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Where The Trade Buys

Five trendsetters in digital marketing to follow this year
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By Gary Peeling, CEO at Where The Trade Buys

Whether it’s changes in algorithms, innovations in technology, or cultural trends that are gathering swarms of online attention, there is always something new to keep on top of in the digital marketing sector. Because of the ever-changing face of digital marketing, there are always new trailblazers and trend setters to watch out for. 

AI first began to influence the world of marketing in 2019 and, according to the Smart Insights report, content marketing was thought to be the single marketing activity to make the biggest impact. Throughout the year, consumers were swayed by experiences rather than traditional ads, and we continued in the shift away from television advertising towards a completely digital world based on big data.

With all of this in mind, we consulted Google’s own data dig into their marketing resource ‘Think with Google’. They uncovered the most-read articles of 2019 on this go-to marketing resource platform. Here’s what marketing experts were most interested in over the past year.

  1. Inside Google Marketing: 3 ways we think about SEO by Sean O’Keefe

“How does Google approach SEO?” is the golden question in marketing. Every digital marketer wants an answer to this almighty query. It’s no wonder that this topic was the most read and hotly discussed in 2019. With a constantly changing, mysterious algorithm, it is essential that digital marketers stay up to date with this topic. Sean O’Keefe leads the way and gives us all an insight into the world of Google. 

Beauty products have dominated the marketing world over the past year and Rihanna’s Fenty range lead the way with the slogan “Beauty for All”. The concept of a truly inclusive brand shook up the way digital marketers approach the beauty industry. Merging marketing with celebrity culture and progressive positivity, there’s no wonder that this piece brought hooked in so many readers. 

Everyone enjoys a viral video. Especially one that rakes in thousands of pounds! In this think piece, Travis Chambers explains the marketing beauty of telling a story and monetising it — something that we could all learn from! Clearly, in 2019 video marketing still reigned, and storytelling was key to any brand’s success. 

If we needed any further evidence that video marketing was king in 2019, Sadie Thoma brings it. The fact that this piece was among the highest in terms of engagement proves that many digital marketing agencies focussed on telling their brand’s story through video. 

Again, storytelling is at the centre of this piece, shedding light on what we were most focussed on in 2019. Quick fixes and short marketing campaigns clearly didn’t capture people’s attention in 2019. Instead, we wanted to know the full story. For this article, Haller made reference to the Nemeziz soccer shoe launch by Adidas and how their marketing team utilised YouTube’s video ad sequencing tool to guide the viewers through an advertorial journey. 

These marketing trailblazers have set the bar high, and their insights are sure to inform big brands over the coming year. It’s safe to say that many agencies will want to get hold of these expert’s business cards as they plan their strategies for the upcoming years. With big predictions for 2020 in place, including ‘snackable video content’, inclusive marketing, and experience personalisation, it’s time to step into the new decade with a creative mindset and an ambitious digital marketing plan. 

Printer launches ‘Together We Are Stronger’ Poster Campaign to Support NHS
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Printing firm Where The Trade Buys has launched a campaign to show support for the NHS during the Covid-19 pandemic.

As part of its ‘Together We Are Stronger’ campaign, the company is calling on people to print off its posters and colour them in, to their own tastes, and share them on social media.

The campaign launch coincides with the UK public’s overwhelming response to ‘Clap for our Carers’, which saw people head for their balconies, windows, and doors, to applaud NHS health workers in their efforts to fight Covid-19.

Louise Stephenson, Managing Director at Where The Trade Buys, said: “The pressure the NHS staff are under at the moment is unimaginable. At a time of crisis, it is imperative that we all pull together and there’s no better way to do that than through social engagement.

“While the majority of us are limited to the confines of our own homes, it is a great way to interact with our families and celebrate our unsung heroes. Let’s share these posters on social media and show the NHS we are all behind them and put a smile back on their face.” 

The company is urging people to share the posters between family and friends and engage with the hashtag #TogetherAtHome on social media, and will re-tweet anyone who tags it too.

To download the free poster, visit https://www.wherethetradebuys.co.uk/together-at-home

GUEST BLOG: Digital marketing and its relationship with print in 2019
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Online advertising and digital platforms are the main drivers for many marketing campaigns. But in this digital age, can businesses survive without print advertising or, is there a future for digital and print playing to their strengths and working together?

Where The Trade Buys, specialist providers of marketing materials for events, has pulled together a helpful guide with their insights…

A focus on digital campaigns for driving sales

Many campaigns today are lost without digital. With more consumers than ever before spending time on the internet, businesses would be foolish not to get involved with online marketing.

