July, 2021 - Mason Interactive

Recently, Mason Interactive hosted a webinar in partnership with Facebook to explore branded content best practices. This virtual event was hosted by Karly Surman, Partner Manager at Facebook, and Shannon Gallaher, Director of Creative at Mason Interactive. We wanted to make sure you got the highlights of everything Karly and Shannon covered, so we put together a summary.

What is Branded Content?

Facebook connects users to brands and culture in new ways. Facebook’s branded content tools combine the art of creator voices with the science of targeting, ads and paid media, testing and measuring.

Karly summed up, “Branded content is really about creating content that can spark both an emotional response in a user but then also an engaging response.” Branded content also provides value for the user.

Across its family of apps and services, which include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp, Facebook connects 3.2 billion people per month. Branded content is one of the many ways brands can connect with these people. Users can discover products and brands through the authentic voice of creators who they already like and trust.

Facebook Branded Content combines art and science

Benefits of Branded Content

Branded content can translate to all sorts of products and industries. It works for different parts of the marketing funnel and divergent goals, whether a brand wants to increase brand awareness, increase traffic, drive leads and sales, and/or other goals.

Karly says, “In terms of all the different types of advertising that we have available, branded content is really one of the richest forms that we have.”

Why? It comes down to the benefits of this form of advertising, which include:

Reaching consumers through people they trust
Finding an emotional connection and positive sentiment
Connecting a brand organically to trends and movements

Facebook branded content tools help brands have more impact in these areas than they have on their own. A whopping 81 percent of consumers have purchased a product based on a post they saw on Facebook or Instagram. This shows the impact social media content can have on engagement. Facebook makes it easy for users to engage with the post in some way, whether it’s to like it, follow the brand, click a link or purchase a product.

Branded Content Creative Ecosystem

When launching branded content campaigns, you’ll want to focus on these three steps:

1. Creation

Develop strategic and timely marketing and find the right creator match

2. Amplification

Leverage the creator’s audience and your brand target to reach and connect with the right audience

3. Measurement

Use Facebook and Instagram tools to measure the impact of branded content and to guide further creation

Select Right Ad Formats

Ways to use branded content ads on Facebook and Instagram include:

Mixing both branded content and brand ads in a strategy together is 97 percent more likely to result in cost-effective action intent compared to just using brand ads and 91 percent more likely than just using branded content
Using branded content ads from existing posts helps brands reach a larger audience with an organic post through Ads Manager
Adding stories interactivity like @mentions, hashtags, location or polling stickers gives more options for branded content ads on Instagram

Create and Measure on Brand Collabs Manager

Karly explains that the simplest form of branded content is “an organic post the creator made that has been turned into an ad through a sponsorship with a brand.” Facebook makes creating and managing branded content campaigns easy with a variety of tools and ad formats:

Branded Content tags
Branded Content ads with Product Tags on Instagram
Branded Content ads
Branded Content ads with Placement Asset Customization

Leverage the Brand Collabs Manager to find content partners, manage campaigns, and measure results all in one place.

Creative best practices for branded content

Focus on the Content

“The heart and soul of the ads” are about the content itself, explains Karly. A great post is 67% more predictive of positive brand sentiment than a likeable creator. Some best practices for creating engaging content include:

Focus on quality content
Show the brand early
Show the product
Focus the content on the brand
Find the right creator fit
Design content to be clear with no sound
Use continuous stories

For more info and support on using branded content to gain results, contact us for a personalized consultation.

It’s not too early to be planning your social media marketing for the Holiday season. We hope that you’ve already ordered your inventory and are making plans for staffing and order fulfillment, so you’ll be ready when the busiest shopping season begins in October.

We understand that with all the other things you have going on, it’s easy to postpone your Holiday social media plans. However, having a calendar of posts ready to go means you can jump right in with your marketing in the fall and perhaps gain an advantage over your procrastinating competition.

One of the things that holds retailers back with social media is not knowing what to post. Below are seven easy social media marketing tips for creating dynamic posts that will drive sales.

Your 2021 Holiday Marketing Guide: Ways to Create Great Holiday Marketing on Social Media

#1 Run Giveaway Campaigns

Who doesn’t like to get something for free? Increase your reach and build awareness of your company and products as well as increase your social media following with a holiday-themed contest.

