TECHNOLOGIES,BUSINESS
Article | July 20, 2022
Discord is a real-time chat platform where anyone with a community can interact. Users can talk to others in the community on special channels and get invites to join different servers. Many people prefer to reach out to online customers through social media, but messaging apps like Discord have 20% more monthly active users than traditional social media platforms. (Business Insider)
Discord generates revenue through premium subscriptions and game distribution. It does not use advertisements. However, it can help marketers through its community that grows with video, voice, text communication and more.
Let us look at how:
Helps Build a Moderated Community
You can set up a Discord server as a moderated social discussion platform. Create different channels based on your audience’s preference and allow them to bond. And as your community grows, so will the popularity of your business. Word-of-mouth marketing is still very effective.
Connects Your Brand with Like-minded Audience
You can also meet others who share your interests on various Discord servers. When you know what you're looking for, finding relevant servers is simple. Check with your team members, and your community, and join those groups. There, you'll meet other business owners and pursue collaboration opportunities.
Allows Sharing Relevant Industry Content
Share your website articles and other industry updates on Discord. You can take the advantage of your employees’ social media presence because they are linked to a single server. They'll spread the word about the articles through other Discord servers and their personal social media accounts. It will assist you in gaining authority among your target audience. Another way to market your company is to post branded memes, GIFs, and funny screenshots.
Helps Offer Great Customer Service
People expect prompt service, and because Discord delivers messages in real-time, you can address issues as they arise. You can easily send direct messages to members and have private conversations with them.
Parting Words
Although Discord is primarily a messaging app for individuals, it also has many advantages for B2B marketing. Discord is ideal for community management and true engagement.
Read More
BUSINESS
Article | July 11, 2022
As films evolved into the popular medium that they are today, brands followed suit. They took advantage of a large network of new ways to market, from print media to radio to television.
Product placement, a part of branded entertainment marketing, became more common from the 1980s. Today, every moviegoer is familiar – sometimes painfully – with paid product placements. And every marketer has heard commentary on both good and bad B2C product placements. But what about B2B movie placements? Ever heard of those? If you are a B2B enterprise looking to try it out, here are some major differences between B2C and B2B movie placements:
Impress the producers
Create an enticing pitch for the producers, which can influence them enough to bring them to the creative department. Sell your brand or product to them (indirectly) to help them understand how it will improve the realism of their scene or set. Make them realize how your product or service can help them.
Placement isn’t always ‘placement’
Prospective B2B buyers aren’t going to squint their eyes to find your product while watching a movie. However, they might actually remember your brand if you host pre-opening events around the world for them and their families to watch a popular movie. If they enjoy the movie and establish an emotional connection with it, they will definitely think of you while making any kind of purchase decision.
Things might not work out
No matter how hard you try to show your brand in a good light in a certain scene or situation, sometimes things happen that you can't control or ignore. In such cases, you might have to get all the branding out instead of settling for negative publicity, which could be a viable option for a B2C brand.
B2B Movie Placement: A Success Story
FLIR, a client of Hollywood Branded, is the leading provider of thermal military camera equipment. It co-starred in one of Warner Brothers' biggest hits of 2018, Rampage. FLIR connected with the right member of the production team and ensured that the brand was pictured in a positive light. FLIR shared its technology with the filmmakers and got advertised to its business customers, mostly film-loving decision-makers, through the movie and the way it was shot. The film earned $427M at the worldwide box office.
Read More
TECHNOLOGIES,VIRTUALIZATION
Article | August 2, 2022
Global B2B companies churn out content pieces such as infographics, case studies, assessments, and other forms of thought leadership content to create brand awareness. But is this content enough to engage the customers and the market? Not really. Marketers like you need to look into branded entertainment to get more customer engagement and brand loyalty.
What is Branded Entertainment?
Adweek loosely describes “branded entertainment” as any content that starts a positive conversation around a product, service, or set of values. This content builds a story around your product or services, showing it in a positive light and getting the audience to engage in your content as much as a film or a TV show. As opposed to other marketing endeavors, branded entertainment doesn’t focus on your products and their features but on entertaining the audience.
Incorporating Branded Entertainment into Your Marketing Strategy
Here are some ways to get it done without much hassle:
Web Series
Original programming, such as web series published on the brand’s social media channels, can help you raise awareness through stories that share your brand’s values instead of directly marketing your product or services.
PR Stunts
Create social media brand content that is entertaining and exciting enough for the audience to make it viral. Such PR brings positive media attention to your brand and creates mass awareness for your brand or product.
Videos
Volvo's entertaining video of Van Damme's split stunt on YouTube has 114.5 million views. The video didn't need a call-to-action because it wasn’t to convert leads. Instead, it was meant to showcase a piece of business-use truck technology and get engagement.
Podcasting
GE used podcasting for advertising twice, once with its show ‘The Message’ and again with its new series ‘LifeAfter.’ Neither show discusses GE's products. Instead, they were "GE-presented" and were received well.
Summing It Up
People are less likely to comment on or share brand posts directly, but they are more likely to tweet or share them on their Instagram stories. This way you can measure the impact of branded entertainment. B2B marketers should consider branded entertainment as a way to build trust and start conversations between their brands and their audience to get a long-term ROI.
Read More
SOLUTIONS,BUSINESS
Article | July 7, 2022
B2B companies are harnessing entertainment to drive their marketing ROI. They are using strategies that meet the changing needs of B2B customers and take advantage of how technology is improving.
Let us examine the top five entertainment marketing strategies that can get engagement for your B2B content:
On-Demand Content Rules
B2B corporate Salesforce recently announced a new streaming service—Salesforce+—that exclusively caters to businesses. If you want to try something like this, you don’t need to create a new streaming platform. Instead, you can use your social media accounts to share unique content that your target audience will find interesting.
Presentation Shouldn’t Be a Priority
Your B2B audience isn’t any different from the audience that consumes basic TikTok videos, reality TV shows, or YouTube clips that don’t have the best scripts. Any grippingly human content presented on popular channels of entertainment appeals to the viewer and can influence their buying decisions.
Harness User-generated Content
Harness user-generated content like videos, reviews, and testimonials. When your customer tells your brand’s story or how your brand helped them solve their problems, the content is engaging and authentic for your prospects and influences their purchase decisions. Additionally, such content receives high engagement and improves your brand’s reputation.
Relevance Wins Hearts
If the content you are producing is entertaining and engaging, addresses the pain points and demands of your target audience, and is timed perfectly to match the dynamic market needs, your prospects might relate to your brand better and avail your product or services.
Create Immersive Experiences Through Events
With the help of experience experts Boost Experiential, Google created an Event Series to target small businesses in the U.S. They led a nationwide initiative to offer educational seminars and coaching to small businesses. They held events in 50 states and introduced Google’s tools to thousands of business owners. As a result, they have got more than 50, 000 small businesses online.
Entertainment Could Be a B2B Trend for 2022
Create valuable, memorable, entertaining, and engaging content addressing customer pain points. Make it available to your target audience through popular channels like streaming sites, social media, webinars, live events and more to get your marketing ROI.
Read More