Search engine marketing is one area of advertising that companies are becoming more involved with. As the name suggests, this side of digital marketing focuses on driving a business’ site to the top of the search results around relevant target phrases — from corporate keywords like ‘business cards’ to more fashion-focused targets like ‘dresses’. As a result, this can increase brand exposure and site traffic while improving sales figures.

Social media marketing is another area of business activity that wasn’t popular a few years back. From paid adverts to viral campaigns, the digital world has opened up many doors for small and medium companies in particular — exposing themselves to an audience that may not have known they existed and in turn, generating mass interest.

The digital world has made room for businesses to begin analysing their audience, allowing them to gain a greater insight to their general behaviour and spending patterns. From tracking analytics, whether this is across social media platforms or the main website, marketing managers are able to identify key areas of interest and create campaigns around this to drive sales.

There are many methods businesses can follow to hook an online audience and stay ahead of their competitors. Through a combination of search engine and social media marketing, many brands are beginning to run competitions and deals that are only exclusive to an online following. These low-cost campaigns will benefit from extensive reach.

Does print advertising still have something unique to offer

Although more businesses are beginning to take their focuses online, they shouldn’t neglect the power of print and the opportunities that can come off the back of it. Print very much has a place in modern advertising as it can offer a personal touch unlike no other and generally has a longer life cycle which is always beneficial for the exposure of your brand. Take printed leaflets for example, once they have been posted through the door, whoever picks them up will have to acknowledge your materials!

As well as door-to-door print advertising, business merchandise has not taken a backseat since the sprout in popularity of online promotions. Brand image has never been more important for businesses and shouldn’t be ignored — as a result, more companies are making investments in personalised products that represent what they stand for. Whether this is to help them externally, with the likes of outdoor banners, or internally for your office with the likes of customised calendars.

Although printed goods can often be higher in price, they can drive exceptional ROI to your campaign and create a memorable experience for the receiver which should be a core focus for your print campaign. This can be achieved through eye-catching designs and a choice of luxury materials which will lead to a meaningful engagement.

Print and digital collaborating

Although online and offline advertising are two entirely separate entities, they can work well together, and some brands are already utilising such methods.

Take QR codes for example, more businesses are trying to audiences in the real world to their online solutions. As QR codes are unique and can entice people to be more inquisitive, they can drive immense traffic to online campaigns when printed on banners. Through this method of advertising, marketing departments can track success and gather data on users when they’re interacting with the code. With the data collected from campaigns like this, businesses can record contact information (such as email addresses) if users decide they want to opt-in.

When looking closer to news publications, many of them still offer printed versions of their product — blurring the line between print and digital. With an understanding of the influence they have online, they’ve been able to merge two channels together and to distribute stories to a wider audience.

Near field communication is another area that should be further looked into when it comes to the relationship between online and offline platforms. Essentially, near field communication is a type of technology that has the ability to connect two smart devices — often with the help of a print medium. For example, a section of a poster can be tapped with a mobile phone which will then take the user to the ecommerce site for a specific product.

Digital companies testing out print marketing

Online hospitality marketplace, Airbnb has made huge waves in the way that we now book our holidays. Predominantly a digital business with its own website and downloadable app, the company decided to launch its own magazine for registered hosts (those who advertise their property) which is around 18,000 people. This magazine included personal stories of hosts and their accommodation, encouraging interaction with the digital business through print. Although the magazine production has been put on hold since, it’s a good example of how an online business can promote its services elsewhere.

Remember those iconic Coca Cola bottles that had labels with your name on? The printed labels for the Share A Coke campaign allowed the drink manufacturer to become more personal with its customers and as a result, buyers then shared their bottles on social media which made it an integrated campaign.

As we can see, digital and print both play huge parts in the marketing of a business. But often, they can be most successful when they’re brought together.

Sources

https://www.jeffbullas.com/mixed-marketing-create-joined-print-and-digital-campaigns/

https://www.wsj.com/articles/heres-what-happened-to-pineapple-airbnbs-one-off-print-magazine-1449684006

GUEST BLOG: Best books for digital marketing execs to get ahead
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By Where The Trade Buys

Ready to take your business to the next level? Want to excel in digital marketing? Knowledge is power in business, and in the rapidly evolving sector of technology, staying ahead is critical.

