Happy Sunday! What an incredible week we just had between Facebook's issues and the inauguration of a new President.
I had quite a week exploring deeper into the world of organic social, as a bi-product of planning for new brand launches we have, as well as sitting down with Chris Zarou and Harry Remler from Visionary Music Group. Thinking through how we can be "different" within an endless feed was something that I thought a lot about. The final answer is Digital Experiential Marketing.
In the years past, there was simply the concept of "social media marketing" or "content marketing" but with COVID forcing everyone to stay at home, there were some really interesting innovations in the world of brands and how they stay top of mind or communicate with their customers.
(Side note - if you're in New York City, the West Village restaurants have done an incredible job creating outdoor setups that counter the cold and the pandemic.)
Over the last decade, it's imperative for every company to be on social media, and as new apps/platforms become here to stay, there's always encouraged to join the platform and "crack the code" for growth. In most cases, it's just about being on the platform with very low benchmarks for engagement (see almost any brand's Twitter account), but with everyone at home, this has shifted to becoming more experiential for the brands and their customers.
Some examples from a tweet I tweeted earlier this week were:
• Events (digital/physical)
• Digital products (functionally beneficial)
• Content (KPI = shares/saves)
• Creating a CRM of prospects
I believe we're going to see a huge rise in digital products, lives with "celebrity" guests, and more interactive content on social, especially with Tik Tok and the stories placements.
Digital products don't need to mean anything too highly produced either. It can be something as simple as a 2021 Home Safety Checklist or as intricate as Topical's Burn Book.
The other great thing about digital experiential marketing is that it becomes a huge source for introducing customers to your brand and into your community.
I'll share more thoughts on how I see this all being executed as I see them. If you see anything interesting, please let me know! I feel like David Perell and I might have to write something on this.
Onto some more stuff.
Software/App of the Week:
This is like Superhuman but for the calendar. I've been an early test user for many months now and it's by far a massive hack for time.
Brand of the Week:
I've seen this brand completely transform under the Pela umbrella from digital to product to operations and it's really fascinating to watch.
I believe NIK20 is a 20% off code that still works if you’d like to try!
They also just launched Barxby as well!
Resources:
The tweet on talking to billionaires from Greg.
This thread on business lessons from Austin Rief, co-founder/COO of Morning Brew.
This article with MarketerHire on DTC Tips with me
This article with Yotpo about 2021 eCommerce predictions
Hope you have a good Sunday night sleep!