After 47 years as a marketing firm and being at the forefront of digital marketing, we’ve heard it all:

Fortunately, thanks to our expertise in digital marketing, focused targeting, and understanding of the buyer’s journey, we’ve had great success in connecting companies with the unique and specific audiences that purchase their product.

A sub-sub industry

Risdall recently partnered with Bone Foam, a respected manufacturer of patient-positioning devices used during orthopedic surgery. In layman’s terms, these are the positioners that keep your legs and arms in optimal placement during surgeries or for x-ray imaging. Traditionally, many facilities would position patient limbs with pillows and blankets, so our goal was to communicate a situation where there was a great new product that can simplify the lives of a very specific audience within the healthcare industry.

An assumption that had to be challenged and tested was the belief that healthcare professionals didn’t talk about products online and that advertising these solutions on social platforms was a risky proposition.

Finding a connection

While having a specialized audience does reduce the total size of people you want to connect with, it allows us to target people our clients are looking to connect with very accurately. In Bone Foam’s case, our team researched professionals who worked in a variety of roles around orthopedic surgery. This includes surgeons, nurses, operating room (OR) technicians and specialists.

By targeting this audience with content and ads for Bone Foam products, we were able to attract new customers as well as encourage discussion between professionals who are existing Bone Foam users. The amount of discussion generated on social media was significant and incredibly positive, as were the overall results of this campaign.

During this specific campaign the effort reached over 140,000 targeted people, generated 1,825 reactions to promoted posts, sparked a 300 percent increase in traffic to Bone Foam’s website, and a 120 percent  increase in quote requests.

Recreating success

This case illustrates how Risdall is able to effectively target and connect with very specific audiences that fall within larger categories. Instead of simply focusing on healthcare, we were able to connect with the specific influential professionals that have a strong interest in the solutions our client offers.

This strategic approach is not limited to healthcare and can be recreated for targeted audiences within any industry, geographical location, company, and/or job title. However, when planning a targeted marketing campaign, it’s essential to partner with a marketing agency that has experience in reaching specific audiences.

Read the complete Bone Foam case study here!

Content curation is an important aspect of any content marketing program. One of its main benefits is that the burden of continually creating content is alleviated by sharing content you find online with your audiences.

In this final post about last month’s Growth Powered by Risdall seminar on content marketing, I, Dave Dougherty, Risdall’s Digital Marketing Specialist, will explore the advantages of content curation within a content program and how most people don’t have an excuse for why they haven’t started curating content on a daily basis. It’s much easier to do than you might initially think.

Make the Content You Consume Work for Your Content Marketing

The problem with curating content is that many of us don’t take the extra step after reading a newsletter, blog, or social post to share and comment on what we just consumed.

Most business professionals, each day, are reading blogs, newsletters, books, listening to podcasts, or watching videos on topics that relate to their business or their career. What happens immediately after consuming a piece of content? You’ll exit the browser, return to your email, or leave your desk.

By signing up for and consuming newsletters, blogs, etc., you’ve already done the hardest part of content curation! All you have to do to start taking advantage of the content you’ve curated is share the piece with your social networks and comment on it. When you do so, not only are you engaging with your community, but you’re also demonstrating your knowledge of industry trends and issues.

Content Marketing Sources are All Around You – If You Know Where to Look

Sources for content curation fall into two types: internal and external. External sources for content curation include many of the things we do each day. Things like podcasts, social media posts, news organizations, blogs, magazines, books and industry associations.

A couple of the external sources that many people overlook include your current and prospective customers.

What questions are they asking over and over again that you could potentially answer in a blog, social media post or video? Another example would be any of your competitors. What are they doing that’s working for them? If you’re targeting similar audiences, then trying some of the same tactics could yield good results.

One of the easiest ways to find content ideas is to talk to your coworkers. You can ask them what they are working on, or what the common problems and questions they run into are. Other places to look are the contact form from your company’s website, or the questions, concerns or issues that are coming through your customer service department.

