Penning a Partnership Experience

A handful of lucky Rocky Mountain staff, including myself, were invited to go on a content creation mission in the Chilcotin wilderness this past summer. Our objective: gather images and stories in support of our new Element and Instinct bikes and document the trip for our partners, Tyax Adventures.

An absolute dream mission, if you ask me.

I took notes each morning and evening and turned my trip log into a blog post for bikes.com with help from our talented Content Specialist (and creator) Sebastien Berthiume.

Have a read here:

bikes.com

Intention Setting with the IRONMAN Group

As of January, I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve taken a position with the IRONMAN group. More specifically, I’m managing the marketing for a large portfolio of North American IRONMAN events. It’s already pretty exciting and strategic. My inner nerd is glowing. I’m relishing in the size of our team. So many talented marketers and operations leaders.

On the other side of the race tape: My first IRONMAN event, IRONMAN Victoria 70.3 in 2018

What’s been the most surprising challenge is returning to work after maternity leave. I was so eager to get back to marketing that I hadn’t realized what a strange transition it would be.

After spending nearly every waking moment with my little guy for the past 18 months, leaving him for 40 hours a week was a huge adjustment. I still miss him, regularly. But I’ve made changes to how I spend my days off with him so that it’s all quality. The chores and phone can wait until after his bedtime.

Proof that we still get out and enjoy our favourite place: Nature.

The work I do now is more focused and purposeful too. Or at least my aim is to make it that way. Partly because I’ve started working from home, but mostly I don’t want to waste any time away from my little one.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the role of being a parent but I’m pretty head over heels about my profession too. I feel super privileged to have the ability to pursue both. Plus, there’s the added benefit of having a new role at a new company to explore. Loads of learning is happening right now. It’s like solving a collection of interesting puzzles, thinking critically about each move. My cup is full.

I’ve had a couple of months to settle in and reflect, so I thought I would make space to set an intention for this new role.

Just me, looking super cool.

Which brings me to the term “wasted calories”.

It refers to both performance nutrition and a saying that means to waste energy on stalled projects or issues. Similar to suggesting someone not “spin their wheels”. An IRONMAN regional director coined the phrase. To my absolute delight it’s tossed around very commonly in our company’s virtual hallways.

I’ve spent a fair bit of time across my career chasing projects that didn’t come to fruition or more recently worried about securing childcare. Simply put, if it’s out of my control - it’s wasted calories. In my new roles as parent and marketer, my intention is to channel this energy in a better more productive way, when I get stuck.

Roadside, training for IRONMAN Canada - 70.3 a few years ago.

If this sounds like you as well, here are some cool articles I’ve read that are shaping my plans:

• Psychology Today’s “How to Stop Spinning Your Wheels - Stress Management”

• Diane Bolden’s “How to Get Unstuck”

• Entrepreneur’s “Stop Spinning Your Wheels and Find Passion”

So, I’m putting this in writing to hold myself accountable. I’m going to sweat the small things less. In my newest chapter of life and career I’m going to focus more on the things that matter most. The things I can control. Who’s with me?!

Why Your Facebook and Instagram Ads Are Not Working Anymore

I was on top of the world. All of my social media tracking pixels were firing, customer data beautifully synced up with my Business Manager and conversions were happening consistently for a sweet price. Then a global pandemic and the iOS 14 update rolled in. Everything changed. My Cost Per Click (CPC) went up and my conversions went down. Yikes! As I scoured forums and industry sites, I discovered I wasn’t alone. Here’s what went down:

COVID brought the crowds online.

Almost overnight, businesses that thrived in an offline setting had to find a way to make money virtually. Many in the outdoor, event and tourism-driven worlds had to pivot to work on website redesigns and set up e-commerce options to ensure they were still getting a piece of that revenue pie. This drove up competition in the ad space, especially on social media.

What this means:

To get through to your fans and followers, you’ll need to be extra clever. Find new ways to stand out on Facebook and Instagram.

But how?

Test your Facebook and Instagram post lengths. Even Dynamic Ad formats allow for long format posts now. Smaller or bespoke businesses have a chance to resonate with consumers by treating posts like small blog pieces. More and more consumers feel compelled to read below the fold (aka “Read More”) prompt.

Another option: Brands of all sizes can make an impact by testing solely using video creative in ads. You can also create custom videos for each placement all within the same ad set. No video? No problem. Moving images or combining photos into a slideshow through Business Manager’s Creative Hub can show a significant lift in ad engagement.

