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Phone on table with Social Media in tiles: ROI:Getting more for your $$$

Social Media Return on Investment

As social networks continue to grow users they need an revenue stream to support development which means businesses looking to advertise have to pay to reach their audience. For big brands ad spend to reach consumers on social is a small fraction of their budgets but how do small, independent brands play the social advertising game without breaking the bank? I recently spoke at WordCamp KC on getting the most out your social media with a limited budget. The steps I outlined seem intuitive but few brands follow the full process, especially the beginning. Define your WHY – If you haven’t watched Simon Sinek’s TEDTalk “Start with Why” you should, here’s the link. Sinek suggests, and I agree, that brands who understand WHY they do what they do are more successful than brands who can articulate HOW they do what they do. What does this have to do with social media strategy? Ask yourself WHY you want to be doing social. If the answer is “because I should be” or “because I have to” you will not be successful. When…

Creative Mornings: Moments with Ryan Maybee

CreativeMornings: Moments

What is a moment? It’s a unit of time, but less finite than the ones we typically use. We know there are sixty seconds in a minute, sixty minutes in an hour, twenty four hours in a day, three hundred and sixty five days in a year. But how many moments is that? CreativeMornings asked its February speakers to discuss Moments, in Kansas City we listened to Ryan Maybee, of J.Rieger & Co. and Manifesto (a 2017 James Beard nominee). Over the course of his talk Maybee shared moments that shaped his life, pushed him to his present moment. He discussed lessons on empathy, work ethic, resiliency, courage, perspective, loyalty, opportunity, vision, leadership, and integrity. Dr. Seuss says “you will never learn the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.” It’s hard to point to a second, a minute, an hour that changed the course of an individual’s life. Looking at moments, however, it becomes much easier. You can view Maybee’s full talk HERE or for a fun visual look at Jasur Rakhimov’s summary HERE.

Mystery

CreativeMornings: On Mystery

Creative projects and business projects are seemingly quite different but when you get down to the details, they have many similarities. We start with an idea, a general plan of where we want to go, and thought on how we’ll get there but when we get into the journey things can change. They evolve. This is where art and business projects start to differentiate. In business we crave structure, milestones, feel the need to get back on track. Artists tend to let their work evolve, change, grow. In the January CreativeMornings Jeremy Collins explored the concept of mystery. You can view the full talk HERE.

2017 online shopping trends - woman at laptop holding phone.

Brick Meets Click – 2017 Online Shopping Forecast

I recently attended a Brick Meets Click webinar sponsored by Unata on the 2017 Online Shopping Forecast. The panel from Unata and Brick Meets Click reviewed their finding from a survey of 500 consumers to understand industry trends and predict what we’ll see in the upcoming year. In 2016 one in five shoppers had an online purchase, that will likely increase to one in three this year. For traditional retailers that can seem worrisome but online shoppers aren’t abandoning stores, their digital purchases are value adds to their typical shopping trip. Additionally, shopping online can create a new type of loyal customer, 80% of online shoppers are repeat consumers. The online shopper spans many demographics and can represent a significant increase in sales for your store. While we expect continued growth in the upcoming year online shopping is still a differentiator and stores offering the service are better poised for success with changing consumer trends. As a differentiator we will see customers willing to change their preferred shopping location to one with online capabilities. As with any new service offering…

Family leaning on grocery cart in store.

Rosie Announces SNAP Capabilities for Today and for Tomorrow

As online shopping continues to develop it’s important to note what is happening in the industry and with our partner providers. Below is an update from Dave Makar, Marketing Director of Rosie, regarding their work in the SNAP benefit space.   We are excited to announce Rosie’s retailers can now accept payment with SNAP benefits for all pay-at-store transactions. This advancement in eCommerce technology allows your customers to see all SNAP eligible items while shopping and then select SNAP pay-at-store as a payment option. The SNAP program aims to increase food security and reduce hunger by providing children and low-income people access to food, a healthful diet, and nutrition education. Rosie created SNAP payment integration to help retailers serve their communities while remaining competitive. We, along with the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), believe no American should have to go hungry. In addition to pay-at-store transactions, Rosie has been developing the ability to accept online SNAP Payments. Rosie was selected by the USDA to pilot a SNAP/EBT pay-online (for pick-up or delivery) option. This pilot program will be rolled…

Brick meets click - how do online grocery orders compare?

