Making mistakes is a great way to learn, particularly when you’re at the beginning of your career and have the world at your feet. When you’re responsible for a global brand strategy on the other hand, there’s so much to focus your attention on, that sometimes mistakes can go unnoticed. 

Our team has compiled some of the most common and avoidable mistakes that we see time and again. Sometimes it’s difficult to take a moment, step back and re-evaluate a particular approach, but when you do you will see how easy it can be to avoid marketing disasters. 

Not understanding your audience

Having a product or service that is doing well is no reason to be complacent. What is affecting your audience at this very moment? What are their current pain points? What resources do your team have access to which gives you up-to-date insights on what they are facing? 

If you’re not sure where to start, consider how your existing clients and customers are segmented; is there anything you can do to gather information on their needs and wants?

A targeted email campaign that includes a survey is a great way to keep people engaged, while proactively showing that you care about what’s going on in their lives. If you proceed with a strategy such as this, it’s important that you offer your clients something in return; If they are in the B2B category, it may be in the form of a whitepaper following the results of the survey. Conversely, if it’s a B2C audience, you may offer them more tailored content in the future based on the insight they provide. 

If you don’t have them already, it’s important to create personas around your different audiences, whether they are based in different demographics, verticals or various territories. The latter of these is incredibly important. While the fundamental USPs of your brand may be the same, the responsiveness to its benefits may vary from country to country. Having regular calls with employees abroad or reviewing insight reports from them frequently will help you build a more complete picture of potential marketing gaps and opportunities. 

Talking like a robot 

When it comes to marketing mistakes, this is one of our personal pet peeves. While many brands require a more formal, corporate tone, this doesn’t mean having to litter every sentence with business jargon. 

One of the best ways to ensure your campaign is fitting is to run it by someone outside of your department. While they may not be the exact audience, if they can’t understand it on a basic, human level, it’s worth re-looking at the language that has been used. This doesn’t mean dumbing it down, but looking at opportunities to make the word choices more coherent. 

Content for content’s sake 

Every brand should be proud of their voice, and the stories they tell. But simply posting social or blog content for the sake of it, and jumping on every trending topic even if it has nothing to do with the values you hold as a company, may muddle your messaging. 

Make sure your website and pillar pages have been properly structured for your SEO strategy, and create content that supports this. Likewise, the age-old rule of ensuring it engages, entertains and informs is a safe rule to abide by. 

The reason this common mistake can be so detrimental to your marketing is because content creation takes time, money and resources. If there’s no strategy or value to your brand, you may as well be pouring money down the drain. 

Not localising campaign imagery 

When budgets are tight, it can be tempting to change as little as possible on a campaign in order to make it suitable for other regions in the world. While this makes sense as a short-term fix, what it’s actually doing is jeopardising your message. Understanding the customs and cultural nuances of the countries you are advertising in is key to making them effective. 

Local people want localised messaging, with imagery they can relate to. Anything less, and this could be missed entirely or disregarded as lazy advertising. Advertising mistakes such as these could cost you your entire campaign in that location, so think twice about scrimping on localisation. Or look for software that makes it easy for campaigns to be adapted without incurring additional costs. That’s just one of many benefits of BAM by Papirfly™.  

Letting prospects drop off the radar 

There are multiple scenarios where this can take place. We’ve chosen just a few to highlight how these situations can be avoided.  

Email prospects

All email journeys and schematics should be carefully planned and bespoke to different demographics as best as possible. Warm prospects should be nurtured on an individual basis, so the more you learn, the more you can tailor the information.  

Website visitors

Utilising cookies helps you to continue serving visitors content once they leave your website. This may be in the form of a Facebook advert, or as part of another remarketing banner network on a website they visit later on. This serves as a second touchpoint for the user and reminds them of your offering should they forget. Not including these cookies could be a wasted opportunity to nurture visitors further and a critical marketing mistake. 

Social media

Having a solid social media strategy and content plan in place is vital, but it’s also important to make sure you have an effective monitoring schedule in place. If someone makes an enquiry via social media, time is of the essence in composing a response. While it may be impossible for you to monitor all day, even leaving an answer as long as a couple of hours could mean that your prospect has looked elsewhere in this time and found an alternative company to interact with. 

Social media monitoring checklist

• Create dedicated ‘check-ins’ at least 3 times a day
• Put in place automated initial response for inbox messaged to buy you some time
• Build a response playbook that keeps tabs on trending questions to save time
• If multiple people manage an account, us a sign off name when commenting so you can keep track of who said what
• Reply to any negative comments in a calm and constructive way

Not storing files correctly

New campaign V1 draft. 
New campaign V2 draft. 
New campaign V2 final. 
New campaign V2 FINAL FINAL. 

We’ve all been there. When your team is against the clock, things can get pretty messy in terms of how files are saved. Keeping track of what’s been approved, who needs access to what and how can be a nightmare to navigate, but is a critical marketing mistake to avoid. 

An easy-to-use DAM portal will ensure global teams have access to what they need, when they need it. Papirfly’s very own DAM enables teams across the world to edit files directly from the portal, within set parameters that don’t compromise the hard work that’s already taken place. 

Underestimating the importance of consistent marketing collateral 

When large creative campaigns are executed, they have often been painstakingly planned and created. When these are filtered down into less substantial assets or across various territories across the globe, the messages can be diluted and the brand governance can lose its power. 

Everything a brand produces should epitomise the guidelines, values and visual identity that has been set out and communicated to employees from the business. 

Having a messy approvals process 

When a global company has different marketing departments and agencies engaged, there may be any number of methods for sign off. Emails, in-person reviews, physical sign off sheets, etc. 

Having set guidelines for your brand education across your teams will be crucial in making this as pain-free as possible, but also having a centralised place where approvals can go through reduces the need to keep track of multiple streams of communication. 

The ‘so what?’ factor 

We’ve saved one of the biggest mistakes in marketing until last. While marketing ultimately exists to sell, the way in which this is done doesn’t mean what you produce always needs to be a hard sell. A brand needs to build a relationship with its audiences, and this is done by addressing the needs and wants of the people you are targeting. 

The next time your team puts a sales email in front of you, put yourself in the shoes of the recipient and ask yourself ‘so what?’. Is this providing any value to them? Is this solving a problem? Is this engaging or informative? If the answer to any of these questions is no, you may want to re-evaluate parts of your strategy. 

A final word on marketing mistakes

While it’s difficult to avoid every possible mistake, just familiarising yourself with some of the most common ones can help you learn from the frustration of others.

BAM by Papirfly™ is an all-in-one Brand Activation Management tool that can help you avoid the above marketing mistakes and many more. 

Our powerful creation suite is built from your bespoke, pre-defined digital and print templates. This allows users with limited or no design skills to quickly create, edit and share assets without ever compromising their brand. They have access to a dedicated education section that outlines any additional brand governance collateral, a powerful DAM where they can centrally store and access everything relevant to them and a range of campaign management tools – all from one place.

If you find your team encountering many of the same problems when executing global campaigns, BAM by Papirfly™ could be the answer you’re looking for. Learn more or get in touch to book your demo.

‘Going viral’ is something all marketers strive for. A campaign or promotion so powerful, so relatable and so engaging that it takes on a life of its own, capturing eyeballs across the globe.

The opportunity to get your brand in front of as many people as possible is something most companies would pay a small fortune for – and quite a few have. But, the beauty of viral marketing is that it can propel any brand into the spotlight, costing next to nothing.

Now, if it was easy to go viral, every brand would have done it. Yet, with the right idea, the right timing and the right execution, marketing teams can capture lightning in a bottle and attract mainstream attention, even if they don’t have the resources of industry heavyweights.

Here we showcase 6 of our favourite low-cost viral campaigns, what we love about them and what lessons to take away to help your attempts to hit the headlines.

1. 3M’s unbreakable glass stunt

Stating that your product is unbreakable is a bold claim, and one that has backfired on brands in the past, such as when Tesla’s Cybertruck couldn’t withstand the test of a steel ball.

Nevertheless, 3M put their money where their mouth is with this publicity stunt – quite literally in fact. To promote their product Scotchshield, a see-through film designed to make glass stronger, they placed 3 million Canadian dollars in an advertising case at a bus stop in Vancouver for one day. If anyone broke the glass using their feet, they’d get the money.

Now we know what you’re thinking – $3 million doesn’t exactly sound like a low-budget campaign, does it? Well 3M hedged their bets a little when planning this stunt. It was actually only $500 in the case on top of a lot of fake notes.

Still, try as hard as the Canadian public might, the glass stood firm throughout. This not only reinforced the quality of 3M’s product, but is estimated to have earned them $1 million in free publicity and led to a three-month backlog for the Scotchshield coating.

