Content marketing can easily be considered to be the most effective way to reach out to your target audience. It is certainly not a new concept when it comes to digital marketing, but it is definitely one of the most important ones.
Content marketing has changed the way interaction takes place between a brand and its customers. And with the popularity of social media, it has become all the more important for brands to communicate on a more personal level to win the trust and loyalty of customers.
So, why is content marketing important?
a. Content Marketing Provides an identity to the brand
When you have a business, you have to make people aware of it and show them what the business has in store for them. Through the content that you (a brand) generate, the audience is able to recognize the unique voice of your brand as well as the character and culture associated with it.
In other words, content works like an invitation that will allow people to relate with you and your business in a better way. Content marketing can be used to drive traffic to your business website and if it interests people they will always come back to read articles and blogs that you put up in future.
b. Builds a loyal customer base
Source: Idea Factor
Giving relevant and good information free of cost can provide your brand with a strong base of loyal followers and customers. Meaningful content always ensures that customers invest their time in your brand. Good, high quality content published at regular intervals will definitely have your followers come back to your website again and again.
c. Helps in building trust
When you publish high quality and relevant content, it helps your audience build a level of trust with your brand. As you keep putting out more and more content, the more qualified your brand becomes in the eyes of the audience. This trust in your brand not only leads to happy and loyal customers but also to an increase in sales.
d. More sharing and feedback
In this age of social media, if the audience likes your content, they will share it through their personal social media accounts. The more people like, comment and share the content, the more exposure your brand will receive. Content can spread through the Internet at a very rapid speed, reaching people that you couldn’t have otherwise.
Moreover, content that gets circulated on social media will always have feedback. The opinion of your customers is very important as it helps to analyze their behavior, attitude and needs. There is also an underlying psychology behind the content creation. Good content will always lead to discussion, publicity and eventually customer loyalty.
e. Content Marketing works great for SEO
Source: DOZ
Good quality content is the driving force for SEO. If you come up with an article or a blog and infuse it with keywords related to your brand, there are very high chances of positive repercussions. The organic traffic funneled through SEO also helps in boosting conversion rate through content marketing.
f. Content Adds value
No matter what business you are into, you have to publish pertinent content if you want to be at the top of your game. People visit your official website and social media pages to know more about your brand and get some valuable insights. Be it video snippets, guidelines or amusing pictures, meaningful content will ensure that your audience keeps coming back to visit your website/social media pages at regular intervals.
g. Helps in generating new leads
Quality content will always create brand awareness in the market. As more and more people get to know your brand, the possibility of generating new leads and increasing sales will be higher. Content Marketing helps to attract people who have not yet used your product/service.
Source: Hubspot
As the saying goes, ‘content is king’ and content marketing truly has made its way to be the most important force in the court of marketing. High quality, unique content that is meaningful, useful and entertaining is the key to success for any business.
Ittisa has a dedicated team for content marketing and we ensure that your brand is always talked about. Leave us a message below and we’ll get back to you shortly.
Internet is no more a place where you come only for information; it is also a platform where you share your thoughts, opinions and experiences. In present times, customers have a very important role to play in maintaining a company’s image and reputation – the most vital elements for its success. This is the reason why Online Reputation Management (ORM) is an important part of branding for every company- be it big or small.
A business takes a lot of time to grow and make its name in the market. In this digital era, maintaining the reputation of a business online is of prime importance. With several competitors in the market, ORM is undoubtedly an imperative step to monitor, identify and influence your brand’s online reputation.
Here are a few examples of how some leading brands had their reputation at stake and how they handled the situation –
Dove
Dove, the personal health care brand, known for its campaigns that glorify the real beauty of woman, was recently caught in a soup with their new campaign. They posted a short video in their Facebook page (U.S.) where it showed that a black woman instantly transferred into a white woman after using their product.
Source: nbcnews.com
The video garnered a lot of negative response, where people took screenshots of the video and posted it on Facebook and Twitter. They also wanted to boycott all products by the brand. Initially Dove tried to explain their idea to all those people who left messages on their Facebook page.
After facing so much backlash, the brand decided to own up to their mistake and issued an apology statement across all their social media pages. Dove agreed on the fact that the campaign should not have been approved and assured that such mistakes would not be repeated in the future.
Source: medium.com
Mocambo
The 6 decade old fine dining restaurant in Kolkata, Mocambo was accused of racism when it refused a Mumbai-based marketing woman a seat in the premium restaurant for dinner. The reason – she had her driver for company who was not suitable to be a customer at Mocambo.
Source: 101india
The lady gave a detailed account of the whole story on Facebook, saying that the staff at Mocambo claimed that the driver was not properly dressed and was drunk. According to her, both the claims were untrue. This whole incident drew a lot of criticism from people and Mocambo was accused of casteism, bigotry and elitism.
The management at Mocambo initially denied the whole incident in front of the media. On further questions, the manager supposedly said that the restaurant does not allow roadside people to dine there. He also said that the person who was not allowed was a driver, and that he was dirty.
