social media marketing Tag

Keeping Pace with Social Media in 2024

New Networks. New AI Tools. Facebook turned 20 last month. Twitter/X turns 18 this month. Teens who quickly adapted to TikTok are now graduating college. Yeah, time flies. And as Einstein taught us, time is relative. A year in social media marketing must be the equivalent to at least 50 years in non-digital media. We could easily miss the dawn of the next big thing while figuring out Meta’s latest targeting options (updated this month). On that note, we’ve compiled some novel social media trends that deserve our attention.   New Networks: At the very least, keep these on your radar.   Threads: Built by the Instagram team, Threads is sold as a safer alternative to the free-for-all that is Twitter/X. The big difference is that Threads gives users more control. You can control who replies to or mentions you and limit replies to select groups. You can also post longer messages (550 characters along...

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UNCOVERING THE MARKETING POWER OF SWEEPSTAKES

Door Dash “All the Ads” Super Bowl Giveaway   If you caught the post-Super Bowl Late Show, you heard Stephen Colbert joke that, “For the second time in Super Bowl history, we went to extra innings, so I think we all know the real winners were CBS ad sales.” This is in no doubt true with advertisers paying up to $7 million to air a spot. But as curious marketers, we would argue that the real winners were Door Dash’s in-house studio and their agency Wieden+Kennedy Portland who pulled off the biggest Super Bowl giveaway ever.   Announced on January 30th, Door Dash promoted an “All the Ads” sweepstakes that would DoorDash all of the items advertised during the Super Bowl to one lucky winner. You can find the full list of items here. Ahead of the game, the outrageous giveaway gained huge momentum online. This boost in awareness coupled with message of Door...

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5 TOP TRENDS THAT RESHAPED MARKETING IN 10 YEARS

Our undying love of digital media over the past decade has driven a historic revolution in marketing. Such massive transformations are rare but not unprecedented. The shift from outdoor signage to print (16th century) and then print to radio and TV (20th century), were also driven by new technology.   Welcome to the New Age, to the new age…   That refrain from Imagine Dragon’s Radioactive in 2012 couldn’t have been more on point. The digital media revolution was in full swing and by 2019 it had surpassed print and television as the dominant advertising medium.   The fact that we witnessed the shift to a new age of advertising is amazing and challenging. The digital age is unlike any other in its worldwide scale, diversity of channels and mind-bending rate of change. To help us all stay ahead of the curve, here are the top 5 trends that have re-shaped marketing over the past 10...

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SUMMER MARKETING SURVIVAL TIPS

Keep your momentum with distracted consumers School’s out and vacation is in! While the airports and airbnbs are busy, many other businesses may experience a slowdown. Add to that a layer of recession fears for the second half of 2023, and you have good reasons to try and build momentum among your customers and prospects. Here are some easy-to-implement tips:   1) Tie your product or service to the season. Get creative with sales events or simple language that engages your audience. While marketers are sure to latch onto Independence Day, consider some lesser events that tie to brand like July’s National Freezer Pop Day or National Hotdog Day. Here’s a fun idea from a local animal hospital in Missouri: 2) Give your socials a summer spin. Maximizing social is an easy choice for any business given the options of free, organic posts in addition to paid ads to engage your audience. Sometimes all it...

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DCI Digital Campaigns Bring Home Two Awards

Last Thursday, May 18th, President and CEO Nick Lanzi had the pleasure of attending our region’s premier direct marketing awards show. Held at Manayunk’s unique Platform Thirty, The Philly DMA’s Benny Awards treated local direct marketers to another delightful evening of comradery and celebration of success. Speaking of celebrating, DCI was the proud recipient of two awards for our digital work over the past year.   Our “Playbook”educational e-Book for ArmadaCare was a winner in the Digital Sales Enablement category. Developed to help ArmadaCare elevate the value of supplemental benefits to HR professionals, the Recruiting & Retention Playbook beat the control in terms of open rate, clickthrough rate and response rate. We attribute its success to the value of the content, including compelling statistics from our client, which was wrapped in a theme that clearly resonated with the needs of HR departments.   In the Digital Social Media category, our “YES Plan” campaign took...

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As Gen Z’s income rises, will your marketing ride the wave?

The latest generation to enter the workforce has long been pursued by youth-oriented brands. And now that Gen Z is growing up, it’s time that everyone from insurance marketers to carmakers pay more attention to this demographic’s preferences.   First, a quick refresh on Gen Z:   Currently 11 to 26 years old   68.6 million live in the U.S. (20% of population)   Grew up with multiple screens, always connected   Experienced a global pandemic during their most formative years   Represent about 20% of the U.S. workforce       Being the first generation to grow up with multiple screens connected with web, Gen Z very much prefers the feeling of being in control – even when it’s the plot of something they’re streaming. What does this mean for marketers?  We need to create more interactive content where the user is in the driver’s seat. Even if you already think you know them based on gobs of data, ask...

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Maximizing Marketing ROI. It’s not just for recessions.