Key lessons to take away:

• Give the audience for your campaign a simple task and an incentive, and they will generate the content for you
• Consider out-of-the-box ways to showcase your product’s USPs to the masses
• Be smart with your setup – 3M set the rule that the glass could only be kicked, and had security in place to ensure this was observed

2. Cheekd’s exhaustive guerrilla marketing

Guerrilla marketing is a strategy many brands have turned to when seeking to make an impact on a limited budget. By delving into the unconventional and surprising, marketers can leave a lasting impression on passers-by who may have never even heard of their brand before. But, you have to be relentless – a quality Cheekd CEO Lori Cheek had in abundance.

This dating app initially worked by encouraging users to hand out “business cards” to those they were interested in, containing a phrase, an online code and a URL to the user’s account. To push this unique approach and get her brand noticed, Cheek utilised a range of relatively low-cost guerrilla marketing techniques, including:

• Placing as many business cards as possible on shareable city bikes
• Slipping cards into random strangers bags, hoods, and pockets
• Attaching cards to the inside of subway cars, movie ads and the back of bathroom stalls
• Writing her URL on sidewalks in chalk

Now with a Bluetooth-based connection model, this exhaustive approach helped give Cheekd immediate notoriety, and it now boasts over 10,000 members.

Key lessons to take away:

• Guerrilla marketing doesn’t need to be elaborate, but it’s important to give it as much exposure as possible
• Simple things like plastering business cards or writing URLs in chalk can garner a lot of press
• Ensure your budget marketing still directly embodies your brand values and offerings

3. KFC’s tantalising tattoo offer

Contests and challenges can be a great way for brands to generate some inexpensive buzz. Consider how much Wendy’s gained years ago by simply responding to a tweet from someone asking for a lifetime supply of their nuggets.

Sticking with fast-food franchises, KFC took this approach by running a simple Facebook competition promising free food for a year for the person who could prove they were their biggest superfan. It was won by Sydney teenager Brooke Collins, who went to the lengths of getting a tattoo of their logo to prove her dedication.

By investing just $5,200 (£2,900) in the eventual prize – a tiny sum for a brand as huge as KFC – the company attracted a ton of traffic to their social channels, and then hit the headlines due to their superfan’s incredible response.

Key lessons to take away:

• Competitions and contests can inspire a significant number of reactions from your following
• Sometimes leaving instructions vague can encourage your audience’s creativity, which captures even more attention
• Present the prizes for your contests in as appealing a light as possible

4. Thursday’s fake cheating displays

Another dating app that made the most of a low-cost campaign was Thursday, which went viral by sacrificing their co-founder George Rawlings’ reputation.

Back when the app was known as Honeypot, they left a whiteboard on a London street supposedly from Rawlings’ girlfriend saying that she had caught him with another woman, and encouraged people to share this on social media as a form of revenge.

Of course many people did so, with every photo conveniently containing both Rawlings’ Instagram handle and the Honeypot brand name. This was followed up with similar future stunts, such as a man wearing a cardboard sign in the street saying this was his punishment for cheating on his girlfriend.

A stunt that cost little under £60 attracted over 1.5 million online impressions in quick order, getting the brand noticed in a big way.

Key lessons to take away:

• Shock value can go a long way when done effectively, but always proceed with caution
• Try to engage people’s empathy – here, everyone took the side of the “girlfriend”, inspiring them to share the messages online
• Don’t be afraid to make yourself silly for the sake of your brand

5. Range Rover’s vehicle vandalism

Speaking of spurned lovers, Range Rover took a comparable approach with this cost-effective viral stunt. To draw eyes to their new £90,000 luxury white model, they left one parked outside Harrods spray-painted with the words “cheater” and “hope she was worth it”.

Due to the location and the aura of Range Rovers, this attracted a lot of buzz from passers-by and beyond, including news headlines across the UK.

Although it soon came out that this was nothing more than a marketing prank, it had already done its job – thousands of people had been introduced to the new Range Rover, and potentially was the catalyst for several future sales.

Key lessons to take away:

• Location is important for effective guerrilla marketing – a luxury shop like Harrods was ideal for this Range Rover’s target audience
• Even brands with big marketing budgets can benefit from a low-cost approach
• It pays to put your products or services front-and-centre of your viral campaigns

6. The ALS Association’s Ice Bucket Challenge

The power of a viral campaign lies in its ability to reach audiences worldwide, and few have proven more effective in the past decade than the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

The concept was incredibly simple – pour a bucket of ice water on your head, and then challenge three others to do the same. Ironically, this ice-cold activity caught fire on the internet, with millions partaking in the challenge, including high-profile celebrities such as Dwayne Johnson, Lady Gaga, Oprah Winfrey and Tom Cruise.

This massively built awareness of ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s disease), as well as raised in excess of $220 million globally for the ALS Association. 

Key lessons to take away:

• User-generated content is a powerful, cost-effective way to spread your brand online
• Make the instructions for your activity simple and easy for people to do
• Ensure part of your instructions involve sharing the task with people’s friends, family, co-workers, celebrities, etc. – this keeps the viral chain alive

Finding success with low-cost campaigns

We hope you enjoyed these standout examples of brands that made a massive impression without boundless budgets. These demonstrate that, regardless of the initial investment, the right timing and the right concept can inspire a dramatic response in today’s digital age, reaching audiences worldwide.

Going viral certainly isn’t easy – especially with more brands battling for consumers’ attention than ever before. But we hope that these examples and the lessons alongside them encourage you to consider unconventional approaches and look for opportunities even when budgets are tight.

Of course, if you are looking to use your marketing budget to the fullest, or cut down costs so you can invest more into planning and executing unorthodox campaigns, BAM by Papirfly™ can be a powerful ally.

By making it faster and easier to create an infinite number of perfectly branded, studio-standard assets, regardless of design expertise, our solution significantly reduces production costs and timeframes. Your team can produce more for less, with no sacrifice in quality or consistency.

Start empowering your team with BAM today – reach out to our team, or get hands-on by booking your free demo.

Building brand awareness is about having people recognise, know and understand your brand in their everyday lives. There are very few of us who don’t know the golden arches means we are near a McDonald’s – that’s because they have spent a countless amount of years and money investing in brand awareness campaigns. 

Even today McDonald’s is one of the most prominently known companies in the world, yet they continue to create campaigns that keep the recognition high with both existing customers and help to nurture younger generations. 

Why is brand awareness so important? 

Without brand exposure, there’s no familiarity between a consumer and a brand. If you don’t tell your brand story, get your message out there and share your painstakingly crafted branding, there won’t be any trust or connection with the company. 

If we imagine a scenario where someone is buying a new car, and they are shown two in a showroom that are within their price range. One is slightly cheaper, but the consumer hasn’t been exposed to any marketing or the brand itself, so is reluctant to invest in a brand they don’t trust – regardless of how good the salesperson says it is. 

The other has been promoted on TV ads, featured on TopGear and has had lots of PR over its low emissions. The consumer has been served this media over a period of time which has built brand awareness and unknowingly helped shape their purchasing decision. Without familiarity, there’s no trust – and without trust you can kiss your sales goodbye. 

How can brand marketing aid awareness?

Unless you happen upon a lucky viral campaign or bring in an A-list celebrity, your brand exposure isn’t going to catapult overnight. You will need to nurture consumers with high-level awareness campaigns, educate them on problems you can solve, provide points of differentiation and establish yourself firmly as a contender within your market. 

Many brands struggle to justify their awareness campaign budgets, because they can be incredibly difficult to measure. But in order to increase brand awareness, get sales and build loyalty, these campaigns are integral for moving forward. Before you find yourself overwhelmed with marketing activity, make sure you take a moment to get your head above water and harness some brand awareness basics.

Take a look at these marketing priorities from Salesforce for some inspiration…

Establish a tangible goal

Aside from your detailed marketing strategies and objectives, think about how you would like to shape your brand perception from the point of view of a consumer. When your audience engages with your brand, what do you want them to think? As a bare minimum, you will want them to understand what you offer. What values do you want them to associate you with? Are you affordable or aspirational? A corporate giant or a global company trying hard to connect with consumers on a local level? 

There’s a lot to think about, but writing a simplistic statement that outlines what you want people to think can act as a great tool to ensure your marketing efforts are aligned. A quick reference back to this will help you confirm whether you’re on track. And you may have statements that vary for each of your audiences – these will once again help keep your marketing strands focused and targeted.

Start with a plan

Perhaps this is an obvious one. But you’d be surprised at how many people think they’re aligned with a marketing strategy without actually having the full picture. 

