How The Holidays Affect Your Digital Campaigns

Posted on September 11, 2023October 10, 2023 by Matias Raby

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The last two months of the year are a wild ride for digital ad campaigns. During the holiday season, we have Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and holiday shopping one after another.

Running campaigns during this time can be crucial to reaching a market that’s ready to invest for the New Year or splurge on family and friends. But this season of spending also can make digital marketing a bit more challenging because it significantly increases digital campaign costs and changes user behavior.

How does the holiday season affect your business?

Prepare for changes to your digital advertising this holiday season! We’ll cover a few topics to help you tweak your digital marketing strategy for the end of the year:

Why do digital ad costs increase during the holidays?
How does user behavior change during the holidays?
What type of companies benefit from holiday advertising?
What can your business do to be prepared for the holiday season?

Why do digital ad costs increase during the holidays?

Q4 ends with two big events: Black Friday/Cyber Monday at the end of November and Christmas at the end of December. Both occasions can result in increased consumer sales for B2C businesses. Companies that benefit from holiday sales increase their digital advertising budget to reach more consumers. With this increasing demand for digital ads, the cost of placing digital ads also increases. Since digital advertising works as online auctions (see how digital advertising costs work), the higher the demand over a limited supply of ad space, the higher the price of an ad.

Costs usually start increasing at the beginning of November. You’ve probably seen big brands promoting their Black Friday deals as soon as the day after Halloween. The increase is usually gradual, but you can expect to see over a 100% increase in digital advertising costs by the end of November.

How does user behavior change during the holidays?

While the cost of digital ads is higher during this season, so is buyer activity. User behavior changes drastically, with an emphasis on discount-seeking starting in November. In addition to wanting to buy more items, users also want to buy at reduced prices. Everyone is looking for offers, sales, and discounts—especially on items they’ve been waiting to buy. As December approaches, buying behavior focuses on Christmas gifts and other holiday-related purchases.

Online search for discounts during the recent years. Each peak happens around the last week of November. (Source: Google Trends)

The holidays put people in a unique state of mind. Celebrations, family reunions, gift-giving, and the close of another year shift people’s priorities. While buying for certain categories will skyrocket, other products and services won’t be considered until the New Year, often due to increased spending in other areas.

You might be interested in: Marketing Money: Where, How, & How Much to Invest

What type of companies benefit from holiday advertising?

Some companies see this time of year as a curse and others as a blessing. Where your business fits should impact your Q4 ad strategy and budget.

Companies that benefit from the holidays

B2C e-commerce companies usually benefit from the holiday season, especially those that sell products and services that are in high demand during this time. If an e-commerce business can maintain a profit while giving a big discount, they’re sure to rake in some sales from online discount shoppers.

If this sounds like your business, increase your ad spend for a healthy return on investment. Some direct-to-consumer companies depend heavily on their end-of-year sales, making this a huge event accompanied by a large digital ad spend.

Companies that don’t benefit from the holidays

There are roughly two kind of companies that don’t benefit from this holidays:

B2C companies with more complex products and services. With a more involved decision-making process or a higher price tag, some consumers will put these purchases off until their bank accounts recover from the holiday season. For businesses with low margins, offering big discounts isn’t viable, which makes it likely that consumers will hold off on buying from them.

B2B companies. Businesses that don’t directly sell to consumers rarely see a benefit in this season. Decision-makers in businesses might be taking time off, preparing for a new fiscal year, or focusing on implementing their own advertising strategy.

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What can your business do to be prepared for the holiday season?

If your business is unlikely to see a direct benefit from the holidays, here are some tips on how to be prepared.

Find a way to get into the holiday spirit

Not every product or service is the perfect Christmas/Kwanzaa/Hanukkah gift. However, there’s often an indirect way to tie the holiday season into your marketing. Offer a discount or include holiday elements in your copy and graphics. Doing so will help you capitalize on the seasonal state of mind that shoppers are in when they’re browsing online.

Be aware of the cost increase

Many businesses keep their campaigns running without much change. Being aware of cost increases and less effective results helps you tweak your strategy. If two months of low-performing digital ads won’t bother you, don’t change the strategy that works in other months of the year.

Shift your budget

If you are not getting the same ROI as the rest of the year, you can invest your ad spend differently. Although stopping your campaign is not recommended, scaling down your ad spend budget can be helpful—especially because you can reinvest that capital in Q1. When shifting your budget, consider improving other marketing materials, or start Q1 with an additional boost.

Looking to adapt your ad strategy for the holidays?

Adjusting your budget and trying new digital ad strategies is essential for effective ads during this time. For an adaptive digital ad strategy complete with high-quality executions, look no further than Liquid Creative! We use our marketing experience to give you the best recommendations for your business’s digital ads. Contact us today to learn more!

Find Your Audience: How To Define & Reach Your Target Audience

Posted on January 20, 2022December 19, 2022 by Matias Raby

You’ve got a great product. You’ve got a great business. Now, it just comes down to getting people interested.