Custom Audiences have fallen flat.

The iOS 14 update shook the entire landscape. Entire data sets are now irrelevant because the tracking pixel Facebook/Instagram uses isn’t working across all devices (we’re looking at you iPhone). This means the Custom Audiences you created with your email database, offline events or website traffic have shrunken and may no longer be helpful in targeting.

What this means:

Have a little cry. Morn the loss of all your fabulous Custom Audiences and move on. It’s time for all of us marketers to dust ourselves off and get back to work. With the advent of GDPR, CASL and other pieces of anti-spam legislation we should be respecting people’s privacy as a best practice anyway.

But how?

Return to the tried and true interest and geo-targeted audience building. Test what your consumers are actually responding to and rebuild audiences from the ground up. I’ve seen my CPC drop significantly after A/B testing my older Custom Audiences with new interest-based ones. Users are on these social platforms, we just have to start fresh.

If nothing else, it’s a great reminder to diversify our marketing mixes and experiment with other lead generating activities. It always rings true: social platforms are essentially rented space.

Your fancy mid-pandemic website refresh may have changed the purchase path.

Maybe it’s not a Facebook or Instagram problem? If the journey to purchase is harder or different on your website, people may struggle with change. Focus on guiding people to a purchase once they’ve clicked through to your website from the ad. It’s best to use an analytics platform (Google Analytics is my preference) to decide if these website changes helped or hindered. A cool place to start is by reviewing website traffic through “Users Flow”.

Toggle the drop down from “Medium” to “landing Page”. This will give you an idea of where people are entering and leaving your site. This is a super helpful tool to identify what web pages aren’t pulling their weight.

To summarize: Fear not. As marketers, our industry is constantly evolving. It’s what keeps us coming back campaign after campaign. Just as one FB/IG door closes, another will open. I’ll leave you with some wise words from an article recently written by Adweek:

“To cut through the noise, it’s helpful to separate the ultimate objective from the tactics. The objective for marketers is always to establish and maintain a relationship with customers and engaged prospects, today and into the future. Smart brands, particularly consumer-facing companies, appreciate that such relationships are their principal enterprise asset.”

Stay Current, Marketing Friends

When I teach marketing courses, students often ask me how to stay current in marketing. To me, there isn’t a single source for news. But, I do have a few favourite podcasts, newsletter subscriptions and education resources that I recommend. Some are less than traditional but help spark creativity. Others are tried and true. Here are my top picks:

How I Built This Host, Guy Raz, doing his thing on stage at a recent book event.

Great Podcasts

• How I Built This aka HIBT

  Although not marketing specific, each episode is incredibly engaging and inspiring. HIBT host Guy Raz interviews founders of heavy weight companies that have or will leave a profound mark of excellence on their respective industries. When I need something interesting and uplifting, HIBT is my go-to.

• Digital Marketing Podcast

  Two succinct and incredibly knowledgeable British lads take us on a 20-25 minute journey into the marketing world on a regular basis. I’m a new listener but already a big fan. These guys are great at starting high level and working their way down into the technical details.

• Tropical MBA

This colourful podcast has it’s roots in the digital nomad lifestyle but is chalk-full of practical information about sales and marketing, especially for SAS companies. My friend and Technical SEO master, Jase Rodley recommended it years ago and my husband and I have been hooked ever since. Just a head’s up, it can get pretty nerdy, but the info is hyper-current. I especially love this recent episode about improving sales funnels with special guest John Ainsworth of Data Driven Marketing.

Superb Email Newsletters

The Hustle Newsletter is one of the few (maybe only?) subscriptions worthy of a daily cadence.

• The Hustle

  This delightful newsletter is both witty and useful. The Hustle is an easy read. It keeps me in the loop of what’s happening in technology and business across North America. Don’t miss this one, it’s gold.

• Social Media Today

  I have a complicated relationship with social media. But as a marketer, it’s crucial to be aware of what’s happening in this landscape as it all changes so quickly. Often, I just skim headlines from Social Media Today’s newsletter and that works well for my needs.

• Adweek

If brand campaigns are part of your scope, Adweek is a crucial resource. See what’s trending and bombing in big brand land. I love getting ideas by reviewing what agencies are dreaming up at the moment. Plus the journalism is refreshingly honest. For example, “Nike Wants You To Play New Sports Even If You Suck At Them”.

