The Power of the Brand Mascot

Building a Brand

These guys look familiar? Probably. Now ask yourself how much you noticed these characters as they came into creation. As you can tell, Mascots are arguably the ultimate Marketing Tool. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, I think Brand Mascots are the perfect example. I can't tell you about the commercials, but I can remember the characters being in those commercials and I knew what Business those characters represented. Obviously  I didn't realize realize the core of their Business, but I knew that the Dough Boy had some really good Cinnamon Rolls and that funny Geico Lizard showed us that not all Insurance agencies are full of boring grey souls.

 When you think of the dominant brands, you can always relate a character or symbol to them. It makes your brand stick out in a world that has and always will be filled with too much noise and not enough quality content. This is a beautiful thing for the true Marketing Guru as it will only make your symbolism stand out more. Lets face it, we're not all great writers (I damn sure don't claim to be) but if we have something original and entertaining to show, our message will be heard.

The Brand

          These guys ring a Bell?

  The best thing about having a powerful Mascot is because so many Customers can have a memorable experience with your brand that way. Maybe your Mascot made them laugh, maybe it was a cool character in a good video game, etc. This is what drives Customer Loyalty, and those customers will make your brand explode. Your hear it all the time, no traffic is effective as Organic Traffic. You get Organic Traffic by giving the people what they want. So define your Brand and make it happen.

This  can be done with some good ol' Content Marketing. For showing off your Mascot, Visual and Digital Marketing is the way to go. 

Big Data and Content Marketing

  Data has become a big part of all forms of Marketing (believe it or not, some still don't know how to utilize it) because of this, it's important not to become dull and unoriginal. Lets face it, Technology makes a lot of things easier, Marketing being one of them. When this happens we can get a bit lazy and try to makes thing TOO easy.

  One thing I have personally always been against is using Automated Messages for Advertising. Unless your going on vacation or something I think it's pretty lame. Most people that do this will usually always re-post old content under a new title. I'm not talking about recycling content, I'm talking about re-posting the same thing over and over. It really waters your Content down.

  But back to Data. Marketing teams have taken on this trend more then any other for good reason. Since 2013 when it really became main stream Web Traffic numbers have sky rocketed. The good Companies know how to take what they know of data and and really show/display to  you their message in their own ways using various forms of Marketing Content such as Visual Ads, Videos, Slide shows, etc Because of Data teams can now pinpoint who, when, and where clicked their content. Also, because of the fascination with Big Data from Business, the Public has become more aware of what is going on when they access the Internet nowadays and how to better protect themselves.

 I was really surprised when I asked a few other Marketers if they used Data. A good amount were still unaware about or didn't really know how to use it. There's a lot of good techniques out there you can learn from simply reading Blogs. I suggest doing this, if your not willing to invest time to learn your not going to get very far. Data can become boring pretty quick (hopefully you're still reading this or haven't dosed off too much yet) so when going over it, don't be so bland putting by simply putting emphasis on numbers for Web Traffic, Engagement, etc. Focus on letting your team have fun and be creative. Going for numbers out of the gate is how most people fail. You have plenty of time to get Traffic. The first and most important goal is giving them something to keep coming back for.

 Combining Data with Visual Content is using left and right Brain thinking. Doing this is when we produce great results.
That's all for now. It's good to be back after being away for a few days.

Visual Marketing Tips

   My Last blog "Viral Marketing Tips" was pretty popular among my readers so I figured I'll throw out some thoughts on visual marketing. I've played around with different visual ads a lot the last 6 months. I had plenty that did well at getting attention and I had others that didn't do as well. Here's why:

 1. The most important thing you need to accomplish with Visual Marketing is to visualize to your audience what it is your showing them and why. When I say this I'm telling you to make your images appeal to that particular audience your showing it to. Some want abstract, off the wall images. Others want to see exactly what their looking for, etc. Think of it like Informative Visuals + Creative Visuals. They both help, just for the right audience.

2. Content...I know, you never heard that one before right? Well, that's too bad because you're going to hear it again and I'll actually explain this to you. Your content needs to do 2 things, period. Inform or Entertain. Too many people make Marketing Content more than what it needs to be. I know you think the selfie you just took of you and your dog is just too damn cool and makes you soo original, but no. Show me something I want/need to see. So if your selling a product show me why it's cool. Show me, no, prove to me why I need to buy this product. Make me fall so in love with it that I just gotta have it.  Same thing with a Service..Well kind of. Show me what your service provides for me that no one else does. What are you actually going to do to help me with what I need? If you have something to show (customer reviews for instance) use them. Now as I said earlier with the dog picture, we don't need to know your personal life. But as a Brand it's still a good idea to take a video to show your audience who you are, let them hear and see you. Show them who the Brand is.

 3. Don't overdo it. People absolutely hate when you post huge pictures that slow down/clog up the news feed. I learned this one the hard way, haha ;) Always re-size your image so that they're just right. Enough to look sharp, and enough so that it's seen but not heard if you know what I mean. Besides these three tips, the last thing I'll say is this...There's a lot of different ways to do things. Find what your good at and work on that. No one can do every skill in Marketing. But some people are really good at particular things. Find yours and make your Visual Marketing shine.

 It's off to the Gym for me, sitting at this damn desk for even an hour gets me stiff. If any of you out there have your own tips that you think can help, please comment and share. The more Information the better.

Original Content is King

    Lately you've probably heard other Bloggers say that everyone thinks their a Publisher, Content Marketer, Graphic Designer, etc.  
Honestly I can't say that they're wrong. Let me ask you, how many Blogs did you come across today telling you that Social Media is important without actually telling you WHY Social Media is important? I've come across 5 so far on Twitter and the Afternoon has just begun.

   I read a Blog earlier talking about Original Content over Content Marketing. It wasn't saying Content Marketing is bad, what it was saying was that too many people focus on just putting Content in whatever they do to fill the space rather then tell a story.

  Visual Content is important because it shows the reader what you're talking about rather then just telling them about. When you go for the quick results you don't use Visual Content correctly, I know because I use to do this. Yes...We all make our newb mistakes and that was one of many for me. Quick word of advice, Image Editing can be your best friend at times.

  I don't claim to be some Marketing expert, far from it. I just enjoy sharing my experience with my readers about what I've found works and doesn't for me and what I've seen do the same for others. 

  If any of you out want to share your own Experience, please feel free. 

  

Growth Hacking: It's a beautiful thing

Growth Hacking is arguably the most valuable tool to Organic Marketing. If you know what your doing and who tot target, you can hit a wide range of people. You can accomplish this in a lot of ways without spending much if anything.

  Growth Hacking comes down to analytics, Imagination and Execution (that's a pretty simple way of putting it, believe me. Growth Hackers usually use the right platforms to spread their Content wherever they possibly can. They get the results they desire by gathering all the Data the page has recorded from visitors. After the Data is read and they know what to do they create their Marketing Campaign or have a reliable employee do it.

  Last but not least is Execution. After this you simply wait to see the results of your work. Not too difficult honestly. Growth Hacking isn't a bad thing (despite the name Hacking) it just means Growth at an accelerated rate. Growth Hacking can be as simple as using a multi platform product successfully to share your work on Social Media.

  If Growth is something your struggling with, as many do, look into this or find someone who can do it for you. It's arguably the most effective Tool in Internet Marketing today.