Influencer marketing has revolutionized how brands connect with their audiences. From its feminine roots in fashion and beauty to the rise of authenticity and niche influencers, this industry is constantly evolving. The captivating world of influencer marketing and explore where it’s headed;

Authenticity: The Holy Grail of Influencer Marketing:
In an oversaturated market, authenticity is key. Influencers who can strike the right balance between relatability and monetization thrive; while maintaining credibility remains a challenge.

Niche Influence: Catering to Specific Audiences
No more generalized influencers. Niche influencers are now gaining prominence, appealing to specific interests and cultivating engaged communities. The era of one-size-fits-all influencers is giving way to hyper-targeted content creators.

Power Duos: Influencers and Brands Unite
Influencer-brand collaborations have become highly effective, leveraging seamless product promotion. Marketing agencies facilitate these partnerships, but transparency and fair compensation remain ongoing concerns.

Pricing Paradox: Disparities and Transparency
Determining fair compensation for influencers remains a challenge, with significant disparities in pricing. Transparency in deal-making and payment structures is vital for a sustainable influencer marketing ecosystem.

Shifting Trends: Influencer Adjacent Roles and Employee Influencers
As the industry evolves, influencers may pivot to adjacent roles or leave altogether. Brands are also incentivizing their employees to become influencers, blurring the lines between personal and professional spheres. Watch out for a blog about employee influencers.

The Future Outlook
Despite skepticism, influencer marketing continues to adapt and shape the digital landscape. Education, ethical considerations, and technological advancements will redefine the industry. To what? We await. 

From fashionistas to pet enthusiasts, influencers of all stripes have taken the digital realm by storm. As the industry keeps evolving like a chameleon on roller skates, we can’t help but marvel at the audacity of algorithms and the ever-changing landscape of trends.
So, grab your influencer starter kit, strike a pose, and get ready for a wild ride filled with brand collaborations, niche obsessions, and the occasional selfie mishap.
In this digital circus, one thing is for certain – influencer marketing will keep us entertained, perplexed, and double-tapping our way into the unknown.

Stay fabulous, fellow influencers!

A business would not exist without customers, making them essential to its success. Working with a public relations agency makes it possible to build a strategy that considers customer stories and needs to inspire brand loyalty and build a relationship with them. Every action an organization takes should be aimed at doing everything possible to make the customer happy.

Customer centricity can be considered as a strategy as well as a culture. Customer centricity should be instilled in an organization through PR services to be recognized by the decision-maker: the customer. The digital environment today emphasizes and even demands personalization, and companies’ success is driven by their commitment to do what’s best for customers.

A business uses digital PR as a strategy to promote its online presence. For example, consider an online PR agency that works with journalists, bloggers, and influencers to generate high-quality links in editorial or copy to improve SEO and conversion.

Strategies to using customer-centric PR.

1. Influencers: The first step towards customer-centric PR is building relationships with industry influencers. Involving your brand with these individuals can enhance both your visibility and credibility. Influencer PR has the potential to humanize your brand and enable more organic customer engagement; the challenge is to identify the influencer who can support your offering accurately.

2. Produce Intriguing Content: Traditional tactics are no longer effective as buyers self-educate through digital content consumption on search engines and social networks. Brands should try to produce content in various exciting and human formats. A PR strategist would recommend a tutorial video, tutorial webinar or podcast, e-book, or infographic.

3. Focus on Their Existing Motives: A PR consultancy would typically create campaigns to tap into the customer’s existing motivations for truly customer-centric content. The logic behind this is that motivating customers to make a decision is difficult, but content can be aligned with what they are already inspired to do. Once that is done, it can prompt them to take appropriate action.

4. Request Video Content from Customers: Customers creating their videos about their favorite brands, showcasing the benefits of using them reflect genuine brand admiration and endorsement, which is a great authentic way to appeal to potential customers.

5. Always Be Authentic: Authenticity and transparency always win. Businesses often find it tempting to tell customers what they want to hear, even if it means deviating from their brand’s values. However, don’t try to fool your customers – they are savvy enough to detect deception or misinformation.

6. Capture customer feedback: It is important to pay attention to what your customers want and need by reading their feedback and using it to help you run your business. Not all customers are always right. But it’s worth listening to many customers who offer the same feedback to you verbally or through your behavior.

These customer-centric PR strategies will help create an optimal customer experience. Developing PR campaigns with this mindset will help connect with customers by letting them guide campaigns rather than solely depending on ROI and goals.

Marketing and advertising frequently go hand in hand, where the terms are used interchangeably. However, while both activities reach a targeted audience to promote products or services, they are quite different.

