Graduation from Loughborough University occurred over a week ago now - unbelievable week by the way - and almost as soon as that began, the job hunt began. It struck me as a time where I was now able to engage fully with the real world post-16 years of education and as such unearth and start enjoying the blog.
4000 page views by the way.
Where on this Earth did they come from? It seems a lot of people take a lot of interest in marketing.
And so do I. Good lord, far and beyond was it the most interesting topic I engaged with during my degree. So after developing a serious interest in how a brand is able to interact with their consumers and beyond - it follows that this is an area I want to pursue post-lectures. It actually feels quite good to research into marketing trends non-academically and without the painstaking task of quoting or memorising guy I'll never see again (1972) and rather, consider the realistic value of certain tools. Try it graduates.
Anyway - reading around, I've identified seven main marketing trends which principally occur in the commercial business world. And so one a day, for the next week - I'll give a brief insight into each. Feel free to add anything!
1. Content Marketing
So I thought we'd start fairly basic - and also very traditional (key word - not boring). In all the furore of the modern world it seems fairly logical that businesses walk around with their eyes lit up with the F of the Facebook logo and only for social media.
Ah yeah FACEBOOK yeah!
From a business and non-personal perspective (I know this is difficult) - YES it is a sure-fire way to interact and connect, on mass, with a vast array of current and prospective consumers. YES it's an opportunity to provide exclusive offers and deals. And YES it provides a source of procrastination to students and graduates (oops). But in all seriousness, in a recent publication by IBM, it turns out consumers are extremely pragmatic, most do not engage with companies via social media simply to feel connected. To successfully exploit the potential of social media, companies need to design experiences that deliver tangible value in return for customers' time, attention and perhaps most importantly, data.
SO, here comes that key word again - CONTENT.
After all, content is the cornerstone of all digital marketing and is the reason people read, view and share. Creating liquid content allows the brand to become digitally aware and is vital to maintain excellent perceptions of the brand from the view point of the consumer. By creating unique and inspiring content to publish and promote that educates, informs and entertains is a sure fire way to maintain interest in the brand. Studentbeans.com are excellent at this. Check out their website and you'll be bombarded with quirky lists that students absolutely love in those desperate few minutes (hours) before a lecture. Perfect. The power of sharing, tagging your friends, self-publishing is unlimited for a business - after all, we're all humans - such marketing in modern society really taps into our innate nature to INTERACT with one another.
Oh, and lets not forget Twitter, LinkedIN, Google+, Flickr, Foursquare, YouTube bla bla blaaaaa etc etc etc. Cor blimey - on your way commercial world - inspire us!
CLD - BSc Sport Management Graduate - Loughborough University
Twitter: @callumldraper (https://twitter.com/callumldraper)
Facebook: Callum Leslie-Draper (https://www.facebook.com/callumldraper)
LinkedIN: Callum Leslie-Draper (http://lnkd.in/H74fAc)
Yeah I'm social - but do I provide liquid content? Controversial.
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