Greg Mondshein & Becky Honeyman

Source[De]Coded: ✏️ Rewrite Old-School Marketing Tactics

Hey all!

Greg spent a few days down at the University of Florida engaging with students and helping faculty update their curriculum. Despite all the news around the defunding of diversity programs in Florida, the future is bright. Faculty remains steadfast in their goals to make sure all voices are heard and these kids are whip-smart. It’s clear, they may have lost a battle, but everyone is focused on winning, and we’re in it with them 🤜🏼

This week’s newsletter takes a look at a new key lead gen metric all organizations should keep an eye on, how to have more fun with your consumers, and why you should be optimizing your marketing for mobile (especially as a B2B organization).

Until next time!

Prioritize brand building: Why brand affinity is a vital lead gen metric to track

TL;DR: Lead gen measurement and attribution have always been the gold standard in measuring B2B marketing success… but perhaps there’s another metric to keep in mind. The underlying goal of demand generation is to foster more leads and turn them into customers. In addition to generating more leads, we should also consider fostering more qualified, warm leads. This is where brand affinity and brand interest can help swing the demand generation curve into a more elevated, strategic focus.

Takeaway: Proving ROI can be a complex art of analyzing lead gen metrics. Site traffic and ad engagement can help you understand how your content is performing and whether there’s interest in your messaging. But at the end of the day, lead generation should be focused on bringing people together who are interested in your solution, your niche, or the pain point your brand solves. Lead gen metrics can help signify the level of intent of a potential buyer, and we’re seeing that strong brand recall and preference are often at the top level of intent. How can you invest in brand building? Create robust content engines, pivot your ads with a focus on brand recall and recognition, or prioritize audience engagement. It’s just like the old saying goes: if you build it, they will come.

Consider:

• What are your current success metrics for analyzing ROI? Are there other indicators of success you may not be considering?
• Could your company benefit from a more brand awareness-focused campaign?

Get creative with customers: Olipop’s latest campaign employs fans to create brand content

TL;DR: DTC better-for-you soda brand Olipop is looking to hire two best friends to join the company as “senior soda consultants” and send them on an all-expenses-paid trip across the U.S. to create content for the brand. The campaign showcases Olipop’s commitment to influencer marketing and showcases how creators still hold relevance in marketing plans.

Takeaway: Olipop’s campaign comes at a time when research shows creator-led ads have a 1.4x greater impact on building brand loyalty and a 1.3x greater impact on inspiring brand advocacy. The data shows that influencer marketing still has value. So much so that 44% of marketers this year plan to increase their investment in content creators. Looking beyond the potential metrics for success, a campaign like this is a fun and creative way to engage your customer, and make them feel appreciated and included in your brand’s trajectory, while providing a new avenue for engagement. Olipop is betting on their biggest fans and letting them in on the brand process – a win for all parties involved.

Consider:

• How could you have more fun with your consumers?
• Could your brand benefit from influencer marketing? Influencers and creators are everywhere within every niche, serving almost every product focus.

Optimize for mobile: Mobile marketing isn’t just for B2C orgs anymore

TL;DR: 85% of Americans own a smartphone, and 15% of American adults rely on their mobile phones as their sole internet outlet, so don’t assume that your audience is only reaching your brand through your desktop website. While the use case for consumer brands has long been an obvious one, there’s a lot of value for B2B brands to also integrate mobile marketing into their campaigns, including in mobile-optimized websites, SMS or text message marketing, and mobile-friendly email marketing and advertising.

Takeaway: There are many opportunities for B2B brands to integrate mobile marketing, from small edits to device-targeted and segmented campaigns. The no-brainer move is to ensure all of your content is optimized for mobile – this includes making sure your website, landing pages, and emails are optimized for smaller screens, simplified navigation, and fast loading times. Another key area may be examining your mobile metrics to understand how much of your traffic is already coming from mobile. This can help you figure out which mobile tactics to employ and set a baseline for success. The future of marketing is increasingly mobile, so the earlier you can identify opportunities for your brand, the better.

Consider:

• Is your brand content and digital presence optimized for mobile devices? If not, where can you improve?
• How does your digital audience spend time on mobile? Think about the social networks they scroll, the emails they get in their inbox, and how they communicate with colleagues through calls or SMS. Understanding their actions can help you understand where your brand should show up.

by shannon.haggerty

Source[De]Coded: 🔮 Embrace The Future of B2B Marketing

Hey all!