Marketing consists of all activities undertaken to promote your products or services. While advertising is only one of the components of marketing, there are many more. Marketing can include public relations, content marketing, events, direct mail, and email marketing. All of them convey the same messages but in different ways. Understanding the differences and similarities between marketing and advertising can help a marketing consultancy develop an effective marketing strategy for reaching target audiences and acquiring more customers.

To understand, let us look at how they differ from one another.

1.      Intent:

Marketing is done to enhance sales, whereas advertising is done to attract customers. 

2.      Level of control:

Compared to marketing, a branding company will usually have more control over its advertising efforts than SEO services, like social media ads. Advertising channels frequently allow you to target particular market segments while knowing exactly how, when, and where you will receive a placement.

3.      Visibility:

Marketing is mainly hidden, whereas it’s difficult to ignore advertisements that interrupt our YouTube videos, roadside billboards displaying ads, and even those that tell us what to buy when we’re in a store. All of these are advertisements, but marketing coordinates them, determines the best communication method, the best discount to offer, or the best audience to reach, and then evaluates the outcomes.

4.      Cost:

Advertising is very often more expensive than marketing on its own. Advertising focuses almost entirely on paid methods of distributing information about brands, products, and services. Advertising is likely to consume most of a marketing department’s budget, whether the work is done in-house or outsourced to an advertising agency.

5.  Length:

Creating a marketing plan takes more time than creating an advertising campaign. Marketing encompasses a wide range of subfields such as market analysis, marketing research, positioning, rebranding, and segmentation; it includes more strategizing than advertising.

6.  Success Measures:

Both marketing and advertising use different metrics to measure success. Marketing uses customer satisfaction, lifetime value, and market share, while advertising uses conversions, engagements, reach, and impressions.

7.  Techniques used:

Marketing and advertising have different goals, so they use various techniques to achieve those goals. Marketing uses content marketing where compelling content is created that captures customers’ attention and keeps them interested; SEO, affiliate marketing, and more are other techniques. Advertising uses social media advertising to create ads and native ads. One growing tool agencies of advertising in Dubai extensively use is corporate video production since online videos make up more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic.

Thus, while advertising and marketing may appear to be two sides of the same coin, they are not, and advertising remains a marketing component. This blog post shows the primary differences between the two. You, your company, and your clients can have more productive discussions when planning and monitoring marketing or advertising efforts.

When it comes to Digital Brands are always confused about which is better: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) or Pay-per-click (PPC)? One is not better than the other but still, all businesses tend to compare the two when trying to determine their digital marketing strategy. Now the way to decide which is better for your brand is based on your goals and KPIs. Let’s look at the differences between the two and most importantly which has more weightage and benefit for company-specific goals. SEO is the process by which your website’s visibility can be enhanced and help to rank higher on search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, and )  through organic traffic. PPC is a type of search engine marketing (SEM) where the organization pays a platform like Google or Facebook for each click that a visitor makes on an ad. 

The difference between organic and paid search is the cost. The organic search focuses on rankings that are unpaid whereas PPC is related to paid ranking. Companies tend to use SEO to optimize the visibility of their site or rankings when searched for. Whereas paid search allows users to pay for a spot in the search results. Investing in SEO is a smart decision as it increases the likelihood of your brand being ranked higher on any search engine. There are several benefits of SEO such as; being less expensive for the long term, keeping the traffic consistent, building trust and credibility, helping with higher ROI in the long term and so many more benefits. However, there are downsides to organic search such as longer time to produce results, not effective for time-limited content, and less control over performance. 

On the other hand, we have PPC ads and each company has different strategies for how they implement these PPC in their digital marketing efforts. For example, several companies only run these paid search ads for time-sensitive marketing campaigns that have a start and end date. The cost of these ads varies based on the industry and the amount the keyword that you are bidding on has been searched. This method of digital marketing can help a business quickly stay on top of this competitive market and in front of its target consumers. Other advantages of PPC include these ads appearing above organic search ads, and they allow you to choose your target audience. But like any strategy, there are disadvantages for PPC ads too such as, being expensive, lower profit margins, and more. 

Now coming back to the main question as to which is better for your brand and marketing efforts, then it solely depends on the situation and goals of your brand. Both marketing strategies are important for your brand and a combination of both should be implemented. It’s all about choosing when. 

The question is either unanswered or mediated!
But are we really designing our marketing plans to concentrate on sales that provide enough revenue to operate business operations, or are we only focused on creating a brand image? Considering the fact that we see businesses just keeping their head to eye only on social media marketing, forgetting that marketing is not just socialising your brand/product but also influencing a view/impression to being a customer.

How if we re-plan and re-strategise the marketing approach whether it’s online, offline or both. A pool of target audience aren’t just ignoring your creative contents, they are just getting unnoticed due to several reasons that are hard to find. So, how do we reach the right audience? The answer is “that’s what we need to discuss”.