You can do things like ask followers to post a picture of their family using your product or share a holiday-themed post with their social media friends. Or maybe you ask them to follow a link to sign up for your newsletter or other offering. Partnering with other brands is always a good idea to give your contest extra boost and increase your audience.

#2 Show Customer Appreciation

You can never thank your loyal customers too much for continuing to support your business. The Holiday season is a great time to give a shout out to your social media followers, and thank them for being loyal fans. You might give your followers a special promo code that offers 10% off or free shipping as a way of saying “thanks”. You can also create a unique hashtag and encourage your followers to post their own content on your pages. This is a great way to collect user generated content (UGC).

Starbucks #GiveGood Holiday Social Media Strategy — Through #GiveGood, Starbucks gave customers gift cards so they could take a break over coffee.

#3 Partner With Influencers

Influencer marketing can help give outside credibility to your brand. Influencers are people outside your company who have a large social media following and are considered experts in your field. Working with an influencer and having them create a few posts about your products or services can help increase your visibility and trustworthiness. Connect with the right influencers early on, so when the Holiday season comes around, everything is ready to go.

“49% of consumers depend on influencer recommendations on social media.”
SOURCE

#4 Go Live

Do you shy away from posting videos or going live on Facebook because you’re uncomfortable with appearing on screen? You need to get over your shyness because live content works. You can use Facebook Live or Instagram to give a sneak preview of your Holiday products, show your store all decorated for the holidays and/or give details about Black Friday or other upcoming specials.

Use Facebook Live this Holiday season to reach new audiences. — Use Facebook Live give a sneak preview of your Holiday products. Image: Facebook.

#5 Add Inclusivity

Showing your company’s commitment to inclusivity and diversity is just good business. During the Holiday season, you can show you care about the issues that your target customers care about. Maybe you post about delivering presents to disadvantaged children or a donation to a local charity. Maybe you post a picture of your “rainbow coalition” of workers. One caution, however, make sure that your motivation in giving or posting about issues is sincere and not just a marketing ploy. Readers will easily see if your motivations are not sincere.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEyhsFhZ77U

Hallmark’s 2020 Holiday greeting embraced inclusivity by featuring two underrepresented groups.

#6 Be Authentic

Showing a little bit of your personality can set you apart from other companies that keep their personal likes and quirks carefully hidden behind their corporate “line”. Your social media followers can better identify with real people than with impersonal companies. Post things like what you and your family are planning to do for the holidays (perhaps using a product or two) or what you like best about the Holiday season. These types of posts will help diversify your content beyond simply talking about promotions, products and special offers. Your readers won’t feel like you’re trying to sell them something every time they see your company name.

“71% of consumers who have had a positive experience with a brand on social media are likely to recommend the brand to their friends and family.”
SOURCE

#7 Spark Conversations

Conversations on social media not only increase involvement with your readers, but also helps to make sure that your posts are seen first by readers who comment or “like” your posts. Most social media platforms have algorithms that put people and companies that users interact with in front of them more often.

You can post things like asking what your followers are most excited about this Holiday season or what their favorite Holiday tradition is. One caveat, however, make sure that you stay on top of comments (both positive and negative). Asking a question and then ignoring the answers, even for just one day, can create a negative impression instead of a positive one.

5 marketing tactics to boost holiday sales

Marketing on social media for the Holiday season doesn’t have to be something to dread. Make it easier by starting early, diversifying your social media posts by using all or some of our suggestions and designating a point person to be in charge of your social media marketing efforts. Here’s to a lucrative and successful 2021 Holiday season!

Facebook. Google. Instagram. TikTok. Roku. Netflix. The options are endless when it comes to digital advertising. Regardless of the products you sell, your audience is likely using at least one (if not all!) of the digital platforms. Mason’s Director of Media, Adrian Padron, shares his paid media tips for emerging D2C brands.

Define Your Superpower

“When running advertising campaigns, you need to consider the entire ecosystem, not just the advertising aspect of it”, Adrian said, “Advertising is one piece of the puzzle amongst UX, content, PR, goal tracking/measurement, partnerships, CRO, creative, and targeting strategies. When all the pieces work well, your advertising campaigns will be more successful.“

Let’s dive deeper into the puzzle theory. It all begins with your brand and the story you want to tell to your audience. Think of your brand voice, value proposition, positioning. Ask yourself: What is your superpower? What differentiates you from others? Essentially, advertising takes that message and connects it back to the right audience, at the right time, with the right intent.

