Insights
INSIGHTS
Gain a competitive edge from our expert insights, strategy, and marketing tips.
Receiving, processing, and leveraging data to make successful strategy shifts & pivots is key to a successful marketing strategy in the current decade. There are multiple things that can be A/B tested, including demographics, advertising copies, and landing pages. Run the campaign like a science experiment, with placebos and variables.
In the dynamic world of digital marketing, staying ahead of the curve is essential for success. Rami Consulting Group, a marketing agency and consulting firm, aims to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) on behalf of our clients to revolutionize Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and advertising strategies. By leveraging AI technologies & integrations, Rami Consulting Group has unlocked new avenues for driving traffic, using marketing budgets more efficiently, increasing conversions, and maximizing ROI. Here are five innovative ways we are using AI to enhance SEO and advertising:
Receiving, processing, and leveraging data to make successful strategy shifts & pivots is key to a successful marketing strategy in the current decade. There are multiple things that can be A/B tested, including demographics, advertising copies, and landing pages. Run the campaign like a science experiment, with placebos and variables.
The COVID-19 outbreak has wreaked financial havoc around the globe, leaving many small-business owners struggling in its wake. According to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), as of March 30—still early in the crisis—92% of small businesses said they had suffered negative effects as a result of the pandemic. Just 5% of small-business owners said they had experienced no effects at all. The short term outlook looks very volatile, and this metric can only be determined when each industry is looked at individually. For the long term, there is lots of hope, but in order to understand how your business can react to your reopening, we must understand consumer trends after COVID 19. The virus is reshaping the industries in real time, rapidly accelerating long-term underlying trends in the space of mere weeks. Research indicates that new habits formed now will endure beyond this crisis, permanently changing what we value, how and where we shop, and how we live and work. Consumers are deeply concerned about the impact of COVID-19, both from a health and economic perspective. People are responding in a variety of ways and have differing attitudes, behaviors and purchasing habits. People across the globe are afraid as they strive to adapt to a new normal. Fear is running high as individuals contemplate what this crisis means for them, but more significantly, what it means for their families and friends, and society at large. Consumers are responding to the crisis in a variety of ways. Some feel anxious and worried, fueling panic-buying of staples and hygiene products. At the other extreme, some consumers remain indifferent to the pandemic and are continuing their business as usual, despite recommendations from government and health professionals. Companies will need to understand how their own consumers are reacting, and develop customized and personalized marketing strategies for each. The days of one-size-fits-all marketing are over. Certain industries may not suffer as much. A survey by Rami Consulting Group showed us that almost 50% of people plan to travel when shelter in place orders are lifted, while other plan to go out to eat, watch a movie, or go to the gym. There was a small percentage of 5% where people planned to not leave the house as much as possible. This research shows that most people will want to leave the house, We will be releasing a more in depth analysis on consumer trends, and a step by step reopening guide focused for small to medium sized businesses, so subscribe to RCG Insights below, and gain access to it. The Financial Damage The initial phase in building up a remaking plan for COVID-19 is deciding exactly how profoundly your private company has been influenced. There are various layers included, beginning with the hard numbers. In the event that you haven't refreshed your budget reports, for example, progit and loss or financial reports—as of late, it's useful to do that now. You would then be able to compare them with a year ago's numbers to see how much your business might be down. And keeping in mind that very little of business owners state they've profited by the pandemic, 3% as per the NFIB, it's conceivable that the harm probably won't be as awful as you might suspect. It also helps to consider what are the other ways your business has been affected. In epicenter areas like New York, a large portion of your customers might have moved away, been affected by COVID, or be in the portion of people that are scared to come back. In other areas, things are much more easier to come back to normal, as long as you still have the financial and physical capabilities to recover. Analyze Your Business Plan Advising a business to give your business plan another look is quite often a cliche, but it is a necessary step, when looked at the right way. When we advise our clients to look at their business plan, what we truly mean is to look at their strategy. If until now, strategy has been retail focused, or with a physical focus on door to door sales, or traditional marketing, it may be time to invest in digital marketing, focusing on acquiring customer using the internet. For small businesses, investing in a van and a driver to set up an eCommerce aspect of your business with a perk of same day delivery is one way to compete business like Amazon, and bring back market share in your local community. Redesign Your Business's Vision & Future Once a vision for the future is in place and the leadership team is on board, the next step forward is to invest in new capabilities that the business will need following the crisis. Recognizing this, one leading European credit and asset manager has already begun to think about what those capabilities will be. It began by asking its leadership team a series of questions meant to establish