As a reaction to the whole incident, people used Zomato to downgrade Mocambo. The ratings had dipped from 4.3 to 1.8 with negative reviews as many as 5000 in a day.
The incident led to Mocambo opening a Facebook account overnight (they did not have one previously) and giving out a statement that clearly stated that while they were not apologetic for what happened, it is not their policy to discriminate. The response that was posted after so much delay and deliberation, failed to pacify the outraged people. The response seemed to lack the sincerity and warmth that was required in this situation and triggered a few more angry responses.
Nestle Maggi
Nestle’s Maggi is a well-renowned and popular instant noodle product, especially among children. When a notice was sent to Nestle for deceitful labelling and food practices that were unhealthy, Nestle took more than a year to send Maggi for testing at Kolkata Central Food Laboratory. The results revealed that there were high levels of MSG and lead in the products, elements that are harmful for consumption.
Surprisingly, Nestle did not respond to the warnings by FDA, probably presuming that the controversy would end in a few days. But the whole incident was highlighted by mainstream media and this became a trending topic in the country so much so that the entire instant noodle industry was affected. However, the team issued a Facebook post denying it, and encouraged people to keep having it as always.
Instead of addressing the issue that was a major concern for so many people, Nestle blocked every form of communication with its consumers. For every consumer who wanted a clarification on the matter, there was simply an auto-response and with attached PDF files as a standard answer.
Source: lighthouseinsights.in
Ultimately Maggi was taken off the shelf and relaunched a few months later, assuring consumers that it was once again perfectly safe for consumption.
KFC
KFC ‘s reputation was at stake when a customer reported finding live worms in the food at a KFC outlet in Kerala. The food safety authority of the state temporarily shut down the outlet after an inspection based on the complaint.
The management played the defensive role on its social media pages with just a statement declaring that the matter was under investigation. The issue was addressed after several days, after substantial damage was done. Facebook and Twitter users had already renamed KFC to KFW – Kentucky Fried Worms.
KFC then uploaded a video of their manager in India, who spoke about the food safety standards and even gave a tour of the kitchen of a KFC outlet. However, there was not a single reference to the worm incident though that was what people actually wanted to hear about. Even their official statement only assured the consumers that they were a reputed brand and that the matter was being looked into.
Source: lighthouseinsights.in
The success of a company depends a lot on its reputation and the right strategies can help a brand project itself in a positive way. Successful ORM involves 3 basic steps –
1. Track/Monitor
It is first important to know what people think about your brand and whether the sentiments that are associated with it are positive, negative or neutral. Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and blog pages are some of the best places for tracking and monitoring people’s opinions.
2. Evaluation
Once you have the results, you have to interpret the conversations and opinions that you have collected from monitoring. This is will you an idea about what is really being said about your brand in the market. How you act further will depend on what you learn from this evaluation.
3. Act
A plan of action is required in this last step where you have to implement whatever you have planned. It can be either in a reactive or a proactive manner. One thing to remember is that ORM is a continuous and cyclical process. After implementing your action, you have to go back to the first step to understand if your efforts lead to any positive effects.
Online Reputation Management is an integral part of branding. Ittisa has a dedicated team to build as well as maintain your brand’s online reputation. If you want to know more about how we can manage your brand’s reputation, leave us a message and we’ll be sure to get back to you.
Along with several other things, social media has changed the face of marketing in recent years. Reaching out to an audience is no more a difficulty, and brands ensure that they make the optimal use of the social media channels to increase their brand visibility and spread awareness.
The combination of informative as well as creative content, along with the right dollop of emotion have always managed to strike a chord among the audience. Let’s look at 5 such successful social media campaigns of the 3rd quarter of 2017:
1. Jammu & Kashmir Tourism – Warmest Place on Earth
Kashmir has always been known for its splendid scenic beauty and romantic climate, thus winning the title of ‘Heaven on Earth’. However, this social media campaign by J & K Tourism explores another part of this heavenly abode – the warmth that resides among the residents of the state.
The 5 minute long video depicts Kashmir as the warmest place, showcasing the experience of a young couple with a local man whom they mistake to be their driver.
Launched on September 23, the video went viral across all social media channels, garnering over 2.9 million views on Facebook alone. From travelers to celebrities, it seemed to touch the right chord with everyone.
Have a look at the beautiful video here:
2. Parachute Advanced – The Tough Talk
September 24 is celebrated as Daughter’s Day, and Parachute Advanced showed the world the right way to do it. The campaign highlighted the ‘tough talk’ on issues like love, sex and divorce between a daughter and her father while he was shown oiling her hair.
The video called out to all fathers, with an urge to give their daughters the care and attention they deserve, to help them open up to their fathers and share everything in a casual and comfortable manner – ‘the more you’ll be there, the more they will share.”
The campaign successfully crossed 2.9 million views on Facebook, with over 8000 shares. With the hashtag #LoveJatao, people shared and discussed this campaign to a great extent on social media.
