Media mix, the blend of channels a business uses to reach its audience, helps target prospective customers on the consumer journey and guide them through to conversion. Following are steps to help create the right media mix.

1. Consider your Media Mix Goals
Determine your primary media objectives:

• Startups should focus on building awareness, while established brands should focus on reaching consumers who are ready to buy.
• Set goals – to increase awareness, generate leads, drive sales, build loyalty, etc. – which helps determine who to target.*

2. Think about the Marketing Funnel
Media channels are effective at different points of the consumer journey:

• Examine which media types can influence awareness, interest, decision-making, loyalty, etc., and connect them to create pathways to conversion.
• Use consistent messaging themes/design across your media mix to help build brand recognition, nurture trust and reinforce your message.

3. Analyze your Audience
A media mix depends on the demographics and preferences of your target market:

• Identify your target audience and understand their media behaviors.*
• Run surveys, send out questionnaires and conduct interviews to help highlight new channels, see what’s working for your competitors, etc.

4. Bring your Media Channels Together
The channels in your media mix are more impactful when they work together:

• Connecting different channels and data sources presents your audience with consistent messaging.
• Implementing a comprehensive omnichannel strategy helps to link your media and provide targeted marketing messages.

An effective media mix can help achieve brand awareness and communication with your target audience. It is an essential part of reaching the right people at the right time and is key to driving conversions.

Source:channelsight.com; *linkedin.com

A recent study shows that small-medium sized business owners are growing in their optimism about the future. Customer satisfaction and overall revenue are increasing, while concerns about business issues continue to tick down every year. Following are highlights:

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS
Business owners are feeling confident about their relationships with new and existing customers:

• Fewer than half are concerned about creating relationships with new customers, down from two-thirds.
• Concerns have eased around maintaining relationships with existing clients.

PRODUCTS/SERVICES
Business owners are feeling positive about their products/services:

• Less than half are concerned about marketing their products/services effectively, down from 6 in 10.
• Creating new products/services that meet the changing needs of consumers is less of a concern.

With revenues and customer satisfaction increasing, and concerns trending down, small-medium sized business owners expect their business to be doing better this year.

Source: State of Small Business Report from Verizon, reported by marketingcharts.com

Building brand awareness is the foundation of your marketing efforts – sharing your name in the community, and earning trust, can influence consumers’ decision-making and purchases. Following are ways to help measure brand awareness.

1. Branded Search Volume
Monitor the number of searches about your business:

• The more people who search for your name or variations of it, the more people become aware of your business.
• Use tools for both organic search results and paid search campaigns.

2. Website Traffic
Measure direct and new traffic to provide insight into your brand’s reach:

• Direct traffic refers to users who type your website’s URL into their browser.
• New traffic cites users who visit your site for the first time.

3. Brand Mentions
Chances are good that people are talking about you on the internet:

• Monitor brand-mentions on social media and online publications.
• Set up alerts to get notified every time there are new results for your branded search term.

4. Social-Media Engagement
Social media works along with “word-of-mouth”:

• Understand how well your brand is performing across social-media platforms.
• Measure reach, impressions, mentions, followers, saves, and engagement, using native analytics¹ or social listening tools² on every social platform.

5. Customer Feedback
Satisfied customers are more likely to recommend you to others:

• Good reviews indicate that your business is leaving a positive impression on your customers.
• Less positive reviews highlight opportunities for improvement.

Understand how visible your brand is to your potential customers – from your website to social media to your customer’s entire purchase journey – and your efforts should transform into better customer engagement and increased revenue.

¹Native analytics: built into the back end of social platforms to provide insights on your following and engagement, and the performance of your content. (prnewsonline.com)

²Social listening tools: software that allows users to monitor, track, and analyze social media conversations. (brand24.com)

Source: Young Entrepreneur Council@YEC; Solomon Thimothy, president of OneIMS

Branding is the ability to distinguish your products/services within a target market and brand equity is the total value of a brand based on associations and expectations. Following are key elements that help determine brand equity:

1. Brand Awareness is critical and falls into two categories:

• Recognition: refers to consumers remembering past exposure to your brand.
• Recall: is about what product/service comes to mind when a category is discussed.

2. Brand Loyalty measures how loyal a consumer is to a brand:

• Cultivate strong relationships by providing exceptional customer service and high quality products/services.
• Offer loyalty rewards and incentives to encourage repeat purchases and referrals.