their new vision for the future and how it differs from what they had previously envisioned: Which existing trends will accelerate? Which ones will become obsolete? Which new ones must be contemplated? What, in short, are the scenarios to prepare for? This questionnaire should also be forwarded to essential employees, since lots of ideas are often left on the table from the lower parts of the management chain. We suggested a local restaurant to have an app created for them, and then market the app effectively to keep deliveries in house, since they already had their own delivery program. FInd your unique advantage, and exploit it. Check Your Budget Once the vision is in line, it is important to ensure that you have the financial means to execute these ideas. You may look to federal programs for small business loans, and have it forgiven if you meet the requirements. The challenge with both of those federally mandated programs, however, is that the funding is limited. It’s entirely possible that funding may be depleted before your application for a loan is ever reviewed. For this reason, it’s important to consider other sources of small business funding, including: Traditional SBA 7(a) loans and microloans Small business term loans from banks, credit unions and online lenders Business lines of credit Business credit cards Vendor tradelines Accounts receivable financing Merchant cash advances Inventory financing Purchase order financing Equipment financing Each option can have pros and cons. Accounts receivable financing and merchant cash advance financing, for example, can be convenient, and neither one requires perfect credit to qualify. Either could be useful for funding your business in the short term. But they both require that you have something to leverage, i.e., outstanding invoices and credit card sales, respectively. If sales are slow or nonexistent, you might have a hard time getting approved. Alternative financing options like these also can have much higher effective annual percentage rates compared to other types of small-business loans and lines of credit. If you’re considering financing to help rebuild, keep in mind that borrowing may be competitive, as lenders want some reassurance that loans can be repaid. Reviewing your business and personal credit scores, as well as your business and personal financials can help you gauge how likely you are to get approved for funding. Execute Once you have the financial means to execute, and you have the right vision and leaders in place, now its time to follow through with the updated business plan your created earlier. A basic outline that RCG likes to create for our clients is to start with is to look for market gaps, prepare your product/service, market using the internet (digital marketing), and find ways to acquire more revenue. Another aspect of looking at it, could be too boot strap expenses and just try to gain your old customer base back. The issue with this plan is that companies are often short on cash, and waiting until their old customer base comes back may mean that you'll run out of business soon. Asses, and Execute. Its that simple. Create a Contingency Plan Everyone thought that the United States was the most prepared country for a global outbreak, but turns we weren't as expected as we thought we were. Whether it be a market crash, or a second wave of the coronavirus, the reality is that an emergency can come along to disrupt your small business at any time. Using what you’ve learned during the current pandemic to prepare for the next crisis can help you insulate your business from future shocks. For instance, building up liquid cash savings may be a priority for your business if you had little or nothing set aside before the COVID-19 outbreak began. You may choose to focus on paying down your debt and trimming nonessential spending to keep your budget in check. Or you may need to find ways to help your staff work more efficiently to cut operating costs. The pandemic also may have taught you a thing or two about how important it is to be able to adapt and keep your business fluid so you can reasonably weather storms. For example, if your employees didn’t have the option to work remotely before, that’s something you may want to incorporate in your business model going forward. The more outside-the-box thinking you can do to prepare for a worst-case scenario, the better. Having a Plan B (and even a Plan C, D, E and F) can help improve your business’s odds of surviving—and eventually thriving again—during tough financial times
If your customers include millennials, the answer to whether or not to take a stand is 'yes.' Although companies like Ben and Jerry’s and Patagonia, who built their brand foundation on socially responsible practices, have been around longer than millennial customers, these companies changed and continue to change the market. Millennial customers are willing to spend more for products when they come from socially responsible companies. As they become more and more of the customer market, it becomes increasingly important for companies to take a stand. Let's look at some reasons why your brand should take a stand and then some dos and don'ts when it comes to marketing your potentially controversial practices or issues. The Rise in Socially Responsible Brand Practices If your customers include millennials, the answer to whether or not to take a stand is 'yes.' Although companies like Ben and Jerry’s and Patagonia, who built their brand foundation on socially responsible practices, have been around longer than millennial customers, these companies changed and continue to change the market. Millennial customers are willing to spend more for products when they come from socially responsible companies. As they become more and more of the customer market, it becomes increasingly important for companies to take a stand. Let's look at some reasons why your brand should take a stand and then some dos and don'ts when it comes to marketing your potentially controversial practices or issues. Benefits of taking a Stand This is the age of the 24-hour new cycle and the perpetuation of scandals and cancel culture — the idea that when a company or