Measuring Success in Online Shopping

2016 was a big year in online shopping. As more and more retailers begin offering this service to their consumers we’re better able to study how it functions and its impact on the industry. Comparing success in a traditional store format with an online offering isn’t apples to apples. Today Brick Meets Click presented their findings from their first Online Shopping Benchmarking Survey. Brick Meets Click surveyed nineteen multichannel (brick & mortar, as well as online) banners across North America to define Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) we can use to better understand stores’ online shopping performance. The KPIs that came out of the study were: Sales Average Transaction Ring SKUs per Transaction Composition of Transactions Distribution of Transactions Share Analysis Department Prevalence Lost Sales Perfect Frequency Lost Sales Source of Lost Sales When working to support and online shopping program it is important to not only understand how your organization performs but also how you can design your operation to better support success in these KPIs. One of the interesting findings is that how long a retailer has been offering…

Congratulations! Insignia retailer of the year, McKeever's Price Chopper

Congratulations, McKeever’s!

Congratulations to McKeever’s Price Chopper in Excelsior Springs, Missouri! They were named the inaugural Insignia Retailer of the Year! This McKeever’s location was selected from all participating retailers across the country. Their full year participation in the Insignia POPS Retailer Program and demonstrating their commitment and ongoing support for POPSigns is why they were selected. Congratulations and keep up the good work!  

Creative Mornings - Sound

CreativeMornings on Sound

Many of the events we discuss on our blog are about…well, marketing. That’s what we do. We go to events to learn how to engage better, post better, promote better. While I love the opportunity to learn more about how to market one of the best events I regularly attend isn’t about marketing at all. It’s about creativity. Each month across the world different speakers take on CreativeMornings’ theme for the month. In December it was Sound. Local artist Calvin Arsenia beautifully shared what it means to him. While I don’t leave a CreativeMornings better versed in SEO, analytics, or the new size requirement for Facebook images, I do leave with a slightly new view of creativity, with a least one new thing to consider. Beyond the sounds Arsenia created he left me with the thought that what I make doesn’t matter as much as how my audience receives it. You can listen to the whole session HERE.

#KCLOVES

SMCKC December Breakfast

Over the last ten years Kansas City has experienced quite the revitalization. Among the addition of restaurants and entertainment districts, several industries began to really take root in KC, including advertising and marketing agencies. The growing community of creatives in our growing city there is not only the opportunity to tell clients’ stories, but also our own. Our individual stories are curated largely online, and out of each of those narratives a larger picture takes shape, that of Kansas City. For December’s SMCKC Breakfast a team from Barkley presented on how they’re sharing the stories that make up Kansas City with their #KCLoves campaign. Barkley opened their discussion of the #KCLoves campaign with a simple, but powerful quote “a City is a story with thousands of voices and no end. It’s constantly evolving and always in production.” As marketers we have the unique opportunity to not only share these stories across broad channels we are also about to create platforms for conversations. As marketers we also know the stories we tell aren’t about us, they’re about our clients. In this…

Finding higher ground

Finding the Higher Ground – October’s FX of KC Lunch

Coming to a crossroads in marketing is fairly common. We live at a point where strategy meets budget, scope meets quality, and priorities meet deadlines. Given the highly personal nature of what we do this crossroads often starts to look like an impasse. Each side digging into their position either because of of personal feelings or business factors. The October Freelance Exchange of KC lunch with Cami Travis-Groves took at look at how we move past an impasse to a higher ground. Travis-Groves began by explaining how we often reach an impasse and ways to avoid them. Her advice: Don’t Take It Personal – When discussing your business or your work it is hard to remove yourself from the picture. Feedback on a project is just that, commentary on the project or issue, not you. Take a step back and realize, it isn’t personal. Listen With the Intent to Understand – When emotions are running high we tend to listen just enough to start formulating our response, this doesn’t allow us to truly hear. Take the time to listen with…