Tag: Marketing

Seasonal Branding Mistakes to Avoid This Year (and Why You Need to Spot Them in October)

October 15, 2024

The holiday season can make or break even the most promising of brands. They become cautionary tales for the rest of us, from cumbersome check-outs to off-brand ads to marketing campaigns that lack that holiday spirit people crave. And if you’re largely relying on holiday-season revenue while still building your brand, the stakes are even higher.

However, most branding pitfalls this time of year can be avoided primarily through process testing, well-planned customer service, and a familiarity with your target audience. Once you’ve figured out consumers’ likes, dislikes, and where you want to reach them, the rest should fall into place.

Branding Mistake #1: Insufficient Warehouse Fulfillment & Logistics to Handle Your Orders

It can be a happy accident that turns into a holiday nightmare – the inability to handle all of your orders. This is a very understandable mistake for smaller businesses, and it occurs for a variety of reasons. One, you’ve introduced a new product line but were unable to test market demands. Two, in-house departments were not communicating with one another sufficiently in the lead up to the seasonal rush. Events outside of your control, such as shipping delays overseas, can also be the culprit.

One way to prevent the stress of late-year distribution troubles is to pad in enough turnaround time so that even a two-week delay isn’t likely to hurt business. At least when it comes to your marketing, you have the option to outsource merchandising services to outside experts who can handle all your warehouse fulfillment and logistics needs, removing that burden from your plate.

Branding Mistake #2: Attempting All Your Marketing In-House Without the Proper Digital Marketing Skills

According to NerdWallet, roughly four out of five people will research their purchases online before buying anything. Yet nearly half (47 perfect) of small businesses still manage all of their marketing – despite a lack of in-house digital marketing skills – and that decision is holding them back. A branding consultant like HYPTE that has digital marketing expertise can save you time and money by creating original solutions and executing on them in a fraction of the time, allowing you to focus on everything else you will need to accomplish from Halloween to New Year’s Day.

Branding Mistake #3: Not Enough Well-Trained Customer Service Agents Around the Holidays

This complaint may be the most prevalent among marketing teams and consumers alike. If you’ve got all your holiday products lined up and ready to ship, congrats! Sufficient, high-quality customer service reps to handle all the questions from customers that are sure to follow is crucial this time of year, and a lack of it could jeopardize an otherwise stellar season.

Get some peace of mind by following these customer service tips:

  1. Emphasize your training. Consider more intensive training for newcomers with less holiday marketing experience.
  2. Evaluate your online portal. Test it thoroughly to become aware of any glitches and improve your processes in time for the holiday rush.
  3. Survey your customers. You can learn a lot from past campaigns!
  4. Over-communicate. Be sure everyone throughout your organization is on board with your plans.
  5. Anticipate problems. Make sure your reps are skilled at handling disgruntled customers.
  6. Line up temps. Be sure you have access to last-minute talent should workers drop out of the pool.
  7. Hire selectively. How will you weed out the duds? Don’t let holiday angst overshadow smart hiring decisions.
  8. Prioritize. Decide how you will handle the more urgent requests.

Branding Mistake #4: Failing to Test All the Components of Your Marketing Plans in Advance

Now is a good time to begin testing the different components of your campaign, including your sales process, to make sure they are compatible. That will help you determine whether your website or mobile advertising require any technical changes. One approach is to create a prototype of end users. Solicit feedback based on specific, predetermined objectives such as how they respond to your Thanksgiving design or measurable engagement with your Black Friday video promo. Doing so gives you time to make adjustments before launching what your larger audience will see.

HYPTE Branded Solutions Will Inject Holiday Cheer Into Your Seasonal Campaigns

Kick off the season by giving yourself the gift of outside help. The team at HYPTE Branded Solutions has the expertise to create a turnkey solution from scratch, or to manage the missing elements of your digital marketing, branding, and merchandising plans from now until January 1.

Contact HYPTE online, or call us at 708-343-9730 to discuss what’s missing from your holiday marketing campaign!

Plan Your Holiday Marketing Now – And What Steps to Include This Year

September 16, 2024

Retailers and other SMBs map out their holiday season far in advance these days, which means their marketing campaigns need to be in place even sooner. All of that takes time and, more and more often, assistance from a partner that can handle the more challenging elements of your campaign:

  • Determine where to market and what trend to follow
  • Identify buyer personas – and who influences them
  • Help you find fresh new customers who are buying local
  • Skew your activity to the right medium
  • Create thematic content and experiences

To create the kinds of ideas that bring in new business, build new relationships and connect with your existing customer base, you’ll need at least three months to lay the groundwork.