If you started the process with a brand workshop, be that internally or with your client, ensure there is a digestible document that accompanies the strategy plan for anyone that’s taking campaigns to market. A plan without context or that fails to understand the brand’s very essence will fall flat when it reaches those executing each part. 

Know your market

It’s not always possible to conduct huge market research reports prior to an awareness campaign. But before committing big budgets to media spend, you can invite a small portion of your demographic to feedback on your campaign creatives to ensure your team hasn’t been subjective or missed the mark. 

While this won’t be necessary with every brand awareness campaign launch, the initial launch should be guided, not shaped by real-world responses. 

Create a strong brand

A striking logo is only the beginning. Ensuring you have a full suite of branded assets that reach far further than your high-level campaigns is a must. Everything from letterheads used internally to the way your office space is branded. In order for consumers to buy into your brand, so must your team. 

Once you’re confident your asset library is built, and this will of course grow over time, make sure your teams across the world know their intended use. Producing a watertight set of brand guidelines will further instil consistency and brand value internally. 

Determine your purpose

Your brand doesn’t have to try and change the whole world, but it certainly should be changing a small part of it. Think about what it is you stand for, and how your products or services help those who purchase them. 

Let’s use Papirfly’s purpose as an example. Very simply, we aim to give people ‘Freedom to Fly’. On the face of it, we are brand activation management software, but our wider purpose is to make lives easier; to help those burdened with little resources and budget get home on time to read their kids a bedtime story, go to the gym or whatever it is that makes them happy. 

You may be bringing a sustainable product to the world that was previously harming the environment, or creating something high-end for a much lower price. Your purpose should be fairly clear, as it’s often the foundation your business and marketing is built on. But if you are struggling to find the words, use these handy prompts…

Our product/service helps our customers by…

We make the world a better place by…

Without us, consumers wouldn’t be…

In 5 years’ time we hope we will have helped to…

Perfecting your tone of voice 

How your brand conveys everything from key campaign messages right through to how it responds to criticism on social media will be key in keeping brand awareness consistent. Remember that your customers are humans, just like the people running your brand, so don’t be afraid to talk to them in a way that reflects this. 

If your brand is irreverent or controversial, you may stir up conversations and engage in witty banter online. If you are a luxury brand, you will likely keep things friendly and professional, and have a structured response plan for customer engagement.

Keep producing content 

A big part of brand marketing is producing great content. Put yourselves in the shoes of the consumer – what possible questions could they have, what problems are they trying to solve, and how can you serve them something that catches their attention? 

Whether you are creating a heavy SEO strategy or using paid promotion, keep on showing up. Producing content may feel like a time-consuming investment, but it will pay off. You may not capture those looking to buy right now, but in time they could be the person in the showroom faced with a purchasing decision. Be the brand they are familiar with. 

Don’t forget loyalty

When your brand awareness campaigns are up and running, the job is still far from over. Remember that those that have already converted will need further nurturing, to both keep them engaged with your brand but to also encourage them to recommend your brand to others if the opportunity presents itself. 

How BAM can help you quickly build brand awareness campaigns

BAM by Papirfly™ gives global brands the power to take marketing production into their own hands. Establish your brand guidelines, share them with your teams and allow them to create beautiful, on-brand assets without needing any design experience. Using pre-defined, smart templates, users have the freedom to create in a specified framework and get their creations ready for any digital or print application.

Find out more about how BAM has helped the likes of Coca Cola, IBM and more continue to build brand awareness across the globe. Or book a demo today.

We’ve all been there before. Stood in front of a blank whiteboard or sheet of paper. Awkward pauses that seem to last an eternity. Meeting rooms populated with blank or strained expressions.

Creating fresh content ideas can be a frustrating experience for all involved. Even highly experienced creatives can’t turn this on and off like a tap – sometimes inspiration just doesn’t arrive naturally, resulting in periods of stony silence during brainstorming sessions.

When this happens, simply sitting around and praying for an idea to pop in someone’s head won’t cut it. Instead, teams should look to resuscitate these sessions with engaging, collaborative exercises that have been proven to combat fatigue and spur creativity.

Here, we’ll share seven of our favourite team exercises to trial for yourself, and how they all can be applied to content idea generation.

1. Empathy mapping

An empathy map is a collaborative tool that teams can use to develop a deeper understanding of their audience – their wants, their pain points, their preferences, etc. This dives into the thoughts and feelings of customers in order to determine what they would like to see, and what would hold no relevance to them whatsoever.

On your empathy map, you might include several sections to answer important questions about who your audience is, such as:

• What do they think and feel about your product/service/brand?
• What are their aspirations? What are their concerns?
• What do they hear and see about your organisation on a daily basis?
• How do they talk about your brand? Does this change whether they’re in public or in private?
• What environments would/do they typically use your product/service in?
• What barriers do they have to using your products/services?
• How much have customers enjoyed using your products/services in the past?

How to apply this to content generation

Empathy mapping can be applied to all areas of marketing, especially content generation. By placing this map at the centre of your discussions, either by sticking it to a wall or on your whiteboard, you can use your audience’s needs, wants and issues to steer what content you create to address these head-on.

So, rather than use guesswork or pluck ideas from thin air, you work directly from what you know about your audience to guide the content you produce.

A similar technique is role-storming. This takes empathy mapping to a more theatrical level, where you have those involved in the brainstorming session take on the role of your audience personas.

2. Role-storming

This is designed to remove any personal inhibitions or judgements, and decisively step into your customer’s shoes. Rather than bring any preconceived notions about what content is based on from your perspective, you are forced to consider what your audience wants and needs, and respond accordingly.

How to apply this to content generation

This technique can be combined with empathy mapping to help influence your content ideas. Perhaps you could interview members of your sales or customer service teams – the people who interact with your audience everyday – to adopt these roles as they can best embody your audience’s desires and pain points.

Then, either act out a scene or conduct an interview with this “audience persona” to figure out what content would capture their imagination.

3. Starbursting

Instead of immediately focusing on answers and solutions, starbursting encourages creatives to prioritise the questions in brainstorming sessions. By devoting time to generating relevant, useful questions relating to the topic at hand, your team is in a position to answer these with greater clarity.

You should build your starburst map on the 5Ws and 1H:

• What
• When
• Where
• Why
• Who
• How

How to apply this to content generation

Say you are marketing for a real estate company and want to create content around property viewings. On each point of your starburst map, you may have questions like:

• What will potential buyers expect to see during a property viewing?
• When is the best day of the week to arrange a property viewing?
• Where do potential buyers look first during property viewings?
• Why are property viewings important?
• Who can help someone prepare for a property viewing?
• How can you ensure viewers have the best experience possible?

The questions built up during this session can inspire a wave of articles, videos, infographics, social posts and other assets designed to answer each one proposed.

4. Brainwriting

Also known as slip writing, brainwriting encourages a natural flow of consciousness involving every participant in a brainstorming session. First, without any prior communication, each person anonymously writes down their ideas and thoughts on a piece of paper, index card or post-it notes. These are then collected and positioned in clear view of everyone. 

The ideas themselves can be completely unconventional or bizarre, but the aim is to use these as jumping-off points for constructive conversation. Rather than wait for people to speak up, their anonymity gives them greater freedom to write whatever’s on their minds without fear of judgement, and ideas can then be discussed and adapted where necessary.

How to apply this to content generation

Brainwriting can be very powerful for content generation, as it encourages people to share ideas without risk of ridicule. It can also highlight the concepts of people who may not be as confident speaking in a group setting, so everyone is able to contribute.

During a session, you might pass ideas around from person to person for a few rounds to refine and add to the initial concepts. This can mean they are in a more complete state when the group reconvenes to discuss the ideas, so the chosen ones are in a better position to be taken forward.

5. S.C.A.M.P.E.R.

The S.C.A.M.P.E.R. technique inspires people to look at a problem or topic from a variety of different angles, allowing them to consider those areas in a very specific, focused way. The acronym is broken down into:

• Substitute
• Combine
• Adapt
• Modify
• Put to another use
• Eliminate
• Reverse

By looking at ideas through these distinct lenses, it can offer fresh perspectives on how to approach a topic.

How to apply this to content generation

During a content idea brainstorm, S.C.A.M.P.E.R. can encourage attendees to imagine different ways to look at a topic, as well as build on an initial concept with one of these seven distinct approaches.

You might substitute the audience your topic is aimed towards, or combine one topic with another one brought forward to create a different concept altogether. Even if some of the ideas developed through this technique are non-starters, it is valuable in guiding people down different paths regarding a topic.

