4 Marketing Truths for 2020

This time of the year, everyone with a business-focused blog, podcast or YouTube channel puts out predictions for next year’s biggest trends. I’ve read and listened to the marketing-related roundups out there so far and it dawned on me that most of us are missing the whole point. 

While there’s truth to the most popular trends (like “Organic reach on Facebook & Instagram will continue to go down, so ad spend dollars on these platforms will go through the roof!”, or “Video is the next big thing!”, or “This is the year for virtual reality!”), none of them are helpful when taken out of context. 

Questions that you might have when thinking about your own marketing could be something like: 

• What new channel or social platform should we allocate a bit more of our budget to in 2020? 

• Is voice search really something my local business should be concerned about? 

• My local TV and print media reps are increasingly cutting me deals on spots and insertions, should I put less value into this kind of advertising? 

All great questions. 

But the answers to all of them is, “it depends.”

What a typical thing for a marketer to say, I know. But that’s just how it is. The right answer for you is dependent on the context of your business.

Instead of trends and predictions, I’m going to take you through some marketing truths that have real implications on your business today, whatever your business may be. Hopefully, this added context can give you some insight into how much energy to put towards specific tactics in 2020. More importantly, it’ll help you determine if you even should in the first place.

Marketing is changing faster than it ever has. 

What worked to connect customers and businesses two years ago is quickly becoming less relevant, while most of us are still doing the same old thing we’ve always done. At the same time, it’s unreasonable to think you can just dive into the next big thing head first. Still, if you’re realizing what you used to do may not be working so well anymore and you’re curious about how to adapt, you’re on the right track. Here’s why.

4 Marketing Truths for 2020:

Your customer has never been more in control of their relationship with you. 

It’s estimated that consumers are bombarded with around 4,000 ads, products, and brand messages daily. That’s a lot! But it’s also made us very good at being able to tune out messages that we’re not interested in or find relevant. In fact, 47% of people now take the extra step of intentionally tuning out by installing ad blockers so they never see your ads in the first place. Makes sense, especially when you think about how so many banner ads, pop-ups, and pre-roll video ads interrupt the experience of what people are actually trying to watch, read, and engage with. Frustrating!

Wouldn’t it be better if the thing your customers are watching, reading, engaging with comes from you instead of being interrupted by you?  

Advertising shouldn’t be the bulk of your budget, but investing in how you communicate with your customers and what you create to put in front of them (online especially) should be. 

If we know that consumers are increasingly become wary of advertising and that people are spending an average 6+ hours per day on the internet, the key is to understand how you fit into that time and that you don’t spend that time selling.

For example, while most of us understand that being on social media platforms is essential for a business today, we’re still using them to push what we’re selling. The point of social media is not to publish little mini ads on a daily basis. It’s about creating conversation and providing value. Humanizing your brand. Invest in ways to make your business more visible when people in your area start searching for something you’ve got a solution for. Stop thinking about what you want to tell your customers in all these different ways and start thinking about who they are, how they’ll find you, and how you can help them see that you’re the choice for them because you’ve invested in gaining their trust. 

You have to prove yourself worthy of your customers’ attention before they ever have the opportunity to experience you.

Here’s the thing. Because of the Internet and how much we use our phones, and because of how much further your customers’ opinions reach today, we’re at a point where 2/3 of our “marketing” is out of our hands. They’re telling their friends about you in all kinds of new ways, which in an increasingly loud world, is one of the only remaining sources that is trusted. You can influence their experience when they’re in your store, restaurant, or in how you conduct business, but if you don’t reinforce it online and in all the places that people are when they hear about you, it’s going to be harder and harder for you to get them to give you a shot. 

Your brand is literally everything. 

How do people feel about your business when they interact with you? We live in such a fast paced world that we forget that what happens after the transaction is as important as what comes before it. It’s the whole experience. You will never be the only person/business that sells what you’re selling. The “what” is also never the thing that people are buying, and definitely not if they’re buying from you over a lifetime. It’s the “why” and all the other less tangible pieces that add up to a positive experience that matter. Those are the things they’ll come back for and what they want to tell others about. 