Marketing tip for D2C brands - know your super power

Once your advertising campaigns have done their magic and brought new potential customers to your website, we start looking at UX, email flow, customer service, and so on. Is your website optimized for a seamless shopping experience? Have you set an email series to re-engage cart abandonments? Is your customer service ready to answer customers’ questions? All those pieces have to be figured out before your advertising can deliver desired results (= drive sales).

Know Your Advertising Goals

The next step towards successful advertising is knowing what you want to achieve. You may want to increase brand awareness, drive sales, or gain more subscribers. “You’d be surprised how many brands don’t have clear goals for their ad campaigns”, Adrian shares, “My recommendation for emerging D2C brands is to set holistic goals that are aligned with the verall business goals. Definite your goals before launching advertising campaigns so that your agency partner can track performance against those goals.”

Own Your Customer Data

Adrian brings up the recent changes to data privacy that impact all advertisers, emerging brands in particular. “Apple’s iOS 14.5 privacy policy changed the way we advertise. And things continue to evolve. Chrome’s cookie ban will be the next drastic change in the advertising industry. Because we have limited access to targeting and third party data, owning your customer data is critical.”

If you’re a startup or recently emerged, you may not have a lot of first party [customer] data yet. Start building your database by harvesting emails and numbers through giveaways, loyalty programs, and website pop up banners. Once in your ecosystem, nurture those leads and keep them engaged with your brand. You’ll need a solid content calendar for your D2C brand that includes email and social media, and is aligned with your promotional calendar. Regular communication builds loyalty.

Emerging D2C Brands can collect customer data through pop up forms — For example, Hella Cocktail collects customer data through pop up forms.

Adrian’s last tip for emerging D2C brands is to take it easy with promotions. “Avoid being too promotionally driven at the beginning, always keep your brand integrity at heart. First time discounts are a great way to give new customers a reason to get in your ecosystem. But they can also attract low-quality users (not potential customers).”

Are you ready to make it big with your paid media campaigns? We’re experts in Facebook, Google, Instagram, Amazon, TikTok, Snapchat, and Pinterest advertising. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.

Mason Interactive’s recent feature in Happi magazine discusses how brands can meet the expectations of today’s shoppers by reimagining the customer journey. The new “always-on shopping” mindset requires holistic marketing strategies that enable seamless experiences at every touchpoint.

Holistic Digital Marketing Strategies for more (and, happier) Customers

The article starts by clearing out the pathway where brands and modern consumers meet. Customer expectations are more demanding than ever. Technology and buying power accelerate sales for brands delivering consumer-savvy over product-savvy promotions. Remaining consumer-centric means using holistic marketing to create seamless experiences along the consumer journey.

In the article, we explain how an omnichannel approach helped Risewell, a natural oral care brand, increase sales by 5.5X. The strategy included social and shopping ads to build awareness and acquire new customers in sequence with remarketing campaigns to increase order value and drive sales.

Knowing which devices and channels provide the most reach means “getting to the heart of your customer” for a customer-centered marketing strategy. Using Mason Interactive’s approach helps brands meet customer expectations on the platforms that matter most to your brand. Equally important, analytic tools provide data and insights you need to create audience personas, which leads Happi readers to their next step: finding the media mix.

“To win the future, retailers must remove friction along the shopping journey, creating seamless customer experiences.”

Mason Interactive offers a complimentary digital audit to Happi readers (but you can get one, too) to help them create a “happy” mix of channels where they will find their most valuable shoppers. Book your free consultation to learn more about our agency expertise in A/B testing, audience building, and media mix strategies for holistic marketing that amplifies your brand.

Read the full article here.

Happi is one of the best in media for personal and household product brands, promoting content to help brands reach their consumers and increase sales for the last 50+ years.

What questions do you need to answer to find the right digital marketing agency for your business? After all, you’ll want to have an agency partner you can trust by your side to navigate the ever-expanding marketing landscape. Move forward with confidence in your future marketing partnership by asking these 5 important questions before hiring an agency.

1. Do you want a specialized or a full-service agency?

A specialized agency provides services and solutions for one element of your marketing plan. For example, some agencies only offer SEO services. Other agencies offer creative services or web development services but don’t provide any paid media or optimization solutions. Mason Interactive is a full-service digital marketing agency; so, we provide everything for integrated marketing.