6. Six thinking hats

The Six Thinking Hats philosophy was developed by Edward De Bono in 1985, and is built around six unique thinking styles:

The six hats and what they mean

• Blue hat – process
• White hat – facts
• Yellow hat – benefits
• Green hat – creativity
• Red hat – feelings
• Black hat – cautions

To apply this to a brainstorming session, you could either have different participants within a meeting metaphorically wear these different hats, or have everyone wear one hat at a time to cover each area step by step.

How to apply this to content generation

During a content generation session, you might apply the Six Thinking Hats technique in the following way:

• The chair of the meeting wears the blue hat, coordinating all other participants and reinforcing the goals and outcomes of the meeting
• White hats bring forward any data or information they have available about the topic being discussed
• Green hats encourage new and innovative ideas, and are there to think outside the box
• Yellow hats bring forward the benefits and advantages of ideas generated during the session
• Red hats focus on the emotions and gut feelings felt by their audience towards the topic
• Black hats looks at the logical risks and concerns surrounding ideas brought to the table

By giving everyone a specific role in this process, it can make creative meetings more streamlined and enables people to play to their strengths, rather than conduct the brainstorming as a free-for-all.

7. Stepladder

The final technique we will highlight is the stepladder. As it sounds, it takes a step-by-step approach to idea generation, and is particularly powerful in an environment where a few individuals are drowning out others during sessions.

Once the meeting begins, everyone vacates the room outside of two people, who discuss their ideas together. After a couple of minutes, another person enters, who then shares their ideas uninterrupted. Then, all three discuss their ideas together.

One by one more people enter the room until every participant is back together. This ensures that everyone has a chance to share their concepts without interruption, and helps highlight common themes and thoughts that can be pursued following this session.

How to apply this to content generation

During a content brainstorming session, the stepladder technique can help bring the most popular ideas for a topic to the forefront, while also uncovering more out-of-the-box approaches that may prove just as valuable. 

Rather than a couple of powerful voices reaching a consensus, all ideas are given an audience. All perspectives are given a fair shake, which could unlock unique, compelling approaches for upcoming campaigns.

Showcase your ideas with BAM

If you have often found brainstorming sessions grinding to a halt due to a lack of ideas, organisation or enthusiasm, we hope this inspires you to trial new techniques that will get your team’s creativity flowing.

Find the methods that engage your participants the most and encourage the most abundant range of ideas, and your sessions will soon become a hotbed of unique, vibrant concepts.

But, once you have exciting ideas for your content, it’s time to share them with the world. BAM by Papirfly™ gives you the power to produce professional print, digital and video assets, online, in an instant, and control your content like never before.

• Easy-to-use design software enables you to create an infinite amount of marketing assets in-house
• Intelligent templates ensure BAM can be used by anyone to produce high-quality, perfectly branded assets – no design expertise necessary
• Create brochures, videos, emails, social media assets and more completely independently
• Adapt campaign materials, text and imagery for use in your markets across the globe

Take the speed, quality and cost-effectiveness of your content marketing to the next level. Discover the full capabilities of BAM by arranging your free demo, or get in touch with our team if you’d like to learn more.

There’s no denying the power of video in today’s marketing landscape. Over 500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, and it is estimated that by 2022, online video content will make up 82% of global consumer traffic on the Internet.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg:

• 240 exabytes (where one exabyte = 1 billion gigabytes) of video content is expected to be consumed worldwide each month in 2022
• The average user is predicted to spend approximately 100 minutes a day watching online videos by 2021
• Mobile video consumption increases by 100% each year
• There is believed to be around 1 million minutes of video crossing the Internet every second

Of course, as we highlighted in our article on optimising video marketing, the content you use should always lean on the values that underline your company, the nature of your products and services, and the tone that your audiences expect from you as a brand. 

But knowing what ideas are out there and experimenting with them is key to discovering which connects with your users and helps you reap the full benefits video can have on building brand awareness and effective lead generation.

Below, we’ve listed 21 standout video marketing ideas that have been proven to help B2C businesses capture clicks and keep their customers’ eyes on their brand.

21 ideas to supercharge your B2C video content

#1 – Share your brand story

First, use video to shout about who your brand is, where you came from, and what you stand for. A great brand positioning video should emphasise your core values and how your company looks to make life better for its customers. This helps viewers visually understand the personality of your brand and, if they feel this connects with their own values and ideals, will compel them to learn more about your company and encourage them to get on board.

#2 – Product demonstrations and explainers

It’s good to tell customers how your products will benefit them through your website or in brochures, but it’s even better to show them first-hand. Product demonstrations and explainers allow viewers to clearly visualise how your offerings work, show transparency and support their understanding of them in a way that writing can’t always communicate.

72% of customers would prefer to learn about a product or service via a video (Hubspot)

#3 – Customer reviews and testimonials

Another way to help consumers to understand your products and the benefits they offer is by showing them other customers that have already experienced them. With 88% of consumers claiming that reviews influence their purchasing decisions, highlighting genuine, authentic stories of people who have used and enjoyed your products will inspire trust in viewers that they will also enjoy a positive experience with them.

#4 – User-generated content

As well as reviews, encourage your audience to get involved in your marketing by harnessing their own footage of customers using your products or services. Of course, it is important to secure their permission before pursuing this, but once you receive this, sharing user-generated content on your social feeds is another powerful indicator that people benefit from your offering, which may then inspire others to feel them too.

#5 – Thought leadership pieces

Modern B2C companies are expected to be more than just product manufacturers and sellers. By sharing your expertise in thought leadership pieces, be these individual interviews or roundtable discussions, you provide your viewers with knowledge and insight that they may not have had before. This increases their understanding of your brand and industry, and might encourage them to learn more through your other channels.

#6 – Live Q&As and webinars

Hosting live Q&As and webinars on a topic that’s important to your brand and your customers is a great way to inspire real-time engagement. These types of videos make the audience part of the process, encouraging them to ask burning questions about the topic at hand to improve their understanding. By fulfilling this and sharing your expertise in the selected area, this increases consumers’ trust in your brand.

The live streaming industry is predicted to be worth over $70 billion by 2021 (Neil Patel)

#7 – Answering FAQs

If you don’t have the capacity to live stream at the moment, then why not make pre-recorded videos answering some of your FAQs? Many websites have static versions of these up on their website. This makes the process more interactive and helps viewers understand your company more and gives them clarity over common issues that you’ve identified among your communities.

#8 – Take nuggets from your blog posts

When you produce a blog post, are you making the most of the content within it? Rather than having it sit on your website, take snippets and key points from it and put them into a short video. Not only will this provide useful information to viewers on the topic of the blog post, but these can be used to link people to the article itself to learn more, boosting the traffic to your website.

#9 – Video lists

Lists typically attract a lot of interest. Constructing a video around ranking particular products in your industry or on the various ways that your customers can use your products in less-than-ordinary ways can be the essence of a quirky, engaging video across your various feeds.

#10 – Behind-the-scenes and making-of videos

A good source of video content could be giving consumers a glimpse into how your products are constructed, or an insight into the development process that was behind the creation of a new product or innovation. This will allow you to explain in detail the reasoning behind your products and how you produce them, which may be of interest to viewers and help them identify your values and personality through these backstage clips.

#11 – Vlogs

Vlogs are among the most popular forms of Internet videos, with hundreds of YouTubers garnering millions of views built around their own personalities and adventures. While it may take a while to reach the status of a Daniel Howell or Lily Singh, having a face for your brand who highlights their role on a day-to-day basis can bring people closer to your brand and give them an understanding of the characters within your team.

87% of marketing professionals use video as a marketing tool (Wyzowl)

#12 – How-to guides and tutorials

Another heavily utilised form of video marketing revolves around tutorials. This doesn’t have to be specific to your line of products, but simply videos connected to your brand values and industry that resolve common pain points among your audience. For instance, if you represented a toy company a how-to guide could present ways to create games for children using household items.

#13 – Whiteboard videos

Popularised by the Whiteboard Friday videos at Moz, whiteboard videos allow industry experts to guide consumers through more complex concepts in a straightforward visual way. This can be powerful in educating consumers about the finer details of your products, or to explain various topics that your brand is passionate about.

#14 – Economist-style clips

You might have caught some of the engaging videos that The Economist have been pulling together on their social media feeds to explain news stories and trends in an aesthetically pleasing way. While this style is journalistic in nature, it can still be effectively applied to other topics to engage audiences on relevant topics to your brand, which may come across as stale or excessive in a written form.

#15 – Influencer videos and collaborations

Influencer marketing can be a powerful tool as long as both of your audiences sync-up in some form. A company that specialises in fishing equipment might not see much benefit from collaborating with a YouTuber known for their beauty tips (although never say never). Ideas like unboxing videos or influencers incorporating products into their own video concepts can be a win-win for both parties and attract a new audience to your brand.