Identifying your target audience is the first step to meaningful marketing. In this article, we’ll take a look at how business owners can expand their sales by reaching the right audience with the right message.

The Importance of A Target Audience

To speak directly to someone, you need to know who they are. And unless you’re speaking directly, your message will be lost in a sea of annoying advertisements.

We’ve gotten so good at blocking out ads everywhere they exist. People only bother to pay attention when it’s obvious the message is meant for them. To get past the filter, you need to speak to a specific segment of people based on demographics, interests, motivations, or some other deciding factor.

Start by looking at your current and past customers or your audience on social media. Who are your messages already resonating with? Who else do you want to reach? Consider these factors to help you define your target audience:

Demographics: Start by looking at the statistics of your current audience involving location, age, and gender identity.
B2B Demographics: If you’re selling to professionals, consider their industry, business size, and job titles.
Interests: What hobbies, professions, and interests do your customers share? This could be directly related to your business or something adjacent.

Creating A User Persona

Now it’s time to put a face to your target audience. Pick out just one representative from your target audience and give them a name – this is your user persona or buyer persona. You can even choose a relatable celebrity with traits you’d find in your target audience. This exercise will help you step into the audience’s shoes and create more compelling messages. After deciding on a buyer persona, consider the following before creating your brand messages:

Motivations: Why would this person buy your product? How does it align with their interests, goals, and values?
Challenges: What would stop this person from becoming your customer? What are their hesitations, fears, or obstacles in terms of your business?
Buying Behavior: What is their buying process? Is the purchase decision influenced by research, brand loyalty, or impulse?
Communication Preferences: What communications does this person enjoy? What annoys them? How are brands able to reach them on a typical day?

Be Where Your Audience Is

What media does your buyer persona consume every day? You should be advertising in those places. With messages that speak to their specific hesitations, interests, and behaviors, you’ll grab their attention and deliver your most impactful message yet.

Here’s where to start to figure out where to find your audience:

Local Audiences: You can reach individuals in your city with outdoor advertising like billboards, transportation advertising, and local sponsorships. To target a particular demographic within your area, look into buying a radio or magazine ad – they’ll have insights into the specific demographics of their audience to share.
National Audiences: To step into the world of national advertising, try ads on streaming services, niche magazines, and satellite radio.
Audiences By Interest: The best way to advertise to an audience based on their interests is through digital advertising. There’s just no beating Facebook and Google ads, thanks to their algorithms and information about user activity.
B2B Audiences: Buy ads in trade publications, set up a booth at a trade show, and be present in professional organizations. You can also use LinkedIn to reach this audience online.
Hyper-Local Audiences: Make sure your brick-and-mortar location is clear with signage that can be seen by traffic driving by. You can also target specific areas with direct mailing, such as Every Door Direct Mail.
Other Promotions: If you can think of a brand that shares your target audience, find a way to partner with them. This can look very different, but it could include sponsoring events, appearing on podcasts, or exchanging shout-outs with another business.

Digital Tools For Selecting Your Audience

When advertising digitally, there are so many ways to define who will see your ad. You can set demographics and interests that align with your brand’s target audience. As the ad runs, algorithms will tweak who sees your ad based on how users interact with it. Optimizing your audiences will also help you lower the cost of your digital ads.

Selecting Demographics: Each platform has their own ways of understanding demographic information of their audience. This includes location, gender, age, income bracket, education level, marital status, and more.
Selecting Interests: We spend an increasing amount of time online, where we engage on social media, search, watch videos, read articles, and more. Every little online interaction is evaluated by algorithms to give companies like Facebook and Google a very accurate depiction of our interests. Thanks to that, we can target our audiences by interests like specific products, services, music styles, brands they follow, jobs, industries, etc.
Platform -specific targeting: Each platform varies its offer and the accuracy of its targeting depending on its own characteristics. For example, Google knows what you are searching for, Facebook knows how you interact with brands, and LinkedIn knows what you do for a living. It’s important to understand the scope of each platform when planning your digital strategy
Limitations: Platforms like Facebook and Google adhere to advertising laws for specific industries. You won’t be able to target housing or hiring ads by anything other than location. Ads about health must not be misleading and can’t promote negative self-perception. In all ads, you can’t assume personal attributes about the reader. You can read more about Google Ads Policies and Facebook Ads Policies.

Remarketing: How To Use A Foot In The Door

After your digital ads have run for some time, a few people have clicked through to your website. Is there any way to turn that interest into a purchase?

Platforms like Google, Facebook, AdRoll, MailChimp, LinkedIn, and more offer the option to run remarketing ads. These ads will be displayed only to the people who have interacted with your brand online in some way. These interactions include visiting your website, engaging on social media posts, watching a video, or opening an email, among others. Now you have your foot in the door and it’s time to close the deal.