To decide which is best for you, conduct an audit of your digital marketing plan and internal resources to find gaps.

If you have a larger group of marketers in-house, it might be easier to work with a specialized agency to fulfill an individual element of your marketing plan. But, if you have a small marketing team or no marketing team, a full-service agency typically provides bundled services and a streamlined workflow to make your marketing efforts easier.

Another thing to consider is where you are in your marketing process. Do you have a well-designed, high-functioning website? If not, it’s best to start with a web development agency before hiring an advertising or SEO agency whose primary goal will be to drive traffic to your website.

2. Does the agency have experience in your industry?

Some agencies do not specialize in just one vertical market but focus on a horizontal market, providing their unique services to various industries. For example, Mason Interactive offers digital marketing services, but we specialize in the beauty, fashion, CPG, lifestyle, B2B, and higher education verticals.

Ask if the agency has experience in your industry before hiring an agency

The primary benefit of working with an agency specializing in your industry is that they have more experience in your industry’s nuances and tailor services accordingly. They’ll understand the “language” of your business and can provide you with hyper-focused strategic recommendations.

Ask for case studies or a list of clients similar to your business to determine the agency’s experience. Also, pay attention to their client schedules. For example, if your business is primarily eCommerce oriented, find out if the agency can provide you with extra attention around Q3 and Q4 to prepare for holiday sales.

3. Can the agency give you access to new resources, platforms, and vendors?

Agencies are a combination of their people, technology, and partnerships. When looking for the right agency, ask: what does the agency’s tech stack look like? By working with them, do you gain access to analytical and business intelligence tools? Is their tech stack relevant to your business needs? For example, if you are entering a new market for the first time, do they have the technology to help you gain audience insights?

Find out what analytical and businesses intelligence tools the agency has before hiring an agency — Mason Interactive uses Datorama to share analytics with clients in real time.

High-performance agencies usually partner with companies like Google or Facebook to leverage exclusive data and engagements that give you a competitive edge. The agencies with the most exclusive Facebook and Google Partnerships fall within the top 3-5% of agencies meeting education and performance requirements. Looking for partnerships like these speaks to the credibility and reputation of your potential partner.

4. Does the agency have the right team for you?

There is a sweet spot in terms of team size when choosing the right partner. If the agency is too small, they may not have enough combined experience or time to meet your needs. But, if the agency is too large, it might have many overhead costs and a longer chain of command. A smaller agency can provide more attention to your account and provide a close-knit culture. A big agency, however, has more “hands” for busier seasons and ensures your account always has enough people.

What matters most is the infrastructure of the agency team and the alignment of expectations. For example, Mason Interactive uses a pod structure, so every client is assigned a team pod with a director, two supervisors, and a collection of analysts and specialists.

Before hiring an agency, align on communication and meeting availability early to avoid a breakdown in expectations. Ask how often you’ll meet with your team, the typical response time to emails, and if you’ll have phone access. Communication is the best foundation for a long-term partnership.

5. Does the agency’s sales process provide value?

During the initial communications with the agency, you’ll get insight into how valuable the agency partnership will be for you. Look for signs of transparency and trustworthiness before hiring an agency.

The agency’s sales team is typically your first point of contact, and you should expect to have a few meetings with them before receiving a contract. If the sales team rushes the process before getting to know your unique goals, or promises you a massive ROAS, they might not be the most trustworthy. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t true.

We’ll share our 3-step sales process as an example of what you should expect:

Discovery – You’ll meet with our team to share more about your business, your needs, desires, and your goals. We’ll share our process and answer your initial questions.
Analysis – We perform a (free) competitive analysis to establish consensus on your digital marketing space and identify priority needs.
Solution – Based on the analysis findings, you’ll get a custom solution. We’ll also share proposed pricing and packages, as well as case studies and example reports.

After we complete all three steps, we provide a statement of work and set up a time to review it to answer any questions.

Finding the right agency partner is vital to success so remember to ask these 5 important questions when hiring a digital marketing agency. Before making your final decision, make sure you know as much as possible about the services, experience, team, partnerships, and processes of your potential agencies. Good luck!

Business owners and marketers are shifting their focus to the biggest sales period of the year: the Holiday season . Each year, the landscape evolves, consumer behavior shifts, new platforms and channels become available when others become stale. We listed five marketing tactics retailers must know to boost Holiday sales in 2021.