The last thing you want to do is fall behind in business — so learning all there is to know is crucial for success. From how to create the optimum working environment for creative minds, to the world’s next consumer-changing digital trends, there’s a lot you don’t know yet about entrepreneurship and the tech industry…

Bold: How to Go Big, Create Wealth and Impact the World

Bold, written by Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler,is the ideal book for the tech-savvy entrepreneur. The first section of this illuminating book gives you an incredible insight into how start-up companies are today going from ‘initial concept’ to ‘multi-million-pounds status’ quicker than ever, and how tech — like 3D printing and androids — might be influencing this trend.

After, you can learn about business strategies from leading entrepreneurs, such as Richard Branson, before you reach the section that might interest you the most. Bold’s finale discusses the various, actionable ways you can build your company, with tips on creating lucrative campaigns designed to rocket your start-up to the top. A must-read for the big dreamer.

The Industries of the Future

This book by Alec Ross is perfect if you’re in the tech industry and want to know how to incorporate online strategies. A New York Timesbestseller, Ross delivers an extensive insight into your industry’s most important advances, from cybersecurity and robotics to genomics and big data, using input from global leaders.

If you’re searching for Ross’ credentials, you’ll soon discover that he was once the senior advisor for innovation to Hilary Clinton. So, his viewpoint is perceptive, learned and unique. His extensive travel has given him access to the some of the most powerful people in business, and his book is packed with astute observations regarding opportunities for growth and the unknown tech forces that are changing — or will change — the world.

The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future

As a former executive editor of Wired magazine, author, Kevin Kelly discusses and debates how various tech trends will adapt and amend our lives over the next 30 years or so. The best part of The Inevitableis how it paints a picture of ways in which technological forces will overlap, mix and come to co-depend on each other — crucial to know if any of these trends relate to your business.

Featuring sections on VR and AI, the author does an excellent job exploring the long-term impact of tech and it can permeate every aspect of our lives — both personally and as a consumer. Want to prep your company now for the customer of tomorrow? Then, get ahead of the game.

How Google Works

As potentially the most respected tech and digital company on the planet, this book about Google is an absolute must-read for those in the digital industry. How Google Workswas written by Google executives, Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg, and offers an authentic view in the corporate strategy, workplace culture, decision-making, and management philosophy of the brand.

If you want to learn how Google picked itself up after mistakes (remember Wave?) and has maintained an uncatchable drive towards innovation, this book is for you. Glimpse into the birth and evolution of Google to emulate its success.

The Lean Start-Up

If you’re in the digital sector, The Lean Start-Upby Eric Ries is a book you need to take in from cover to cover. This book looks at how new companies can launch, adapt and grow within an industry that has fierce competition. Offering real examples of setting up a new business, you get a great insight into how to make a success of your business and avoid the typical pitfalls.

Your One Word

Author, Evan Carmichael has written an outstanding account of his business process. Carmichael created and sold his biotech company at just 19 years old, so if you want tips on how to emulate his success, make this title the next on your reading list.

Learn how to analyse your business and validate its aims to make sure you enjoy limitless success with Your One Word. If you need a boost of confidence and an injection of motivation to start making your tech-business dreams come true, immerse yourself in the powerful words of Carmichael.

The Upstarts

The Upstartsby Brad Stone offers an amazing glimpse into the inspiring world of two global companies: Uber and Airbnb. Reading this book, you find out how these giants began and developed to become two of the most respected and innovative brands in the world.

Being an entrepreneur, you’ll know the importance of understanding how new trends and innovations can change standards — such as how people travel and what they expect from accommodation — and this is what you learn more about in this book. What can your business do to change the world?

Conscious Capitalism

Capitalism and its benefits is a contentious subject, and this is discussed brilliantly in Conscious Capitalismby authors, Raj Sisodia, and CEO of Whole Foods, John Mackey.

If you’re new to running a digital marketing or tech company, you should have good knowledge of how to deal with staff, shareholders and anyone else who deals with your company. Referencing several other leading companies — such as UPS, Google and Amazon — Conscious Capitalismgives an insightful and expert analysis of how you can infuse your business environment with positivity for the optimum workplace culture.

Having awareness of your company’s impact on the world and how to treat people who interact with your products and services are crucial to success — which is why this book is worth a read!

This article was created by Where The Trade Buys — a leading UK print company and supplier of roll-up banners.

Sources:

https://www.simplybusiness.co.uk/knowledge/articles/2017/08/best-books-to-read-for-small-business-success/

http://www.growthbusiness.co.uk/30-must-read-books-on-business-technology-and-productivity-as-picked-by-entrepreneurs-2552123/

http://uk.businessinsider.com/must-read-tech-books-2017-9?r=US&IR=T/#lean-in-women-work-and-the-will-to-lead-by-sheryl-sandberg-6

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mnewlands/2017/02/24/13-must-read-entrepreneurial-books-for-tech-founders/#1b08967a56b9

https://www.rocketspace.com/tech-startups/top-6-books-for-tech-entrepreneurs

Charity Marketing

GUEST BLOG: Guide to creating a successful charity marketing campaign on a budget
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By Where The Trade Buys

Designing and launching a marketing campaign is tough enough even when you have limitless cash to fund it — so how do you do it if you’re a charity with a strict budget?

Here, we’ve put together a step-by-step guide to help you create, run and launch a cost-effective marketing campaign that will help your organisation achieve its marketing goals.

Marketing goals

What are you expecting from your campaign? Need to improve people’s awareness of your organisation? Have a fundraising target? Want to interest donations from businesses? Decide what it is and let that guide everything else you do to make campaign management easier and prevent unnecessary spending.

Any target is achievable, as long as your objectives are precise, measurable and realistic.

Analyse your target audience

Audience research is central to any marketing campaign — so get this completed as early as possible. Who is the audience you want to target in this campaign? A good place to start might be with your organisation’s current donors. This way, you can find out the interests, likes and motivations of people who already choose to donate to you, which will help you create content that others will engage with. You can do this for free by using your website’s analytics and metrics, checking out social media accounts, or via a postal survey.

Defining your audience now means you’re less likely to make an error later that could take unnecessary money from your marketing budget.

Determine your campaign’s key message

Now, it’s time to decide on your campaign’s central message — if you want people to identify with one idea or concept, what would it be?

Why not create a story? Some of the most powerful charity marketing campaigns have succeeded due to how they tell a story pertaining to the organisation. For example; US organisation, charity: water, dedicates a section of its website to real-life stories of people the charity has helped, and is renowned for its vivid images and poignant videos.

Take a look at how your organisation has helped others and pick a willing case study to build a narrative around. Carry out interviews, take pictures and even do a ‘day-in-the-life-of’ detailing a colleague or recent beneficiary of your charity. Good photos and insightful case studies make excellent pamphlets and leaflets that you can post around your local area. After all, showing people what your charity can do is far more effective than just telling them.

Write effective campaign copy

Your campaign content must maintain a chatty and friendly tone throughout if you want to engage with your audience. Nobody wants to read something that sounds stiff, stuffy and arrogant.

Strong, emotive and informative copy is an excellent accompaniment to a well-shot video or powerful photo, and often helps get your message across. Make sure your copy is punchy and powerful with a strong key message — such as: ‘Likes don’t save lives’ from UNICEF Sweden or ‘Help is a four-legged word’ from Canine Companions. Taglines like these jump off print marketing products like pull-up banners and posters. If you pair with a striking image, you massively increase your chances of marketing success.

What if you need extra funding?

While there are ways to fund your own marketing campaign, it’s always good to see if you can get extra funding. The sources below are good places to start:

  • Public: today, people are encouraged to donate due to government-introduced measures such as: Gift Aid (charities can claim back tax from donations) and Payroll Giving (employees donate automatically from their monthly wage).
  • Business: apparently, the number of corporate donations are growing.
  • Trusts: there are thousands of grant-making foundations across the UK which collectively have given billions of pounds to charitable causes.
  • Local government: although the amount given from these bodies differs, you can browse this list of local authorities for more information.

Get your campaign seen and heard

When it’s time to distribute materials for your campaign, you want to capitalise on all avenues in order to maximise the chances that your campaign will reach a wide audience.

Print marketing is an effective way to reach people with a professional-looking, well thought-out product that they can keep. Almost 80% of charitable donations come from direct mail, according to a report by the Institute of Fundraising. The same report detailed that print inspires loyalty, with more than half of the people surveyed stating that they find print the most credible marketing channel and a quarter keeping printed products for future reference. Since print is such a popular marketing channel for charities, many design and print agencies work closely and often with non-profit organisations. So, don’t hold back from getting in touch and discussing your options.

To help you stick to your budget, incorporate your social media platforms and reach people with posts, photos and Tweets. This format is a good way to engage with a lot of people quickly. In 2014, the Soldiers’, Sailors’ and Airmen’s Families Association (SSAFA) launched a video marketing campaign to raise awareness and hallmark the 100th anniversary of the First World War. Despite only running for two weeks, the campaign was covered hundreds of times in the media and achieved more than 14,000 social media shares.

