Whether your business is struggling with ROI due to an improperly focused marketing campaign—or bad publicity—the elephant in the room could be a concept called “brand negativity.” Brand negativity usually occurs for one of two reasons: either your marketing efforts targeted the wrong types of consumers, or your brand has some sort of stigma associated with it. So if you feel like you might have this pet pachyderm hovering over your marketing department, it may be time to look at some solutions.
In this era of emerging advertising technologies, it may be time to ramp up your mobile marketing campaigns as a way to combat brand negativity. In essence, mobile advertising can serve as a release valve for your more niche audiences, allowing you to target the right people without “turning off” consumers who are accustomed to your broader campaigns. Here are several ways that you can utilize mobile advertising for your business to eliminate brand negativity:
1. Soup up your brand for the mobile marketplace.
It could be that your trademark and logo need some proper dusting. Perhaps you belong to an industry that has been stuck in the dark ages of advertising. In any case, consider launching a mobile campaign to spruce up the place. We’ve seen industries like banking and real estate move into the 21st century with the creation of apps for real-time account info—not to mention the rise of popularity with brands like Airbnb. Apps that allow users to pay for services are ever-growing in popularity, so that may be something you want to incorporate as well.
2. Use “negative targeting” in niche marketing campaigns.
The term “negative targeting” refers to groups of people you want to leave out of your marketing audience selectively. In terms of keywords, your search marketing campaigns would select out searches that have little correlation with your product. (We at CallFire, for example, could add the term “emergency services” to AdCenter’s negative keyword list to avoid paying for ads that wouldn’t reach the right audience).
3. Improve service with mobile.
When customers receive bad service, they’re more likely to tell their friends about it than if they received good service. Look at the ways in which you can promote good customer service with mobile options. Again, mobile apps that can provide information and perform tasks for customers are excellent for improving satisfaction. This is because consumers generally do not want to talk for hours with a representative or drive to a brick-and-mortar location just to get one piece of info.
Further, you can use mobile to eliminate or at least ameliorate long waiting times. The mobile ordering apps created by Subway and Taco Bell have drastically improved their business’ wait times on the whole. In another example, the airline KLM innovated the waiting experience by creating an in-line gaming app that allows you to fly a paper airplane around a virtual Amsterdam. Anything that converts a customer’s frustrating wait into an enjoyable experience is a win-win.
All in all, you will want to look at how mobile marketing can help you to wrangle that elephant, and take care of whatever brand negativity you may have. The key is to be laser-focused with your campaign targeting, while remaining acutely aware of how the public will receive your ad content. And with the technology that mobile has to offer, you’ll soon be turning your negatives into big positives!