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After experimentation and initial success, advertising on TikTok has gone from a nice-to-have to a have-to-have for Dr. Squatch’s media mix.
Over the last year, the men’s natural personal care company, has spent big on the platform, carving out between 10-15% of its ad budget to advertise on the short-form video app, according to CMO Josh Friedman. As TikTok has reportedly surpassed 1 billion users with ads that work, Dr. Squatch is leveraging both a paid and organic presence to reach newer, younger customers there.
“TikTok had crazy, incredible growth, especially among younger users,” Friedman said. “We wanted to be able to reach this demo in the right place, with the right content.”
Dr. Squatch initially launched its TikTok presence back in 2019 and has since racked up more than 120,000 followers. Per Friedman, half of Dr. Squatch’s customers from TikTok are under the age of 25, while about 15% of the brand’s customer acquisition comes from the app.
Content comes by way of an in-house team, supplemented by influencers, agency partners and brand partnerships, including the current brand partnership with Halo video game. For paid posts specifically, the brand mostly utilizes TikTok’s self-service ads. Friedman points to Dr. Squatch’s investment in both organic and paid strategy as the key to the brand’s success on TikTok.
“Notably, YouTube was the first platform where we really cracked that code [of going viral],” he said. “In some ways, we were a brand that was ready for TikTok, ready to jump in once it became an opportunity.”
Friedman declined to share any details how much Dr. Squatch spends on TikTok. In Q1 and Q2 of this year, Dr. Squatch spent more than $7.6 million on media, down from the nearly $30 million spent in 2020, per Kantar. (These figures do not include social spend as Kantar does not track that. Also, figures for network radio only include Q1.)
Dr. Squatch is just one of a number of brands that are starting to see TikTok as a staple of the social budget, per earlier Digiday reporting. As more brands look to diversify their media spend, TikTok may be a solid alternative, according to Brandon Biancalani, manager of paid advertising at Modifly social marketing agency.
“You can really get those fundamentals of advertising down on TikTok. It could be a really powerful platform, where we’re coming with a marketing plan,” he said. “You have to be safe and keep the brand in mind. But you also have to be adventurous.”
As TikTok continues to roll out shopping capabilities and improve its ad suite, spending big on the platform makes sense, per Biancalani, who noted that before shelling out ad dollars, advertisers need to understand their target audience to see if they mesh or overlap with TikTok’s niche communities.
“Understanding your demographic, not just going after your basic interests, but finding new ones and creating content for it, that would be part of my big spend with TikTok strategy,” he said.
When it comes to testing new channels, Dr. Squatch isn’t risk-averse. Earlier this year, Digiday reported that Dr. Squatch started to put ad budget toward Snapchat to diversify its media mix. Facebook still eats up the majority of the brand’s ad spend, per Friedman, but TikTok is seemingly growing as a more credible alternative option.
“It’s very rare you find things that come close to [traditional digital channels],” added Friedman. “We see tons of additional potential as TikTok continues to grow and improve their platform. We’re going to be looking to grow with it.”
Linear and connected TV is now “the biggest single channel” that Drizly is investing its advertising dollars in, according to CMO Scott Braun. The alcohol delivery service isn’t simply focused on boosting brand awareness but on taking a “branded response” approach to advertising on TV and CTV.
“We don’t expect it to pay back in days like paid search might but we’re not letting TV off the hook entirely,” said Braun of the company’s TV and CTV strategy which keeps a close eye on sales metrics. “We are trying to understand what the return on investment is from TV not just in terms of awareness but what are we actually driving for the bottom line from TV. It might take 28 or even 60 days [to know the ROI.]”
In previous years, Drizly’s advertising focus was mainly on paid search and paid social with measurement in mind. As the privacy landscape has changed, especially over the last year, the company began to test out other channels like TV and podcasts. After seeing promising results on TV and CTV (Drizly did not specify what those results were), the company has moved more ad dollars there.
It’s unclear how much Drizly now spends exactly on TV and CTV as Braun declined to share specifics. However, Braun did say that TV, CTV and paid social combined now make up roughly 70% of Drizly’s media budget allocations. The other 30% of Drizly’s media budget is dedicated to paid search, affiliate marketing, display and a smattering of other channels.
In 2020, Drizly spent $11.8 million on media, up from $2.4 million in 2019, according to Kantar. In the first quarter of 2021, Drizly spent $2.5 million on media. In the second quarter of 2021, the company spent $2.8 million on media. Those figures don’t include what Drizly spent on social channels as Kantar doesn’t track social spending.
