Monthly Archives: April 2020

April 17, 2020

Tanya Chen, BuzzFeed News Reporter | Stephanie McNeal, BuzzFeed News Reporter

This week’s newsletter: The resilience and shamelessness of turning these tough times into a social media marketing campaign, and a PSA about those infamous get-followers-quick “giveaways.”

Instagram / @kendallvertes

Brands and influencers have also quickly realized how mutually beneficial it is for their consumers and their image to align themselves with (seemingly) doing public good.

On Wednesday, clothing company Aerie launched a major campaign on TikTok to ~spread positivity~ with the hashtag #aerieREALpositivity. Their rollout included some of the platform’s biggest stars like Charli D’Amelio and Denise Mercedes, which meant it instantly became one of the biggest trending hashtags on the app. It’s inspired thousands of others who weren’t paid to also dance and ~spread positive messages~ about how they’re spending time at home.

“We want you to love your REAL self, that’s why we make clothes that make you feel REAL good!” the company wrote on its hashtag’s landing page. It of course also included links to purchase its clothing.

And in a completely shameless approach, Fashion Nova straight-up sent push alerts and text messages to customers asking them to spend their stimulus checks on their merch.

I’ve reached out to Aerie, Fashion Nova, and other brands mentioned in this newsletter.

You might be thinking, Of course companies will capitalize off of these times! Capitalism is the name of the game! However what continues to give me more pause is how much influencers do not represent the times, but still continue to influence these abnormal times. Tonally, influencers are shilling like it is any other day in any other moment in history.

This is probably in high contrast to the everyday conversations or thoughts you may be having with your regular self and your regular-folk friends around you. In real life, nothing feels normal anymore. On social media, it’s literal business as usual.

TikTok / @charlidamelio

And, look, I get it. Keeping up positivity and any sense of normalcy is actually both normal and very important. For young people who have a huge platform, it’s probably what feels most natural these days. Engaging followers, maintaining their public image, and making money from it is their normal.

It might just be cool and worthy for your favorite online personality to acknowledge the tonal shift. Or how they’re struggling or adjusting, if they are. If you have influence, wield that influence honestly?

Do I want to buy your cheap tie-dye crop top pajama set? Yes. Am I also more anxious and depressed than I’ve ever been and am deluded into thinking buying a set will miraculously improve my mental health? Also yes.

— Tanya

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tanyachen/influencer-brands-are-staying-scarily-strong-and-are

17/04/2020

Brand awareness, brands, content creator, creative, engagement, Influencer campaigns, influencer strategy, marketing influencers, social media, work to influence

Influencers are the new faces of businesses around the world since they have the power to get their audiences engaged and aware of what they are promoting. And as it may sound easy, being an influencer it’s a huge challenge.

Right now, brands face a new obstacle, to communicate their messages while a worldwide lockdown is present. While influencers have a new opportunity to start and keep working with brands.

Traditional advertisement has become less effective in tracking leads while consumers like to feel confident about the product or service they are buying. Influencers, on the other hand, make you feel like you are talking to an old friend that you trust. Around 40% of people reported that they purchased a product online after watching a review of an influencer.

What is the panorama for brands that want to influence their consumers while everything is shut down?

At the moment, as the COVID-19 sweeps the globe, brands are working with influencers to keep creating content. With agencies temporarily shut down, brands look for different tools to keep their communications going. And Social media has been the ally for brands during this world crisis.

Brands that did not use to work with influencers before, are working now with them, and they are starting to feel pleased with the short-term results they are getting. Influencers are content creators and businesses are figuring out not only how creative is the advertisement created by influencers, but also the high-quality content they can create with little budget.

Influencer marketing is an investment. However, it is not as expensive as other types of advertisements. Luckily, the impact of this type of marketing has been measured; and statistics prove that influencer marketing is a worthwhile monetary and time investment. For businesses that want to know how to work to influence, they must start thinking in working hand to hand with the influencer community.

Marketing and content creators are adjusting to the fast changes’ markets are experimenting, and they are adapting in the best way. This transition is changing the communication as we know it, showing us that content created by influencers engage consumers more organically and naturally. During the COVID-19 pandemic marketing agencies have been able to see how influencers are changing their communications in a more consumer-direct way.

Influencers do not only increase brand awareness, but also build a large and strong community and brand reputation in the particular target your brand is connecting with. In SocialPubli we see this type of communication as one of the most effective in the market now and we encourage businesses around the world to implement it to start seeing amazing results.

If you feel interested in finding more information regarding opportunities for your brand through influencer marketing at this moment, you should check out our online Webinar available in this link.

Influencer marketing: How to work to influence in a worldwide crisis? | Social Publi Blog

Mike Simpson 2020-04-15 09:45

Social media influencers, those darlings of digital-age marketing who have been able to command upwards of US$10 000 for a single Instagram post showing off their impossibly perfect lives to millions of fawning followers worldwide, are having a tough time of it right now.

Image via Adobe Stock

Companies have slashed their budgets and even those that feel the need to keep marketing are loath to appear insensitive to the life-and-death struggle taking place around us by spending it on Instagram or YouTube influencers who have built a career on a “look at me and my lovely life that’s better than yours” culture.

Travel influencers, fashion influencers, beauty product influencers and beautiful-body influencers have suddenly become irrelevant in an environment where consumers have far bigger things to worry about and little money to spend on what are now considered irrelevancies.

THREE WEEKS AGO EVERYTHING STOPPED FOR INFLUENCERS

Max Emerson, a California-based fitness influencer and writer with 1.1-million Instagram followers, told Bloomberg news agency that his celebrity lifestyle had meant travelling on a plane at least once a week for the past 10 years. That was until three weeks ago, when everything stopped.