Easy fodder for social media channels can be showing off your company culture, photos from company events or charity events that your organization is taking part in. Even unique office decorations are good social media photo opportunities, because it shows something other than the very calculated professional demeanor.

Other ways to find content to curate is to monitor the web for keywords specific to topics you’re interested in. Use RSS feeds and email newsletters to sign up for information from reputable sources. Find out what the trending topics on social media are and whether or not they are related to your organization’s products or services.

Watch the video above, or download the transcript of my Content Marketing-Content Curation presentation, for more great insights into curating content.

Contact Risdall if you’re interested in how we can leverage our experience for your content marketing and other digital marketing initiatives.

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Featured Image Citation: Flickr Creative Commons – Dennis Santana “Rosette Nebula”

A new study was released on April 9, 2015, from Pew Research Center on how teens, ages 13-17, use social media and technology. The center collected data from 1,060 teens from September 25 to October 9, 2014 and February 10 to March 16, 2015.

Since its release, one of the most pulled statistics has been that
“24% of teens go online ‘almost constantly,’ facilitated by the widespread availability of smartphones.” However, there are other interesting findings to be had in the report.

For example, how does family income affect the choice of which social network a teen chooses to use? In addition, how has the availability of smartphones affected the modes of communication teens choose?

Smartphone Availability is the Cornerstone of Teens’ Online and Social Media Activities

The availability of smartphones has led to 92% of teens being online daily. Of those 92% of teens, 24% are online “almost constantly,” 56% report being online several times each day and 12% use the Internet once a day.
Pew’s survey also showed that 91% of teens are using a mobile device to access the Internet. According to the study, almost three-fourths of all teens own, or have access to, a smartphone. Only 12% of teens don’t have a cell phone of any kind.

Frequency of Internet Use by Teens
In addition to granting access to the online world, having access to a smartphone has shifted the ways in which teens are communicating with each other. 90% of teens that have access to mobile phones text, and send a median of 30 texts per day. 73% are using messaging apps like WhatsApp or Kik, with African-American and Hispanic teens more likely than white teens to be using the app(s).

Which Social Media Networks Teens Are Using

Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat Usage

While many teens have been leaving the platform, Facebook remains the most popular social site with 71% of teens using it. Instagram (51%) and Snapchat (41%) round out the top three platforms. More interestingly, 71% of teens surveyed stated that they are using more than one social network.

Pew also found in its research that 22% of teens only use one social platform. The 22% further breaks down into the sole platforms:

While Facebook continually drives organizations toward advertising to reach their audience on its platform, Facebook will remain a good place for brands to target their younger audiences for the time being.

Social Media Usage by Gender

Demographically, there are some interesting splits between which social networks teen boys and girls are more likely to visit. Generally, girls tend to use the more visual platforms than their male counterparts.

Girls Dominate Visually-Oriented Social Media Platforms

Just over one-in-five teens use online pinboards, like Pinterest. The demographics teens using of sites like Pinterest break into:

The other sites frequented by teens:

The study also found that teen boys are far more likely to play video games than girls. Whether it was playing games online, on their phones, or through a console, boys vastly outweigh girls for interacting through gaming.

Household Income’s Effect on Social Media Use

Snapchat Income Comparison

The socio-economic status of the teens in the survey seemed to make a difference in which social media platform(s) they chose to participate. Teens from households that make less than $50,000 annually are much more likely to report that they use Facebook most often. From the study’s data there seems to be much more diversification of social media networks the more affluent the home the teenager is from. One of the more interesting findings through the income perspective is the amount of friend overlap on a teen’s many social channels. The key takeaways from Pew’s observations in this are:

Implications of the Research

Teens and young adults have always been a key target for businesses and knowing where, and how, to communicate is instrumental to reaching these tech savvy teens.

Not only does the access to technology change the way in which teenagers are interacting and communicating with each other, but it also changes how teens are finding information. In fact, TIME Magazine recently ran a story about how teenagers are utilizing the geo-tags from Instagram posts around college campuses that they are vetting in order to get an idea of what student life on campus is really like.