Drizly isn’t alone in increasing its investment in TV and CTV in recent years. Brands like 7-Eleven and Monster.com have made returns to TV advertising after reevaluating the value of being on TV. DTC brands meanwhile have been moving beyond the old DTC playbook of Facebook and Instagram to TV, using the channel to boost brand awareness and add legitimacy to their brands.
DTC brands using more traditional advertising mediums to establish legitimacy is another known strategy, noted Duane Brown, founder of performance marketing agency Take Some Risk. “DTC brands used to fawn all over billboards and out-of-home a couple of years ago,” said Brown. “Now they seem to love TV.”
While the strategy is used by myriad brands, Brown questions the ability to measure success for brands with niche audiences. “I can see the appeal for mass products,” said Brown. “Otherwise you are going to have to be like a sniper and really pick the channels and shows where your ad shows up.”
The mass appeal of a alcohol delivery service like Drizly then, which saw a boom due to the pandemic, will likely help the brand as it leans more into TV and CTV.
As Drizly leans on TV and CTV, the brand has been doing a “tightrope of branded response” advertising copy for its spots, noted Braun. “It’s easy to imagine a very lifestyle driven spot, given the category we play in. At the same time, it’s easy to do a direct response one on benefits and functions of the app. [But focusing on just] one or the other would be a lost opportunity.”
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What do you think of when you hear the words “laundry detergent?” What about soft drinks? Fast food? Computers? Cars? Your answers probably looked something like: Tide, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and Apple.
That’s brand awareness in action.
Brand awareness, or the extent to which consumers know and recognize your brand, is critical in today’s crowded digital marketplaces. Consumers are inundated with advertisements and other brand messages every hour of every day.
Without established brand awareness in your industry, you’ll be constantly battling uphill for their attention.
So how do you know if your company has brand awareness? And how do you work to establish and grow it? In this article we’ll cover 4 ways to measure brand awareness as well as actionable ways to start increasing it.
Quick Takeaways
Brand awareness drives many of the important factors brands use to assess marketing strategies, including organic traffic and word-of-mouth marketing.
Higher percentages of organic vs. paid web traffic is a good indicator that high SERP rankings are creating brand awareness.
High branded search volume is a good sign that consumers are searching specifically for your brand.
Organic share of voice shows how visible your brand is compared to others on SERPs for brand-relevant keywords and topics.
What is brand awareness and why is it important?
Brand awareness is the level at which consumers naturally recognize your brand. When you measure brand awareness, you look beyond your established customer base to understand how well your brand is known in your industry and the general consumer marketplace at large.
Think about the examples we used at the start of this article. It doesn’t matter if you’re actually a Tide, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, or Apple customer. Either way, you know those brands — you recognize their name and logo, and you know what they offer.
The truth is, of course, that most brands will never come close to reaching the level of brand awareness those examples have achieved over decades. But you can and must achieve it in your own niche market and your own direct industry. Brand awareness drives organic traffic, conversions, and sales. It ultimately becomes a main force behind the continued growth of your business.
Companies across industries are seeing the importance of brand awareness and building it into their strategic plans. Digital marketing platform Bynder found in their 2020 State of Branding Report found that 43% of marketers named “growing brand awareness” their number one goal for the year.
The first step to growing and maintaining high levels of brand awareness is to measure it frequently. When you do, you’re able to recognize gaps and opportunities and implement the right strategies to increase your brand awareness over time.
4 Ways to Measure Brand Awareness
Paid vs. organic search traffic
Organic search traffic is web traffic not driven by paid advertising efforts. It comes directly from algorithmic search results achieved through content marketing and SEO web strategies. It’s also a good way to measure brand awareness by seeing how you rank on search engines.
Why do search engine rankings matter to brand awareness? Today 93% of all online experiences start on a search engine. This means when people look for brands, they’re going to Google. Brands must appear in search engine results in order to gain recognition with consumers.
The best way to measure brand awareness using organic search traffic metrics is to compare organic vs. paid search traffic. Higher percentages of organic search traffic indicates better brand awareness.
Organic traffic percentages vary across industries, but recent research by BrightEdge found that it’s driving about 53% of all web traffic on average.
The good news is that even if you find your organic traffic share is low, there are ways you can start to improve that metric right away. Because organic traffic is driven primarily by search engines, the most effective way to increase it is by creating content that aligns with Google’s ranking factors.
Some quick tips:
Make your content keyword-driven
Focus on content and topics that are high-value for your audience
Optimize your content for mobile
Pay attention to site structure and user experience
Branded search volume
Branded search volume indicates the amount of search traffic generated from branded keywords. In other words, branded search traffic comes from queries where consumers were looking for your brand specifically.