3. Perceived Quality is the value consumers equate with a brand … perception is everything:

• Differentiate yourself from competitors – specialization and/or exclusivity can lead to a higher perceived quality.
• Share your brand story to build trust and establish an emotional connection; consider how your product/service addresses customer needs.

4. Actual Associations is anything with which a consumer might associate a brand:

• Use a logo, specific color, tagline, etc., to encourage consumers to think about your business.
• Ensure consistency across all marketing materials, such as websites, social media profiles, etc., creating a cohesive visual identity.

Brand equity is an invaluable resource that sets your product/service apart and keeps your customers loyal. Understanding this equity can help generate insights to help narrow down a target market and determine a brand’s need for growth or repositioning.

Source: Entrepreneur.com, reported by Erica Dushley Saraway, Entrepreneur Leadership Network Contributor/VP Marketing & Sales

To build a strong brand, focus on how your customers see you and why you’re different from other businesses. Brand positioning is a process of sharing your product/service and establishing it as something worth thinking about.

Here are reasons why and tips on how to position your business:

You may have noticed Google My Business (GMB) changed its name to Google Business Profile (GBP). Many local businesses manage their business information through this listing, as it provides easy access for new or existing customers to directly connect with small businesses. But what does this change mean for you?

Here at Growth Spark Media, our team of professionals has been monitoring the recent changes Google made. While we have adapted your business listings to these changes already, we’d like to summarize the changes and how it could affect your business:

NEW CHANGES FOR BUSINESSES:

1. Claim & Manage GBP Directly in “Google Search & Maps”:
   • Google now allows businesses to claim and verify a listing through Search or Maps.
   • This makes it easier to gain access to the most integral information for your business.

2. Managing Multiple Locations through “Business Profile Manager”:
   • Google is tailoring their Profile Manager to help both small and larger businesses manage their listings in one place.
   • This makes it easier for GSM to take care of your business information and adapt as your business grows.

NEW FEATURES FOR BUSINESSES:

1. Call History Tracker:
   • You can now manage your calls from Search or Maps through your Google Business Profile and stay engaged with customers.
   • The feature allows you to manage all your calls in one place, respond to missed calls and have a short message alerting you to the fact that a customer is calling directly from your GBP.

2. Customer Messaging:
   • Customers can message you directly so you can answer questions, tell your story and attract new customers.
   • Enabling the Chat feature through your GBP will allow customers to contact you at any time, driving further customer engagement.

WHY DOES THIS MATTER FOR YOU?

Google Business Profiles are the first thing a customer or potential customer will see when searching for you on Google. They look to the information listed there as a trusted source, and often times use it as a guideline when choosing when and how they will reach out to you. This update helps to bridge the gap between you and your online customers.

Growth Spark Media recognizes how important these updates are for you and your business. We’re here to make sure you stay informed. If you have any questions about this update, or would like to work directly on one of these new features offered, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your GSM representative!

Source:  SearchEngineLand, reported by Barry Schwartz

Both U.S. and global Out-of-Home (OOH) ad growth are expected to rise at a fast pace through 2025, fueled mostly by Digital-Out-of-Home (DOOH).

Global Out-of-Home Ad Growth:

• Out-of-Home’s compound annual growth rate (CAGR)* between 2021 and 2025 is expected to be 7.3%, fueled mostly by Digital Out-of-Home’s 12.2% CAGR.

• Digital Out-of-Home will account for 34.2% of all Out-of-Home ad spend in 2025.

U.S. Digital Out-of-Home Ad Growth:

• DOOH (ex. billboard, DMV, elevator, gas station) in the U.S. will accelerate sharply in 2022 with an 8.9% CAGR through 2025.

• In 2025, Digital Out-of-Home will have a 37.1% share of total Out-of-Home ad revenue in the U.S.

Consumer Exposure:

• Global: Digital Out-of-Home exposure time will increase at a 7.3% CAGR in 2025, grabbing a 40.4% share of total consumer time spent with OOH media.

• U.S.: Continuing an ongoing trend, total time spent with OOH among Americans expanded 0.5% to 2.86 hours weekly in 2020.

*The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is the proportional growth rate from year to year, used to calculate growth over a time period.

Source:  Digiday, reported by Michael Burgi; PRWeb, reported by PQ Media’s Patrick Quinn (CEO/Founder) and Leo Kivijarv;  Media Daily News, reported by Joe Mandese