Big news coming out of SourceCode in the last week. We hired Kevin Dulaney as our EVP, Head of Technology and Innovation. He’s working to optimize the business, making sure we’re leveraging automation and AI where possible, and building out some exciting new marcomm products (stay tuned on this front). 

Equally as important (arguably), we gave our NYC office a bit of a facelift, and as a part of that we are the proud new owners of a neon sign (ok, LED…but still). 

This week’s newsletter has us diving into B2B marketing and the shift to targeting the people that make up the organizations, not the organizations themselves (wink wink, nod nod…ahem…Storyhub) as well as the impact AI is having on the advertising business.

Enjoy and see ya next time!

Greg & Becky

The consumerization of B2B marketing: B2B purchasing is shifting towards the individual consumer rather than the organization

TL;DR: The old-school approach to B2B marketing often includes sales calls, in-person events, and corporate sponsorships. But as digital marketing has ramped up in recent years, companies are relying more and more on online research, social media, review sites, and peer communities. This new school of thought targets B2B buyers personally – through their inboxes, social feeds, and internet ads – allowing multiple touch points to help close the organizational deal.

Takeaway: We’ve probably all been at the receiving end of this shift. You scroll on social media only to see ads for a corporate industry solution alongside ads for the new restaurant you’ve been wanting to try out. For better or for worse, our work and lives blend into our online identities. From a corporate perspective, this is great news if you’re trying to close a deal with a new buyer, but the variety of ads on a user’s newsfeed is important to consider. Your brand is not just competing for attention amongst your industry competitors anymore. Think of all the adjacent brands consumers are seeing alongside your brand – the clothing brands, the travel destinations, the lifestyle purchases, the entertainment options. When you think of how your B2B brand matches up to a buyer’s overall purchasing decisions, you’re telling the buyer that your brand belongs in their solutions lineup.

Consider:

• What other brands might your buyer be seeing across their digital channels? Think outside your industry or product offering.
• How can you personalize your marketing to speak to the individual buyer (not just the corporation they work for)?

AI is paying off for advertisers: Meta’s investing aggressively in AI solutions to increase efficiency

TL;DR: Generative AI has already fueled a 24% year-over-year increase in Meta’s ad business in Q4 for a total of $38.7 billion. This news comes after Meta’s “year of efficiency” and a deeper push to integrate AI across business solutions. The growth can be attributed mostly to Meta’s Advantage tools, including the Advantage+ Shopping solution that automates campaign creation using AI. Companies using the tool saw positive results including a 41% increase in return on ad spend.

Takeaway: You should absolutely be using AI to drive efficiency wherever possible, and ad buys are a perfect place to start. Brands using Meta’s Advantage tools noted that Advantage+ allowed them to “really just focus on creative… focus on overall strategy and concepting, but not necessarily spending too much time in the platform media buying.” Media buying is highly algorithmic, which makes it perfect for AI to perform. Brands are better off spending human resources on tasks AI is less good at, like crafting creative assets or plotting campaign strategies.

Consider:

• How can AI make your advertising more efficient?
• What is the best use of your human energy and time?

Gen Z & Millennial content preferences: How to reach the future B2B buyers and decision-makers

TL;DR: A few new studies recently dropped on Gen Z and young millennial content and brand interests. According to YPulse, 69% of 13 to 39-year-olds say they’re more likely to purchase brands that are considered “cool” – for 25 to 39-year-olds that includes brands like Nike, Savage x Fenty, and YouTube. Simultaneously, the Pew Research Center found that YouTube and Facebook were the top visited social media sites in 2023 (with 93% of Americans ages 18-29 using YouTube).

Takeaway: This is all interesting to note because, to add one more study to the mix, a July 2023 survey from Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs found that 57% of B2B content marketers worldwide face challenges creating the right content for their audience. It’s hard to make content when you don’t know where your audience is and what’s resonating with them. A problem that will only be exacerbated by changing buyer demographics and interests. To keep up with the future of B2B buyers and decision-makers, it’s important to study the brands that are resonating with them. Similarly, set yourself up for success by being present on the right digital platforms. When you’re creating with this future buyer in mind, you might find it becomes easier to create the right content consistently.