Branded search volume indicates that people know to look for your brand when they need related products or services.
Think of it this way: people conduct online searches to have their questions answered and look for solutions to problems. If consumers are looking for your brand to do either of those things, they already have an idea of what you do, which means you have established brand awareness with them.
You can conduct a branded search audit to learn how much branded search traffic you’re getting and how it’s making a larger impact. Then you can take specific steps to increase branded traffic through tactics like organizing your branded keywords and capitalizing on high-intent keywords.
Here’s how Wayfair did it (really well):
Brand awareness surveys
Businesses can measure brand awareness with surveys aimed at learning how well consumers recognize their brand. These surveys look to a target group that expands beyond a brand’s current customer base. For some brands it could be the general population, for others it could be defined by geography (especially for local brands), and for others it could be defined by products and services.
For example, a multinational wine company might survey wine drinkers of a certain type (i.e. red vs. white) or a certain age that falls within their target customer profile. A local brewery may survey beer drinkers in a specific geographic region. It’s important to survey the right target group in order to yield results that are accurate.
Brand awareness surveys typically begin by asking unaided questions such as “What brands come to mind when you think of X product or service?” then drill down into aided questions like “Which of the following brands have you heard of related to X products or services?”
You can use brand awareness survey templates (like the one below) to help you get started.
Understanding your organic share of voice is one of the most powerful ways to measure your brand awareness. In short, it tells you about your overall visibility in search results for a specific set of keywords compared with your top competitors.
Because you’re naturally more likely to be ranking higher for branded keywords (you are your own brand, after all) it’s better to stick with non-branded keywords when calculating your share of voice.
Fortunately, there are tools like SEMRush, Ahrefs, and other keyword research tools that can do most of the work around finding share of voice for you:
Grow your brand awareness with great content
You’ve probably noticed that almost every metric used to measure brand awareness centers around great content. Consistent, high-quality content improves your search rankings and drives higher organic traffic to your website.
Marketing Insider Group has a team of writers who can deliver ready-to-publish content for your business every week for a year (or more!). You can be confident that your brand is producing content that delivers while you stay focused on your core business priorities.
Aside from your headline, your blog introduction is the most important factor in determining whether a user will actually read your article. In fact, the average time people spend reading a blog post is only 15 seconds.
Say what?!
Think about it — we’ve all been there. You know what you’re looking for when you do a Google search, and after just a few sentences you can pretty confidently figure out whether a particular article is going to deliver it.
Introductions are not just a place to add fluff before you get to the real content. They must be interesting and clearly show the value of the article ahead if you want people to keep reading.
Fortunately, there are several tried and true ways you can make sure you always hit the mark. Read on for our ready-to-use guide on how to write a blog article introduction like a pro.
Quick Takeaways
Blog introductions that directly address customer pain points make you relatable to your readers.
Asking questions in your blog introductions gets readers actively thinking.
It’s important to strike a balance between telling readers what to expect without giving everything away in the intro.
Effective blog introductions emphasize the value and benefits offered by the article.
Your content must always deliver on the promises you make in your blog introduction.
8 proven ways to write a blog introduction like a pro
Be relatable
Most people search for quality content to help them solve a problem or accomplish something important. Maybe it’s completing a challenging project at work, or organizing their homes better, or understanding a complex situation happening in the world.
Whatever the issue at hand, you can keep readers engaged by crafting blog introductions that tell them, “Hey, I relate.”
Here’s what we mean:
Let’s pretend a user is searching for ways to drive more conversions from their content. Rather than just diving right into the ways they should do it, you can start by saying something like: “Converting customers isn’t easy,” or “Many businesses create great content but struggle to get customers to take the next step.”
Statements like this create a connection between you and your reader because it makes them feel understood. They know they aren’t the only ones experiencing this pain point. They’ll also believe that because you understand the problem, you’re more likely to provide a real solution.
Research has shown that this type of pain point focused content is extremely effective at keeping customers engaged, and it starts with a clear mention of it in your blog introduction.
Some tactics you can use to uncover user pain points are doing keyword research (to see what they’re searching for) and engaging with current customers to ask them directly. You can also do your own exploratory research. Here’s a deeper dive into how to explore customer pain points that your products or services can solve:
Ask a question
Asking a question is an effective way to engage people in a blog introduction because it gets them actively thinking. You can also use questions to highlight what’s coming in the body of your blog post (more on why that’s important coming next).
Questions can center around your customer pain point (it’s a great way to execute the previous tip) or to get the user wondering about the content you’ll include in your article.
So, to use our customer conversions example again, your question could be: “Are you driving traffic to your website but struggling to convert paying customers?”