public figure does something objectionable their entire brand is cancelled. A vivid example of this is when an old Kevin Hart tweet resurfaced saying homophobic things and he was removed as host of the Oscars. Negative press can be hard to ignore. Customer Retention Building up social capital can help during a period of bad press. Customers will give a company the benefit of the doubt if it has gained their trust as a socially responsible company. Having a brand with a history of doing the right thing and demonstrating socially responsible practices gives a company some leeway when it makes mistakes. Employee Recruitment and Retention In addition to increasing customer retention, socially responsible practices helps with employee recruitment and retention. The Lewis Institute for Social Innovation at Babson College did a study and found that corporate social responsibility increased production and reduced turnover, both good things for a company. When a company shows it shares the same values as its employees, it is much more likely to create a deeper bond with them and increase their loyalty. Dove In 2017, Dove launched an ad campaign called Real Beauty where they highlighted naked women of different sizes, shapes, colors, and ages. The campaign created a public outrage. Many were questioning why, while others found it pointless. The controversy even garnered the attention of major news outlets such as The Atlantic, which titled its article: How Dove Ruined Its Body Image. However, studies found that most of the outrage was smoke and mirrors and not from Dove's core customers. Moreover, most of Dove’s customers viewed the campaigned positively and said they were likely to buy the product. Dove knew its core consumers and how to market to them. So don’t be disheartened by some bad press if you are confident your core consumers know you and know the message you want to send. Nike #BoycottNike was trending in September 2018 following the release of Nike’s ad featuring controversial activist Colin Kaepernick. While the ad never mentions Kaepernick’s activist issues, the ad ends with a shot of Kaepernick and the voice-over saying, “Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything”, alluding to the sacrifice of his NFL career for his activism. Along with the hashtag, people posted videos of themselves burning their Nike products. However, Nike’s stock told a different story than this seemingly viral outrage, which had an initial bump from the ad and then stayed steady moving forward. “Experts suspect that many of those who are most upset were not core Nike customers in the first place.” Similar to Dove, Nike knew its consumers and therefore its ad had the intended effect for its core base. The key to Dove and Nike’s successful ads for their customers was the authenticity behind them. But companies can fall short when consumers see through disingenuous marketing. This happened to Pepsi in 2017 after they released an ad featuring Kendall Jenner that showed the model join a protest and hand a police officer a Pepsi. Pepsi pulled the ad the following day after intense criticism. Many accused Pepsi of being tone deaf and making light of the danger actual protestors go through. One of the biggest complaints was the use of model Kendall Jenner, who never previously spoke about the protest issue or experienced it firsthand. Unlike Kaepernick who has been on the front lines against police brutality, the use of Jenner illustrated the inauthenticity of the ad. Avoid the mistake of inauthenticity and choose a cause that fits well with your company and its values. How Delta and others took a Stand, even when it hurt financially Up until this point this we have looked at companies that have taken a stand or used social responsibility to market themselves in a positive light (whether or not they succeeded). However, it is important to talk about some brands that have taken a stand not as a marketing tool but because they believe it was important and right, regardless of the fact that that stance hurt them financially. Why Should you do Something that Might Make You Take a Hit Financially? Dick’s Sporting Goods and Delta Airlines took a stand on an issue because it was the right thing to do. These moves gained them a lot of social capital, which as I previously mentioned, helps smooth things over when companies make mistakes. These two companies are great examples of building social capital with their customers. Consumers respond to companies taking a stand. Delta Airlines Gun control has become more and more polarizing as the debate continues. Following the shooting in Parkland Florida, both Delta Airlines and Dick’s Sporting Goods took a stand against gun violence. Delta Airlines ended its long-standing relationship with the NRA and stopped giving discounts to NRA members “it lost out on a $40 million tax break from the state of Georgia, where the airline is based.” In response to the loss, the CEO Ed Bastian wrote, “our values are not for sale.” Dick’s Sporting Goods Dick’s Sporting Goods, following the Parkland shooting, stopped selling guns to anyone under age 21 and stopped selling assault rifles and high-capacity magazines all together. Dick’s also destroyed all assault rifles currently in stock, totaling 5 million dollars. Then a year later Dick’s stopped selling guns in 125 of its stores, roughly 17% of its total stores around the country. In a tweet following the shooting, Dick’s offered a statement in which it stated “But thoughts and prayers are not enough. We have to help solve the problem that’s in front of us.” Conclusion Brands like Nike and Dove have shown that customers care if a company takes a stand they care about. Forbes magazine showed that customers, and especially millennial customers, are willing to spend more with a company with socially responsible practices. But the appearance of inauthenticity is unacceptable to today's consumers. Pepsi showed that customers can see a cash grab. Take the time to learn what your customers care about, look for the match with your company's values, and act accordingly. So, should your brand take a stand? In short, yes.
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