It’s definitely achievable to create a functional, effective marketing campaign without spending thousands. Keep these tips in mind when you decide to design and launch your own campaign.

Sources:

http://www.companygiving.org.uk/content/help/sources-of-funding.aspx

 https://econsultancy.com/blog/62645-five-tips-for-charities-to-rock-their-digital-marketing

https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/05/23/charity-fundraising-print-importance-direct-mail-infographic/#.We8LHmhSyUk

https://blog.kissmetrics.com/marketing-lessons-from-charitywater/

Print Marketing

GUEST BLOG: Why should start-ups take advantage of print marketing?
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By Where The Trade Buys

Despite the rumours and the attitudes in the world of business, print is not dead!

Whilst many companies are making a transition towards a more digitally focused marketing strategy, they could be missing out on the benefits that still exist for the traditional method of print marketing, as they get carried away with the digital craze.

Because digital platforms have so many active users, companies believe their business has the best chance of getting their message across to their audience on social and digital platforms – however, 80% of online users do not click on any online banner adverts, meaning just 20% do!

Is it worth paying the competitive price for the digital space for just 20% – to which not all of those users will convert into sales? If you also consider that magazines are still very much a part of our lives, with 63% of UK adults still reading magazines, according to YouGov – whereas only one in ten UK adults regularly read online magazines – maybe digital isn’t so perfect after all.

Print marketing, however, is tried and tested, and it works – it still exists for a reason, and that is because it is successful, when done properly. 34% of all printing is for advertising and marketing products, such as event programmes, tickets etc, and 30% is attributed to newspapers, magazine and brochures etc. The print industry is heavily reliant on marketing and advertising.

So why, and how, can entrepreneurs utilise print marketing, as opposed to digital marketing, to take their start-ups down the road of success – without breaking the bank?

Direct mail is sometimes referred to as ‘junk mail’, however, figures suggest that the term junk mail couldn’t be further from reality. In 2015, more than 2.5 billion direct mail coupons were redeemed and 54% of consumers that were surveyed revealed that they want to receive direct mail from brands that they are interested in. With 80-90% of direct mail getting opened, and just 20-30% of emails getting opened, there is a clear winner for start-up companies looking to get their message across to potential new consumers.

A big concern for many entrepreneurs is their marketing budget – but for those start-ups which don’t have money to burn when it comes to their marketing campaigns, it doesn’t mean your campaign won’t succeed. There are several print marketing techniques that can make your campaign a success whilst on a budget.

According to findings from StartUp Britain (a national campaign supported by the government), there are around 80 new businesses launching in the UK every hour, so it’s clear that entrepreneurial competition is fierce. Direct mail and brochures are a good place to start – neither need to break the bank either, but it is a big business. In 2009, direct mail accounted for 10.7% of the UK’s whole advertising expenditure.

Creating a brochure or leaflet on a budget doesn’t mean you have to compromise on quality. Simplicity works. Your main priority when designing your brochure is to ensure your branding is clear, your message stands out and your style is eye catching. Remember you are on a budget so you don’t have pages and pages to play with; stick to 8-12 pages. You want to encourage consumers to act after all, not take up an hour of their time reading your brochure. There are several must-haves, which even when designing on a budget, you must consider:

  • Attention grabbing headline.
  • Unique selling point(s).
  • Call to action.
  • Clear design.
  • Concise content – keep this limited to ‘need-to-know’ information as you don’t want to throw too much information at consumers, and this will also save you money in printing costs.
  • Keep everything accurate – don’t allow mistakes to slip through the net.

When your brochure or leaflet is ready for print, where budget is concerned, it is important to print the right amount of copies. Whilst the more copies you order, the less you pay per copy, ordering 500 brochures if you are only going to use 250 is simply a waste. Your spent money is likely to sit on a coffee table or in a cupboard gathering dust on unused brochures too. Therefore, make sure you utilise your budget wisely.

Overall, print marketing, although a traditional marketing method, is tried, tested and trusted. If the figures aren’t enough to convince you, then the affordability of it could sway you. Whilst digital platforms are useful to have to engage with customers on a familiar and mobile platform, print marketing has been proven to drive results. For start-ups, print marketing is definitely something that should be addressed.

www.wherethetradebuys.co.uk

Sources

https://smallbiztrends.com/2017/01/direct-mail-marketing-statistics.html

http://www.britishprint.com/downloads/documents/HE6LE8HOCC_UK_PRINTING_Facts_and_Figures_webflyer.pdf