This question addresses your user’s pain point in a way that makes them ponder.
If you want to use a question to preview how your article will help, you could instead say: “So how can you drive traffic to your website and convert customers at a higher rate?”
Now your customer is more likely to keep reading because they anticipate they’ll find the answer later on in your article. It’s your job to make sure that it’s there.
Tell people what to expect
Here’s the thing: people want answers fast. Especially on the internet. They won’t wait around until you get to the point 1,000 words later.
Like we mentioned before, you’ve got about 15 seconds to make people engaged enough that they’ll keep reading. A blog introduction that leaves customers in the dark won’t do it.
I’m not saying you should jam everything into the first few sentences. Instead, give the quick, high-level version of what customers will find in your article without adding all the details.
For example: “In this article we’ll cover 8 effective tactics you can use to convert paying customers with your content. Then, we’ll give you specific action steps to help you implement them right away.”
Now your user knows exactly what they’ll find if they choose to read on, but they’ll still have to actually keep reading to get value from your article.
Emphasize value
One of the most important things content marketers need to know is the difference between features and value/benefits.
Here’s a simple example that demonstrates the concept:
People don’t care about product features unless they know how that product can help them personally. The same goes for blog articles.
Simply listing what you’re going to include in your article isn’t enough. You also must emphasize how the content will add value for your users.
An easy way to do this is to talk directly to your readers. Let’s revisit the previous example. We said that we’ll tell our readers what to expect in the article by saying:
“In this article we’ll cover 8 effective tactics you can use to convert paying customers with your content. Then, we’ll give you specific action steps to help you implement them right away.”
Notice the use of the second person. What if we had phrased this: “We’ll cover 8 tactics that increase customer conversions for companies.”
OK, you might say, this still gives you the same information. While that’s true, it doesn’t speak directly to why it’s important to me. “You can use” and “implement them right away” both tell our users that this content is for them, and they’ll benefit from it directly.
To be even more effective, I might drive it home with something like: “Successfully executing these tactics will lead to higher conversions and sales that drive revenue for your brand.”
Now my reader knows that I understand their pain point, they’re clear on how I’ll address it in the article, and they can see exactly how it will benefit them directly.
Provide a unique perspective
The average Google search yields millions of results. Even the first page, where almost everyone is looking, shows 10 different results for any given query. How can you stand out among all that other content? One way is to provide a unique perspective on the topic you’re covering.
Think about it: how many times have you searched for something only to find multiple articles that pretty much say the same exact thing. Not helpful.
You can catch your reader’s attention with a blog introduction that takes a different approach. Even for topics for which there are specific right answers you need to cover, you can be unique by showcasing your brand’s personality or writing with a different tone.
You can also take a totally different stand on a topic that’s grown stale or repetitive in your industry. Take, for example, the title and blog intro for one of our articles on personas, where we argue that “Personas are great. Except when they suck!”
Huh? Personas don’t suck! They’re the be-all and end-all of knowing your customer! Right?
Not necessarily, and definitely not when they’re done ineffectively. This article has been one of our most-read pieces, in no small part because it challenges the standard opinion on a common marketing tool brands are using.
I don’t suggest always being the contrarian, but going against the grain when it’s warranted (and emphasizing it in your blog introduction) is a sure way to get people interested.
Don’t give everything away
Alright — here’s where we need to talk about balance. So far, we’ve covered that you should tell readers what to expect in your blog article. That’s absolutely true.
What you should not do is give everything away in the first few sentences. Your blog introduction should be a teaser for what’s to come. If your reader can get the information they need in the intro, what would be the point of going any further?
Let’s go back one more time to our customer conversions example:
“In this article we’ll cover 8 effective tactics you can use to convert paying customers with your content. Then, we’ll give you specific action steps to help you implement them right away.”
Notice that we let readers know they’ll find 8 tactics, but we don’t say what those tactics are. If we did, we’d risk our readers going off to Google them each on their own. Instead, we tell them to read on for more information about what they are and how to use them.
Write the blog introduction last
This might not seem intuitive, but trust me when I say: writing your blog introduction last will save you time and make your intros better.
You’ll know if you write blogs that you can never totally predict the direction or content of an article until it’s complete. Inspiration hits as you write, new ideas emerge, and your content evolves during the writing process. If you write your blog introduction before the body of your article, it’s nearly a certainty that you’ll have to go back and edit.
Instead, write the article first to get a sense of your content’s most important takeaways and the overall tone and message. You’ll find that writing your intro will come a lot more easily.