Given consumer spending at the start of 2023, it may seem like the media are crying wolf when it comes to recession fears. The problem is, although consumer spending and corporate profits seem strong, all of those reports are based on trailing data. It shows us what happened last month or last quarter. The Consumer Confidence Survey®, on the other hand, is meant to reflect prevailing business conditions and likely developments for the months ahead – and confidence is down for the past 2 months.   Regardless of the indicators, ROI-driven marketing is always the safest/best place for your marketing spend. Being an agency that specializes in direct marketing, we have some ideas on this topic.   Recognize which channels drive the most ROI.  For prospecting, the 2022 Association of National Advertisers (ANA) Response Rate Report shows direct mail in the lead. Direct mail’s advantage over digital is that our mailboxes are far less saturated with...

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New Year’s Resolution: Update your profile pics! Quick advice and free tools for a smart refresh.

Who was the President when you last updated your profile pics? If you answered anyone other than Biden, it’s probably time for a change. And if you’re wearing a puka shell necklace or a designer trucker hat in your pic, it’s DEFINITELY overdue.   Your profile pics need to make a solid first impression. They reflect your personality and can have an impact on networking, job opportunities and possibly your career. So don’t wait for that spare moment that will never come, follow these easy tips to create a fresh and fulfilling profile pic.   1) Frame yourself so people can clearly see your face. Especially important for professional/business profiles.   2) Take multiple images from multiple angles. Hold your camera at face level and shoot face forward, 3/4 angle, and side profile images. You’ll probably prefer one over the others.   2) Be conscious of the background. Flat colors that contrast your image are ideal. Also, try...

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Why your marketing plan MUST consider short-form video.

If you’ve been wondering if it pays to make the leap from online image ads to short-form video the answer is most likely a resounding, YES!  Even with the added production costs, video is too powerful to be ignored.   According to Social Media Today, video is the best performing content type on all social platforms. Video wins on engagement, response, shares and other metrics.   Consider these mind-blowing video ad statistics: Facebook: Video gains 2-3x higher click-throughs and a 20-30% increase in conversions compared to image ads (adQuadrant)   Instagram: Video posts gain 60% more engagement than photo posts (Hootsuite)   Twitter: Video delivers 10x more engagement and 50% savings on cost per engagement (Social Media Today)   LinkedIn: Video delivers 3x the engagement as text posts (LinkedIn)   YouTube: Best ROI for video with 34.6 billion visits per month (the world’s second most popular website after Google).   What qualifies a short-form video ad? Anything under 1-minute. 66% percent...

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TikTok ‘til you drop. Why and how to use social media’s fastest growing app.

Did you know TiKTok is the fastest growing social media platform of all time? According to the Digital Marketing Institute, it has grown faster than Facebook and twice as fast as Instagram since its inception. Yet only 4% of U.S. social media marketers use the platform.   Why aren’t more marketers jumping in?  There’s a misconception that TikTok is for teenagers. Yes, that’s where the initial rapid growth took place but now, as with previous platforms, its user base is broadening. For example, 54-year old celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey has amassed 23.3 million followers on TikTok.   Check out this distribution of users in the United States as of March 2021.    Source: www.statista.com/statistics/1095186/tiktok-us-users-age/     How can you make TikTok work for your brand?  TikTok is all about short-form mobile video entertainment. If you’re not already on the platform, have a look at TikTok’s top 100 from 2020 to get an idea of what attracts eyeballs and gets shared. Here...

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Direct Choice was honored to present this check to Alex Archawski from the Greater Philadelphia Veterans Network (GPVN). GPVN’s mission is making Greater Philadelphia the Best Place For Veterans. #phillyvets #gpvn #communitymatters #givingback ...

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To celebrate the sentiments of peace, love and understanding, this year we are contributing to the Greater Philadelphia Veterans Network, who work to make our city the best place for Veterans. Happy Holidays from Direct Choice Inc!
#Phillyvets #GPVN #HappyHolidays
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A fun time and great food at our annual holiday luncheon and gift exchange held @autographwayne! Many alcohol-related gifts beginning with the letter “I”! Thanks Nick! (We missed you Beth!) #happyholidays #whiteelephant #funholidaytimes ...

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Had a fun and informative time at the @BCAPhilly Hospitality Breakfast last Friday. Speaker @TarynSouthern gave a thought-provoking presentation focused on how AI is changing our world. #ai #aimarketing #bcaphilly ...

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Proud to report that Direct Choice picked up 2 Benny Awards last night in the digital/social media marketing categories - Congrats to All!! #pdma #bennyawards #socialmediamarketing #digitalmarketing ...

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This holiday season, we’re continuing to support @philabundance to help them end hunger in our local communities. Happy Holidays from Direct Choice Inc! #philabundance #happyholidays ...

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Kudos for Direct Choice at the PDMA Benny Awards last night. DCI won the top award in 3 categories PLUS WON BEST IN SHOW! Congrats to ALL #PDMA #bennyawards ...

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Here`s something many of us can relate to in the era of virtual meetings - enjoy a good laugh and Happy Holidays from the DCI team! #virtualbloopers #Happyholidays #happyholidays2021 ...

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