by hijinxmarketing | Content Marketing, Brand
Recently, I have been playing this matching game on my phone. They dump random items in a pile, and you must match them. They’re all different shapes, sizes, and categories. It got me thinking about my approach to playing this game. It would help me understand how my audience is reacting to my content.
My approach to this game is to look for the large items first. Things that I know I can get out of the way quickly. Second, I look for things with the same colors. If there are a lot of items on the board, I might start creating piles of items with the same color. If there are not a lot of items, I might randomly look for those specific colors, and I keep narrowing down the pile until I get to the items that are harder to see and match.
So, how can that help you with your content marketing? Understanding how your audience sees, reacts, and categorizes your content can help you make content that will resonate more effectively with them.
by hijinxmarketing | Brand
People occasionally ask me why I named my consulting business Hijinx so I figured I would write a blog post about it.
When I decided to start doing consulting, I wanted a name that had a little bit of sass and was unique.
“High jinks” is also known as its shorter form – hijinks. The definition is “boisterous fun”.
Anyone who knows me knows that I am a fan of symmetry and crisp creative design, which is why I changed the ‘ks’ to the letter X. Voila, uniqueness!
by hijinxmarketing | Audience, Brand
One of the best ways to ensure customer loyalty and gain new customers is to ‘do unto others.’ People respect companies that support their local communities. It shows that an organization, big or small, is comprised of people that have a vested interest in the areas where they do business – and the people who live in those areas.
Whether you are helping clean up a park, working at a local food bank, or reading to school children, doing your part to help the people who support your business not only helps them, it helps you as well.
According to a study by Harvard Law School, companies who engage in corporate social responsibility can be seen as providing value to customers on a number of different levels. This increase value proposition leads to more loyal customers. Even customers who are willing to evangelize on a company’s behalf.
Don’t know where to start? Small local business are in a unique position to have a positive impact on their communities.
- Partner with local schools. Schools are always in need, whether it be for supplies or your time. Does your business sell something that a local school could use? Could they use volunteers to help with activities like reading to students or organizing events? Do your employees have expertise in a particular area that would be interesting or useful to students?
- Partner with community organizations. Whether it is a food bank or a beautification project, organizations are often made up of volunteers and are often in need of help. They also often need money. You could offer to underwrite or host a fundraising event.
- Sponsor a local team. Find a local youth sports team that is in need of a sponsor. By providing funding to these teams, the burden is lifted from parents who often have to pay for things like uniforms, snacks and travel. (And those parents will thank you.)
- Organize a drive. Partner with a local organization who is in need of items (clothes, food, supplies) and have a competition among your employees to see who can bring in the most items.
By participating in community outreach activities and allowing your employees the time to volunteer, you also have the added benefit of more engaged and loyal employees. Many companies have a ‘Day of Caring’ in which they either plan an entire day of community activities or allow their employees a day to participate in their favorite community outreach.
Do you have a unique community outreach program? Share with us in the comments or on social media.
by hijinxmarketing | Brand, Marketing Best Practices, Strategy
When it comes to customer loyalty programs, there are two schools of thought. The first is that providing enticements to customers should not be necessary and is a cost without great reward for the company. The second is that offering rewards to your customers is just good business and inspires, well….loyalty.
Over the past few years, rewards program companies have cropped up. Some are better than others. Some understand the nature of customer loyalty and some are just going through the motions. If you will be looking to start a customer loyalty, be sure to do your research before choosing a vendor. Once you start, you are stuck with what you purchased unless you want to give your customers whiplash and degrade customer loyalty.
So should you employ this type of customer engagement? That depends. You first need to ask yourself some questions:
- Are you customers repeat customers? If you sell something that people don’t buy very often, having a customer loyalty program probably won’t change that.
- What reward could you offer that will get your customers to come back? If you own a restaurant with a very high price point, getting a $5 credit after 5 visits is not most likely going to be a reason to come back.
- Can you use a loyalty program to encourage customer referrals? These types of programs aren’t just to bring current customers back, but can be used to garner new customers as well.
Do you have a customer loyalty program? How is it going? Have you had growing pains? Let us know about in the comments or on social media!
by hijinxmarketing | Brand
According to Forbes1, the most valuable brands in the world are:
Are there any that you don’t recognize? I doubt it. What makes these brands so valuable? There are a number of variables that go into strong brands.
- Consistency – No matter whether you are looking at a product package, their social media account or a television ad, these brands will have a similar look and feel across platforms. That is why you recognize the logos above – you have seen them over and over again.
- Purpose – Every good brand has a purpose. And that purpose often evokes emotion. This is often manifested through their mission and vision. It is the reason they exist (other than to make money). For example, Google’s mission is “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”2
- Loyalty – Every one of the brands above has loyal customers. Customers that would not buy from a competitor. Just look at the loyalists that choose Android over Apple or vice versa. And increasingly, companies (particularly tech companies) are finding ways to make their products even more a part of your lives (think cars powered by Apple or Android).
How what does your brand say?
1 http://www.forbes.com/powerful-brands/
2 https://www.google.com/about/company/