We know this probably isn’t the best news you got today.

Guess that’s why they say that sometimes, the truth hurts. We hear you… things used to be easier!

Even 5 years ago, it was infinitely more simple to acquire customers and keep the ones you already have. But… there is a silver lining, as there always is.

When we no longer have the luxury of doing everything to capture the attention of our customers, we’re forced to narrow our focus and convey only that which absolutely differentiates us from competitors, resonates and connects on a human level. The good news is, you’re probably already doing this in your interactions every day. Make 2020 the year you extend these actions beyond your four walls!

Next year, we’ll be forced to be more intentional and efficient in how we communicate. We’ll have to show up at all stages of the customer journey and help them along so that when they buy, they buy from us. It won’t be easy. This is a longterm game and we’ll have to commit to it every single day. But it’ll be worth it. Once it clicks for you and you’ve figured it out, you’ll have those customers for life and you’ll be way ahead of the game.

Are you ready? Here’s to 2020! 

What Hiding Instagram Likes Means For Your Business

Instagram is making some changes…

You may have heard that Instagram plans on rolling out a test to hide likes on posts this week.

We thought we'd take a minute to give you some more information and let you know what this means for your own presence on Instagram, if it's something that interests you.

Last Friday, Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri spoke at the WIRED25 Summit in San Francisco and confirmed this to be true. For those of us that follow these conversations in our industry, this isn't very surprising. They've been testing this with users of the platform in Canada, Japan, Brazil, and other countries for months.

Why is Instagram doing it?

The affect that social media has on mental health, young people's especially, has been a hot button issue for quite some time. While social media hasn't been around long enough for us to know how negative these affects may be scientifically, this test is Instagram's way of being proactive about it. Mosseri said they're trying to "depressurize" the platform and "make it less of a competition."

What does hiding likes mean?

Right now, when you go to your Instagram Feed, you'll see that below every post that's been shared, there is a "like" count. Instagram does this with ❤️ hearts. This change will eliminate the visibility of those like counts to others, hiding them from everyone but you and those with access to your Instagram account. You'll still be able to see insights, like counts, and other metrics through the backend.

Why are we telling you this?

While something changes every day in the world of social media marketing, we wanted to point this out to you because likes are one of the most popular metrics people use to determine if their post is "successful".

The problem is that for many, a high like count also serves as constant validation from others. Regardless of whether you're simply a personal user of the platform or run a global company, this kind of validation becomes addictive and affects self-esteem.

We lose sight of what these platforms can do if we use them strategically when we get all caught up in things that have no affect on our business or worse, are harmful to our own wellbeing. There's a reason there's a name for this: vanity metrics!

How does this affect my business?

It may not. If we've been doing our job, then it shouldn't, but we probably won't see this test anyway.

We've always tried to emphasize that social media is just a small piece of your overall success as a business. While a necessary one for the world we live in, the things that translate to business growth and success for you have never been these superficial counts of likes and followers.

Lots of people out there, however, have fallen into the trap. Unfortunately, they've become misguided on where the value in social media lies in the first place.

It's not about perfectly curated feeds, a million followers, professionally altered photos, and vanity metrics. It's about connecting with your customers, adding to their experience by engaging with them beyond your four walls, and building trust by showing them who you and what you're all about, as authentically as possible.

Of course it's too early to tell, but this change could be a great thing!

What do you think?

Dear Charleston Restauranteurs

While Jeff and I were trapped in the house last week after trying to beat the hurricane home from a trip to Boston, we got to talking. Hurricanes can be devastating at their worst, a reminder about what we take for granted when we’re spared from them, and always inconvenient, especially for the restaurant industry.

It made me want to run something by you.

Restaurant Week

This week is Charleston Restaurant Week, a promotion each year after Labor Day that began as a way to encourage locals to dine out during the off season. Participating restaurants develop special pre fixe menus, generally at a discount, to give new guests a taste of what they offer.