With a digital remarketing campaign, you can craft your message to be more direct. The audience knows your brand name and what you offer, so tell them why they should act now. You can use time pressure, offer a discount, or directly answer your buyer persona’s main hesitation.

Want To Nail Your Message?

At Liquid Creative, we craft targeted messages that speak directly to your audience on any medium. As your full-service marketing partner, we offer everything from digital advertising to public relations work. Contact us today to get started!

New Year, New Trends 2022

Posted on January 7, 2022March 30, 2022 by Matias Raby

How to Shift Your Social Strategy in 2022

It’s the start of a new year and we’re already sifting through tons of social media updates. We’ve sorted through all the tiny platform changes and absurd campaigns (looking at you, TikTok Kitchens) to find the news that matters most to business owners and social media managers. For our first marketing trends blog of 2022, we’ll look at the future of Instagram, Twitter strategies, and a new mobile video editing tool to try out!

Instagram: New Feed Options, More Video, and Other Goals

The Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, took some time to tell us about upcoming changes on Instagram through, you guessed it, Instagram Reels. First, he addressed changes to your Instagram Feed that are already in testing. The update here is three options for sorting your feed:

Home: This is your Feed as you viewed it in 2021. You’ll see posts from accounts you follow ranked by an algorithm intended to determine your interest. With the additional sorting options, you may begin to see more suggested posts popping up in the Home feed throughout 2022.
Favorites: The Favorite Feeds puts you in control of what you see. Make sure to favorite accounts you’re the most interested in for an easy way to view their content.
Following: If you’re looking for the classic Instagram experience, switch to “Following” to view just posts from accounts you follow in reverse chronological order. That’s right – there’s finally a way to get around the algorithm!

In another Reel, Adam shared Instagram’s top priorities for the coming year. The platform will continue to focus on video content while working towards being the best place for people to share messages. Instagram is also continuing to value being transparent and finding ways to support creators on the platform.

What does this mean for Florida Businesses?

We have a few predictions of how the additional sorting options for Feeds will impact business accounts and content creators. First, additional suggested content on the Home feed could make using hashtags even more important. You’ll also want to interact with other accounts in your area and within the same industry so Instagram understands what users to recommend your content to. Second, the Following feed will push content to your followers more effectively, provided you post at times when users are active on the app.

Twitter: How To Plan Topics in 2022

The team at Twitter shared a new resource dedicated to helping you strategize your Twitter presence this year. The 2022 Twitter Planner is designed to get you started with a ‘brand guardrails’ worksheet, monthly planning spaces, and pro tips from the experts. Here’s a breakdown of the advice they shared:

Use rich media for better engagement. Include short videos, gifs, and images in your Tweets as often as possible. Visual Tweets will get more engagement than just text.
Write concise copy with a clear call to action. For promoted Tweets and direct organic Tweets, let the user know what you want them to do. Experiment with different ways of delivering a strong call to action.
Keep your content human. Users are looking for authenticity, so remember to speak conversationally. Balance being direct with being human and keep track of how different audiences respond to each approach.
Give discounts in the form of a percentage. When announcing a sale, Twitter has seen better responses from posts that give a discount as a percentage. Instead of saying $20 off, say 20% off for better engagement.
Keep videos and images straightforward and on-brand. Videos should be 15 seconds or less, opening with a product, and showing your branding more than half the time. Images should have limited text and convey a point with strong, scroll-stopping visuals.

What does this mean for Florida Businesses?

Check out the full PDF for more tips and tricks to guide your Twitter strategy. In general, don’t be afraid to engage and try some things on Twitter. Give yourself time to brainstorm content for each month, but keep the strategy open enough that you can get in on those viral moments. Sticking squarely to a pre-written social strategy means you’ll miss out on the next Squid Game moment or trending hashtag. Know how you want your brand to come across and get in on the conversation this year!

Snapchat: Create Video Content With the New Story Studio App

The rise of TikTok changed what we look for when creating social media content. It’s become clear that authenticity matters more than well-produced video for younger audiences. In 2021, many brands adapted their strategies to embrace creating content themselves. With more of a focus on being a part of the newest trend, speed led to many content creators embracing new ways of filming and editing video – often within just an hour or so.

Now, social media platforms are also content creation platforms. Instagram’s Reels editor has been racing to keep up with TikTok’s intuitive editing functions. And now, we’ve got one more option with Story Studio from Snapchat. Story Studio is in its early stages, but available on the app store for trend-setters to try out. So far, ratings are high, with users happy to add AR effects to existing video, use transition effects, and time their videos up with Sounds from Snapchat. This video editor allows for easy export to its sister app, but also allows you to edit vertical video for use around the internet.

What does this mean for Florida Businesses?

TikTok remained high on the app charts through the end of 2021. Even Instagram Reels, a copy of the original, maintains enough popularity that Instagram is committed to expanding in the video space. This tool is another way for business owners and social media managers to make content on the fly. So find some lighting and get filming – you’ll increase your visibility on Instagram and have the option to break into a new market on TikTok!

Ok, now what?

As we’ve seen, social media works best when you’re providing high-quality content your viewers will enjoy. Liquid Creative is here to help business owners with all their marketing needs, including managing your social media! We can also help you turn those views into sales with a beautiful website, produce ultra-engaging video content, or brand your business from the ground up.

We’re a full-service marketing agency ready to craft the perfect solution for your business goals. Our talented team can pick up your marketing strategy without missing a beat, help you out with a one-off project, or get your business on the digital map. Call, email, or leave us a message to let us know how we can help you!

Social Media Trends & Topics To Watch For in 2022

Posted on December 15, 2021March 26, 2022 by Matias Raby

As we wrap up another year, social media platforms have gathered together their analytics to shed some light on our collective interests. Check out this platform-specific data to inform your 2022 social media strategy!

Insights from Instagram 2020

The 2022 Instagram Trend Report focuses on how Gen-Z users are influencing the platform. Though this might not include your specific audience, the introduction of Instagram Reels and the rise of younger influencers have changed how many people experience the platform.

Influencers: Almost 50% of young people view relatable people with small, loyal followings as critical for setting trends. 80% of them agree that online influencers are more impactful than mainstream celebrities.
Shopping: The majority of young people keep up with shopping interests on Instagram. 27% of young adults and teens expect to shop directly within the app.
Holistic wellness: Instagram users are looking beyond just physical wellbeing. Alongside the popularity of at-home workouts, mental health exercises, creative outlets, and eco-friendly homes are trending wellness topics on Instagram.
Humor: Memes continue to dominate the social scene, with the best performers combining irony and sincerity. Absurdist humor is expected to continue to trend in 2022, with memes about cryptocurrency, astrology, and stocks being popular topics.
Responsibility: Instagram has risen as a hub for education on social justice issues and sustainability. 28% of young people will follow social justice accounts while 37% expect to donate money to social causes.

What does this mean for Florida Businesses?

While a lot of these trends may feel like they don’t apply to your business, there are some common threads you can use to your advantage.

Shopping decisions are made online. Showcase your product through video, reviews from customers, influencer collaborations, and public relations work. Trusted first-hand accounts and authentic, less “produced” videos help people understand your product before they buy.
Educate through social media. People look to social media for information on sustainability, social responsibility, and what small businesses are bringing to the table. Don’t be afraid to highlight your processes, ingredients, and where you differ from competitors. As users look to become more intentional about purchases, the more information you share, the better.
Authenticity is key. A lesson learned throughout this year is about authenticity. As Instagram embraces video and Reels, don’t be afraid to show realistic content. The most persuasive way to win over your audience is to let your personality shine!

There’s more information in the full report if you want to dive into specific trends and data for fashion, video games, music, and more!

What’s Trending on Twitter 2022

Twitter’s year-end wrapup highlights the top Tweets of the year and the trends we saw in 2021. The trends prove that Twitter demands a different approach than other social media platforms. With an emphasis on news and daily trends, the best performing Tweets were those that quickly responded to real-life events.

The news of the day: 2021’s most liked Tweets all featured the events of the day. The inauguration of a new president, the most popular k-pop artist BTS, and the infamous moment when Facebook’s suite of apps went down.
Wide-ranging events: Other top-performing content on Twitter included themes like popular TV shows, sports matchups, and award-winning music.
Retweeting as a resource: Some of the most retweeted posts included social justice content. Throughout the last two years, using threads to compile resources for easy sharing lets people educate themselves, donate to causes, and stay up-to-date on current events.
Brand Tweets: The best Tweets from brands in 2021 were successful for a variety of reasons. Ford’s electric truck struck a chord with an audience interested in sustainability, a message from Blue’s Clues’ Steve hit us with nostalgia, and a sandwich cookie surprised astrologists with the absurd idea of “Oreoscopes”.

What does this mean for Florida Businesses in 2022?

Branded content and personal content share an interesting space on Twitter. So what lessons should you gather from both sides?

Twitter is a responsive medium. If you’re looking to enhance your Twitter audience, being timely is key. Respond to local news, share your take on the latest text meme, and reply if someone mentions you.
Find an approach that works for you. Branded content that performed well includes giveaways, absurd humor, product launches, and feel-good content. Consider what aligns best with your brand’s personality, audience, and product.

Find Your Own Trends on Facebook’s Creator Studio!

As reported by social media connoisseur Matt Navarra, Facebook’s Creator Hub has a new feature to drive discoveries daily! After navigating to your Creator Hub, check out the new Inspiration panel on the right side. At a glance, you’ll see a few popular Facebook posts and hashtags to inspire you. After clicking “See More”, you can sort trending posts by time period, content type, and more.

This resource is a great way to hear about the next #IceBucketChallenge before it blows over. By staying on top of trending topics, you can adjust your strategy to increase your engagement on Facebook. And since you have the option to sort by a specific page, you can easily check in our your competitor’s top-performing posts every month.

What does this mean for Florida Businesses?

This is another great resource from Facebook to understand what audiences respond to. While it displays some top performers that aren’t ideal for brands, the filter feature is great for looking at engaging images and text posts or getting a better look at competitor’s content. Try this one out and see how you can use this inspiration in your next social media posts!

Ok, now what?

Social Media Features For Consistent Presence Across The Web

Posted on November 18, 2021March 31, 2022 by Matias Raby

“Google Business Profiles” Combine The Best of Ads and Maps

Your business’s presence on Google has gone through quite a few name changes over the years. The latest one changes “Google My Business” to “Google Business Profiles”. This name change comes in an effort to simplify the business side of Google’s many platforms. By switching to Business Profiles, it seems the company is looking to encourage users to combine their Google Ads and Google Maps presence.

This change is one of a number of tweaks that are making it easier to connect with an audience right from Google. After claiming and verifying your business with Google, your customers will be able to contact you directly from search results. Brick-and-mortar businesses can let local shoppers know what’s in stock at their location before their visit. For all local businesses, Local campaigns provide a streamlined option for advertising across Google’s services.

What does this mean for Florida Businesses?

Maintaining your business on Google makes it easy for people to find you with a simple search. The latest updates are rolling all your business needs into one neat little package. Make sure to verify and claim your business if you haven’t already. You can share posts related to your business, show the local audience your stock, and experiment with Local campaigns to make the most of these changes!

What Is Facebook’s Meta-verse?

You may have heard that Facebook recently changed its name to Meta. The internet was quick to share reactions about this VR-driven vision for Facebook’s future, both good and bad. But for those that kept scrolling, here’s a quick recap of what’s changing for Facebook.

Facebook has been diving into the world of virtual reality more and more recently. Their VR hardware, Oculus, has allowed many creators to bring virtual experiences to life. Establishing themselves as champions of a meta-verse is similar. Many different virtual reality experiences will exist, created by a variety of companies. But users will use Meta’s platform to connect and access VR rooms, games, and more.

So what will the meta-verse looks like? The company’s previous project, Horizon Workrooms gives a realistic look at what’s possible today. Facebook Connect 2021 shows a much more immersive experience that we may achieve in the future. Right now, the Meta-verse is still in the works. In the future, this technology may be commonplace enough that local businesses can take part. For now, we’ll continue to rely on Meta’s more established platforms for engaging with our audiences.

What does this mean for Florida Businesses?

The meta-verse might not be open for business yet, but this shift in direction does give us some new insights into Facebook’s future. First off, this bold move is made possible by Facebook’s audience and range of products. With so many users already using Facebook for shopping, chatting, and sharing their business, adding new technologies onto the list isn’t so difficult to imagine. Second, Meta is continuously looking for new ways to make your account more useful and interconnected. With features like Facebook Neighborhoods, Portal, Shops, and many more, it seems like the company wants to be a one-stop shop for everything digital. If their current trajectory continues, Meta’s platforms will be relevant and irreplaceable for the foreseeable future.

Photo by Instagram

New Ways to Post on Instagram

Instagram’s newest updates make it easier for you to post on the app and link to outside sources. Business owners and marketing professionals have asking for it for years and Instagram has finally added desktop publishing for photos and videos under 1 minute. This means a lot less emailing and AirDroping graphics before posting. In another long-awaited change, Link stickers in Stories are now available to everyone, regardless of follower count. We encourage everyone to use this to spend less time changing the link in your bio. Just end your post captions with “link in story” for a linking solution that lasts 24 hours.

Speaking of Stories, a new sticker called “Add Yours” lets you encourage accounts to reply for a collaborative Story experience. Watch out for these prompts and try engaging when relevant to get new eyes on your account. For more about engaging your audience with Stories, check out Instagram’s latest tips. The core of successful Story posts is authenticity, easy ways to engage, and high-quality content.

What does this mean for Florida Businesses?

Ok, now what?

Social media works best when you’re providing high-quality content your viewers will enjoy. Liquid Creative is here to help business owners with all their marketing needs, including managing your social media! We can also help you turn those views into sales with a beautiful website, produce ultra-engaging video content, or brand your business from the ground up.

The Importance of Digital Marketing for Businesses

Posted on October 27, 2021December 19, 2022 by Matias Raby

Digital marketing includes every part of your brand’s presence online. That means social media, Google ads, your website, email campaigns, and more! Every one of these helps establish your reputation and influences how someone perceives your business. Whether you’re just dipping your toes in or diving in headfirst, we’ve got some insights on why you should care about digital marketing and how you can make the most of it.

Check out 5 Digital Marketing Myths We’re Ready to Leave Behind.

Digital Marketing Can Get You Ahead of the Competition

Every business deals with competitors in their space. To win over customers, you have to effectively communicate why you’re the best option for them. The digital space gives you plenty of opportunities to do so. You can post regularly on social media to show off your brand personality, email out useful resources to establish credibility, or get yourself on someone’s radar with a digital ad.

Finding the right digital marketing tactics – or specific executions like a Facebook ad or an email campaign – can get you closer to your business goals. Reaching someone online is a lot more affordable and trackable than traditional media. (Learn just how much a click costs here!) With digital marketing, you can get eyes on your brand with any budget! When buying ads isn’t an option, you can turn to your business’s social media channels, local Search Engine Optimization, and more without spending a cent.

In summary, digital marketing is a must for small businesses and large companies alike. It can make potential customers aware of your business, amplify the reach of word-of-mouth accounts, and show that you’re a legitimate, personality-filled local business.

Why is digital marketing important for businesses?

When someone hears about your business or needs your services, the first thing they’re going to do is search online. What are they going to find? An abandoned Facebook page or beautifully managed social media? Your Google My Business presence or your competitor’s keyword-filled website? Investing in digital marketing means being present where people are searching for your services, informing them about your products and services, and showing a consistent, trustworthy brand on every touchpoint.

Digital marketing is most powerful when you create a strategy based on your business goals. Here are some examples of how your business goals can shape your digital marketing

Brand awareness: Put a small ad spend behind your organic social posts. Target your local area and the demographics most likely to need your services.
Build credibility: Post blogs or offer free resources related to your industry. Provide helpful information on your website to show you know what you’re talking about.
Find new customers: Run digital ads on Facebook, Google, and other social media to have your business promoted to people who may not have heard of you.
Establish a brand personality: Use organic social media (your business’s own profiles) to show what makes your business unique.
Generate high-quality leads: Create a contact form on your website that you can link to throughout your site and in all your digital advertising.
Create life-long customers: Encourage customers to learn more about your business, follow along, and share your content with high-quality content that showcases your business.
Capitalize on word-of-mouth: Post your best reviews on social media or feature them on your website’s home page.
Hire new talent: Talk about your company culture in social media posts, add a careers page, and even list available positions on Facebook.
Reach a new audience: Define an audience you’re missing out on, then craft an ad that speaks to them. With target audiences on digital ads, you can make sure only certain people see your ad.

No matter the size of your organization, you have a variety of digital marketing tools that can improve your business’s position in the marketplace.

Quick Digital Marketing Tips

Digital marketing might seem a little daunting at first but it’s really as simple as sharing your products, services, and knowledge in places where people can find it. These quick tips will help you get started!

Start by establishing a strong presence on social media. Just by existing on Facebook and other platforms, you can reach customers that search for your name, add a place for people to leave reviews, and list helpful information like contact information and business hours.
Consistency is key! Make sure your logo, colors, and personality are present wherever you are online. Every touchpoint adds to the viewer’s perception of your brand, so you want to make sure you’re hitting the mark with every message.
Know your goals before you start making content. Your marketing goals should align with how you’d like to grow your business. With strategic and focused digital marketing, you’re likely to make strides towards your goals.
Remember just how many people browse on mobile devices! Your website should be mobile-friendly and you can capitalize on people browsing on their phones with executions like click-to-call ads.
Contribute to your community. You can find Facebook groups that promote local businesses, interact with other businesses online, and engage with your customers’ content. Doing so can get eyes on your brand – often for free!
Repurpose your content. You can pull copy from your website to post on social media, share your blog posts to Pinterest, and grab Facebook reviews to share on your website. Most content fits more than one place online, so share it everywhere it makes sense!
Make a content calendar to keep yourself organized. A content calendar can help you work towards your goals without posting the same content every week, keep you from missing fun dates, and let you knock out a month of social media in one sitting.

Keep these best practices in mind as you navigate the ever-changing online marketing landscape.

We can help your business with digital marketing!

Digital marketing is always evolving. Nowadays, high-quality social media content, information-filled websites, and engaging social media videos are key. The team at Liquid Creative can help you with all three – and anything else you could need! We act as an extension of your own team, bringing strategic insights, digital marketing expertise, and professional content to businesses of any size. Contact us today to learn more about how our digital marketing services can help you!

Thumb Stoppers: How To Capture Attention in the Age of Endless Scrolling

Posted on October 13, 2021March 31, 2022 by Matias Raby

We scroll through Facebook. We scroll through Instagram. When those are down, we scroll through Twitter. Our thumbs want to swipe up whether it’s because of short attention spans, FOMO, or something else entirely. With people consuming so much content every day – for better or for worse – how do you get them interested enough to interact with yours?

In the digital world, you have fractions of a second to reach your audience before they keep scrolling. These tips can help you create engaging content, lower the cost-per-click of your digital ads, and make the most of your social media following.

Offer Real Resources

After seeing and hearing advertising all around us, many of us develop a subconscious ‘screening’ that blocks out advertising messages. One way to overcome this hurdle is by offering something to your audience: inspiration, information, or resources. Some businesses are scared of ‘giving away their secrets’ online, but sharing a piece of your knowledge often proves your worth while intriguing your audience!

Ideas To Get You Started

Create blogs about topics your audience is interested in
Answer frequently asked questions on your social media
Experiment with a small digital ad spend promoting your existing blogs or resources
Create a PDF resource or tool that requires the viewer to fill out their contact information

Know Your Audience

Your messages will resonate the most when they’re targeted at just the right audience. If you haven’t identified your target audience yet, start by evaluating your customer base or social media following to see who’s interested in your business. Knowing you’re speaking to that audience, brainstorm the messaging they’d respond to. What are their paint points? Why would they need your services? What do they interact with online? With the hyper-specific audience targeting available with digital advertising platforms, you can craft specific messages made just for your niche – or even run simultaneous messages to different audiences.

Ideas To Get You Started

Identify different sub-groups within your customer base (organized by interests, age, gender, etc.)
Run a digital ad campaign focused on the biggest pain point caused by your competitors or the problem your business solves
Create content starring someone who looks like your target audience (feature your customers, use carefully chosen stock photos, or step into the spotlight yourself)
Craft a relatable headline that reflects your audience’s daily life

Jump On The Latest Trends

Yes, it’s okay to jump on the bandwagon. When people see a new take on something they recognize, they’re more likely to take their time to see what you have to say. Make sure to be clear about the trend you’re following to capture attention fast. Then use that attention to tie in a message about your brand. Using trends often helps social media post performance and might even get you promoted to accounts similar to your current followers.

Ideas To Get Your Started

Post your (tasteful) take on the latest meme, focusing on your industry or offerings
Take inspiration from businesses you see on your Instagram explore tab, Pinterest, and more; most of these posts are there because they’re performed well
Think about how you can relate a news event, TV show, or other phenomenon to your business, then turn it into a blog post

Make A Joke

Humor is a great way to grab someone’s attention. The effort to incorporate humor goes a long way here – even if your jokes don’t land, you’ve still bought yourself a few moments of the reader’s time. And if your humor does hit the mark, your content is much more likely to be remembered, liked, and shared.

Ideas To Get Your Started

Post a joke setup where the user needs to interact or read on for the punchline
Talk about your selling points in a specific, lighthearted examples; instead of saying “we save you time”, say “we give you more time for meetings that could’ve been emails”
Poke fun at your own business, your industry, or common client pain points

Catch Them With A Hook

You want all your copy to be snappy and attention-grabbing, but that’s especially true on the front end of your content. Whether it’s an email subject line, a Google search headline, or bold text on a social media graphic, whatever comes first is what’s most likely to be read. If you can grab their attention there, you can get them to keep reading. Give them a cliffhanger, a helpful insight, or an intriguing statistic to capture their interest.

Ideas To Get Your Started

Start with a common question; if they’ve thought about it before, they’ll want to read on
Feature the benefits first, then explain how your product/services offers that benefit
Break up longer copy with subheadings, bullet points, graphics, and more to encourage reading
Use numbers and adjectives to capture your content, such as “8 surprising benefits to hiring a digital agency”

Quality Rules Everything

In general, the secret of getting someone to stop scrolling comes down to the quality of your content. Well-written copy, eye-catching graphics, and strategic campaigns will get you the most engagement and clicks every time.

Need some help stopping the scroll? Liquid Creative helps small businesses manage their social media, run effective digital advertising campaigns, and more! We can help you enhance your presence both online and off, with strategic ways to reach your business objectives. Our team crafts solutions for any business goal. Call, email, or leave us a message to see what we can do for you!

Why You Should Use Video In Your Social Media Strategy

Posted on November 5, 2020March 26, 2022 by liquid

In a time where social media is overflowing with content, how can your business stand out from the crowd? Video is a powerful way to communicate your brand story and build relationships with your audience. Meaningful and inspired videos convey your message and propel your brand to connect with your desired audience. Here are the top three reasons why video content should be used in your social media strategy:

1. Improves Brand Awareness

Video unlocks the ability to build brand personality, establish trust and tell your story. Video helps to put a face and personality to your brand and in return, your audience begins to build trust. Once consumers trust your brand, they are more likely to purchase your products or use your services more than once. When your consumers feel connected to your brand and understand your values, you have achieved what is known as brand association. In 2020, video ads were the #1 way consumers discovered a brand and made a purchase. With video content that clearly reflects your brand, brand association increases.

2. Fosters Connection

Video content is the best way to give consumers exactly what they’re searching for: connection. Content that is short, helpful and engaging allows your brand to be personal, not polished. Businesses often focus on turning unconnected customers into highly satisfied ones but turning already highly satisfied customers into fully connected customers can have three times the return in revenue and market share. Implementing video in your social media strategy humanizes your brand and produces fully connected customers.