“My whole calendar up through June was completely booked – and in one day, everything went down,” Emerson said. “It was really scary.”

Lauren Bullen, an Australian-born travel and lifestyle influencer with 2.1-million Instagram followers who, at the age of 27, recently built a mansion on the dream island of Bali with her British-born influencer boyfriend, has also had all her paid trips cancelled after being booked solid for months ahead.

SOUTH AFRICAN TRAVEL INFLUENCERS STAY AT HOME

Here in South Africa, our travel influencers — who presumably earn notably less than their counterparts with massive global followings — are in a similar situation. When the public can’t travel, there’s little point trying to influence them.

Katchie Nzama, an influencer who travels widely in Africa, told Independent Online: “No work means no pay for me. I have no idea how long this will last, but the projects I have been working on this month have been cancelled.”

Jared Ruttenberg, an independent travel journalist and influencer, told of a similar experience.

“I cancelled all of my trips for the next month. It will be difficult to plan any future trips at this stage,” he said.

But he will continue to post to his social media accounts.

“I think people still need reasons to dream, to have their wanderlust fuelled, and to be reminded of the beauty that exists around us. For that reason, I’ll join others in repurposing content from previous visits. It’s also a chance for us to look back at the places we have visited over the years.”

LOCAL BRANDS HAVE MADE GOOD USE OF INFLUENCER MARKETING

Prior to the pandemic’s arrival in South Africa and subsequent lockdown, influencer marketer here has been highly successful.

In an article published in mid-March, Ruan Fourie of Pretoria-based digital marketing company Starbright Solutions, noted that “most influencers have an audience that trusts them already. If the influencer trusts your business or brand, then chances are the influencers’ audience will follow suit”.

He continued: “We have become blind, not just to most display ads, but to almost all digital advertisements. We mindlessly scroll past hundreds, if not thousands, of ads on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. Influencer marketing puts your business where the audience will notice it.”

PEOPLE NO LONGER WANT INSPIRATION FROM INFLUENCERS

But at this time people seem not to be noticing. “A mindless escape is useful right now,” observes Vanity Fair, the renowned popular culture and fashion magazine.

“It’s just that while influencer content can be mindless, it’s now less of an escape than ever. Faced with a pandemic that has already done away with life as we know it, whatever inspiration influencers offered will no longer cut it. We’re all a little too spent to aspire to anything except making it through.”

Marcel Floruss, a German-born male model and menswear fashion influencer with more than a million Instagram and YouTube followers, agrees.

“Uploading a video right now, talking about clothes, just feels a bit weird. There are a lot of people struggling and trying to make ends meet,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg.

The last word goes to Vanity Fair: “Influence wielded unthinkingly or callously or even awkwardly has more potential than ever to cause harm right now. For the foreseeable future, aspiration comes second to the virus.”

This content has been created as part of our freelancer relief programme. We are supporting journalists and freelance writers impacted by the economic slowdown caused by #lockdownlife.

https://www.thesouthafrican.com/lifestyle/social-media-influencers-flounder-as-people-look-elsewhere-for-inspiration-and-relevance/

Lee Jackson, April 15, 2020

Many of us have probably increased our screen and internet time since the coronavirus stay-at-home edicts, and one thing is probably for sure: the advertisers all over your Facebook and Twitter feeds are probably getting a very decent bang for their buck during this historic and unprecedented event.

Digital advertising has grown exponentially for years. While sometimes very annoying, it does allow all our favorite sites to remain free to use, and that’s something you can’t say about any other entertainment, sports and news outlets that you receive via cable, satellite or streaming over-the-top services.

A new Oppenheimer report looks at the leaders in the digital advertising world. The analysts feel confident that as the draconian measures used during the pandemic start to fade, these leaders will rebound faster than others will. The report noted four specific points about the industry and the transformations taking place during the crisis:

1) Requirements for businesses to digitally transform and unleash digital creativity for branding and messaging are accelerating during this crisis.

2) Second quarter digital advertising spending will be very bad. negatively impacting results before gradually improving in the second half of 2020.

3) We carry a downward bias to consensus revenue estimates for the software names but less so for margins, with managements showing solid cost discipline across the operating expense lines based on hiring data.

4) The industry incumbents are best-positioned post-crisis.

Three of those incumbents are rated Outperform at Oppenheimer, and all make sense for aggressive growth accounts looking to add companies that are dominant in a space that will continue to grow in the years to come.

Adobe Systems

Shares of this high-profile old-school software company have really backed up in price and are offering investors a very solid entry point. Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) operates in three segments: Digital Media, Digital Marketing and Print and Publishing. The Digital Media segment provides tools and solutions that enable individuals, small and medium businesses, and enterprises to create, publish, promote and monetize their digital content.

Top Wall Street analysts see the company benefiting from artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, automation bots, speech recognition and natural language processing and image recognition.

The Oppenheimer team, like many across Wall Street, see the company as the best in class digital advertising play, and they said this in the research report:

Adobe is viewed as the gold standard in the market for digital creative solutions, and most large brands, enterprises and creative professionals have already standardized on its Digital Media products. We expect the current messaging shift in digital advertising to evolve as the economy moves through a downturn to a potential recovery in the second half of 2020 and boost demand for Adobe’s Digital Media and Experience products.

The Oppenheimer price target for the shares is $370, and the Wall Street consensus target was last seen at $338.54. Adobe Systems stock popped over 6% on Tuesday and closed at $340.76 a share.

Trade Desk

This stock had a red-hot initial public offering (IPO) in 2016 and has been steadily moving higher over the past four years. But a recent sell-off is offering aggressive accounts an outstanding entry point. Trade Desk Inc. (NASDAQ: TTD) provides a self-service omnichannel software platform that enables clients to purchase and manage data-driven digital advertising campaigns in the United States and internationally.

The company’s platform allows clients to manage integrated advertising campaigns in various advertising channels and formats, including connected TV, mobile, video, audio, display, social and native on various devices, such as smart TVs, computers and mobile phones and tablets.

The stock remains a favorite across Wall Street as well, and the Oppenheimer analysts noted this in their coverage:

We see The Trade Desk advantaged by: 1) less exposure to the local/SMB markets than peers; 2) its direct exposure to connectedTV; 3) high customer satisfaction; and 4) DSP replacement activity should be discretionary post-crisis, which benefits the incumbents with large installed bases, like The Trade Desk has. We see these traits insulating the business downdraft this year and positioning the company to benefit disproportionately when spending improves post-crisis.

The $230 Oppenheimer price objective is lower than the $240.78 consensus target. Trade Desk stock closed Tuesday’s trading at $233.41 per share, up almost 7% on the day.

Salesforce

This top stock lagged in 2019 and could be one of the best of the three for investors to consider now. Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) provides enterprise cloud computing solutions, with a focus on customer relationship management to various businesses and industries worldwide. It also has one of the most valuable brands in the world.

It offers enterprise cloud computing applications and platform services, including Sales Cloud that enables companies to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through relationship intelligence and collaborate around sales on desktop and mobile devices.

The company also provides Service Cloud, which enables companies to deliver personalized customer service and support, as well as connect their service agents with customers on various devices, and Marketing Cloud, which enables companies to plan, personalize and optimize customer interactions.

In addition, Salesforce announced last year it has completed its acquisition of Tableau Software, bringing together the world’s number one customer relationship management company with the world’s number one analytics platform.

The Oppenheimer team said this about the company in its research:

Salesforce aims to enhance its digital advertising value proposition (and its other existing product offerings) by expanding its data footprint to become the pioneer supplier of a consumer data platform (CDP) for the corporate market. Salesforce’s CDP should be able to reach critical mass quickly given the company’s leadership position in the CRM market and provide good differentiation against its larger digital advertising peers.

The Oppenheimer price target of $165 compares with the much higher analysts’ consensus target of $195.45. Salesforce.com stock closed most recently at $157.71, after climbing almost 4% on Tuesday.

Formularende

The Oppenheimer price targets for these top companies appear to be conservative, and that makes sense in a time when volatility remains extremely high. The good news for investors is the future for digital advertising is very bright, and demand is expected to continue to grow at double-digit rates in the years to come. With earnings on deck, partial positions may make sense now.

https://247wallst.com/technology-3/2020/04/15/digital-advertising-remains-the-future-and-3-companies-continue-to-rule/

von Michael Reidel, Mittwoch, 15. April 2020

Die Corona-Krise verändert vieles im Marketing, auch den monatlichen HORIZONT Brand Ticker. Statt die Entwicklung der Markenwerte auf Monatsbasis zu analysieren, beschäftigt sich das Tool in seiner aktuellen Ausgabe mit dem Net Promoter Score. Welche drei Marken bei der Empfehlungsrate im März gut performt haben und welche Marke verloren hat, erfahren Sie in der exklusiven Auswertung von Adwired und Spirit for Brands.

Im März 2020 auf Markenwerte zu schauen, macht angesichts der Corona-Pandemie wenig Sinn. Denn die Werte haben in den vergangenen Wochen stark gelitten, “was aber nicht unbedingt mit der Markenperformance zu tun hat, sondern viel mit psychologischen Entwicklungen an den Börsen oder fehlender Wertschöpfung aufgrund produktivem Stillstand”, erklärt Walter Brecht, der hierzulande als Geschäftsführer von Spirit for Brands den Brand Ticker von Adwiredvertritt.
© Brand Ticker
Die Markenwerte stehen stärker unter Druck als der DAX
Wichtiger sind in diesen Zeiten für Brands andere Aspekte wie Loyalität, Vertrauen oder Verantwortung. “Solidarität ist die aktuelle Relevanz von Marken und Dankbarkeit ist der augenblickliche Return on Brand Investment”, sagt der Markenstratege. Deswegen analysiert der Ticker für den Monat März die Entwicklungen beim Net Promoter Score. Der NPS ist ein Management-Tool, mit dem die Loyalität der Stakeholder eines Unternehmens gemessen werden kann. Er kann von -100 (jeder ist ein Kritiker) bis +100 (jeder ist ein Promotor) reichen.

Volks- und Raiffeisenbanken: Kunden im Fokus

Die Volks- und Raiffeisenbanken verbessern im März ihren NPS-Wert um 19 Punkte. Das ist nicht nur ein Spitzenwert, sondern zeigt, dass der Finanzdienstleister derzeit ziemlich gut die Bedürfnislage der Menschen bedient. Unter anderem kommuniziert die neue Kampagne “Morgen kann kommen” Zuversicht und Sicherheit. Auch als Krisenkommunikation werden Varianten dieser Kampagne eingesetzt, die für Maßnahmen werben, um die Ansteckungsgefahr der Kunden zu minimieren. “Es kann somit glaubhaft vermittelt werden, dass man gut auf die Krise vorbereitet ist und nun die Unterstützung der Kunden im Fokus steht”, sagt Walter Brecht. Dieser Entwickung schadet auch nicht, dass das Institut das gute unternehmerische Vorjahresergebnis nicht wiederholen kann.

Stihl: Sicherheit im Blick

Stihl lebt vom Machen. In Zeiten von Kontaktsperren und #stayhome-Aufrufen ist das allerdings nicht so einfach möglich. Trotzdem performt die Marke beim NPS und legt um 17 Punkte zu. Warum die Empfehlungsrate steigt, owohl viele die Produkte des Familienunternehmens nicht wie gewohnt einsetzen können? Dafür hat Brecht verschiedene Erklärungen.
© The Brand Ticker
Das sind die Marken mit den stärksten Veränderungen beim NPS im vergangenen Monat
Zum einen spendet Stihl Atemschutzmasken an medizinisches Personal und unterstützt ein SOS-Kinderdorf. Zum anderen zog das Unternehmen mit Hauptsitz in Waiblingen-Neustadt den Launch des neuen Online-Shops vor, auch um den angeschlagenen Fachhandel zu stärken. Nahezu alle Geräte sind jetzt digital bestellbar. Auf der neuen Website sollen die Kunden den gleichen Service wie beim Einkauf im Fachhandel erhalten, heißt es. Die passenden Anleitungsvideos und Artikel erhalten die Käufer einfach im Onlineshop. Das kommt an, die Empfehlungsrate steigt. Und sie könnte noch weiter steigen. So hat die Marke gerade in der Schweiz eine neue Kampagne anlaufen lassen, bei der Anwender und Produkt ein Team bilden.

Deutschen Bahn: Service als Vorteil

Die Deutsche Bahn steht oft im Zentrum von Kritik. Zu spät, schlechter Service, mangelnde Informationen lauten häufig die Vorwüfe. Ausgerechnet in der Corona-Krise gehört das Transportunternehmen aber zu den Stützen des Systems Deutschland. Die Züge rollen, es wird viel und transparent kommuniziert. Zudem werden die Kulanzregelungen für die Kunden ausgeweitet und Menschen aus Urlaubsgebieten zurückgeholt. Das honorieren die Deutschen. Der NPS-Wert steigt im März um 16 Punkte. Ob es nach Corona dabei bleibt?

Adidas: Fehlende Empahie

Wie schnell eine Marke Vertrauen und Glaubwürdigkeit in einer Krisenzeit verspielen kann, zeigt Adidas. 25 Punkte verliert der Net Promoter Score des Herzogenauracher Unternehmens im März. Damit ist die Drei-Streifen-Marke der große Verlierer im Brand-Ticker-Ranking. Das ist wenig überraschend. Nach dem Milliardengewinn im vergangenen Jahr wollte das große Weltunternehmen angesichts der Coronakrise keine Mieten mehr zahlen. Der Sportartiker löste mit der Ankündigung einen Sturm der Entrüstung aus. Zwar entschuldigt sich Adidas, doch der Marke hat es beim Image trotzdem geschadet.

Wie stark das nachwirkt, wird sich für Experte Brecht noch zeigen: “Wenn sich aktuelle Umfragen bestätigen sollten, dass Marken, die sich während Covid-19 positiv hervorgetan haben, danach bevorzugt werden, dann hat diese Entscheidung vielleicht weitreichendere Folgen als man dachte”.

https://www.horizont.net/marketing/nachrichten/horizont-brand-ticker-diese-marken-gewinnen-und-verlieren-durch-die-coronakrise-182299

Juliana Demski, 14.04.2020

Wegen der Corona-Krise wissen immer mehr Menschen die digitalen Angebote ihrer Versicherer und Banken zu schätzen. Laut einer aktuellen Umfrage wollen einige der über 55-Jährigen auch nach der Pandemie online aktiv bleiben.

Bereits vor der Krise haben viele Versicherungs- und Bankkunden (79 Prozent) häufig die digitalen Angebote ihrer Anbieter in Anspruch genommen – dank Corona dürfte diese Zahl jetzt weiter zulegen. Wie eine Umfrage des digitalen Versicherungsmaklers Friendsurance zeigt, gibt jeder zehnte Verbraucher an, Bank- und Versicherungsangelegenheiten in Folge der Corona-Krise noch häufiger online erledigen zu wollen.

Interessant ist: Nicht nur die jungen, auch die über 55-jährigen Befragten, bei denen laut Umfrage ansonsten kaum Digitalisierungseffekte durch Corona zu beobachten sind, wollen mit immerhin 6 Prozent häufiger online aktiv werden.

Zwei Lebensbereiche, in denen bislang nur knapp die Hälfte der Deutschen digital aktiv war, sind Arbeiten (47 Prozent) und Bildung (44 Prozent). Laut Friendsurance-Umfrage könnten die Zahlen auch hier deutlich steigen. Auf eine entsprechende Frage gab jeder siebte unter 35-Jährige (rund 14 Prozent) an, dass er künftig noch öfter online arbeiten wird. Unter den 35- bis 44-Jährigen beabsichtigen das 8 Prozent, unter den 45- bis 54-Jährigen 6 Prozent. Bei den über 55-Jährigen gaben indes nur 3 Prozent an, auch in Zukunft im Homeoffice arbeiten zu wollen.

Gefragt nach dem Thema Bildung, gaben 11 Prozent der Befragten mit Kindern an, dass sie auch nach der Krise weiterhin mehr digitale Lernangebote und Webinare für sich oder ihre Kinder nutzen möchten – bei den Befragten ohne Kinder sind es 6 Prozent.

Aber auch im Privatleben scheinen die Deutschen die digitalen Möglichkeiten für sich zu entdecken

Zwar waren digitale Videokonferenz-Tools wie Skype oder Zoom bereits vor der Pandemie hierzulande recht verbreitet (64 Prozent). In Zukunft will aber jeder Zehnte (10 Prozent) öfter als zuvor per Video-Chat Freundschaften und andere Beziehungen pflegen.

In der jüngeren Altersgruppe sind es deutlich mehr: Bei den unter 25-Jährigen geben das 18 Prozent an, gefolgt von den 25- bis 34-Jährigen mit 17 Prozent. Bei den 35- bis 44-Jährigen sagen das 13 Prozent und bei den 45- bis 54- Jährigen 8 Prozent. Selbst die über 55-Jährigen planen, häufiger über Webcams mit Freunden und Familie in Kontakt zu treten.

Juliana Demski ist Werksstudentin bei Pfefferminzia und unterstützt die Redaktion in der täglichen Berichterstattung.

https://www.pfefferminzia.de/digitalisierungsschub-durch-corona-krise-versicherungsanliegen-kuenftig-haeufiger-online-geklaert/

Brian O’Connor, Rethink Dienstag, 14. April 2020

Viele Unternehmen haben ihre Werbemaßnahmen wegen der Coronakrise eingefroren – darunter globale Top-Marken und Big Spender wie Coca-Cola. Fest steht: Besondere Zeiten erfordern besondere Maßnahmen. Warum sich Coca-Cola mit dem Stopp aller Werbeausgaben ab April aber keinen Gefallen tut, analysiert Brian O’Connor, Managing Partner der Agentur Rethink, in seinem Gastbeitrag für HORIZONT.

“We strive to do the right things for stakeholders across the world” sagte der Getränkehersteller Coca-Cola in seinem Company-Werbespot Ende 2019. Alle Werbeausgaben ab April zu stoppen ist meines Erachtens aber “not right”. Es ist unvernünftig, weil es nicht nur dem eigenen Ökosystem schadet, sondern man damit auch wider der Geschäftslogik handelt.

Coca-Cola ist eine Lovebrand und trägt Verantwortung

Ich selbst bin ein großer Fan von Coca-Cola. Das Getränk ist seit meiner Kindheit regelmäßiger Bestandteil meines Lebens.. Kennen und lieben gelernt habe ich Coca-Cola vor allem aufgrund von Werbung. “Share a coke” ist bis heute eine der erfolgreichsten Kampagnen weltweit. Refresh the World. Make A Difference ist ihr Reason Why. Das sind Claims, denen Coca-Cola aktuell leider nur bedingt nachkommt.

Einerseits entzieht Coca-Cola mit dem Stopp aller Werbeausgaben ab April als einer der größten Player im Markt dem eigenen Ökosystem unfassbar viel Geld. Das wird Agenturen wie Verlagshäuser schmerzlich treffen und die Arbeitsplätze unzähliger Mitarbeiter*innen gefährden. Dass man Werbung schalten sollte bzw. wie man sich jetzt gegenseitig unterstützen kann, zeigen zahlreiche andere Beispiele.

So legten etwa Rewe und Edeka in den vergangenen zwei Wochen mit neuen Kreationen nach, die das Miteinander betonen. Netflix spendete wiederum 100 Millionen US Dollar, um Arbeitnehmer*innen derUnterhaltungsindustrie zu helfen, die aufgrund des Covid-19-Ausbruchs Produktionen stoppen mussten und dadurch ihren Arbeitsplatz verloren haben. Und auch Mobile.de verzichtet während der Corona-Krise auf Inseratsgebühren, um Händler zu entlasten und zeigt damit, wie man Stakeholder des eigenen Ökosystem unter die Arme greift.

Zu Gute halten muss man Coca-Cola allerdings, dass sie die fehlenden Werbeausgaben – immerhin 120 Millionen Dollar – komplett zugunsten von Corona spenden. Das ist ein sehr feiner, richtiger und wichtiger Zug. Ich glaube dennoch, dass der Stopp der Werbeausgaben der Marke schadet, weil Werbung und Kommunikation von Marken nie wichtiger war. Erst recht für Coca-Cola. Das grundlegende Problem liegt darin, dass Coca-Cola schon immer etwas war, das uns als Verbraucher*innen glücklich gemacht hat. Jetzt aber – und damit in dem Moment, in dem viele Menschen den positiven Einfluss dieser Marke brauchen – verschwindet sie.

Kommunikation von Marken war nie wichtiger

Dabei belegen zahlreiche Studien, dass die Bedingungen für Werbung gerade jetzt optimal sind. Zum einen ändert sich das Medienkonsumverhalten aufgrund von Corona: Menschen sind zu Hause, kochen mehr selbst und unterhalten sich in der Krise verstärkt mit vertrauten und glaubwürdigen Angeboten in TV, Digital, Radio und Print. In der Folge sind in den vergangenen Wochen sowohl die Zeiten für den Fernsehkonsum als auch die Verweildauer auf Social Media stark angestiegen. Anstatt die Kommunikation also komplett herunterzufahren, sollten Marken ihre Kommunikation vielmehr dialog- und inhaltsorientiert anpassen und verstärkt in sie investieren. Der Bedarf nach Kommunikation, Information, Unterhaltung und Inspiration war wahrscheinlich in den vergangenen Jahren selten größer.

Der Fokus der Kommunikation muss in diesem Fall aber natürlich der Situation angepasst werden. Konkret bedeutet das, dass die Kommunikation zum Beispiel den Gemeinschaftssinn hervorheben, einen informativen bzw. lebensbejahenden Charakter haben und konstruktive Hilfestellungen bieten sollte, um somit die gesellschaftliche Solidarität zu fördern. Community-Management durch Social Media kann es Marken ermöglichen, in einen einzigartigen und außergewöhnlichen Dialog mit seinen Verbraucher* innen zu treten. Marken sollten deshalb in dieses Marketinginstrument klug investieren – nicht breit gestreut mit einfachen, heiteren Videoformaten, sondern zielgruppengerechtem Content, der die aktuelle Situation nutzt, aber nicht ausnutzt. Tools wie das Crimson Hexagon können Marketer*innen dabei helfen, die Gespräche auf Social Media zu lesen, zu analysieren und angemessen darauf zu reagieren: Was wollen die Verbraucher*innen wissen? Was fühlen sie?