The average business makes $5.20 for every $1 spent on influencer marketing (The Influencer Marketing Hub)

#16 – Mythbusting

There’s a lot of misinformation flowing around the Internet, so why not base a video about busting some of the myths prevalent in your line of work? By using your own expertise and understanding to provide some clarity on a contentious topic, you can present your brand as an authority within your industry and boost the trust your audience has towards you.

#17 – Interviews with employees and industry experts

Harness the expertise and experiences of your team, or take advantage of connections within your industry, to create some truly thought-provoking and compelling interviews. Not only will this demonstrate to viewers that your brand is a thought leader within your industry, but these can also act as enticing recruitment videos – if you demonstrate how learned and satisfied your employees are, top recruits will want a slice of that life as well.

#18 – Parodies and current events videos

While this requires a lot of creativity and thought in a short space of time, the viral potential of a well-crafted parody video or a clip connected with a recent trend or topic can be massive. However, do ensure that this is relevant to your brand or the content is adjusted in a way to make it fit with your core values to ensure it doesn’t feel out of place with what people expect from your brand.

#19 – Timelapse videos

A creative form of video marketing that can express change superbly is timelapse technology. Say you are an interior designer or a furniture storeroom – a timelapse video could illustrate how your team can turn a drab, lifeless environment into a vibrant and attractive one. These types of videos depict the transformative impact of your products and services in a way that worlds or “before/after” imagery can’t always manage.

#20 – Product comparisons

Similarly, use your video content to illustrate the quality and effectiveness of your products over others on your market. This will demonstrate to viewers the unique, additional benefits your offering has over competitors and consequently make them more appealing. Alternatively, you can create similar content with products that aren’t directly connected with your company, but would be relevant to your audiences.

#21 – VR and 360° footage

Especially at a time where movement is limited, VR or 360° videos can immerse a viewer in your brand and the environment you work in. This can be used to provide engaging tours of your offices, create visually stunning product announcements or add a different dimension to demonstrations and company events.

360° video ads result in a 7% higher purchase intent for smartphone users (IPG)

Maximise video content with complete consistency

We hope this has inspired a few ideas of how you can create the most compelling B2C video content for your brand moving forward. The strength of online video is only going to grow year-on-year, and it should now represent an essential element in any content strategy.

However, regardless which of these 21 suggestions you end up experimenting with (or if you come up with completely different concepts), one crucial characteristic you need to demonstrate is consistency.

BAM by Papirfly™ incorporates a beautifully simple video-editing solution that ensures consistent branding and quality output. From the ability to import branded visuals to the start and finish of your content and stylish transitions to weave in-between, to the capacity to add subtitles for your international audiences, we provide the tools that your team needs to make sure your viewers identify your videos with your brand.

For more information about BAM’s video software and its many other features that help companies harness their brand like never before, speak to us today or book your exclusive demo.

Think of your marketing funnel like the journey your consumer takes from being totally unfamiliar with your brand, to becoming a customer. The more this journey is nurtured, the more problems you solve for them, the more content they are exposed to – this all helps them to narrow down their purchasing decision so they make it through the end of the sales funnel. 

At each stage, through awareness, consideration and conversion, there are certain marketing activities and mediums that are known to be successful in helping the consumer feel confident and informed. In this article, we will explore this journey in greater detail and the types of strategies you can undertake to nurture your prospects in the most effective way possible…

What does a typical sales funnel look like? 

You will see many variations of this online and in books. Some may even have several more stages than what we have outlined below. But it’s important to remember to keep things simple to begin with, perfect the basics and then you can delve further. Awareness, consideration and conversion are your fundamental layers, so let’s start with those. 

The Awareness Stage

What is it? 

At this point you will have to make an assumption that someone hasn’t interacted with or heard of your brand, product or service. This is where you determine what problem you can solve for them, and what answers you can give them through multi-layered content. 

What you need to know about the prospect at this stage of the marketing sales funnel…

• They have a problem they don’t know the solution to
• They need educating on said problem and the solution 
• Volume of these types of leads is likely to be the highest
• As they are the least qualified, they hold the least value until nurtured

Types of activity to consider

Optimised blogs 

If you have an SEO team, they will have likely already put content pillars and clusters in place for you. The purpose of having optimised content, rather than content for content’s sake, allow you to capture intent through using terms that people are searching for. Your content can be tailored to provide answers to their burning questions. Though this single interaction will unlikely result in a lead, you will begin to build a relationship with the prospect. 

Sponsored blogs

When you have a very specific audience persona, you can easily identify publications to promote your content on. Having featured or paid-for content gets you in front of the right people very quickly, but can be difficult to sustain if your budget is limited. Publications usually want unique content, so if you’re exploiting one or two angles a month, the story could soon lose its lustre across multiple publications. 

Use the below template as a starting point for your audience personas. These may evolve over time, but getting the basics established will hold you in good stead for all the activity you engage with moving forward. 

Advertising 

Whichever medium you pursue to get people into the sales funnel, there are now tons of metrics available to help you hone in on the demographics available to you. While out of home advertising can’t always be as sufficiently measured as digital, it can be very effective when strategically coupled with other activity. 

Digital advertising, whether through banner networks, social media, retargeting or search engine ads, can give you a breadth of insight and measurement when set up correctly. You can get in front of people whose digital profile matches the demographics of your audience or capture intent through search engines. 

Social media

Using social media advertising to get new prospects into the sales funnel can be highly targeted and highly effective. Organic social is great once you have established a following, but it is often much harder to get the reach you need without investing in paid promotion alongside it. 

By promoting a gated resource you can capture email addresses and a few key details to bring new people into the marketing sales funnel. The subject of the gated asset can help you qualify that they will find your product or service relevant. This could take the form of a whitepaper, guide, e-book, checklist or a suite of educational videos. 

How well does this activity work?

These methods are used in the initial stages of raising awareness, getting in front of consumers and highlighting a way for them to solve a problem. The key to building this initial layer of trust is that the messaging isn’t trying to sell a product or service, but to provide education, be helpful and build an initial rapport with the prospect.

The Consideration Stage 

What is it?

This is where your prospect has been exposed to content that has opened their eyes to their issue in more detail, and potentially shown them some solutions and information. They are now aware and actively seeking more information about companies that can help them. 

While you will continue to serve them content, you will now take it to the next level and differentiate your brand from the competition. Any doubt they may have you should be ready to quash, any question should be answered and every USP should be highlighted. 

What you need to know about the prospect at this stage of the marketing sales funnel…

• Prospect recognises their problem and need for a solution
• Explores options and seeks more in-depth information
• Consider them to be ‘shopping around’ 

Types of activity to consider 

Webinars

Hosting webinars has become increasingly popular in the last couple of years, and been made ever-more prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic. Promoting your webinar on social media to new prospects, or to those in the middle of the sales funnel through email marketing, will showcase your brand as an authority on a specific topic, humanise your company and encourage re-engagement. 

You may choose a platform that only streams to your prospects, and while a two-way conversation isn’t always viable, you should at the very least offer the opportunity for prospects to submit questions in advance or in an accompanying chat manned by a person other than the webinar host. 

Case studies

While reviews are often one of the first things a prospect will check up on, this alone isn’t always enough to convince them to invest. Having well-written case studies for clients across multiple or specific industries can start to demystify any unknowns and help the prospect see how a real-world example can unfold. 

Email nurturing 

This is one of the most important strands to hone in on during the consideration stage of the sales funnel. When you have the verified email address of a potential lead, there are countless possibilities. Your email nurture journeys could range from generic or tailored newsletters, through to product update emails and information triggered by certain actions on your website.

We all lead busy lives and should your brand be at the back of an individual’s mind, a considered email in their inbox could bring you right back to the fore. 

How well does this activity work?

Each of these holds merit in getting a prospect through the middle stage of the marketing sales funnel. Whether used collectively or in isolation, they each work to establish your brand as a real contender for the prospect when making a purchase decision. 

The Conversion Stage 

What is it? 

At this stage, you have the prospect firmly hooked, you just need to delve that bit further and provide information that’s tailored completely to their needs and provide a point of interaction. 

What you need to know about the prospect at this stage of the marketing sales funnel…

• Actively interested in your product or service
• Qualified and nurtured enough for your sales team to start engaging
• Potentially ready to buy 
• Highest in value 

Types of activity to consider 

Trials and demos 

If you have a digital product, you can book a dedicated time slot to go over all the features, functions and walkthroughs with an interested prospect. This may be one-to-one or with a few stakeholders at their company. They will get the opportunity to ask more in-depth questions, and your team will be able to provide tailored answers unique to their situation or industry. 

