Because the Fourth of July falls on a Thursday this year, there might be a few missing faces around the office come Friday.
So if you’re reading this, then salutes to you: the true patriot, putting in an honest day’s work after a full day celebrating ‘murica with hot dogs, apple pie and weapons-grade fireworks.
So to reward your perseverance, just like George Washington crossing the Delaware River, we’ve collected some recent bits of content marketing news that contain some interesting insights.
Fourth of July Email Marketing: 10 Examples of Great Independence Day Campaigns
While the holiday itself has passed, it’s still worth taking a look at what makes a good Independence Day Campaign. And wouldn’t ya know, Jilt — an ecommerce and email solutions provider — has 10 star-spangled hits to take notes from.
It can be difficult to make 4th of July marketing stand out, as all the red, white and blue schemes can start to look like one another. A crowded inbox is another obstacle, as nearly every company is eager to capitalize on the consumer event. The trick, as these examples suggest, is to mix playing on traditional themes of independence imagery, while also getting creative.
Jilt points to emails from Bruegger’s Bagels and Tommy Hilfiger that contain animated graphics as a way to capture eyes. The 4th lends itself well to this, think fireworks and flags waving in the wind. Some other companies tried to price their sales to play on American history and draw interest, like selling pants for $17.76.
Want to see all the other emails that Jilt collected? Read the article here.
The State of Instagram Marketing 2019 – Part 1: Current Use of Instagram by Marketers
Instagram is arguably the third-most important social platform after Facebook and Twitter. The visual-heavy bent plays directly into modern consumer preferences, and brands can use influencers, hashtags and stories or IGTV to further refine their tactics and engage with users.
To gauge what marketers are doing on Instagram and how they’re performing, Social Media Today and SEMrush teamed up to research all the trends. The end product, “The State of Instagram Marketing 2019,” was broken up into four blog installments, all analyzing a certain aspect of how Instagram use has evolved.
More than 800 digital marketers were surveyed, and in Part 1, 90% said they use the platform for marketing purposes. Of those respondents, 80% said they use the stories feature. Such widespread adoption has fueled use of the post type that’s become a hit with users. However, Part 2 confirms still image posts continue to be the best-performing option. Stories take second place ahead of video, though, which may come as a surprise. Part 3 checks out future opportunities and what companies think of Instagram’s staying power; and Part 4 gets into analytics and whether the data has been made useful to strategic planning.
You can download the whole report here.
Agencies See Growth in Content Marketing Business [New Research]
Content marketing is a far way away from a buzzword, having matured into a foundational strategy in the modern marketing landscape. There’s no greater sign of this than demand for content marketing services from businesses, and agencies are pivoting to capitalize on meeting those needs.
Recently released Content Marketing Institute research found that nearly half of agencies have been offering content marketing for at least seven years — which makes 2012 suddenly seem like a lifetime away. Half of all firms surveyed said content marketing makes up 50% of their business, demonstrating the degree to which the strategy has become a dominant and in-demand one. Surveyed firms were divided into two camps: those that provide full-scope services and those that sold specialized services.
“This is the first study CMI has undertaken to learn specifically about the content marketing services agencies offer,” explains Cathy McPhillips, Vice President of Marketing, Content Marketing Institute. “The agency landscape is complex, but it’s encouraging to see so many agencies buying into content marketing and the importance of meeting their client’s content needs. However, they do face many challenges, like buy-in, lack of strategy, budget constraints, and ROI concerns when working with clients, proving there is a need for educating clients on the value of content marketing.”
Regardless of the agency type, respondents were largely confident they were meeting customer needs, from creation to distribution to strategy to analytics. Read more here.
And as an agency with robust content marketing services, Brafton is also sure it can help with whatever needs needs you may have. Contact us to learn more about our products, and don’t forget to check back next week for the latest Content Marketing Weekly.