Berücksichtigen Marken wie Coca-Cola das, können sie in Zeiten von Corona zweifach Gutes tun, wenn sie ihr positives Handeln bewerben: Sie verbessern ihr Image und ihre Reputation bei den Verbraucher*innen und sichern gleichzeitig dadurch wichtige Arbeitsplätze.

Mein Appell an all die großen Marken da draußen lautet deshalb: Tut Gutes und redet darüber. Schaltet Werbung und helft Euch gegenseitig. Das ist solidarisch und vernünftig. Das ist Haltung in Zeiten von Corona, die gut kommuniziert wird und eine positive Signalwirkung für Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft hat. Es vermittelt das, was wir in diesen Zeiten so sehr brauchen: Solidarität und Zuversicht.

https://www.horizont.net/marketing/kommentare/werbung-in-der-coronakrise-warum-coca-cola-falsch-reagiert-hat-und-marken-gerade-jetzt-werbung-schalten-sollten-182273

Kelly Ehlers. Published on April 14, 2020.

Credit: GETTY

In late March, social distancing guidelines surrounding COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, were extended through April in the U.S. Since entering this reality, we’ve witnessed an overwhelming urge to use this time productively, an especially relevant truth for marketers. Although it can feel counterintuitive to dive into a digital strategy during times of uncertainty, I’ve learned as the founder of a public relations agency that the worst thing a brand can do is go dark.

With consumers spending more time at home and on their screens, there is huge potential to position your brand effectively during the crisis, as well as create lasting improvements that make a positive impact on your audience. Consider the following steps for strengthening digital marketing efforts during this time:

Communicate with empathy.

Some advertisers struggle with how to respond in trying times. Although you might believe it’s easier to say nothing at all, doing so could cause your brand to lose its chance to become a valuable partner in getting consumers through this hardship.

Of course, breaking through important updates from the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must be done tactfully to avoid sounding out of touch. As Gartner suggested, marketers must ask if their messaging says something new and is in line with consumers’ current needs. Specifically, as a New York Timesarticle titled “Coronavirus Has Opened the Corporate Email Floodgates” pointed out, “Avoid dropping updates about your staff in the same email in which you send out a coupon code.”

Having sensitivity and recognizing the concerns of your audience is the most vital aspect of communicating during times of uncertainty. Failing to acknowledge the impact at all not only lacks positive change, but it can also create negative results for your brand. Be sure to craft digital marketing strategies that reflect empathy and thoughtfully developed content. Share specifically relevant resources with your consumers, and explain the ways you’re continuing to support your community (not just your company) through this time.

Share content that connects with your audience.

As more people work remotely and spend more time at home, it’s no secret that the amount of time we’re spending looking at screens is increasing. As the mere exposure effect draws consumers to products or services they are more familiar with, a continued commitment to digital can help you connect with your audience.

Even in uncertain times, I believe it is still wise to define and use a marketing budget to create high-quality, shareable content. Doing so serves as an immediate investment in long-term returns, even after consumer behavior returns to normal rates. If developing new content is difficult, turn to previously developed evergreen content to repurpose and share.

Brands can also use this time to experiment with strategies, develop new content and see what works best for them. Be responsive as new approaches roll out, and make pivots quickly upon determining best practices. With an engaged audience, brands can better sample new techniques and improve how they connect with customers.

Add to consumers’ e-commerce experience.

Finally, whether you offer delivery as a convenient alternative to in-store shopping or you create goods that make time at home more enjoyable, brands should anticipate a bump in e-commerce, especially for consumer packaged goods and necessary purchases.

In past emergencies, many brands realized the tried-and-true effects of step-change strategies, processes that add value to the consumer experience by putting them at the center. Doing so ensures that every step along the buying route is seamless and enjoyable.

Adding to the e-commerce experience could include creating new options for pre-purchase product engagement, such as increased photo content, video or even augmented reality tools. You might also consider investing in improving product visibility through efforts like free registration with the Google Merchant Center. Doing so adds products to the search engine’s shopping results.

All in all, now is the time for brands to really prove their value to consumers. What are you saying and offering that goes above and beyond in times of need? Why should consumers choose you to spend their time engaging with? As we learn how to best interact with our customers in this shifting environment, we have to remain thoughtful through our messaging and offer unparalleled service.

Kelly Ehlers

Kelly Ehlers is the Founder & President of Ideas That Evoke, an industry-leading social, influencer and PR agency.

https://adage.com/article/industry-insights/how-strengthen-your-digital-marketing-strategy-during-uncertain-times/2249691

Posted on April 13, 2020 by Eric Benjamin Seufert

Marketing automation is a seemingly universal ambition of mobile advertisers — in some cases, bordering on obsession. For companies spending millions of dollars in advertising media per month, automation provides for the ability to launch and scale new products at will, as well as the ability to increase or decrease spend flexibly without needing to change the marketing team’s headcount. For advertisers with smaller budgets, user acquisition automation unlocks access to growth by sidestepping the “chicken and egg” problem in mobile user acquisition wherein small companies with unproven products can’t attract accomplished user acquisition talent. For both groups of advertisers, automation is seen as a sort of panacea: a common cure to the specific challenges faced at both low and high scale of monthly spend on direct response digital marketing.

Like almost everything related to automation, artificial intelligence, and machine leaning, user acquisition automation as a concept drafts some considerable distance behind the enthusiasm (hype) from investors and executives about its applicability as a commercial tool. Firstly, user acquisition automation already largely exists on mobile — in the form of Facebook and UAC campaigns. Facebook and Google automate budget distribution, general audience targeting, and ad creative exposure. The ascent of algorithmic campaign management tools from Facebook and Google essentially handed fully-automated marketing machinery to all mobile advertisers. So any discussion of automation as a proprietary tool necessarily implies a tool that interfaces with Google’s and Facebook’s — given that Facebook and Google represent 60+% of ad spend for most major mobile advertisers — which somewhat deflates the scope of any such product.

That aside, the core functional user acquisition work that a team might undertake to automate falls into the following buckets:

• Ad creative production: ad creative is one of the primary inputs to user acquisition, and the volumes of creative needed for rigorous experimentation are so vast that automating creative production can serve as a real competitive advantage for advertisers;
• Audience testing and definition: audiences (eg. custom audiences, lookalike audiences, etc.) are incredibly important factors in efficient advertising, and testing them is time consuming and burdensome, especially as pairings with other campaign settings, such as audiences and bid / budget levels;
• Campaign settings experimentation: bids, budgets, campaign strategy, etc.;
• ROAS projection and reporting: ROAS estimation is built into most advertisers’ existing analytics suites, but automating it in such a way as to calculate and publish relevant values on a cadence that is actionable can reduce decision-making time and prevent advertising loss. Additionally, ROAS timeline targets can change over time with spend levels and budget distribution, and automating that can reduce a substantial amount of analysis work.

There’s a fifth bucket, which is the connective tissue which unifies each of the above four buckets and replaces the human “If this, then that” decision making and execution workflow. For instance, if a performant audience is found, the connective tissue might deploy that against a new campaign versus just signaling the audience’s viability to the team.

Like the “levels of driving automation” classifier that exists for categorizing autonomous driving systems, I think it’s valuable to define a “levels of marketing automation” rubric for marketing systems. Having seen marketing automation platforms that fall across a broad spectrum of functionality, I think the general progression towards a completely automated marketing AI happens in five different stages:

Level 0: No automation

At this level, all creative production, audience testing and definition, campaign experimentation and optimization, and ROAS projection and reporting is done manually. Humans manage every aspect of marketing and serve as the connective tissue between decisions. No automation exists and everything is done by hand.

Level 1: Tools replace tedious manual work

At this level, the marketing team deploys a set of scripts and tools to automate the more tedious manual work. Ad creatives are templated so that variants of concepts can be produced quickly; audiences are pulled via a script from the advertiser’s data warehouse and deployed via API to various advertising platforms (eg. a script pulls a list of the top 1000 most engaged users every week and submits that via Facebook API as a custom audience); campaign settings are circulated automatically (eg. the marketing team receives a weekly email with suggested, manually-calculated bid levels for different Facebook campaigns based on geography, platform, campaign strategy, etc.); ROAS models and timelines are defined and assessed manually but they are made available in a central system to be used in forecasting in an automated way.

At this level, most of the substantive work undertaken by the team is still done manually, but much of the tedious button-pushing is replaced by scripts that move datasets around or do simple calculations and make those available to the team. This level requires the same general level of marketing headcount as the previous level, but the tools and scripts make each of those people more productive.

Level 2: Marketing workflow automation

It is at this level that impactful, high-value work begins to be automated, replacing the work of humans. At level 2, much of the analysis that was formerly undertaken by marketing team members is automated, leaving only very specific tasks to be done manually.

Creative concepts are informed in an automated way by past performance; audience definitions are likewise created automatically and deployed without any assistance from humans. Bid and budget decisions are made automatically, meaning that marketing team members merely receive recommendations from the system. ROAS timelines and the underlying monetization model is calculated in an automated way.

Level 3: Marketing strategy automation

At this level, the marketing team’s focus begins to shift from managing campaigns to managing the system that manages campaigns; the marketing team’s composition changes from media buyers to analysts and engineers that maintain and continuously improve the automation system.

At level 3, ad creative concepts are generated and produced automatically. Audiences are defined, sourced, and deployed automatically, with audience pairings expanded to every possible campaign setting (eg. audiences are tested against creatives, campaign strategies, geographies, etc.). And ROAS timelines and models are not only derived automatically, but they trigger changes to campaign settings automatically. Combined with bid and budget decisions being made and deployed automatically, at level 3, a team member no longer needs to make direct adjustments to campaigns.

Level 4: Full marketing automation

Full marketing automation includes all of the features of level 3, except that the connective tissue between each of the four functional buckets is complete in such a way that all decisions and reactions are implemented automatically: campaigns are automatically created and tuned, creative concepts are automatically defined, produced, and deployed to campaigns; ROAS models and timelines are automatically calculated and used to adjust campaign settings, etc. At this level, theoretically, no marketing team is needed beyond the engineers and analysts that maintain the automation framework.

Where are most advertisers?

Having seen many permutations of marketing automation, I believe that most advertisers investing the time and resources into building out an automated user acquisition platform are at Level 1, with a small minority at Level 2.

I have seen a number of advertisers building towards Level 3, but there are some meaningful hurdles to clear in reaching Level 3:

• Total creative automation is very difficult, especially for video creatives. Contextual image classification analysis is possible at scale, but without a human-made template, the videos created using just imagine recognition and performance pairings tend to not perform well themselves. Identifying pieces of a story that correlate to strong performance is different from constructing a performant story;
• ROAS timeline optimization and monetization modeling is very hard to do in an unsupervised way. Most LTV and ROAS modeling is done by iteratively, manually tinkering with curve parameters and milestones based on deep knowledge of the product. Building a reactive ROAS timeline and model based on spend levels and budget distribution is one step ahead of media mix modeling.

But the value of even Level 1 marketing automation shouldn’t be discounted: when the tedious, manual work required of most marketing managers is removed, those people are given the opportunity to be much more analytical and strategic. Level 1 marketing automation is a laudable goal, and the robustness of Facebook’s and Google’s APIs makes it fairly straightforward to implement.