Quotes

Sometimes the only barrier between a prospect and a sale is getting an accurate price. If your pricing is fixed or determined by a set amount of factors, you can enable prospects to generate their own quote online, while inputting additional information. Alternatively, you may offer a bespoke consultation with the final outcome of a quote or proposal. 

Discounts/sales prompts 

If you have access to data that shows your prospect’s behaviour, such as items sitting dormant in their online basket, it being emptied, filled again and then abandoned, you may choose to trigger a discount or promotion that will encourage them to convert. 

Form optimisation

Conduct regular audits of your website forms to make sure there are no barriers to conversion. You can test multiple messages across different call-to-actions, monitor which performs well and adapt others accordingly. 

How well does this activity work?

The good news is that your team will have done the hard bit by getting the prospect to this point of the sales funnel – now it’s over to your sales team (with support from marketing). Ultimately, if your messaging has been accurate and honest to this point, and your product or service lives up to its expectations, you should see your prospect finally convert. 

Beyond the marketing sales funnel 

Once you have turned your prospects into clients, you will need to think about retention and loyalty. These strategies can include ongoing nurture journeys, investing in customer support teams and resources, and rewarding customers with loyalty schemes and discounts.

The landscape of the marketing sales funnel is vast and ever-changing, but with the power of BAM by Papirfly™ you can be proactive and reactive to all of your digital and print marketing needs. 

• Create an infinite amount of design assets from pre-approved smart templates. 
• Allow teams anywhere in the world to adapt campaigns specifically for their markets, with dedicated imagery, translations and more. 
• Centralise your entire company asset library and make it easy for teams to find, share and edit materials anytime, anywhere. 
• Educate your teams on your brand assets, guidelines and strategy documents such as brand personas, campaign plans and more. 

If you would like to hear more about how BAM can help you nurture every stage of the sales funnel, get in touch today or book a demo. 

Anyone in marketing appreciates just how stressful getting campaigns to market can be without the right tools, processes and people in place. The ability to adapt quickly and harness topical opportunities has become integral to keeping marketing fresh and culturally relevant. The strategic and creative ideas are usually flowing the minute the opportunity is identified, but demand for a wide range of assets usually outstrips a team’s ability to deliver within a short space of time. 

Getting a planned campaign ready for launch globally can also be a headache in itself. Many brands still have to liaise with multiple agencies in multiple countries and it can become a logistical nightmare, with time constraints, brand inconsistencies and spiralling costs. Here we outline the core skills, tools and processes needed to ensure that campaigns go to market without a hitch – no matter if they’re designed for a worldwide audience or are put together at the last minute. 

The right people…

Strategic

Knowing what needs to be said, who it needs to be said to, and where and how it will be broadcast is an essential directive for any successful marketing campaign. Its prospects can often live or die based on the strategic direction it is founded on – and how effectively this can be translated to those responsible for executing it.

Your strategic marketing specialists (be they in-house or a supporting agency) will need to be able to efficiently establish the core components of this campaign, namely:

• What is the overall objective or goal of this campaign?
• Who is the target audience this is aimed towards?
• What is the concept or creative behind this campaign?
• Which channels will you utilise to reach your intended audience?
• How will you schedule the various assets of this campaign?
• How will you measure the effectiveness of the campaign?

Rushing to find answers for these is a recipe for disaster, even when campaigns need to be turned around quickly. Instead, it is crucial your strategic marketers establish streamlined processes and have access to effective tools to swiftly communicate their vision to those responsible for creating the necessary assets. This could include:

• Establishing point-persons who will act as a bridge between strategy and creative execution, helping to keep communication regular and uncluttered
• Developing internal templates for processes like audience personas, available channels, content calendars, etc. – storing these in a single destination will allow your strategists to have a useful starting point for all campaign-related discussions
• Giving your strategic marketers a birds-eye view of campaign planning and delivery through a collective online portal – this allows everyone to organise, monitor and review campaigns in real-time, as well as proactively make updates where required

Creative execution

With the strategy in place and working efficiently, it is just as vital that those responsible for the creative execution of the campaign have the systems in place to turn around work quickly with no complications.

So how can this stage be streamlined? One way is by empowering your entire workforce with the tools required to create assets. Now not everyone is blessed with a gift for design, and no organisation wants low-quality materials to be sent to their customers (even if they are against the clock). But, with all-encompassing tools like BAM by Papirfly™, creating studio-quality assets no longer requires specialist support.

By providing your team with easy-to-use design software and customisable templates, they will be capable of creating materials for a wide variety of channels – social media, video, brochures, displays – the possibilities are endless. This allows you to build the layers of your campaign in-house and efficiently get them published, which is critical when campaigns have a strict deadline to meet.

This also helps overcome the issue of agency dependence. While these organisations can play a big role in establishing the branding, designs and overall strategic direction for your company, it is unlikely they would be in a position to turn around campaign assets at the same speed which your in-house team could accomplish this. Logistical barriers and their commitments to other clients could stand in the way of that.

The right tools…

While you can’t beat a good planning session by putting pen to paper, ultimately delivery relies heavily on technology. Calendars, creative tools and marketing automation all play a critical role in getting campaigns to market. What’s great about tools nowadays is that the interfaces are typically friendly, and you get training to help you get to grips with it, so even the most technically challenged can learn new skills very quickly. 

Here are four must-have tools to get campaigns to market quicker:

Creative templates

While there are many ‘template’ tools available online, this is not what we’re suggesting you press on with. Intelligent and dynamic design templates on the other hand, which are predefined in line with your brand guidelines, take much of the stress and manual work out of creating studio-standard designs. Easily adapt creatives for different digital and print formats, switch out text and imagery, instantly produce assets for different sub-brands – the list goes on. 

Localisation and translation 

When campaigns are created by a central agency and then distributed to other countries, local agencies can often be tempted to go beyond what they’ve been asked. Moving logos, not using signed off imagery, changing colours of logos and layouts. Having a tool that centralises localisation and translation reduces the dependency on multiple agencies and makes sure nothing goes out looking less than perfect. Our BAM portal allows you to switch out the translated text for different territories, introduce culturally appropriate imagery and takes into account many other factors that differ from place to place.

Campaign planner

Having a visual campaign planner allows you to stay ahead of the game, plan in advance and see all the marketing activity that’s going on in one easy-to-understand snapshot. It’s just one moving part in a plethora of activities, but it’s the ultimate source of truth for what marketing is taking place in the coming months – keeping teams aligned and in control.

Centralised DAM

There’s nothing worse than different teams and employees saving files in different places. Whether it’s a centralised server, on their Google Drive or desktop, every brand should be utilising a centralised DAM. 

With everyone having access to only the latest files and marketing campaign materials, the whole team has access to the most up-to-date and approved artwork. This prevents duplication of effort and allows for easy distribution internally and externally.  

The right processes…

The success of having the right team, the best campaigns and all the wonderful tools at your disposal hinges on your internal processes and project management. Not every marketing team has the luxury of a dedicated project management team, but there are a few key processes that must run like clockwork in order to keep everything running smoothly. There are many more in between, but for us, these are the cornerstones.  

A comprehensive brief

Every task requires a brief in some capacity. But where you are taking global campaigns to market, it’s important that briefing is both delivered verbally to allow for questions and further discussion, and then followed up with a written summary of what has been communicated. Where teams are time-poor and unable to provide a comprehensive write-up, consider recording your briefs so that creatives or marketers can revisit certain areas for clarification. It also places accountability should anything be briefed in incorrectly. 

Plan your workflows

Your marketing team can run like a well-oiled machine most of the time. Aside from the inevitable odd curveball that will be thrown in from time to time, knowing how your workflows operate will provide much greater clarity in how to deliver a project. This means understanding who has the responsibility and skills to produce what, who needs input at which stage, who is responsible for sign-offs and how. There are many moving parts to any workflow, if others feed in at different stages, consider using a centralised tool or DAM where these can be made available. This will ensure everyone’s on the same page.

Implement an approvals process

There’s nothing that makes your heart sink like a piece of artwork going to print with the wrong information or a typo on it. Ensure you have a robust approval workflows process in place to avoid any unwanted surprises and make sure everything that leaves your office is of the highest quality. 

Getting campaigns to market doesn’t have to be stressful

We can’t avoid last-minute amends and issues, but by giving your team the best possible toolkit to deliver as effectively as they can, you enable them to bring campaigns to market much quicker. 

BAM by Papirfly™ is the all-in-one tool for getting campaigns to market and features everything we’ve discussed in this article and more. You can book a demo or a chat with one of our team.

