Blog :

admin

Successful Content Marketing Campaigns

Content marketing is the technique for creating and sharing free content to provide the consumer with an additional level of product interaction. It is meant to attract new customers and to encourage current customers into developing a loyal, repeat business. But, it should be more than a portion of a company or product. It should be used as a tool to engage your audience.

Four successful content marketing campaigns:

  • Birchbox – a monthly subscription service that provides an array of carefully selected beauty samples to customers. They use content marketing to enhance the online shopping experience for their customers. Birchbox features articles about personal grooming, fitness, and popular beauty products to engage its customers. This has been the key to Birchbox’s success, allowing Birchbox to create an interactive experience for customers as if they were in a store.
  • Red Bull – the energy drink maker uses its content marketing to blend in with the community that enjoys its products. Red Bull specifically chooses to be associated with extreme sports through their advertising. They provide featured videos, films and photos of extreme sports and stunts to associate high energy with the essence of its community.
  • MasterCard – the financial institution uses their content marketing to create a hassle-free, convenient way for costumers to enjoy MasterCard’s features. On the MasterCard website, MasterCard offers features such as a saving calculator and debt FAQs to assist customers with their finances. To minimize inconvenience for it’s customers, helpful videos and ATM locators are located in its “Priceless Pointers” section on its website.
  • Kraft – the international food conglomerate, mastered the use of content long before it was a popular marketing technique. Kraft’s website features recipes, tips, ideas, and videos to assist customers with their products. They understand the power of connecting with their customers. Kraft has created a forum where customers can go beyond simply sharing their recipes. Customers experience those products on a most basic human level – while breaking bread. Kraft expanded its brand from simply selling their products to forming an online community that has become ingrained in the lives of its consumers.

A company’s content marketing has to be relevant to the company’s mission, products, and services. It should allow customers to consistently learn and engage with a brand. As content marketing continues to grow, it proves to be more of a long-lasting relationship than a trend. Content marketing will continue to be a necessity for companies to grow and actively engage their customers.

Contact Colure’s team to discuss marketing strategies for your business. See how a focused approach on your project can dramatically modify your performance in the marketplace.

Why Content is Critical to Your Audience
admin

Why Content is Critical to Your Audience

Relevant content is critical to grabbing your audience on an emotional level because they’re searching for answers to their questions. If your content is nothing but bologna, you will lose your audience in a matter of seconds.

So, how do you engage your audience? Take the proper steps to ensure valuable and easily readable content. 

Three things you need for strong content:
  1. A goal: Provide a focal point of the article. All ideas will contribute towards this central theme.
  2. A voice: Define your point of view and express yourself in the content. Make your statement and provide examples to support your statement. People will need to understand why they should believe what you think.
  3. A lesson: Remember, you are the author. You may not be in a classroom, but be sure to enrich your readers. Be sure that they gain something from reading your work. You are educating and entertaining them by providing information they may not have.

The average Internet user will view a web page and determine whether to continue reading or visit another website in approximately 8 seconds. Even if the user stays longer than those 8 seconds, they have the tendency to skim through, reading only about a quarter of the article. Your content needs to stand out and grab their attention quickly. You must understand your audience.

A short attention span is a dangerous thing. Like the bull that charges a red flag, Internet users flee when they are distracted. They’ll begin to scroll down the page to see a picture or a video. If they notice that the article is going to take 10 minutes to read… Bon voyage! They’ll be gone in a flash. Why would they waste their precious little time reading an elongated article, when they can go visit another web page that tells them what they want in half the time?

Quality content is critical to your audience because it’s the only thing that engages your reader.

Contact Colure to discuss your project’s content, vision and scope.

Listening to your customer
admin

Listening to your customer

The age-old adage “ the customer is always right” still holds true. At the end of the day, if the customer is not happy, you’ve missed an opportunity for a successful business transaction. The difficulty comes from not defining a working relationship between your expertise and the customer’s expectations.

The secret is communication. If we spend our time actively listening to the customer, the odds of everyone succeeding greatly increases. Our focus and presence of mind will allow the customer to feel safe in our hands. Without this confidence, the relationship is strained. Listening is a learned skill.

It is a labor of love when an advertising team creates an abstract set of ideas for a potential client. That initial pitch is not just a set of concepts to sell a widget. That pitch is the net result of the ad team’s experience and knowledge. It is the collective wisdom of those advertising professionals. You are selling more than an idea, you are marketing your team’s creativity and reputation.