• Marketing <> Analytics Intersect Newsletter

  This one’s special. Cerebral and articulate, I reserve these newsletters for quieter periods when I can really sink my teeth into the concepts Avinash Kaushik has on tap. As a big deal at Google, Kaushik kindly offers a free version of his newsletter focused on advanced analytics concepts about ten times a year. Perfect frequency for me.

Continued Education

• New Google Skillshop and Facebook Blueprint Modules

  Checked back in with Facebook and Google Product to see what’s new in thier certifications. The programs are so wildly robust now. Expect, webinars, learning tracks and web-based classes for all types of marketers and developers. It’s fantastic. I’m really into:

  • Google Analytics Individual Qualification

  • Test and Learn to Make Your Instagram Ads More Effective

Facebook Blueprint options

• Hubspot Academy

  Yes, ultimately this company is trying to sell us their enterprise platform. But, Hubspot has made some incredibly helpful marketing guides and templates in the process. I wouldn’t hesitate to spend the time and take these courses (they’re also free). A great example: How SEO Works for the HubSpot Blog: The Search Insights Report Framework.

What other marketing resources are cutting through the noise and grabbing your attention? Drop a link in the comments:

Membership Marketing: a How To Guide

"...The market favours recurring revenues and narrative over transactional revenues and EBITDA." - Scott Galloway

Memberships are big.

Yes, businesses love recurring revenue.

Who wouldn’t love it, as a customer, to receive value on an ongoing basis?

But during the pandemic, the already declining brick and mortar contingent went into overdrive to get online and stay in business.

Companies that relied on foot traffic had to entice people to make purchases with them regularly online. “We saw a three-year adoption cycle get compressed to three weeks,” David Rusenko, head of e-commerce for Square (a major mobile payments company) said in the early days of the pandemic. So how do we market to these customers and keep them coming back? Enter membership-based businesses. While not a new concept, it’s certainly seeing a renaissance.

What is a membership-based business? People are often surprised to learn how broad the term membership can be. Everything from streaming services like Netflix, to gyms, to Costco are all included. If money comes out of your account in order to access goods or services on a monthly basis, it’s probably a membership.

Recently, I took an informal poll on my social media channels. I made some interesting discoveries. I asked people if anyone had a membership that they love. Here are some findings that will hopefully help your membership-based business stand out from the noise.

1. There’s a Certain Cachet…

People take pride in associating themselves as members of a particular brand or experience. Think of the phrase, “you are what you eat”. In this case, you are what you’re a member of and this is true both online and off. Establishing a consistent and polished brand is important to this customer base.

The social component of Strava is like word of mouth on steroids. Entire social groups felt compelled to fork out the cash for a smart trainer and in some cases a new bike just to join in the fun.

2. Make It Irresistible

Incentivize natural brand ambassadors. Give current customers such a good experience that they want to share. Influencer marketing or top user rewards would be a great way to reach this customer base.

3. Word of Mouth

Social Proof reigns supreme. In the early stages of brand awareness almost 40% noted that someone they trusted (personally or as a public figure) made mention of the product.

Brand recognition: One user started noticing the boxes Thrive Market delivers goods in and Googled it to learn more.

4. The Purchase

A pattern emerged with online customer journeys. Of those surveyed that could recall their purchase decision making journey, the most common path is as follows:

1. Word of mouth - friend, family member or someone trusted recommended the membership.

2. Search / social media search

3. Retargeting on social media

4. Discount or offer closed the sale

The most popular membership listed: Peloton.

5. You Heard About It Where?

Podcast marketing dominated the poll. Both branded podcasts and mentions of a business on popular podcasts regularly converted people. Social media is and will continue to be a major marketplace for businesses to be seen. However, just as people need to see a product multiple times (7 on average) before converting, these other marketing initiates were also top converters:

1. Email marketing

2. Physical product placement in places such as hotels or AirBnBs

3. Dominating search results

4. Offering exclusive content, discounts or products behind a paywall

Of the 40 people that responded to my amateur poll, the age range was 28-75 and included both women and men. Curious about what memberships made the list? See the word cloud below:

While the concept of selling a membership isn’t new, the global pandemic has certainly forced some creativity into the space. Both from a product and a marketing perspective. Know of a new business that’s thriving with a membership product? I’m always curious. Leave a note in the comments!