Working in marketing can be one of the most rewarding careers in the world – if you work for the right company that is. Too often companies portray exceptional employer brands, but once the new employee scratches the surface, they realise they have been mis-sold or have made a big mistake.

Likewise, talent can pull the wool over the eyes of some hiring managers and turn out to be something entirely different to what they signed up for.

We’ve scoured high and low to bring you all the red flags from both sides of the hiring desk. So whether you’re moving to your next role or hiring for the next big thing, make sure you don’t miss these warning signs.

Identifying 10 red flags:For an interviewee..

#1 How you are welcomed

If you are attending an in-person interview and it takes a while for you to be greeted, it could be that you happen to arrive on an exceptionally busy day. Make yourself seen and known so that your hiring manager knows you’re here. If nobody seems prepared for your arrival or there is confusion before you are directed to the right place, it could be a red flag that the hiring process generally will be quite disorganised. 

#2 If the interview gets cancelled last minute

If your virtual or in-person meeting gets cancelled last minute, it could be an insight into what the company is like – unreliable or chaotic. Of course, genuine emergencies can’t be helped, but if no decent explanation is given or a follow-up date for rescheduling, this could mean you have had a lucky escape. 

#3 The list of duties as part of the role is messy and unclear

When asking questions about the role, if the hiring manager is vague or evasive about your specific queries, then it could be that:

• The wrong person is interviewing you/the right one was too busy. 
• The role isn’t yet clearly defined, which leaves your responsibilities in question and open to change. 

As a prospective employee, you should have a clear idea of what you’re being brought in to achieve. Marketing can be a chaotic industry as it is – without knowing your boundaries, limitations and outline responsibilities of the job, you’re almost already set up to fail. 

#4 The hiring manager isn’t prepared

While we all have off days and busy days, if the person interviewing you is totally unprepared for the interview, it could suggest that they are overworked. Of course, hiring for the department (interviewing you) could help to resolve this, but not having time to prepare for an interview could suggest an unhealthy attitude towards workloads and burnout. 

#5 Salary expectations are asked about before they’re shared

Hopefully you will have an idea of the salary before having applied, but if you are in an interview without this knowledge, and the interviewer asks what your expectations are, this could be a potential red flag.

By purposely leaving the salary off the description and asking you about your expectations, they are putting themselves in an advantageous position to negotiate – and leaving you in a vulnerable position in terms of finances.

#6 The salary offered is much lower than the marketing industry standard

If the salary doesn’t match your expectations then hopefully you won’t put yourself forward for the role in the first place. If, however, the role sounds ideal for your skill-set but the salary doesn’t match what’s being asked, you should see if there is any room to negotiate.

If the employer flatly refuses (even after being shown comparable roles for a higher salary and after you’ve proven your worth), then don’t bother taking the application any further.

#7 The job entails a lot more than what’s in the job description

A vague job description can leave you with more questions than it does answers. Make sure you expand on the bullet points in the interview process so you have an exact idea of what’s expected of you. Often, blanket statements are used to cover a wide-ranging remit that doesn’t always match what you’ve read.

If you scratch the surface of the role and uncover a whole new side you were unaware of, proceed with caution. It could be that the employer has melded multiple roles into one and that their overall expectations are unrealistic.

#8 There’s no clear hierarchy or area of support

Many companies going through a period of growth may make it clear that the structure is adapting to the needs of the company. But if you aren’t given a clear outline of who you are reporting to, take this as a big warning. It’s likely you could be left to fend for yourself and be without support if the interviewer is unable to answer your questions.

#9 They are entirely married to the technology or software they use

If you have successfully used a piece of software to do your job or completed training in a particular technology, the hiring manager should be inquisitive and interested in this, even if it’s not something their company actively uses. If the company dismisses a skill or piece of software without real reason, then it could allude to an outdated or close-minded approach.

#10 The employer is openly negative about the person you are replacing

Always ask how the role came about. Are you replacing someone? Is the team growing? Will this role exist in 5 years? If they are replacing someone, tactfully try and discover why they are leaving/did leave.

If the employer is vocal or overshares with you, then it’s a warning that the company isn’t very professional. Try not to get caught up in the gossip, as it could very well be you they are talking about in the future should you choose to take the job (you shouldn’t!).

3 common misconceptions: Interviewee

Be inquisitive and ask questions that are of genuine interest to you – but don’t ask questions for the sake of it. The interview should flow naturally, with both sides of the hiring desk steering the conversation at certain points. 

Try not to come prepared with a list of questions. Instead, think about what’s left for you to know on the day – it will be more authentic and more beneficial for you.

Lots of marketing buzzwords have a short shelf-life, and some companies downright hate them. Read through the company’s website prior to your interview to try and get an idea of their tone of voice. Although this won’t necessarily be employee-facing, it may help you to place what their expectations may be in terms of language and interview style. 

If you’re applying to a creative agency, the dress code is likely to be a lot less formal than a traditional interview, but always check out the website first or ask the question to your hiring manager if you’re unsure.

Sometimes turning up in a suit when a smart shirt and jeans would have sufficed could be enough to give a creative employer a bad impression – not because you did anything wrong, but because you missed the ‘vibe’ and ‘culture’ of the agency.

For more corporate in-house roles, smarter is always better, but always double-check with your recruiter to avoid any embarrassment.

Identifying 8 red flags: For an interviewer…

#1 Vague answers to questions you’re asking

A good marketer can sell anything, but if what they’re saying is all shine and no substance, this could be a warning that their real-life skill set doesn’t match what they’ve put down on paper. 

Where a candidate talks about a particular skill, ask scenario-based questions that will give you a better understanding of their knowledge. If their language is loose, vague and evasive, they might not be the right fit or could be more junior than they think.

#2 They don’t sell themselves well

While not every marketing role will mean directly selling, it’s important that the candidate is confident in what they’re talking about. Now this doesn’t mean there isn’t room for nerves or a bit of anxiety, but if the candidate isn’t able to talk consistently or comfortably about themselves – a subject they know the most about – this could mean that they will struggle in their day-to-day role.

#3 They talk too much about other offers

If a candidate is repeatedly name dropping other companies that are interested in them, they are angling for you to get competitive – usually with financial incentives. While mentioning who they are interviewing with (when asked) is perfectly acceptable, commandeering the interview to be about all their different job offers could mean they don’t see loyalty as a useful trait.

#4 They haven’t researched what the company does

While not everyone will spend hours researching what it is your company does, it’s important that the candidate grasps what you do at even a most basic level and can explain what it is your brand is with ease.

Why is this important? Because how could a candidate possibly be ready to start a career at a company they know nothing about – and contribute to the marketing department effectively?

#5 They use a lot of marketing buzzwords without going into detail

While a high-level knowledge of certain tools, terminology and processes will always shine through naturally in conversations, if a candidate is forcing in language that doesn’t quite fit with the conversation you’re having, it could be a red flag that they are trying to get the role without truly understanding what it entails.

If they use particular words frequently, politely probe them on the terminology to ensure they understand. It may sound a little extreme at the interview stage, but if a candidate isn’t honest at this early part of the process, it doesn’t bode well for the rest of the application.

#6 They are set in their ways about how they do things

Part of hiring new talent is the hope that they bring with them new ideas, ways of working and initiatives – but they also need to be open to the way your company and brand function. If they come across as close-minded or refuse to acknowledge other ways of working, this could cause huge problems further down the line.

#7 If they are late and they don’t call or email ahead to explain why

Being late to an interview is forgivable, but a candidate not having a level of courtesy to inform the potential employer that they are running late could be seen as a warning sign.

The world of marketing is fast-paced and spare time is low, so if a candidate turns up more than 5 or 10 minutes late without calling or emailing ahead, this could be interpreted as them not caring too much about whether they get the role.

#8 They don’t ask any questions about the role

Not every candidate needs to be armed with a thousand questions, but demonstrating an active interest in the role by asking the odd question here and there shows they are genuinely engaged in the conversation. 

Likewise, if the candidate leaves all their questions until the end – when you ask them if they have any – they may be pre-calculated, as opposed to genuine questions that have arisen as an outcome of the interview.

3 common misconceptions: Interviewer

It’s not uncommon for marketing roles to be contracted. These can be anything from 3 months to 3 years. Most candidates will state when they were contracted on their CV, but if they don’t, don’t write them off immediately, as their placement may only have been for a short time or maternity cover.

While ideal candidates should be open to doing tasks or providing an additional layer to their application, some companies have been known to take advantage of prospects by asking for too much.

If a candidate isn’t keen on doing a presentation, speak to them about their concerns and assure them of your way of working. Also, make sure each stage of the hiring process (including any presentations or tasks) is made clear at the beginning of an application stage.

