”.
He did not catch the (common) Rattata he was looking for.
That’s a Pokémon that looks like raging mouse.
Without a big budget marketing campaign, Pokémon Go gained more users than Twitter in just a matter of days. Advertisers should take cues from this app that lets you ‘catch’ a variety of monsters (both cute and hideous) in real world mobile GPS locations. The success of the simple game is proof that some classic marketing rules still apply no matter how much tech and user habits evolve.
Here’s what you can do to mimic the success of Pokémon Go :
1. Solve a problem before selling
The thing about good marketing, is that it’s indirect, and passively helps the consumer. The Go campaign wasn’t ‘Hey here is an app where you can see Pokémon through your phone with x, y, z using augmented reality, and GPS’, it was ‘Use your phone to find Pokémon in the real world.’ The app turned into a free tool, not a product.
2. Evolve with your consumer
Pokémon used to be just cards, then it became a show, now it’s a mobile game. In the mobile market, gaming is king.
Global data and consumer insights firm, NewZoopredicts that gamers worldwide will generate a total of $99.6 billion in revenues in 2016, up 8.5% compared to 2015. Pokémon Go took off because it targets the most powerful group of mobile users in the world: Gamers. The most watched person on YouTube is PewDiePie, a video game reviewer with over 46 million subscribers. And Kim Kardashian is currently on the cover of Forbes for making $45 Million of her mobile video game, Hollywood.
As a result of resurrecting the brand onto mobile, the social discussions of the game have penetrated into mainstream social media causing a worldwide takeover.
3. Make it free and social
Nowadays people are sold on a product the second they see a positive review first, or hear a discussion about it. So make your product or service as free and as accessible as possible for the launch to build an audience base, and ensure that every single step of your marketing plan is easy to communicate online.
Sticking up a product next to a model on Instagram might get it likes, but seeing people truly engage with your product will get real conversions. The internet is bubbling over with Pokémon memes and reports, one of the main reasons is how easy it is to share an experience. You don’t need a fancy explainer video, you just need to connect with your audience.
Pokemon Go is living proof that no matter how much digital trends have changed the marketing game, traditional marketing still works and should still be a part of your brand’s overall strategy. In Singapore the game was only turned on momentarily before going back on the long wait list of countries yet to have it in their app stores. This explains my friend’s disappointment for not seeing a virtual rodent in my parking lot.
Need help with your brand strategy? Get in touch with us at hello@mutant.com.sg.
There are many ways to pitch and attain news coverage for your brand, from launch announcements, funding announcements, acquisition announcements to profile features. But unless you have an extremely strong story angle or a PR team behind you, it can be hard for journalists to pay attention to your big news.
Luckily for us, the use of data, trends and statistics is another increasingly popular storytelling tool. These figures are capable of turning observations into facts, and on a larger scale, impact industry or economic movements as people watch the news closely to make strategic business decisions.
Collecting data is a great start, but it is only half the job done. How you interpret and package the data is what can essentially land you the desired coverage. Here are 5 reasons why you should be incorporating data into your media pitches:
1. Data doesn’t lie
The media thrive on interesting, accurate stories. Without credibility, they lose value, readership and profitability.
Data today can be easily doctored to serve an organisation’s agenda or to fit story angles, but don’t forget journalists have access to multiple data sources. This means they can easily fact check the accuracy of your story, especially when they notice a huge discrepancy.
For greater transparency, include vital information such as your data research sample size, data collection methods and the period of research. All these factors play a part to the overall credibility of your data.
2. Data makes stories easier to understand
Between simply stating the economy is slow, or telling people how slowly the economy is growing backed by GDP figures, which one would you report as a journalist?
3. Journalists trust data more than gut feelings
A good press release is not without a quote from your company’s spokesperson. But these quotes more often than not solely rely on the opinion of the spokesperson.
Incorporating data into quotes can substantially strengthen and build credibility around your brand and spokesperson.
4. Data doesn’t beat about the bush
Data-led news conveys a stronger story. When sharing data with the media, we always ensure it’s easy to digest. Use imagery such as infographics, visualisations, graphs or charts to present your story.
Journalists can easily pick out what they need, which becomes extremely helpful when they are pressed for time.
5. It’s all about the baby steps
While journalists may not always run your data as a main story on its own, they may use it as a reference point to a larger story. So don’t worry if your research is not published today, just keep in touch with the journalist and see if they can use it in a upcoming story.
Need help transforming your next announcement? Get in touch with us at hello@mutant.com.sg.