The Ecommerce business industry is rapidly growing and you will see less brick and mortar stores opening in the future. Shopping online used to be done as a convenience before and was seen as a luxury but now it’s seen as a necessity especially since the pandemic. In 2014, global Ecommerce sales were $1.4 trillion and these numbers have increased tremendously ever since with projected sales of $6.8 trillion being predicted in 2023. Ecommerce services have been on the rise ever since and are only going to increase in the coming years. Several individuals want to know how to start an ecommerce business and that’s what we are here to help you with. In order to start an ecommerce business, it’s important to have a goal which can be measured and bring about profits. It’s important to sell a solution rather than a product which adds value to the market.

The first step is to research the various different ecommerce business models and this is highly necessary as there are several structures for different types of business requirements. For example, is your business serving other businesses (B2B), directly to consumers (B2C), consumer to business (C2B) or lastly consumer to consumer (C2C). Once that’s decided, the next important thing is to decide inventory management and sourcing your products. Dropshipping is one the business revenue models and the way it works is you set up shop with all the products and the money is processed through that site but the rest is up to the supplier which frees you from managing the stock, inventory and shipping. But choosing an ideal supplier is one of the most important factors.  Dropshipping is one of the most ideal methods to choose in an ecommerce business. Another type of model is Wholesaling and Warehousing which entails managing stock and inventory and requires a large investment in the beginning. Products can be pushed on Amazon.com, noon.com, Ebay and other platforms. There are several other models and you need to figure out which fits your business. 

The second step after identifying your business model, is to establish your branding and target audience. To make that process a little easier, you can use Facebook to find your target audience and even know how many people you can target. If you already know what your product is then it’s time to invest in it but evaluate it very carefully. Even if you choose a dropshipping model it’s important to test the waters so you can get an idea of any potential problems. 

Lastly, register your business, pick a store name, and fulfil all the legal formalities and your final business plan! We at Huckster can help you with your end-to-end ecommerce creative website design and ecommerce solutions with domain and hosting solutions, marketing plans, launching and also scaling your e-commerce business to its best.

Sense-of-Mission Marketing is a marketing principle that implies that an organization’s mission should be defined in such a way that it has a broader social context rather than being purely product oriented. It is people’s emotional connection to the company’s objective. As a result of this approach, a new generation of activist entrepreneurs has emerged, who are essentially trained business managers with a feeling of social duty and a passion for a greater cause. 

This can be incorporated into a brand’s marketing strategy, by reaching and connecting with your customers’ in a more meaningful and in-depth manner. This kind of branding will help establish a lasting image in the minds of consumers as their choice of brand is working for more than just profits. Customer value can provide insight into buyer’s remorse, as they will regret their purchase if they believe the entire cost outweighs the advantages. It can be said that values are viewed as the most important part of a sense of mission because it is through values that individuals feel emotional about their organizations. The underlying mission of customer value marketing is to portray the brand’s sense-of-mission in terms of their product or service, because organization values are rarely explicit, the individual senses them through the company’s behaviour. 

Despite possessing the sense of social responsibility, businesses must use innovative marketing techniques to portray their sense-of-mission. Extensive research and a good understanding of your target audience can help tackle this. Your marketing or advertising strategy should be convincing yet transparent to your customers in order to achieve the purpose of this technique.  

Defining a business’ mission in broad social terms impacts more than just their customers. Employees too will develop clarity in work and their sense of direction. Work assists an individual in achieving something that is personally meaningful to him or her and thus provides intrinsic satisfaction. Brands that are tied to a broader mission can benefit both the brand and the consumers in the long term. 

The term ‘Zero Party Data’ has been around the digital marketing traps since the last few years. However, most of us are still unclear as to what it actually is. Whether it is the same as first-party data, or if it has characteristics of its own, whether it’s another category of data to be focused on by marketers. 

 Privacy and value are two key points of focus when grasping the concept of Zero Party Data. 

Google analytics only uses first party data or cookies to acquire website data from its web visitors. Zero Party Data is information that a customer voluntarily and knowingly provides with a company, such as preference centre data, purchase intents, personal context, and how the customer wants the company to recognize them. This is not the same as first-party data, mainly because this is data owned by the brands whereas zero party data is not owned by them. Rights are granted by the customers for brands to use the data and they cannot be used without consent. 

This reflects individuals’ desire for more control over their data in return for improved personalisation or a reward. One example of Zero Party Data is the poll feature on Instagram which allows companies to interact and create engagement with their customers or followers in creative ways, this also enables a collection of valuable and zero party data. 