Create Multiple Ways to Capture Attention – And Link Back to Your Original Strategy

Did you know that most local searches consumers make on their smartphones result in store visits within one or two days? And as much as companies are told to wrap existing digital media trends into their campaigns, many don’t take enough advantage of this technology, despite the opportunities to target people contextually based on their interests. A branding expert will have the tools to plan out the smaller steps that help you connect with those shoppers without wasting time – like a recurring promotion with retargeting pixel and increased ad spend during peak shopping hours.

A multi-pronged approach could include a variety of ways to capture your audience’s attention:

  • Bold and disruptive holiday themed images
  • Fun and engaging marketing through photo contests, polls and strategic discounts
  • Brand communication via email promotions and social media posts
  • Develop landing pages, pop-ups, and integrated content for your website
  • All while leveraging Facebook and Google’s large data pool

6 Tips for Scheduling Out Your Marketing to Stand Out from Your Competition

By scheduling out your steps with time to spare, it will be easier to make adjustments as you go. Keep in mind, there could be a change in suppliers or material shortages causing an unexpected delay. Some food for thought that will take a little advance planning:

1. Post More Often

Social media schedules tend to become tighter this time of year. This is because a lack of posts won’t be seen amidst the competition. A digital marketer will know how often and on which platforms to post – for instance, by shortening the time frame by half to twice daily.

2. Order Holiday-Themed Branded Merchandise Early

No matter the industry, companies will need at least a couple months to tailor high-quality T-shirts, knit caps and other products with holiday themes. A full-service agency can handle merchandise as well as the digital marketing elements.

3. Engage Visitors with Dynamic Ads

Businesses are using mobile apps to create engaging ads and promos that are more tailored to the individual shopper, from the images to the written copy to your landing pages.

4. Offer Discounts and Giveaways

Everyone is a sucker for a sale, and when people are ready to spend they are also more likely to take advantage of discounts, sales, coupons and giveaways.

5. Include Video Content

Possibly the best way to get attention, creating video content can also be the most time consuming. If this is part of your plan, find someone experienced in video marketing to help you wrap up your Tik Tok, Roku or video short.

6. Communicate the Details

Don’t underestimate the power of information to expand your reach. You may even feel you are over-communicating, but consumers will want to know the latest deets regarding products, sales, and your brand.

HYPTE Branded Solutions Will Help You Design Your Fall Season Campaign

As the broader holiday season gets started in October, HYPTE Branded Solutions will help you get all of the necessary parts in place so you’re ready to launch as soon as the crisp fall weather arrives.

Contact HYPTE for help getting started. Call us at 708-343-9730 to set up a free consultation!

“September Surge” and Other Back-to-School Marketing Lessons

August 16, 2024

That feeling we had as kids of a new year beginning – only it was September and not January – doesn’t always go away. The end of summer vacation season is more than a time for parents to stock up on school supplies and send kids back to class. It can also signal a boost of new marketing opportunities that extend well beyond parents and teachers.

In fact, the ecosystem this time of year applies to many other groups that tend to get overlooked by child-focused marketers. A few you may want to add to your list:

  • Career developers
  • The food and beverage industry
  • Influencers and content creators
  • Supporters of parents and teachers throughout the year
  • College-age consumers
  • Soccer enthusiasts and the branded solutions with major league experience

Brands Should Market Fresh Starts in September

First and foremost, you want to convey a feeling of fresh starts throughout late summer and early fall. Keep in mind that consumers don’t have to parent a child to crave some sort of a fresh start in their lives. It’s an appealing concept, after all. Who doesn’t want to take steps to change a bag habit or achieve a goal? You don’t have to push the theme overtly. (That’s New Year’s job!) Just keep in mind that many folks feel a bit more ready to dive into routines related to health, education and wellbeing.

Don’t Forget Other Groups Impacted by the School Year

The impending approach of cooler weather signifies change for other groups, too. Branded merchandise in the form of T-shirts, pencils, markers, backpacks and electronic devices are all great items to push right about now. But other related themes can tie into your upcoming campaigns:

  • Adult education and job seekers
  • Restaurant industry: dietary changes
  • Fall styles and trends
  • Health and wellbeing programs

Known as the “September surge,” this time period is also associated with an uptick in career development moves such as increased job searches. This essentially means that, not unlike the beginning of the actual new year, many adults become inspired to make impactful changes in their lives. Therefore, it may be wise to consider those kinds of themes for your next event, and then couple branded workout apparel or notebooks for adults to highlight popular and timely trends.