In general, automation is such a powerfully productive tool that all advertisers should strive to at least some level of it — what that level should be depends on the advertiser’s ability to scale a marketing engineering organization and the absolute value of that automation efficiency.

Photo by Lenin Estrada on Unsplash

https://mobiledevmemo.com/the-four-levels-of-digital-marketing-automation/

Ben Wood / April 9, 2020

COVID-19 has certainly made an impact on ecommerce over the past couple of weeks now that isolation and social distancing measures have been put in place.

Workers in many infected countries have been asked to work from home, countries including the UK, Italy, and France have been placed under lockdown and schools have been shut down.

Unsurprisingly, many stores have since taken the decision out of consumers’ hands by shutting up shop, forcing traditional consumers to adopt ecommerce as an alternative.

Which Products Are Seeing a Rise in Demand?

Due to the closure of many schools across the globe, homeschooling and school equipment queries are seeing huge spikes in demand, good news for any retailers supplying B2C education equipment:

Garden furniture tends to get a lot of searches on the weekends but has demand has been rapidly growing since more severe social distancing measures were put in place across the UK and U.S. last week.

In the UK market, this kind of jump wouldn’t usually take place until April:

Craft sites and general crafting terms have a huge amount of interest due to people remaining at home and having kids to entertain. As an example, here’s rising search demand for craft supplies:

And of course, home gaming and entertainment have both skyrocketed over the past week or so. Both Xbox and Netflix have seen notable spikes in search interest over the past week:

Which Search Terms Are Declining?

Fashion retailers have lost a lot of visitors at the moment. After all, who’s buying a new outfit just to stay in the house?

It’s not just high street retailers that are suffering, ecommerce brands such as Asos are also seeing a dip due to COVID-19:

Travel has understandably nosedived. Traffic to lots of travel sites is ironically up, but most of it related to customer service requests or cancellations.

Here are the fastest rising searches related to hotels.com:

How Can Digital Marketers Adapt?

Many businesses will be reviewing their budgets in light of COVID-19, with digital marketing spend naturally a soft target for businesses looking to make cuts.

There is certainly a need to work smarter under the current circumstances, but it’s a crucial time for marketers to adopt strategies for long-term profitability.

1. Manage PPC Budget Efficiency

Statements around switching off PPC campaigns entirely, one of the primary sources of new business for many companies, could clearly be hugely damaging.

Instead, look to manage efficiencies across accounts where possible.

• Cut back on any non-essential upper-funnel keywords with lower conversion rates where search-demand may be waning.
• Save potentially reduced budgets for keywords with a higher likelihood of generating conversions.

Pausing campaigns and starting again will also mean higher CPCs as campaigns will have to go back through an initial learning phase.

CPCs at the moment will likely be lower as many businesses scale back, so for those clients who can continue to function they should capitalize on this where possible.

There’s also the consideration of longer-term impacts.

Quality score is based on your CTR relative to others in the auction.

If other people stop advertising, you can make CTR gains which in the long term will improve your QS and lower your CPCs.

The reverse is also true – so clients should be aware that they can’t just switch off campaigns and resume them like nothing ever happened!

2. Retain Organic Visibility

When it comes to organic activity, SEO is clearly a longer-term strategy and the tap can’t (and shouldn’t) be switched off as with PPC.

Google will be tweaking their algorithms now more than ever to ensure that the public gets the most accurate information, so to ignore the basics would risk reducing organic visibility in the long term.

Organic search is one of the most viable channels in any scenario.

People will always be searching, perhaps more now than ever before.

Businesses with online selling capabilities are in a better position than any to continue to do business in what is a difficult period for many.

3. Share Experiences Through Digital PR

Yes, the news is awash with COVID-19 stories, but digital PR activity shouldn’t stop during coronavirus.

Now is a great opportunity to get in touch with journalists with interesting news stories that are a ​distraction from the wider news.

People still want to read good news stories and want escapism from the pandemic currently dominating mainstream media.

Journalists themselves have been quoted on social media multiple times saying they need to put a smile on people’s faces.

If the story is strong, it can still get picked up right now.

If your business can offer comments to help other businesses and people during this tough time, distract them, or put a smile on their faces, that’s a great thing and should be encouraged!

4. Be Useful on Social Media

There will be a lot more people logging in to and spending time on social platforms as professionals start to adapt to the working from home lifestyle.

This is a great time to re-imagine your social media strategy, or if you don’t have one, it’s a great time to start.

Below are some general tips for brands looking to revamp their social strategy and messaging based on current trends.

• Be helpful: Give customers credible, detailed information about the things they need. Be objective and clear. Reinforce “we are here to help you.”
• Help create communities among customers and help people connect, both locally and globally.
• Be present in the early hours of the morning or late hours of the evening: Our habits are evolving and it’s important to let consumers know that solutions are available whenever, wherever.
• Look for people who are helping and find ways to support or celebrate them. They might be employees, people who use your products, or people who could use support.
• Find ways to enrich people’s lives as we isolate and combat both boredom and anxiety.

So even though we all may be feeling isolated, the next few weeks gives our businesses an opportunity to be even more social and more community-led.

It also lets your brand become a park of happiness during this period of darkness.

Emerge Ready to do Business

The tips outlined in this are a general guide to adapting to COVID-19.

Clearly, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to digital strategy.

But one thing is for certain, it’s that we as marketers must ensure our brands are ready to do business online the day consumer confidence starts to increase.

This will enable us to avoid a long-term impact on market share.

Image Credits

All screenshots taken by author, March 2020

https://www.searchenginejournal.com/ecommerce-digital-strategy-covid-19/356598/#close