Always deliver what you promise
Last but not least — I can’t emphasize this enough — always deliver on the promises you make in your blog introduction.
There’s no quicker way to lose your reader’s trust than to tell them you’ll give them something and then fail to deliver it. Content that is genuine and trustworthy will get you a lot further than articles with a great hook but no follow through.
Publish blog content that delivers results
You can publish blog content that jumpstarts your entire content strategy! At Marketing Insider Group, we have a team of writers and SEO experts who can deliver you ready-to-publish content every week for an entire year (or more!).
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Many B2B companies spend a large amount of their marketing budget on customer acquisition. While this is a great way to help your company grow, it isn’t the only way to keep your business and products or services top-of-mind.
One area companies often neglect to invest in is customer marketing. Making sure customers are successfully using your product or service and are satisfied after they’ve signed the contract can be a valuable way to ensure they stick around for the long haul. And many modern marketers know this.
But if you’re just learning about customer marketing, we’re here to help you understand the far-reaching benefits it can provide. In this blog, we share how you can build trust using a customer marketing strategy.
What is Customer Marketing?
Let’s start by defining customer marketing. Customer marketing is a type of marketing that’s focused on helping you keep your existing customer base engaged with your company. Rather than a transaction-based approach, customer marketing utilizes a relationship-based approach. This relationship-based approach encompasses the entire customer journey, but primarily focuses on building high-quality relationships through adoption, retention, expansion, and most importantly—advocacy.
This unique methodology helps ensure that your customers get the most value out of your products and services as possible. Delivering value over the course of a customer’s relationship with your company will drive loyalty, and ultimately, advocacy.
Marketing Automation and Customer Relationships
Marketing automation tools like HubSpot enable you to continue developing relationships and keep providing value long after the sale. Some tools even allow you to automate onboarding processes and nurturing emails, while also giving you opportunities to measure engagement. Leveraging marketing automation tools helps you better understand the needs of customers, gauge their satisfaction, and get feedback on your products or services.
Benefits of Customer Marketing
Increasing Customer Loyalty and Retention
Increased customer loyalty and retention is one of the primary goals of customer marketing. After all, you want to make the customer experience as enjoyable as possible, right? Doing so can increase the likelihood of customers being loyal to your company, increasing retention rates and driving overall success.
Turning Customers into Advocates
When you succeed at developing a loyal customer base, the next step is to turn these key customers into advocates of your brand. A loyal customer advocate will speak highly of your products and services and enthusiastically refer new customers to your company. Advocates are highly valuable because they advertise your company using one of the most trusted, effective tactics: word-of-mouth (WOM). Recent statistics show that WOM is directly responsible for 90% of all purchases, meaning now is the time to start turning your customers into advocates if you haven’t already considered it.
Collaborating Across Departments
By implementing a customer marketing strategy, you can also improve collaboration across different departments within your company, including marketing, sales, and customer support. Customer marketing requires alignment between each of these departments, and facilitating increased collaboration can bring big benefits to processes in other important areas. Overall productivity may improve over time, too, as opportunities for collaboration can provide a morale and motivation boost.
Increasing Revenue
The biggest benefit you can achieve with a successful customer marketing strategy is increased revenue. Through the careful development of relationships with existing customers, you can encourage them to continue supporting your company and reap the rewards of improved retention rates. These loyal brand advocates can help you gain additional customers through referrals and WOM, further increasing your overall revenue.
Once you have your customer marketing strategy created, it’s time to implement analytics and start using a customer relationship management (CRM) tool to harness your customer data so you can develop personalized messaging. When you take the time to tailor your marketing to each client, you boost response rates. So personalize, personalize, personalize.
Track Results from the Start
Customer marketing focuses on different metrics and tactics than marketing for acquisition purposes, so it’s important to include these in your existing marketing plan to ensure they’re captured. Some customer marketing activities you may want to include in your strategy are events for existing buyers, outreach for testimonials, user groups, and others.
You’ll also want to pay attention to cross-sells and upsells to track any revenue generated from them, along with renewal (or churn rates) and overall customer satisfaction. These results can tell you a lot about what’s working and what’s not. When all of these metrics are achieving positive results, you should ultimately be seeing increased referrals from trusting, loyal brand advocates.
Finding Success with Customer Marketing
So, how does it all come together? How do you build trust with a customer marketing strategy? As we’ve touched on, focusing on delivering value throughout the entire relationship and providing a great customer experience are great starting points. Customer marketing can often be overlooked, but it can provide tremendous benefits if you invest the time and effort needed to build trust.
Ready to create your customer marketing strategy, or need support with another area of marketing? Sagefrog can help. Let’s talk!