(Find out more about trends in branded merchandise here.)

Fall is America’s Favorite Season

The other point about summer ending: not everyone has a summer-season personality. Many are relieved to put away the SPF 70 and put on longer sleeves. There are more than a few reasons that fall is considered people’s favorite season in the U.S., with 45% of Americans saying they prefer autumn to the other three seasons. It’s even more popular among women.

Marketers should be looking for creative ways to take advantage of the moment. Not by prematurely pushing pumpkin spice, but by tapping into what is so appealing about fall in the first place.

Marketers Should Find Out Who Influences Sub-Groups of Students

According to GlobalData, there were more than 33 million households in the U.S. with young kids in 2022. But there are many subgroups within that demographic, so you will want to take a closer look at who exactly you’re speaking to – and what the more effective ways to do that are. For example, a few important things to know about students, according to Social Native:

  1. A third of people on Tik Tok are adults with young kids.
  2. Most parents ask their kids’ opinions when shopping for them.
  3. However, older teens and college students (gen Z) are more influenced by their peers and YouTube than by their parents or traditional ads.

As these kinds of figures show, it’s necessary to take a closer look not just at age groups, but what kinds of students they are and who is influencing them when they shop.

HYPTE Branded Solutions Will Help You Design Your Fall Season Campaign

HYPTE Branded Solutions is here to help you at any stage of your back-to-school marketing campaign – or any other type of campaign you plan to launch.

Contact HYPTE for more on our services, or call us at 708-343-9730 to set up a free consultation today.

Attract Your Target Fanbase: Use These 7 Summer Marketing Lessons

July 19, 2024

Is your summer marketing campaign fully primed to take advantage of the season? If you’re located in the Midwest or a similar climate, then you know about the power of seasons. But it may mean taking additional measures to entice your target audience before fall arrives.

1. Warm Weather Events Make Excellent Branding Opportunities

The first step in a marketer’s summer campaign should be to prepare themed merchandise to coincide with seasonal events. In many parts of the country, the number of in-person gatherings spikes exponentially in June, and so do opportunities for capitalizing on concerts, parades, street parties, water activities, and outdoor sporting events.

2. Branded, Outdoor-Themed Giveaways Are Simple and Effective

Your business doesn’t have to align specifically with a branded product to use it to your advantage. You might be surprised at the number of low-cost goods that can carry your company name, convey a good time, and help create lasting memories. Just a few examples of summer-themed marketing merchandise HYPTE could hook you up with include:

  • SPF lip balm
  • Wide-brimmed hats
  • Summer apparel
  • Refreshing beverages
  • Hand-held fans
  • Water bottles
  • Bottle openers

Want to boost your ROI? Use co-branded items with the world’s most popular logos on them.

3. Where Will Your Target Audience Be This Summer?

Not everyone experiences summer the same way. Smart brands give people more ways to celebrate and enjoy life wherever they are. Spotify knew this last year when they launched their “bummer summer” campaign, aiming playlists of moody tunes at Gen Zers.

As always, keep your target market in mind. Spotify’s campaign captured the essence of a specific generation tied to a desirable audience. It wasn’t just the catchy name that helped boost their strategy, but the fact that music accompanies young people everywhere they go – especially in warm weather months.

4. Summertime Consumers Want to Be Entertained & Engaged

Look for opportunities to incorporate interactive tactics. One significant branding trend has been through experiential marketing, creating an experience that makes people want to know more about your brand. In a LEGO store, this might translate to a workshop setting that allows customers to build their own LEGO creations. Retail brands in particular are rethinking floor designs that involve customers instead of simply advertising to them. If there’s a way you can incorporate an engaging outdoor display – even better.

5. Create Virtual Summer Experiences Through Social Media

Not every company has a storefront. If not, those experiences you’re creating may need to take place virtually, and social media will play a vital role in making that happen. Encouraging people to share live experiences as “stories” on Instagram or Facebook is more fun for consumers than telling them what to buy.

Additionally, no matter where a campaign takes place, there are ways to weave it into your social media calendar. As always, show, don’t tell. Displaying your Insta or Twitter handle alongside a branded hashtag to coincide with an event will get people to spread the word.

