by Mattr | Oct 28, 2015 | news
(Originally posted in The Marketing Scope by Jack Holt, Mattr CEO) If there’s one quality marketers desire from their content, it’s the perception of authenticity. We live in a time when being “fake” is the most heinous of all crimes— to be perceived as fake is to be shunned, discounted, and cast aside. Despite the buzz, it’s tough to tell exactly what constitutes authenticity in brands. The only sure thing is that authenticity brings in money: Consumers are willing to spend money in support of “real” brands. So how do marketers achieve that genuine persona when consumers balk at anything homogenized as a contrived sales pitch? The Difference Between Authenticity and a Sales Pitch Last week, I spoke with the marketing lead at New Zealand-based gear manufacturer Minaal. Minaal’s team members are incredibly passionate about adventure travel. Unsurprisingly, they are fiercely protective of their brand’s persona: “We’ll never jeopardize our brand’s authenticity by doing something salesy,” they told me. If Minaal is any indication of the future of marketing, advertisers will need to change their tactics fast. Authenticity is binary: Consumers see a message as either a genuine expression or a sales pitch. The reality is that no amount of creativity can replace sincerity. We can create new ad platforms and novel content strategies, but consumers have become incredibly savvy about sales schemes. Across industries, marketing spend is growing by leaps and bounds, but click-through rates remain dismal. Sometimes, it seems the more we strive for authenticity, the more we fail. But there are several keys to this holy grail of marketing — just be sure to employ them with...
by Mattr | Oct 14, 2015 | news
When it comes to Influencer Marketing, it seems like analytics are often a forgotten piece of the process. While much attention is given to identifying influencers, researching them and the paid conversion that happens in order to bring them on as an influencer, the analytics of the arrangement is often an afterthought. Effort requirements are almost always part of the contract with an influencer. For instance, if Holiday Inn commissions an influencer to run an Instagram Loyalty Program campaign for them, that influencer might be asked to produce X number of Instagram photos per week on their personal account. Those ‘effort’ metrics are all well and good and certainly help a program, but to truly measure the impact of an arrangement with an influencer, the brand must go deeper into the numbers to find the value. What is happening after posts are published? How deeply a brand goes into that value calculation depends on a number of factors, including budget, available human resources and tool allocation, to name a few. There’s no absolute right way for measuring the success and effectiveness of an Influencer Marketing campaign (in fact, this often varies based on the campaign goals), but there are a few best practice recommendations we always give to our clients. Three baseline metrics to pay attention to are Impressions, Reach and People Engaged. These are all KPIs supporting increased awareness and/or engagement for your brand, and they can all be directly tied to the work your influencers are doing on your behalf. Determine benchmark measurements for each of them, so that as your Influencer Marketing campaign increases, you...
by Mattr | Oct 6, 2015 | news
Put yourself in a modern day traveler’s shoes – does it seem like a constant race to gain loyalty points? Have you enrolled in multiple programs but only stay devoted to a select few? Does every interaction with a hotel seem more like a transaction than a connection? As our choices have expanded, so have our expectations; both have indubitably influenced our behaviors as consumers in some way. The ubiquitous nature of social media means expecting swift responses about our questions and needs. Disruptive business models such as Airbnb’s and design-based hostels’ afford travelers the variety, flexibility and unique experiences they now seek. Some would argue that the millennial generation’s expectations have ushered in a new path to loyalty that requires part emotion, part data science. It’s a loyalty arms race. In order to stay ahead, hotels must exceed basic expectations by recognizing and rewarding members for doing things they already love to do. But where to begin? Look to your data. You’ve stored it with details from past interactions, and you can fine-tune it with further research. As your marketing team determines the types of behaviors that constitute loyalty, don’t forget the technology layer. Using Mattr, hotels can reconcile loyalty program databases to find active members and offer them thoughtful rewards and benefits. Not only can the Mattr app pinpoint social updates that warrant a “surprise and delight,” but it can also arrange the data to prioritize communication to members with a high reach and highly relevant content. Teams with limited resources can benefit from this practical app feature. Delight your clients. Surprise and delight campaigns can also...