Consider:

• What are Nike and YouTube doing that makes them “cool” with these younger audiences? 
• How can you show up on the top content platforms for your audience? Can you create visual content that resonates across popular sites like YouTube and Facebook?

by shannon.haggerty

Source[De]Coded: 🏈 Lessons From Super Bowl LVIII Ads

Hey all! Were any of you Niners fans ‘sick’ yesterday with a broken heart? 😅 So…we couldn’t help ourselves and had to jump on the Super Bowl insights bandwagon. We did some quick thinking on the use of QR codes and how effective they might be, customized product launches, and the interesting approach Pfizer took with advertising to a B2B audience on a B2C medium. Check it out and let us know what you think! 

Side note - did you see what we did?

Conversion or Distraction?: Super Bowl advertisers used QR codes to get consumers to take action

TL;DR: The Super Bowl commercials tried really hard this year to get viewers to convert. Many of them – including TurboTax and NYX – included QR codes to scan. Apple encouraged viewers to log onto Apple Music after Usher’s halftime show. Snapchat and Pfizer asked viewers to visit a custom website. Ryan Reynolds even timed a trailer for the new Deadpool movie to be released on social media with a pre-game ad.

Takeaway: Converting viewers is hard. Especially with less trackable ad buys like commercials or OOH formats. So, the gut reaction to create a QR code or tangible next action for viewers makes sense. But we also have to be real with ourselves… as a viewer, would you scan the QR code just after watching an ad? Would you remember a whole URL to visit a website? Viewers need to be incentivized to take that next action. Even though it doesn’t seem like asking a lot, when viewers are overstimulated with the event, taking action on a brand’s ad can still be a big jump. Brands need to make the barrier for entry easy, provide a clear and worthwhile benefit to engaging, and combine it with engaging creative that gets people excited.

Consider:

• What CTA complements the original format of your advertising? QR codes are usually the easiest, but an easy-to-remember link might be just as useful.
• Do you even need a CTA? It seems counterintuitive, but sometimes having really strong creative without a push to the next action can, in turn, convince audiences to seek more information about your brand or product.

Making product launches relevant: Bluesky launched custom feeds for the Super Bowl – with and without Taylor Swift

TL;DR: To take on live posting competition from Twitter/X, alternative social network Bluesky launched custom timeline feeds for Super Bowl fans. One feed showcased conversations around the big game, while another included news about Taylor Swift cheering on her boyfriend Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. The custom experience also demonstrated Bluesky’s support for algorithmic choice as a decentralized version of Twitter.

Takeaway: Timing a new product launch with a core feature aligned with their mission is a really strong move. It also emphasizes how important framing a story can be to any product launch. Bluesky could have had a keynote presentation talking about their differentiating factors from Twitter and other social networks while announcing their new decentralized features. A move that may have been successful, but is deeply steeped in industry jargon and may only feel important to those invested in social platforms or new tech. Adding the feature in the context of Super Bowl conversations adds urgency to the announcement, makes it tangible and understandable for the average user, and provides a rebuttal to the question, “Is X the only social network for live posting about events?”

Consider:

• When planning a product launch, who are you trying to reach? Is it those already in the know or is it a wider, more generic audience?
• Depending on your audience, is the story you’re telling the right one? Could you make it more interesting with manufactured urgency or a connection to a larger story?

B2B2C Ads: Pfizer’s Super Bowl ad debut features cancer treatments

TL;DR: Pfizer debuted their first-ever Super Bowl ad on the topic of fighting cancer. The ad used Queen’s hit song “Don’t Stop Me Now” alongside images reanimating the history of science featuring Sir Isaac Newton, Galileo, and Albert Einstein among others. The ad finished with a CTA to Pfizer’s site, LetsOutdoCancer.com.

Takeaway: Pfizer faced two challenges with this campaign: advertising their scientific commitments to a consumer-facing audience and covering a darker, difficult subject matter like cancer treatments. Their focus on the history of scientific achievements showcases their mission of being at the forefront of treatments – like these historic figures – and makes it easier to approach the difficult conversations that come with those treatments. And while the average viewer won’t necessarily buy a product from Pfizer, we know that more general advertising can have effects on B2B success. Whether it’s reaching B2B buyers in their downtime or reaching a B2C audience who has influence with B2B buyers (such as a patient asking a doctor for a specific treatment), these wide-ranging opportunities hold a lot of value.

Consider:

• We often think of this sort of consumer-facing advertising as mostly for a B2C audience. But if you’re a B2B company, you might still find value here. Is there an opportunity in testing out an ad format that isn’t typically in your industry’s rotation?
• How can you simplify and make your campaign more approachable? If your subject is complex and potentially tough, like Pfizer’s, can you put a lighter spin on it?

by shannon.haggerty