A career is for fulfilment as well as financial remuneration, but the reality is that job satisfaction doesn’t pay the bills. Candidates are well within their right to ask about salary brackets and progression. If anything, it shows they are seriously considering the role, but that this might be the final barrier.

Some of these red flags are common, others less so…

Regardless of which side of the desk you sit, it’s important to continually assess your next step – whether that’s a marketing role promotion or growing your team. Recruitment and finding a new job is a difficult process, so we hope this article has helped shed some light on what to avoid.

2020 was a year packed with unprecedented challenges for CMOs and marketing teams worldwide. The COVID-19 pandemic and the ramifications this had on consumer behaviour caused brands in all industries to adapt their approaches on the fly, while often having to contend with restricted budgets.

Following the first few months of 2021, many of those challenges remain. COVID-19 is still with us. The economy continues to fluctuate. The only certainty at the moment is constant uncertainty.

This arguably makes the work of CMOs both more important and more difficult than ever before. With many still hindered by budget cuts and getting to grips with this new reality, there is a pressing need for clearly defined goals to maximise the potential of this next quarter and to set a strong foundation for the future.

If this is a situation you find yourself in, our Global Sales Director Justin Diver has identified 4 critical areas that CMOs should focus their attention to in the coming quarter to reap the greatest benefits now and going forward.

4 priorities for CMOs in 2021

• Make digital transformation a core focus
• Explore technology that can deliver more for less
• Build stronger bonds with your existing customers
• Lead the charge on empathetic, cause-driven marketing

1. Make digital transformation a core focus

Digital marketing is nothing new, it has been a priority area for marketing teams for several years – but now the pressure to present the best possible digital experience to customers is overwhelming.

The availability of physical stores and premises is guided by COVID-19 regulations and, with no real certainty over when these will disappear entirely, they have to be disregarded for at least the next quarter.

Instead, the priority of CMOs is to deliver a better, more cohesive digital experience to consumers. This is reflected in a recent survey by Gartner, which revealed that 51% of CMOs plan to focus on these experiences heavily in 2021, and 48% intend to introduce new digital sales and service channels as part of their offering.

With consumers limited in how they can interact with brands, the onus is on brands to make these touchpoints as engaging and seamless as possible. Because, any negative experiences quickly lead to a loss of brand loyalty.

Around 65% of consumers will switch to a competitor after they have 1-2 poor experiences with a brand – 88% will switch after 1-3 bad experiences (CCW)

What does this mean in practice for CMOs? It means now is the time to evaluate their existing digital platforms, identify any areas of weakness, and determine opportunities that will improve these channels for their consumers:

• Audit your digital channels and assess the user experience they offer
• Confirm that all messages and collateral going out online is consistent with your brand’s identity
• Explore the potential to extend your research on social media platforms
• Examine if you know enough about your consumers’ online habits, and if there are ways you can find out more
• Investigate and test digital strategies – artificial intelligence, customer loyalty programs, virtual sales, virtual conferences, voice of customer programs, etc.

Fundamentally, it is vital that any CMOs who still think of e-commerce as a nice-to-have use the next quarter to revise their opinion. Especially in the current landscape, it is now central to the overall customer journey, but it won’t end when COVID-19 is in our rear-view mirror – these events will shape customers’ expectations in the long term.

This is why CMOs must prioritise cementing their digital strategy. However, be selective with what areas you focus on. Gartner’s survey identified that many CMOs were interested in rescaling or reinventing many of their digital strategies during 2021, but the time, effort and resources this takes would be unfeasible. The end results would be an overstressed and overworked marketing team, and a muddled, incohesive approach.

Instead, as CMO, your responsibility is to identify the areas of your brand’s digital platform where you can make the biggest positive transformation or drive the greatest return on investment, based on your understanding of your customers and industry.

2. Explore technology that can deliver more for less

In order to best manage this difficult balancing act, CMOs should explore the potential of technologies that will enable them to produce more content and meet the growing expectations of customers while minimising expenditure.

Marketing spend in 2022 is predicted to be 30% smaller than at the end of 2019 (Forrester)

This could include software that improves your team’s workflow like Zapier, all-encompassing marketing automation tools like Hubspot, or a platform that richly enhances your team’s ability to produce a vast number of on-brand assets in-house like BAM by Papirfly™.

Regardless of what technologies you look into, the core message is that it’s time for CMOs to introduce ways they can continue to enhance the strength of their brand and meet their KPIs, while helping their organisation save time and money during this challenging period.

In addition, look at opportunities to consolidate your existing tools and software where possible in your bid to balance the books. Rather than spend heavily on a range of separate, single-function tools, focus on software that is multi-purpose and can streamline the way your team works.

3. Build stronger bonds with your existing customers

It can cost companies up to 7 times more to acquire new customers than retain their existing customers (Neil Patel)

In Gartner’s survey, they identified that CMOs will prioritise their existing customers, whether that is promoting their existing range of products and services, or introducing new offerings for repeat consumers.

There is a lot of logic behind this technique. Again, with budgets tight and the means of reaching new customers restricted to the crowded digital domain, the most cost-efficient approach would be to drive more business from your existing audience. It is true that a brand’s most loyal 10% of customers will spend up to 3 times more than the other 90%.

It is a low-risk stance that can potentially reap great results in this time of uncertainty. But, what can CMOs do this quarter to help enhance their relationship with their current customers to keep them returning for more?

• Prioritise consistency across all marketing materials – anything that fails to reflect the identity you’ve established across your customer base could result in a loss of trust
• Introduce customer loyalty programs and time-based discounts to encourage repeat business from your most loyal customers
• Assess your current customer service process and whether it is fulfilling the needs and expectations of your audience
• Focus your budgets towards remarketing efforts for your customers and those you have on record, but might have dropped off for a while

By focusing your efforts on making the experience for existing customers as engaging and reassuring as possible, your organisation can harness their greater spending power to keep revenue coming in during this period, before adjusting to the pursuit of new customers when the future feels more secure. 

Plus, taking these steps now will help new customers feel welcomed and increase the likelihood of them sticking around when they engage your business.

Ensure that this approach is driven by data, and not just risk aversion. If there are significant reservations about your existing audience’s ability to generate enough revenue in accordance with your company’s aspirations, then your strategy should pivot towards attracting more awareness towards your brand.

4. Lead the charge on empathetic, cause-driven marketing

How brands responded to COVID-19, as well as major societal movements like Black Lives Matter, had a powerful bearing on how current and prospective customers view them today. At a time where people are becoming increasingly sceptical of advertising, the media and politics, they are seeking reassurance that the brands they engage with share their values.

Arguably more than at any other point in history, consumers expect brands to have a voice during these incidents, and to practice what they preach in terms of their purpose and values:

68% of consumers expect brands to be clear about their values
46% of Millennial customers expect brands to be brave with their views
54% of consumers expect brands to be actively involved in social conversations
(Kantar)

On top of this, research suggests that consumers are willing to pay more for brands that they consider ethical, or at least in alignment with their own outlook on these important issues.

This means the days of watching in silence to avoid offending certain customers are over. In fact, staying silent can potentially be more damaging to your brand. Particularly among younger audiences, silence speaks louder than any words can, and they would show more respect to brands that take a clear stance on matters.

How should CMOs address this factor in the next quarter and beyond? Above all else, it will be their responsibility to craft and guide their organisations on how they should react to these events when they emerge, and what action they take in the aftermath.

This will obviously depend on your brand’s unique values and identity – you won’t always believe that your company should have a stance on the matter. But, if your brand prides itself on its environmental credentials, people will anticipate you to have a say on climate change. If you promote diversity and inclusion, they will expect a statement or response on movements like Black Lives Matter.

As CMO, you should spearhead any cause-driven marketing your brand pursues, ensuring that everything created is tactful, authentic, and perfectly aligned with your values. If it doesn’t meet these key criteria, it is very possible for your empathetic marketing to generate the wrong kind of emotions – as numerous brands have demonstrated in the past…

Make discovering BAM by Papirfly™ your next priority

We hope that Justin’s insights will benefit your brand and your overall marketing efforts in the coming quarter and beyond, as we continue to live in a time of uncertainty. One thing is clear though for CMOs in this challenging landscape – the need to generate consistent collateral is as pressing as ever, even if budgets are tighter than before.

BAM by Papirfly™ can make all the difference in overcoming this hurdle and helping you achieve your priorities for the short and long-term futures. Gain everything your team needs to create, share and store an infinite number of on-brand assets in-house, across all platforms, with no design expertise necessary. All in one platform, with one single license fee.

Find out how BAM can help you fulfil and exceed your content production objectives – and so much more – by talking to our team today.