3. Boosts Engagement

Strong social media engagement helps you measure the impact of your brand’s communication efforts. Let’s be honest, it’s much easier to continue scrolling through photos on your feed than to stop and read an entire caption. However, when sound comes into play and a video starts rolling, you’re more likely to stop, listen and watch. Recent studies show 59% of executives would rather watch a video than read text. In 2020, video is the #1 form of media used in content strategy to increase audience engagement.

Ok, now what?

You agree video is important, so how do you get the cameras rolling? It’s time to invest in a team that specializes in creating compelling video content. We can help! Liquid Creative is a full-service marketing agency that assists in video production, coordination, scriptwriting and art direction to create videos that will truly capture the essence of your brand and connect with your audience.

LinkedIn: Using the professional platform for your business

Posted on September 3, 2020March 26, 2022 by liquid

Have you been waiting to find a digital space filled with professionals, creatives and eager students looking to learn and invest in their next career step? LinkedIn is one of the largest social networks today with over 660 million users across the globe. It connects professionals through networking and career development. Although LinkedIn is often put on the back burner when it comes to social media marketing for businesses, it is an extremely powerful tool when put to its fullest potential.

Using Linkedin for your business can help you build a community, extend your brand’s reach, connect with prospective clients, boost leads and provide a space to network with industry leaders. Here are the top three reasons why LinkedIn is the tool to take your business to the next level.

Improves Brand Awareness

Awareness drives demand for your business’ products and services. When people are aware of your business, you become a familiar face to prospective clients and industry professionals, even without them clicking on a link or commenting on your most recent post. People know who you are, what you stand for and what you are best at. You can foster business relationships by sharing your brand story in a compelling way, providing meaningful content and showing your company values in action.

Provides a Platform for Education

People are wired for connection. Any business can provide a specific set of products and services, but what makes your business stand out from the crowd? LinkedIn provides you with a platform to educate your audience and establish credibility. When you create content that backs up the services you provide, you are nurturing people’s trust in your brand. You have the power to establish credibility, keep up with industry trends and be part of the conversation.

Boost Leads and Conversions

When using LinkedIn’s marketing tools, you can market and attract quality leads that add greater value to your business. When running LinkedIn campaigns, you can target your ideal clients through the website retargeting feature in LinkedIn Matched Audiences. Have you ever been interested in a product but didn’t have the patience to fill out an information form? Well, LinkedIn’s got your back. The LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms provide interested prospects with simple pre-filled forms within the app, leaving you with a higher number of better quality leads.

Ok, now what?

Now that you know the value behind using LinkedIn for your professional business, it’s time to invest in building a seamless marketing strategy designed for your business. We can help! Our strategy team is ready to help you generate the top-notch leads you’ve been dreaming of.

Trend Spotting: Real-World Take on the Digital Space

Posted on July 1, 2020March 26, 2022 by liquid

There’s a lot of noise in the digital marketing world. We’re here to weigh in, distill information, and shed some light on what is working and what isn’t in the ever-changing landscape of digital marketing.

1. Facebook Email Marketing Tool

Recently, business page managers have been reporting a new feature added to the pages app. The Marketing Emails feature allows users to send customized marketing emails to subscribers directly from Facebook. The social media platform contacts are manually uploaded and details like birthdays, addresses, labels, and notes can be added. Essentially, it’s a CRM within the Facebook environment. The stand-out opportunity this feature provides is the ability to create custom and lookalike audiences based on the data of your contacts.

2. Google Discovery Ads

Google advertisers can now promote products on the Discovery Feed! The Discovery Feed offers more adaptability for targeting than search, including remarketing. This is directly in competition with Facebook Pixel and is a powerful tool for marketers. There are two bidding strategies: Target CPA (cost per action), and conversion optimization. These are both great for driving sales rather than increasing awareness. These ads can run on YouTube, Gmail, and in the Discovery Feed. According to Google, nearly 85 percent of people will take action within 24 hours of discovering a new product. This means Discovery Feed ads can be a strong opportunity to drive sales as a part of your digital marketing plan.

3. Facebook News Launches

Facebook has rolled-out Facebook News in an effort to attract publishers and give readers an opportunity to consume even more content without leaving the platform. Facebook has a troubled past with news, having inadvertently allowed fake news to be disseminated widely on the platform. With the News feature, users can react and share articles but the comments section has been removed. The news available to users is a blend of local and national news and is impacted by their ability to hide topics or publishers that they don’t want to see. Facebook is attempting to avoid spreading misinformation by restricting publishers to organizations with wide readership and those who abide by integrity standards. The News feature is now live on the mobile app.

Be on top of the latest information in the digital marketing world. Each month, we’ll take a look at what’s changing in the industry and how it can help you make decisions for your business. Contact us today to move your digital strategy forward.