Watch the video of this successful social media campaign, 2017:
3. Star Bharat – Bhula De Darr, Kuch Alag Kar
The newly revamped channel, Star Bharat launched a campaign on Dusshera matching their tagline to encourage people to chase their dreams and not quit because of fear. The idea was to burn all fears this Dussehra. If you still wonder how to make viral videos, here is an insider tips: Make viral videos on small budget.
Three leading icons from the country – Mithali Raj, MS Dhoni and Ajay Devgn were roped in for this campaign. Recently Sidharth Malhotra has also joined the team. These celebrities speak about their own fears and how overcoming these fears have made them what they are today.
The videos have garnered over 3 million views individually on Facebook with over 50k reactions and above 3000 shares.
4. HDFC Life – Being #YoungAndResponsible
Today’s generation is full of young aspiring individuals who believe in their dreams, and with detailed planning and implementation, try to make them a reality. But does the older generation have the same perception about the younger one?
HDFC rolled out the campaign #YoungAndRestless or #YoungAndResponsible, where people with age and experience on their side were shown photographs of two youngsters and asked what they could perceive by just looking at them. Their opinion concluded the fact that the younger generation was #YoungAndRestless.
It was then that these youngsters met them in person and shared stories of the journey that had made them successful showing to the world that they were #YoungAndResponsible.
Harmanpreet Kaur, batswoman, Indian Women’s Cricket Team and Chintan Ruparel, Co-founder, Terribly Tiny Tales were the young achievers that were a part of this campaign. The campaign garnered 9.7 million views with more than 7000 shares and sparked more than 2,30,000 engagements.
5. Britannia Good Day – #SmileMoreForAGoodDay
Titled “A day in the life of a Royal Indian Guard”, Britannia Good Day’s new campaign showcases the daily duty of a guard in front of India Gate, Delhi. He stands still, on his job, seeing thousands of regular joggers, tourists, guides and balloon sellers visiting the place. He cannot smile even when people urge him to, but makes sure to remember all the smiling faces once he is home.
The campaign encourages people to smile as much as they can, and have a Good Day. The video has already crossed 1 million views on Facebook, with over 3500 shares and 45K reactions.
Watch the video here
If Know any videos that we missed but should be part of the list? Tell us in the comments section below. Also, Know more about our video marketing services.
The success of a mobile app can be determined best by observing the number of users that keep coming back to it again and again. However, to achieve that feat, it is necessary that the app is built and designed in the right way. The content, UX, business model and all other aspects, when mixed in the right proportion, leads to a user-friendly app that keeps customers engaged and interested in it.
While designing an app, certain features must be kept in mind for frictionless engagement:
1. Easy onboarding
The abandonment rates are higher in apps that users find difficult to navigate when they start using it for the first time. If there are excessive steps involved for a simple sign up, plenty of information fields that are compulsory to fill right at the start and features that can be complicated or confusing, users may not bother using that app in the first place.
For a seamless experience, logins and the account creation process must be as simple as possible, with multiple options for registration. There should not be an overload of information for the customer right from the beginning. Instead, offering information about a particular feature that the user is seeing on the screen is far more beneficial. Read in details aboutimproving mobile app onboarding.
2. Clarity in every screen
Users tend to understand and eventually consume more information conveniently when the information given out is clear and focused. In order to keep users interested and engaged in the app, each screen should have only one concept. Too much information can overwhelm the user, so ‘lesser the better’ is the motto to follow here.
3. Push notifications
Statistics have revealed that push notifications can actually help in increasing engagement and user retention. Notifications serve an important purpose. First and foremost, it is a gentle reminder to the user that the app is downloaded and present in their phones.
Apart from that, it encourages app usage with targeted messages based on the behavioural pattern of users. Push notifications can also serve to provide users with a persuasive reason to return to the app, like a special discount on any product/service available on the app. You can alsoboost mobile app installs
4. Guided Interaction & Easy navigation
Apps with guided interactions and easy navigation have a higher rate of retention compared to the ones that make it difficult for the user to understand what actually needs to be done once he/she opens the app. An app should always be 3 things – high quality, designed intuitively and frictionless. A few ways by which these features can be obtained are –
User-friendly language
Minimal loading time
Easy navigation
Instant gratification
Convenient UI
Alerts/notifications
5. Iteration of products
One thing that must always be remembered is that all apps are iterative. For frictionless engagement and user retention, it is important to update the app from time to time, provide new features and customise content to keep users continually interested in it.
There are various methods such as tracking user behaviour, analytics or customer feedback that determines what exactly users are looking for in the app and the features of the app that seem to be the driving force. All this information can prove to be useful for product road mapping and ensuring that the updates that are being made are actually valuable to all users.
When launching an app, along with user acquisition, app engagement and user retention is equally important. When regular users become long-term and loyal customers, the lifetime value of the app increases along with the revenue.
Ittisa has a team of dedicated members for building intuitive UI/UX mobile app designs and UI/UX development etc. If you have any questions leave us a message and we will get back to you!
