digital strategy - Stealth Creative

Can you believe how many changes the social media world has seen lately?

Neither can we. That makes now as good a time as any to fine-tune your social strategy!

Why?

Because social media means more to the brand-consumer relationship than ever before – and there’s always opportunity to strengthen those customer connections.

Social media users are switching between seven social networking platforms, and they’re spending almost 2.5 hours per day on average glued to their profiles. In a shock that comes to no one, younger generations use this medium more than any other.

Time Spent Using Social Media, per Generation

Can you imagine the possibilities for reaching your ideal audience? We can.

Here’s how to become a social media socialite.

#1 Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

We get it. Change can be hard. Especially when that change means doing things like getting in front of a camera.

But remember: Your customers want to see you. Don’t sweat being filmed. You’ll be talking about what you know best: Your business. And unless you’re doing a live stream, you can hit “Record” as many times as you need before publishing. (That’s what we do!)

#2. Know where your people are

Does your business need to be on every single social media platform? Maybe a long time ago, but not today. Whether you have an established business or are in the middle of building one, you should know who your ideal consumer is. Once you know that, it’s a matter focusing your efforts on where they spend their time.

Don’t know where that is? We do.

#3 Listen to Your Audience

If you’ve never heard of social media analytics, all you need to know is they help you listen to your audience. Most platforms offer their own analytic tools and insights, but you can also use third-party resources depending on your needs.

The best way to understand what resonates with your audience is knowing what makes them engage. For example, examine a post with a lot of comments. What kind of post is it? A conversation starter? Does it show personality?

Take the attributes of successful posts and recreate them. You don’t want to duplicate the exact same post, but consider how you can adapt the voice, message and imagery into your next social gem.

#4 Stop Their Scroll

You have three seconds to gain the interest of a social media user. That’s right: THREE. If you don’t grab attention off the bat, you’ll likely be ignored.

So how can you make sure this doesn’t happen to you? We’re so glad you asked.

Now that you know who your audience is and where they spend their social media time, put yourself in their shoes. If you were them, what would YOU want to see on your feed? Something eye-catching, right?

Right.

Whether it’s educational or entertaining, your content’s first impression can make or break its performance. A good introductory hook does exactly that – it grabs hold and doesn’t let go. And hopefully, it leads them to your profile to become your newest follower.

Let’s Get Social

Whether you’re a social media whiz looking for some inspiration or are just now starting to dabble, Stealth Creative’s team can help. Remember, it’s never too late to get your social strategy on target.

Source: Sprout Social, Hootsuite, Statista and McKinsey

Kirsten Hackett

Kirsten Hackett specializes in social media marketing and loves to focus on building social communities for our clients. She has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and an MBA with a marketing specialty. When she’s not working, she’s likely hanging out with her family, baking or crocheting.

David Ogilvy concluded his book Ogilvy On Advertising with 13 predictions.

Many of them were flat out misses (billboards are just as prevalent as ever, direct response is still effective and politicians lean on negative advertising even today).

Because for as creative as he was, he wasn’t Nostradamus reincarnated.

But, seeing as how this is January, we want to give you our 2023 advertising predictions, delivered by Stealth Creative Owner and President, Dan O’Saben.

(And if you prefer reading, keep scrolling.)

Prediction #1: AI Dominates

What a time to be alive.

You can give ChatGPT a prompt to write a blog post. Use Midjourney to create images. And then use Grammarly to edit the post itself.

Impressive, yes. Ethical? While still unresolved, we’re starting to see this issue play out in legal arenas.

Effective? Kind of. After all, AI isn’t creating anything new per se. It just scrapes content and images from the web and rearranges it.

All of this can seem great for a company with a limited budget. But if you ask someone to compare work produced by a person to that made by machine, that someone will probably gravitate towards the authentic, non-AI work.

AI is still pretty nascent. It lacks that quintessential human touch. More importantly, AI hasn’t perfected groundbreaking concepts, even with the best of prompts—yet.

Prediction #2: Mending the Media Divide

Gone are the days when people tuned in at the same time to the same channel. Music playlists are generated by songs you’ve streamed and liked.

We live in a fractured environment, where we all consume media tailored to our tastes, with narrowcasting gaining hold on traditional broadcast.

So while traditional media isn’t going anywhere soon, that’s why we think there will be a bigger investment in OTT/CTV advertising in 2023.

Here’s another reason: There are no elections, which works against the amount companies typically spend on traditional media.