For data-driven digital marketing, such tracking techniques are good practices to collect consistent and reliable data which can be used to boost your marketing power. Zero party data can pose as a great advertising tool as they have been used by several big brands to directly interact and communicate with their customers. If the right questions are asked, this opens up communication and builds more meaningful relationships. In comparison to previous consented models, such data delivers greater value exchange. 

In these times of climate change, many companies are recognizing their social responsibility and have decided to become carbon-neutral. Several big companies have pledged to remove all its historical carbon emissions by 2050. It’s good news for the planet. But where do companies that are not globe-spanning multinationals fit in?
The process is the same regardless of the size of the organization: understand your carbon footprint by measuring your emissions; set an ambition, such as being net-zero or carbon negative; and take action even in small steps to reduce and those emissions. More than a fifth (21%) of consumers would pay more for brands that label their products, according to a study from The Carbon Trust. Almost half (47%) are more likely to choose low carbon labelled goods over non-labelled. Hundreds of businesses from different sectors and sizes are working on becoming carbon-neutral. Some have decided to cut back on unnecessary air travel, embracing digital advertising only, avoiding any traditional marketing media. Majority of companies consider energy procurement as an opportunity to reduce risk, increase brand value and understand their supply chain at a deeper level. For brands it’s about adopting an approach where every little step counts and the sum of these parts is what will create a change. Huckster has taken the first step and by 2024 we aim to be carbon-neutral, when are you taking yours?

The complex structures found in nature continue to be studied by agencies, scientists and engineers to create greener and more effective products and processes of communication. Most generally, this process is known as biomimicry. Applying this nature’s brilliance to communicate your message creatively and efficiently is an obvious progression.
Nature encompasses the most beautiful and extraordinary imagery on this planet. If brands were to create an impact on their consumers, nature just might be the right way to go. Depending on what imagery one chooses to use, different kinds of feelings and brand characteristics can be communicated to your audience.

Life is so much easier when you can click a picture of something to find out what it is rather than having to text search right? Who agrees? 

The exasperation one feels when they must search for something but don’t know how to describe it! Well life is much easier now with visual search. Brands like Google, Bing and Yahoo have adopted visual search technology and has started to climb its way up to one of the top digital marketing trends. For example, you are out observing nature, come across an outfit or product you like, all you must do is a snap a picture to find a retailer! Sometimes words fail us when we are trying to accurately describe the thing we see. It’s important to understand how important SEO is in visual search marketing the file names, alt-tags and titles should all contain keywords to increase visibility. The demographic is slowly demanding this technology and so far, the statistical success has been impeccable. The future is visual!

Design communicates more than what can be expressed in words. There is an undeniable association between design and emotion and can produce significant effects for brands. We are surrounded by designs; everything we perceive is followed by an emotional response. When designing it is important to consider how the user will feel based on what they see or hear. This emotional response can impact a consumer’s relationship with your product. And the result; positive emotions and piqued curiosity.

“Does my brand still need a blog when we’re pivoting towards video and social media marketing” ?

Let’s keep this really simple because the catch is this “Google loves a meaty, frequently updated blog, rewarding great content with higher search engine rankings as an overall trend. The unique your brand story, the better for boosting your inbound leads in a major way.”
A thoughtful marketing strategy is made up of several moving parts that all help highlight each other- be it in long-form posts, videos or beefing up your social media content.
Blogging and social media play well together in this way: your blog is where the high-quality, valuable content lives, and your social profiles are where you share your blog posts with the widest possible audience. Blogging can be made even more effective with SEO strategies to further enhance the visibility of your brand. Consumers spend majority of their lives online because they wish to hear your brand story! They want to understand your passion! All the while, gaining knowledge about your products ultimately forming an emotional connection. This is what separates your business from others. It’s time to show your expertise!

Mass communication language is design. To be able to communicate the highs and complexities the scientific community achieves, to the public, design strategies need to be incorporated.

One such philosophy can explain this further; Neri Oxman, explains the entanglement between science, design, art and engineering, illustrated through the visualization known as the Krebs Cycle of Creativity. Here lies the idea that knowledge cannot be attributed to distinct disciplines but rather they are entangled with various other disciplines. One can significantly influence the other and where a project or individual can reside in multiple disciplines. Nature and culture can coalesce according to the cycle as nature can be described as elements that support life and if life cannot exist without culture; they become one. 

Yup you heard it right! Location matters not just in films but also in marketing!

From television ads, to movies to e-commerce sites and social media, product placement has found its vibrant home right at our fingertips. The goodwill of a brand is created with the awareness and the trust it achieves. Therefore, the importance of product placement is vital to help boost sales, build brand awareness, and engender brand goodwill. There are numerous natural ways to get this achieved. Let’s get your brand out there and see the results for yourself. #BringHucksterwithyou