It’s great to be back.
I do love holidays, who doesn’t. Weeks of relentless heat, children who need you and more sand than you could ever imagine. Too much relaxing and my head goes boom, so I’m excited to be back into my routine. We have an awesome year lined up, with the launch of a new business (yep, more on that next month), my awesome team of strength and ideas and some new clients to challenge us with their marketing. This is us. Get your dancing shoes ready, we’re ready to rock ‘n’ roll.
Valentina xxx
Facebook Bans Hemp Related Advertising
Australian small businesses selling hemp foods and products have been banned from advertising their products on Facebook and Instagram, despite hemp being legal to grow and sell in the country. Banter Group manages sponsored ads for Australian skincare company Cedar and Stone, and we found out the hard way – with our ad being disapproved. Hemp clothing, skincare, homewares and food products are being caught in the definition of hemp, being recognised by the social platforms as Cannabis. Whilst there is a blanket ban, our ads were approved by a human and given the tick of approval. That’s a tough gig to resource manual approval, so hopefully Facebook will review their approval procedures sooner rather than later.
Instagram Features Go Musical
Instagram hasn’t been shy releasing all their shiny features, and we’ve kicked off the year with a beauty. We had a countdown sticker and question stickers that can be used in Live videos.
Well now you can respond to questions with music by sharing songs with friends via the question sticker with a music icon. You’ll soon create your own music videos within the camera that will respond to the beat of a song.
Staying Up To Date With Marketing
The new year for me starts with reflection. I found my blog from 2015 about the ‘huge’ changes in marketing (like the rise of ad blockers and the introduction of Facebook Canvas, both of which now seem historic).
In this month’s blog I give you some quick and handy tips on how to stay up to date with all the changes and take control of your own marketing. With each step you’ll grow your confidence in knowing what’s working and what’s not.
Cedar and Stone
Cedar and Stone is an Australian, 100% Plant Based Vegan Skincare company. With an ethos of minimising harsh chemicals onto ourselves and into our environment, Cedar and Stone hope people see ‘Natural’, ‘Organic’ and ‘Cruelty Free’ as normal, not as an alternative.
With a firm focus on future online growth, Cedar and Stone engaged Banter Group to devise and deliver a marketing strategy to build their online presence and sales, with primary focus on social media channels. This includes:
- Shopify customer experience optimisation
- redesigning newsletter templates and managing EDM campaigns
- creating social media assets and managing Instagram ads.
Recent chats and upcoming stuff
RSM Kick Starts 2019: My first work trip of the year took me to Perth on Monday this week, to facilitate a marketing workshop for the national audit, tax and accounting firm, RSM. The RSM team were looking for realignment in their marketing planning, ensuring a strategic approach and making sure metrics match. My half day session set the team up for their conference discussions on what to change and how to improve their marketing results.
Baby Lucia: Our first Banter baby came to visit. Teeny tots melt me. And that was the end of our day.
Digital or Traditional?
Moons ago I was asked if a digital business ever only launched online. At the time, my example was eBay. It had successfully only launched using online channels.
Fast forward to 2019 and the front page of The Sydney Morning Herald is none other than… eBay.
I liked the nostalgia of it, but moreso, I liked that it knew where it’s target audience was. On holidays. Reading a newspaper. Flipping pages. Bargain hunting after the Christmas rush.
If you start with where your customer already is, it’s much easier to find them in their own domain. Digital channels aren’t the only answer.
Well done eBay.
Until next time 😊