Listening is not a passive activity

Never waste an appropriate opportunity for your team to share its expertise. In the same light, never negate the experience and wisdom of your customers. They know their business better than anyone else. Customers recognize when they are being paid the attention they deserve. If the customer senses their host’s distraction or unwillingness, effective communication can be damaged.

It’s important for you, as advertisers and marketers, to provide quality guidance and service to your customers. In the end, this is why the customer contacted you, for your abilities and experience.

Customer Sastifaction

‘Giving the customer what they want’ begins with solid interactions. When the customer knows they are being listened to, they know their business is appreciated. Establishing clear communication leaves room for both the customer’s desires and your expertise. More importantly, it will lead to greater trust and success for everyone.

Your relationship with your customer boils down to two words – ‘respect’ and ‘listen’.

Allow us the opportunity to listen to your company’s marketing concerns, ambitions, and dreams. Contact Colure to speak with our team.

Why is the mobile app industry worth $25 billion?
admin

Why is the mobile app industry worth $25 billion?

Mobile apps usage continues to grow. They’re a tool used by more and more companies. As the volume of applications grow in the business world, so do the dollars spent on app development. In a MarketsandMarkets report, the mobile app industry will be worth an estimated $25 billion (US) in 2015. Does your company need a mobile app developed? If so, how will you proceed?

You need to keep a few thoughts in mind while you consider developing an app:

  • The first questions you should ask yourself are, “Is this a task-oriented mobile app?” “Does it have a function, a purpose?” “Is it filling some void in the market?” “If so, specifically – what is that need?” Don’t put out an app ‘just to put out an app’.
  • This app should be the justification for all of the effort, pain, time, money and stress that you and your staff will allocate for its creation. In other words, ‘will it be worth all of the effort?’
  • Who is my target audience? Am I putting this together to help my customers understand my services or products? Am I creating this to aid my sales staff to better market their products? Will this app help streamline our employee’s workflow by eliminating paperwork?
  • Is it affordable? Should we try to do this ourselves or hire an outside firm to do the work? Is it possible to go mobile on a budget?

Your answers will help shape your course of action.

Here are several other considerations that may modify your choices. Remember that:

  • customers establish a strong connection between the value of your website and the value of your company. They will make the same connection between the quality of your app and quality of your company. If your app comes off as cheesy, or as having little value, that same correlation may very well be made to your company.
  • affordable apps can be made quickly and cheaply, but the real value is measured in terms how that app connects to your customer. If your customers see ‘older looking’ graphics, or find less functionality in the application (than should be reasonably expected), those deficiencies will translate into a loss of customer trust in your company.
  • To you, what is the true value of your customers’ experience? To which level do you honestly appreciate their quality of interaction with your company? To which extent are you willing to invest to provide a positive, proactive experience to your customer?
  • What happens if there are problems with you mobile app? Will you have support, if any (in terms of expertise and time) to help you? What happens if things go sideways?

In the end, the questions of quality, support, cost (expenses vs. effort), and the cost-benefits gained will determine how you establish your budgets for the application. You know your business better than anyone else. If you are not impressed with the application, there’s a good chance you customers too, will not be impressed.

With that said, apps have a critical role in today’s business world. They facilitate function and access. As with everything in life, you only have one chance to make a good 1st impression. Be sure that your app is the finest that it can be, for both you and your customer. Embrace the challenge. Speak with Colure to define your application’s development and marketing.

Three NYC Tech Conferences to Attend in 2014
admin

Three NYC Tech Conferences to Attend in 2014

NEW YORK CITY SKYLINEThe Big Apple is a great resource for ideas in the world of marketing. Some of the biggest and best conferences are held here each year, displaying some of the latest and greatest ideas to help make your company’s marketshare grow. Whether your focus is technology or marketing, you’ll want to take a look at these events. Be sure you stay on the cutting edge of the marketplace. Here are three conferences in 2014 you won’t want to miss. Each tackle their own focus.

1)  Interop Sept 29 – Oct 3rd, 2014@ Jacob Javits Conventions Center, NYC
The conference will highlight the advancements in networking, cloud development, mobility and management of information. Breakout sessions will address the challenges of mobile application deployment and management. Software-defined networking, risk management, and information infrastructure will all be addressed.