2021 Holiday Landscape

Before we dive into the Holiday marketing tactics, let’s look at today’s retail landscape. Holiday sales hit record high in 2020, but are we going to see another record-breaking period this year?

We asked the question from Adrian Padron, Director of Media at Mason Interactive. “The biggest benefit of the 2021 Holiday season is that people will be back with their families. How this will impact sales, is trickier to forecast. Perhaps you bought bigger presents for your family last year because COVID-19 restrictions kept you apart. This year, however, when together with your family, are you going to buy smaller, or even fewer, presents?”

Online shopping grew 32.3% over the 2020 holidays. Now that the restrictions are slowly being lifted, brands invite shoppers back to stores. Adrian is doubtful of shoppers’ desire for in-store experiences. “[In-store shopping] is still somewhat inconvenient to shop in-store because we’re so used to the ease of online shopping“, he says. “I believe the 2021 Holiday season is going to be a continuation of online shopping complemented by curbside pickups and free shipping, with an option to shop in-store. If you have a store, let your customers know about it. But I wouldn’t focus solely on driving foot traffic.”

Reunion of family members can boost 2021 Holiday Sales

5 Marketing Tactics to Boost Holiday Sales in 2021

#1 Diversify Your Communications

Saying the same thing repeatedly may work from an awareness perspective. But if your content calendar is nothing but sales-driven promotions, you’ll soon lose the attention of your audience. Keep your content fresh and diversify your communications to include a healthy mix of:

Founder stories
User generated content (UGC) highlights
Events (in-person or online)
Brand partnerships

“The recipe for long-term success is making your customers feel like they are part of a community. If you want a customer to become more than just a one time purchaser, then you have to diversify your communications”, says Adrian.

#2 Strategize Scarcity

How to break through the noise when Holiday content starts overflowing inboxes and social media feeds from October? Nothing incentivizes us humans more than FOMO and a sense of urgency. In addition to traditional promotions and offers, create scarcity with limited drops. Release a limited “drop” of products or collections, only available in small quantities, and set up “get it before it’s gone” campaigns.

#3 Collect First Party Data

It’s the most magical time of the year… The Holiday season may be magical but it doesn’t mean there’s a magic sales button you can switch on when the season begins. So please, don’t put all your marketing dollars for Holiday campaigns and expect miracles to happen. Instead, start building your customer base months in advance through loyalty programs and email and SMS opt-ins. Nurture those customers months leading up to the holidays so that when the time comes for Holiday shopping, they’re ready to buy your products.

Start collecting first party data early to boost holiday sales.

#4 Create Your Own Sales Events

Holiday shopping can be stressful not only for businesses, but also from the consumer standpoint. Have you ever found yourself buying last-minute presents a week or two before Christmas? If you have, you recognize the mixed feeling of disappointment and panic when you realize everything you wanted to buy is out of stock, or requires a hefty delivery fee to make it on time.

Depending on your revenue goals and plans, consider launching your own sales event before the peak season. It will save your customers (and yourself) from the Holiday shopping stress. Repeat the event annually to train your customers to expect the event to happen.

Launch your own holiday sales event — Creating your own “Prime Day” can boost Holiday sales.

#5 Advertise Smarter During Holidays

The world is slowly reopening and we’re moving away from the stay-at-home lifestyle that was lived through screens – whether on mobile, TV, computer, or tablet. People now spend more time with families and friends, and less time on devices and platforms. What does this mean for advertisers, you may wonder?

Adrian assures it’s not the time to cut your advertising spend: “People may stream less, but they still love their content. If anything, we’ve gotten more hooked on content over the past year. On the flipside, less people on platforms has led to increased advertising costs. With so much uncertainty in the past year, it’s impossible to predict consumer behavior this holiday season. But it’s very likely that CPMs will be more expensive than the 2020 holiday season. The “pay-to-play“ environment makes it harder especially for small businesses to compete on the same scale they did last year.”

With higher advertising costs and limited targeting and measurement capabilities followed by the recent Apple iOS 14.5 update, is it even worth advertising on social media anymore? The simple answer is yes. Advertisers just need to become more strategic, especially during a peak season such as holidays.

In between ice cold drinks in the sun and Sunday strolls on the beach , now is the time to start planning for a successful Holiday season. Implement these 5 marketing tactics to boost Holiday sales, or contact us today to get extra help for the most important sales event of the year.