For years, marketers have been told that social media, and the Internet as a whole, is becoming more and more visual. This statement is only reinforced by the rise in the use of platforms like Instagram and Snapchat, as well as the implementation of capturing and editing video messages on Twitter earlier this year.
 
Sources:
Pew Research Center Internet, Science & Tech – Teens, Social Media & Technology Overview 2015
 
Cover Photo Credit:
“Texting, texting, texting…” by Tammy McGary Flickr Creative Commons

It can be easy to jump on the bandwagon of using holidays to start a promotional campaign for your business. While it makes sense for some companies, it doesn’t make sense for all. Especially when it comes to St. Patrick’s Day.

St Patrick's Day Parade

Deciding whether or not to participate in St. Patrick’s Day Marketing

If you’re in the business of bars, beer or green food dye, the answer is an overwhelming yes, you should participate in St. Patrick’s Day.

However if your business falls into the 99 percent of other products or services out there, you should consider the following two questions to decide whether or not St. Patrick’s Day marketing is an efficient use of time and money for your company.

Does St. Patrick’s Day marketing fit with your brand?

The big question here is whether the message of St. Patrick’s Day fits with the message of your brand. You should have a solid understanding of your brand’s voice, image and values before participating in any event – holiday or otherwise.

For many people, St. Patrick’s Day is associated with parades, shamrocks and the luck of the Irish. It’s also associated with pub-crawls, green beer, green rivers and “Kiss me, I’m Irish” T-shirts.

Pug in a hat

To determine whether you should participate in St. Patrick’s Day, compare the values of your business to the values of St. Patrick’s Day. If they align in a way that will make sense to your audience, then go ahead.

Another thing to consider is if a holiday post is within the scope of your brand’s voice. If your social media or blog is consistently sharing serious topics or information, then it may not be within your brand voice to do a light-hearted holiday message.

For example, let’s examine Law Firm A, which specializes in mergers and acquisitions:

On the other hand, we have Law Firm B, which specializes in accident injury cases.

Law Firm B would be more likely to participate in St. Patrick’s Day marketing than law firm A because it has a more relaxed voice, image and values.

If your business needs to be taken seriously to be successful, you may want to steer clear of associating it with St. Patrick’s Day if you cannot come up with a unique and engaging way of communicating the holiday message.

Does your St. Patrick’s Day marketing link your brand’s image with the holiday?

With all marketing, we want to leave a lasting impression with our audiences and further our business goals. In order to do this, we need something more creative than, “Share this post if you’re feeling lucky!”

If you can come up with an idea that shows your brand’s image and relates it to St. Patrick’s Day in a clever way, then of course, join in the festive marketing.

Best Practices for St. Patrick’s Day Marketing

Show your personality.

It’s not just about St. Patrick’s Day; it’s about your company! Use the buzz of St. Patrick’s Day as a platform to share your brand’s personality.

Offer your audience something.

If it’s within the capacity of your business to hold a promotion for a prize, a special discount or additional loyalty points, now is the time to do it.

Know your history.

If you are going to hold a St. Patrick’s Day contest, make sure you know more about the history of the event than your audience does.

Promote the holiday internally.

Encourage your coworkers to dress up and host a festive get-together with St. Paddy’s-themed foods or Irish beer taste testing. Share photos on social media, and ask your followers how they celebrated the holiday.

Play with the word green.

If your company has strong recycling habits, now is a good time to talk about them by playing with the word ‘green’ in your posts.

Engage with your audience.

Always remember, social media is social. Facts are fine, but engaging with your audience is like finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

St. Patrick’s Day marketing is a no-brainer for some businesses, but for others, it can be a waste of time or send unintentional messages. It all comes back to whether or not your brand’s voice, image and values align with St. Patrick’s Day.

Photo credits: cobalt123, Sébastien Barré, geraldbrazell,