2)  SMX East 2014 Sept. 30 – Oct. 2, 2014 @ Jacob Javits Conventions Center, NYC Join industry leaders as they converge on the world’s largest search engine marketing conference and expo. Listen to over 100 experts as they explore SEO, SEM and social media marketing tactics. Leverage their expertise for your growth.
3)  http://ad-tech.com/ny Nov. 5-6, 2014 @ Jacob Javits Conventions Center, NYC. Over 8000 marketers will be attending this conference to explore the latest in marketing tools, technology, and education. Discover your company’s ad space and social space, and find new ways to interact with your clients.

The best way to educate yourself about cutting edge developments, is to talk to the industry professionals. Discover the resources of change and educate yourself for the future. Invest the time in your future. Discover your industries next steps of development.

admin

Why invest in mobile?

Why invest in mobile?

95% of people looked up information on their smartphone. 61% would call that business. 59% will visit that business. 44% will make a purchase.
87% of people use their Smartphone on the go.
48% of people use phone while eating.
79% of people have used a smartphone to help with shopping.

(Source: Google)

TD Bike Tour
admin

TD Bike Tour

Colure’s staff participated today in the TD Five Borough Bike Tour in NYC. Great job!!! It seems impossible till it’s done!!!! Dream Big for a good cause!

TD Bike Tour

admin

Harvard Business Event

Today Colure was invited to attend the Harvard Business event and special guest was Movado’s CEO Efraim Grinberg. He said something that I had to share!  “There are always alternatives to time and watches. But we work with iconic brands. You can close your eyes and you can see our watches, it’s design.”

 

Movado 3Movado 4

admin

Advertising Rule of Thumb

Advertising Rule of Thumb “Advertising expenditures account for $5.8 trillion in economic output in the U.S. or 20 percent of the $29.6 trillion in total economic output in the nation. Advertising driven sales of products and services help support 19,753,994 jobs, or 15%, of the 133.4 million jobs in the United States.  Every dollar spent on advertising generates just under $20 of economic output, and every million dollars of ad spending supports 69 American jobs.”

(Source: IHS Global Insight found that in 2010)

admin

Yesterday’s Old Phone Book

Yesterdays old phone book is today’s new “search engine”

Have you used a search engine in the last week? 95% of the searches used a search engine to find their product (67% alone on Google) 1.2 trillion – Number of searches on Google in 2012. Where is your product when your consumers search for it online? Are you truly optimized? (Source: Google Official History, Comscore)

phone book

admin

Think-Tank Session

As we prepare for our think-tank session we keep one thing on the forefront “branding”.

One the left, our Executive Creative Director Rich Solomon and on the right, our Head of Business Development Patrice Gervias both prepares for the think-tank session.

#branding Rich#branding Pat

Branding Lecture at NYU
admin

Branding Lecture at NYU

Richard Solomon, Executive Creative Director explains branding during a speech he made as a guest lecturer at NYU:

“Most times I would talk branding and show examples. The last time I did a lecture, I walked pass the Apple Store downtown and had an idea. In class I told the students I was looking to get a new Smartphone and asked if they could give me any recommendations. They all had one – the majority iPhones some Droids. I went around and they said things like “I love it…”, “It’s the best…”, “I do everything with it, great”, “awesome”… At that point I stop and said “think about what you guys just did. You used words like, love, great, best, and awesome to describe an inanimate object that’s less than a pound and fits in your pocket. That’s branding at its best, a strong emotional relationship between a product or service and a consumer – class dismissed”

 

admin

World Entrepreneur Summit

Colure Media co-sponsored the World Entrepreneur Summit: Building a better tomorrow is important today!

WES On South America & Caribbean: The World Entrepreneurship Summit 2014: South America & Caribbean took place Tue February 18th at Mercy College, Manhattan. Organized by New York Business Consultants, LLC the event brought together a distinguished group of business leaders, academics, ambassadors and other thought leaders.

WES logo

Colure Media’s Marketing Director Patrice Gervais shakes hands with Colure’s Co-Founder William Belle.

WES Pat & Will

wes pic

 

Is Mobile Marketing Worth The Investment?
admin

Is Mobile Marketing Worth The Investment?

91% of smart phone users keep their phone within an arms reach literally 24/7! Mobile internet usage will overtake PC internet usage by the end of 2014! 1 of our 2 mobile searches converts into a purchase! 61% of mobile searches converts into a phone call! Now let’s ask that question again “Is Mobile Marketing Worth the Investment?” (Source: Infographic courtesy of EverythingMobile )

Mobile Marketing

Colure Media is an advertising and Mobile marketing company in New York. We can increase your company’s revenue and brand awareness through Marketing and advertising. If you are interested, then contact us now.