With an influx of budgets ready to be deployed in alternative formats, that means the need to identify and segment audiences with even greater precision becomes critical.

Prediction #3: In It For The Long Haul

There seems to be a misconception that the average person has the attention span of a gnat.

That’s not always true—at least when it comes to content we care about. Who among us hasn’t spent more hours than we’d like to admit watching or listening to a true crime docuseries?

We’ve learned that when it comes to consequential content (like videos on an assisted living facility where a loved one may reside), long form still reigns supreme.

As a result, we see brands leaning into short form reels for teasers or to raise awareness and long form, in-depth content to educate when an important decision needs to be made.

What Are Your Advertising Predictions for 2023?

That’s what we see happening next year. What do you think? Will our prediction be more accurate than Ogilvy’s? Do you have a different take?

We’d love to hear your thoughts. Drop us a comment or reach out to us. We predict we can help you crush your marketing goals.

Dan O'Saben

Dan O’Saben is Owner and President of Stealth Creative. A marketing pro with more than 30 years of experience, he has taught Visual Communications at Webster University and a Senior Seminar at Maryville University. Dan has also worked on notable brands including Purina, Enterprise, and Rawlings.

Have you ever collected a name, address, phone number or email address from your customers? If so, you’ve already gotten the party started. But it’s what you do with this information that counts.

Talking first-party data is now trendier than a Kardashian wearing vintage NASCAR apparel—and it’s becoming more important than ever for companies to recognize its value. This is largely because consumers are getting savvier when it comes to protecting their personal information.

First of all, what is first-party data?

First-party data is personal information that customers willingly provide, such as entering an email address to qualify for 10% off a first purchase. Or submitting their birthdate to get a discount or any other personally identifiable information. And anything you can offer in return to the customer will increase their willingness to share this valuable info.

You may have already been collecting this information for years. The question is: how you deploy this information to grow your business?

Not only must a good digital marketer be strategic with targeting, timing and messaging but they must be flexible and adaptable to whatever is going on in the world. And in the background, advertisers are continuing to grapple with the eventual demise of the third-party cookie.

This initially had online advertisers in a panic, since so many depend “crumb trails” that users leave behind when going from website to website for their targeting efforts.

With Google pushing the date of full third-party cookie depreciation back again and again, this news is starting to feel stale. But marketers still need to adapt, both to technical regulations and the increasing savviness of today’s consumer.

Future-proof Your Digital Strategy by Prioritizing First Party Data!

“Be mindful of the shoes your customers are walking in, and how you can help them.”

-Stefanie Grossman, CMO, Prezi

Moving towards this identity-based approach ideally means that advertisers will have a clearer picture of their customers, and customers will have more trust and develop a stronger connection with brands they interact with.

Some benefits of focusing on personal identity in your digital strategy:

More reliable contact lists
More accurate customer profiles
Direct customer feedback
Customers appreciate transparency throughout their journey.

When you know exactly who you are talking to, there is great opportunity to maximize ad content with dynamic creative, exclusive offers and other touchpoints.

Advertisers should feel inspired by this push to capture attention and give customers what they want, sooner. More intelligent marketing and stronger relationships between companies and consumers will be the result.

But how do I start building/using my database of first-party information?

Our advice is to look for ways to connect with your existing customer base in any way you can and give them something in return for sharing their information with you. Not only will you have better a chance of converting one-timers into repeat customers, but you will be able to constantly hone your target audience profiles. For example, if a customer just bought a new living room couch from you maybe you target them with an offer of a floor lamp or coffee table.

A strong digital partner can help you get the most out of your data.

Wield the Power of First-Party Data with Stealth Creative

Sure, there are still plenty of unknowns when it comes to effectively replacing the third-party cookie. Google, along with many other online marketing platforms, are doing what they can to get ahead of the change by developing tools that use data aggregation rather than individual tracking. (That is a topic for a different day.)

But no matter what is going on in the digital landscape at large, the key to success is ensuring your digital marketing team is paying attention and serving as a true partner—not just a vendor. That way, you can work together to focus on attracting and retaining customers, no matter what the ever-changing digital landscape has in store.

So, if you are ready to:

Better personalize and integrate your consumer-facing content
Make your digital advertising more efficient AND more effective
Have a better relationship with your customers

Contact our expert digital team at Stealth Creative, receive the individualized attention and dedication to understanding your needs that you deserve—and start seeing how the identity-based approach can help you get the results you’re looking for.

Drop us a line today. We cannot wait to help you achieve digital marketing success!