6. Get Out and Leverage Local Business Partnerships

What makes your business unique? Find local businesses that want to promote one another mutually by sharing leads. There are hundreds of professional networking groups in any large city with meet-and-greets in full force this time of year. If you’re not taking advantage of all that networking energy, you’re missing out on potential business leads.

7. Include Lasting Barcodes or Tags for Affiliate Partners

Once you’ve established some helpful business relationships to leverage during your campaign, be sure to implement tools that will boost those ties. For example, long-lasting barcodes or pixel tags for your affiliate partners is a simple but effective way to build on your successes. These types of tools are becoming fairly ubiquitous in society, even among older consumers. Set them up so that referrals will be active for long periods of time to make these two-way relationships worthwhile.

HYPTE Branded Solutions Creates Cool Summer Merchandise + Fun Business Experiences

If anything has a vibe, it’s summer. The digital marketing experts at HYPTE Branded Solutions will help you inject the right vibe into your summer marketing campaign, whether through targeted events, e-commerce channels, social media, or something else entirely.

Contact HYPTE for help at any stage of your marketing campaign. Call us at 708-343-9730 today to get started!

The Unique Power of Experiential Brands

May 15, 2024

When it comes to experiential brand marketing, engagement is the name of the game. That’s why all kinds of brands today are discovering the power of events and other popular, interactive ways to get noticed.

Businesses Celebrating Their Brands

Certain brands have enough cache that it feels like an event when a new product or generation of one is announced. But the truth is, anytime people are using a space connected to a particular brand they’re having an experience, whether they’re interacting with the Geek Squad at a Best Buy, testing products at Apples stores, or working virtually from a Starbucks. Any fun event combined with the announcement of a new service or store location will get your fans involved in a more emotional way than, say, a typical TV ad or email.

The Power of Experience in Marketing

In reality, experiential marketing isn’t exactly new. It’s just that brands are becoming much savvier about how they can immerse potential consumers in a way that can have a huge impact on business. However, while the data on experiential marketing show a higher success rate than other approaches, not every experience is guaranteed to deliver a desirable outcome. Businesses can boost their odds by using the services of a qualified branding professional to create experiential campaigns that are most likely to succeed.

Creative Events That Leave a Positive Impression with Customers

At this point, marketers commonly incorporate some form of experiential advertising in their campaigns. What’s changing is the variety of paths that businesses take to ensure they leave an impression. Some effective ways you can create interactive branded experiences include:

  1. Celebrating milestones big and small
  2. Conducting online workshops and events
  3. Hosting contests and flash sales on social media
  4. Handing out swag at events and festivals
  5. Doing demos in public spaces
  6. Offering samples at local stores
  7. Taking advantage of special days from Earth Day to the Fourth

Keep in mind: the power of these types of experiences will lie in the small moments that leave lasting, positive associations with your name and your key messages.

A Presence in Public Spaces

Where is your target audience? Brands ranging from dating apps to branches of the military find ways to set up shop on university campuses to drive awareness. And there’s a reason for this. According to the website G2, 91% of consumers would be “more inclined to purchase a brand’s product or service after participating in a brand activation or experience.” Many respondents also reported feeling “more loyal” to brands once they’ve participated in something, which says a lot about the power of getting potential consumers more involved in any way you can.

How Experiential Branding Expert HYPTE Creates Success for Clients

There is a wide gap between events that create a splash and those that don’t. This is why HYPTE Branded Solutions has had the fortune of providing solutions for a roster of impressive brand names. Our team understands that words like “branding” and “experience” can be abstract when it comes to making real-world plans. For a bit more clarity, check out some examples of the highly creative and interactive approach to branding we have achieved for clients in the past:

  1. Creating ingenious bottle openers for Dos Equis that enticed customers at bars
  2. Helping BBC America rebrand a new show in a fun and engaging way
  3. Generating buzz through motorized “cooler scooters” for Coors Light
  4. Creating a variety of swag used at a Los Angeles Dodgers fan convention
  5. Producing tents, table covers, flags and custom changing tables for a Pampers event

Talk to the Specialists at HYPTE for the Best Experiential Marketing Solutions

As you can see, there’s no one way to be experiential. It requires a combination of processes to create the kinds of experiences that will match your messaging. At HYPTE Branded Solutions, we start by getting to know you, the client, and diving into your needs and business goals. Then we think outside of the box to produce highly innovative ideas that will tap into whatever it takes to create new fans. Contact HYPTE online, or talk to a branding specialist at 708-343-9730 about the best ways to start creating experiential branding today.