In theory, this sounds great. Lately, it’s become a burden that adds to the cloud of uncertainty surrounding our restaurant scene; an added stressor to already small margins and serious labor shortages. As you’re likely well aware, a hurricane only increases the negative impact on profits, so to open back up to participate in a promotion that’s motivated by discounts is not great timing.

That’s not to say the intention behind Restaurant Week is bad.

Quite the opposite, really. 

It’s no secret that it’s getting harder to hit all the new places popping up all over town, much less consistently support those who’ve been around for decades. It’s disheartening to see another restaurant close almost every other week.

Restaurants could benefit from a week that celebrates and brings our food community together, but maybe our approach is outdated. 

Guests have so much to choose from that restaurants feel more pressure to execute once they do win their visit. Unfortunately, this can also mean playing it safe menu-wise and resorting to discounts. This kind of thing is most dangerous for a place that isn’t clear on the story they’re trying to tell about why they’re making the food they make in the first place. Even if they are clear on the bigger picture, it’s easy to sacrifice telling that story to people for the short-term benefit of getting people through the door. 

This is where we go wrong. 

There’s so much to worry about when running a restaurant in Charleston that it’s no wonder that we’ve collectively lost our mojo. Sometimes it seems like restauranteurs are waiting on permission to be bold from the same people they water their menus down for. 

And yes, that’s easy for me to say because I don’t own a restaurant. 

But I do know a thing or two about risk and how not investing in resources at your disposal can be a reflection of people acting out of fear. Fear that leads to cost cutting and mediocrity and at its worst: closed doors. There are too many real threats, like labor and ridiculous rents, to not jump on an opportunity like Restaurant Week if you’re doing it anyway… just a Restaurant Week that’s restructured. One that offers new experiences, highlights creativity, showcases our community versus one that’s motivated by a 3 for menu discount to entice a guest that may not ever come back.

We diners of Charleston are waiting on your lead, restauranteurs, not the other way around. You’re the way out of the lingering cyncism that shrouds our food scene. I know you’re tired, so maybe we’re at a point where we need to band together to rise to the challenge, newcomers and Charleston food institutions alike, to get a better idea of where we want to go. And who we want to be. 

Use the built-in marketing for Restaurant Week to shift the conversation.

There are clear signs that we’re headed in the right direction, even without the marketing push of this week’s promotion.

Kwei Fei opens its doors every so often for a new concept to take over their space while they travel to learn more about how to offer Charleston something new. John Lewis hosts a Hatch Chile Fest each year in his parking lot; a call for chefs all over town to get creative around his favorite ingredient. But, the reality is that these two places are chef-owned, while most of the restaurants that can afford to hang in there longterm are owned by restaurant groups, often backed by capital and inherently more business-minded. That’s a great thing if they’re able to empower their chefs’ creativity while making smart business decisions. 

For concepts that don’t stop to ask themselves the bigger questions of what they’re trying to share and how they fit into our community, it’s much more common to see creativity stifled. That responsibility, big picture thinking that empowers chefs and drives profits, lies with you, the restauranteur. David Chang’s empire is a great example, one that he could only create with the help of a leader who understands business and the power of storytelling.

Maybe, amidst our growing pains to define our culinary style as a city, we can use a week like this to shift our focus from the everyguest and celebrate those within our f&b community instead. What if the goal of Restaurant Week was for participants to do whatever they wanted? A friendly competition for restaurants to do the most in showcasing the creativity and potential inside their four walls? Dollars and discounts can only go so far, but a week of tasting menus that allows chefs and cooks and bartenders to play breeds innovation.

Maybe even a breakthrough on why we’re all here in Charleston doing all this in the first place. Butcher & Bee is already leading the way.

Consider this your impetus to bring some joy and energy back to the industry, despite the unavoidable challenges we may face.

Where chefs and foodies go, dollars and diners follow. 

Be bold!

“I’ve long believed that good food, good eating, is all about risk. Whether we’re talking about unpasteurized Stilton, raw oysters or working for organized crime ‘associates’, food, for me, has always been an adventure.”  - Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential