Discover the best marketing techniques to thrive in an economic downturn, plus learn the latest about generative AI and creativity. This episode of the Digital By Daniel podcast will show you how to keep your brand afloat and stay ahead of the game, no matter what’s happening in the economy.
Transcript
Hi, everyone, and welcome to the Digital by Daniel podcast.
It’s already 2023 and I think January has been going really, really fast. January is a long month traditionally, and even in 2023 it’s been quite long, but got a lot of things done.
In this episode, we will talk about some things that have been going on during January in the online marketing, ecommerce and digital community. And then we will round off with a few tips on marketing in a recession.
If we start with the recession piece, I mean, we all see now that 2022 was kind of a rough year, you could say, at least financially, but also for a lot of people’s lives, I would say. Most economists and experts think that we are going into tougher times at the moment, and it’s good then to think a little bit about how you actually market in a down market, in a recession where money is not around and you have to have limitations.
So I think first of all, I read a pretty interesting article in The Atlantic, it was some time ago, but it’s important to keep in mind that negativity is really rising, so even when you’re in a down market, and you’re hitting a recession, and it’s affecting people’s lives, you can also see that there’s a lot of negativity online in social media, or news sites, so on and this article basically meant that the negativity itself sells a lot of clicks, sells a lot of articles, so just keep that in mind and not everything is doom and gloom and not everything is world war three, there are actually glimpses of a lot of hope, I think around in the world and you have to keep that in mind in order to keep going.
Let’s have a look at a little bit of the things that have been happening lately. I think the thing that has really been becoming a little bit more mainstream, and people have started to understand, I honestly didn’t really understand it either before, I mean, understand the concept of AI, but I couldn’t really I mean, I read the book, what was it called now, it was called something the AI book a few years ago, and either way, now we’re starting to see consumer applications of AI, especially in what we call synthetic or generative AI. This means that is AI creating content or amending content, this was not really something that we did before. I think the maybe the biggest example of this is ChatGPT released by OpenAI a few months ago, I think, either way, it’s not something that I’m going to discuss too much here, you’re probably already tried ChatGPT, if you’re listening to his podcast, if not I encourage you to go in and create an account. Basically ChatGPT can answer any questions and also create a lot of content when you ask it. I will say that it’s pretty interesting that Microsoft took a stake in OpenAI and ChatGPT, which is something that I think Google is pretty nervous about because Google has been having all these kind of AI dreams, and have a lot of AI development teams but we haven’t really seen a lot of consumer products from Google, when it comes to AI, at least not this strong, as you would see with ChatGPT.
But there’s a lot of content out there about ChatGPT and so on, so we’ll not really discuss it anymore. The only thing that I would like to say is that there are other apps that are popping up within this kind of generative and synthetic AI niche. There is the Luma AI iPhone app that I tried a few weeks ago, it’s pretty interesting, you can basically let your iPhone, take photographs of objects, and you walk around the object in a steady pace from various angles, and then it stitches together the object and creates a 3d model of it that you can use in places like Unity, or Epic and so on. For those of you who don’t know what the Unity is, it’s a game engine or an engine that used a lot of Metaverse kind of applications as well and these 3d models can then be used. So what the phone does is it basically creates a 3d model and instead of having someone creating this for you from scratch, it is instead a camera and an iPhone that creates it.
The Luma AI is founded by a few people apparently that left Apple and created this startup, I think the app is still not really there and probably for a number of years, you will probably need people that can create some 3d model using the phone but you still need people to have looked at it and change it in 3d modelling software. But still pretty interesting.
Another tool that I actually have been trying and I will actually try this tool to write the podcast description for this episode as well, it’s called Rytr. There and another tool called Sassbook which is similar, these kinds of tools, they are writing AI tools, so you basically can give them different types of input that you want them to create. You give them key words they will create the text and you can then also in Rytr at least select the tonality, the purpose of the text if it’s a YouTube description, if it’s a podcast description, it’s a Facebook post is it was a long blog post an article fiction and so on. And then outcomes the text and this text you can use to you can use on your websites or in your social media flows and so on. But most people use them as a starting point. So if you are already a content creator, put in some keywords here and then you can get some results, and then you can start from the text and just edit it basically.
I think this type of software is probably something that’s going to be a commodity in a couple of years, but it’s still pretty interesting to try. I think it is both good and bad. I think the bad part is really that there will be text and content that will be AI generated, it poses a lot of questions on creativity, it’s also a question of, do you actually create sites content sites that are AI created content that people really prepared to reader or pay for that? I think if you look at the results on Rytr, the results are actually quite good, actually, really, really good. Which is also both alarming and interesting I would say. I think the difference as well, I mean, I don’t think the difference is that big from AI generated content, and you know, all these content farms where you could buy an article for €5 or $5 and then they just write them en-mass. There are many blogs out there that are using these kinds of content creation practices and I think those type of models have to be a little bit afraid right now, I mean, if you’re running a content farm, or if you’re running a whole blog that is just made up of articles that are shallow, with no real depth that you’re paying $5 apiece for, then I think you should be a little bit afraid, because I think that’s something that AI could do a lot easier in the future. So it’s something to think about for some people, I suppose.
Alright, so we talked a little bit about the recession, when I started, that’s a great topic to just start the year off with a great recession. Great. So I think we’ll see some downsizing also in ecommerce and e-retail and in digital in general. I mean, look at all the companies that have been laying off employees like Google, Amazon, Salesforce, and so on, really feel for those people. I’m very sorry for them in a way but also I think layoffs and losing your job can be the start of something new, something different and it might be that you create the next great business or the next great adventure. So good luck. I think if you looked at the different layoffs, most of the layoffs occurred because most of the technology companies projected a lot more growth in digital than has actually been the case but it still doesn’t mean that digital is not growing, it’s just that it’s not growing as fast as they thought. So we will see a little bit what happens moving forward with all these big tech companies.
In Ecommerce, you can see that I mean, Amazon laid off a few people, Salesforce as well. You can also see that there are some partnerships going on, I read an article in CNBC about Walmart that teams up with Salesforce to sell technology to retailers. So basically, Walmart have developed a number of proprietary technology that they will include with Salesforce, so I guess it’s good for Walmart, they find some extra revenue streams for the tech, and also good for Salesforce because I think that technology itself is not something that Salesforce could develop. And by the way, Walmart is actually quite an interesting ecommerce player at the moment, I think, at least when it comes to drone delivery, they have a really cool drone initiative in Oregon in the US, and a few other US states as well, where they are using airborne drones to deliver to really rural areas. And as I understand it, this is still working and people are using it, it’s not something that you know, it’s not a PR stunt, you can actually order this stuff online, get it home delivered with a drone, if you live in these areas, so pretty cool. And if you live in these areas, I would definitely try it out.
Another article that I thought was pretty interesting this week was an article in Bloomberg about Apple, that they are postponing their augmented reality glasses. Basically, I’m not really sure it’s rumours and when Bloomberg says augmented reality, they really mean the glasses where you can both work in the reality with like an augmented reality, virtual reality so you can enter different virtual worlds. They were supposed to be released this year 2023, but they are postponed to 2024/2025. According to this article, which I think is like, you don’t know if it’s true or not, it’s like rumours, Apple is working on mixed reality glasses. So this is basically similar to augmented that you have a layer that is laid on to your real world site with different types of information. I think it can be pretty cool, especially if Apple does it because they have a thing for creating good hardware that actually works compared to META and other players that are also in this field. The cost of these mixed reality glasses will be like $3,000, so it’s not really something that everyone can buy. But on the other hand, a lot of people have Apple products that are worth a lot more than $3,000, So it’s not really something that will stop it.
Okay, so let’s move into, I guess the core topic of this episode of the podcast, and that is basically marketing in the recession. I would say maybe highlight that a little bit and clarify it and say that it’s digital marketing in a recession.
So I think some people have actually asked me a little bit how you’re supposed to think about this when you’re starting to, yeah, there are cuts in organizations, there is less budgets, there is people being laid off, there is maybe startups that have hard time getting financing. I know a couple of those, for example.
So I think here, just to say that it’s really difficult times, but I think we already covered that. So the first thing that I would think about, actually something that I would just kind of emphasize is, there was an analyst call with the Airbnb CEO and CFO, I think it was a few months back, and it was a pretty interesting analyst call, because what they said in that call was something very basic in marketing, but still something that we often forget about. So if you just take a step back then Airbnb is traffic, that is basically the traffic that they had in Q3, 2022, or the whole of 2022, I would say, 90% of the traffic that they get to their web page is direct or unpaid. So unpaid organic, basically, that’s a pretty interesting statistic, given how successful Airbnb is, they are basically paying for only 10% of their traffic, and the traffic that they are paying for they mention it as a way of balancing supply and demand. So say that you would use performance marketing, when you don’t really you have a lot of supply, or you have a lot of demand, but for the rest of the 90%, you will stick to direct or paid organic traffic.
What does that mean then? . But we still forget it, and the top of the funnel for them is public relations, corporate communications, brand, all those kinds of things that I think a lot of companies are kind of forgetting about sometimes. Instead, we often focus on SEO, we are focused on PPC, we are focused on platforms, creating content, and so on. But if we get the top of the funnel, they even said that, in the analyst call that the reason that they’ve had such strong development in Airbnb is basically because of their marketing. And also the marketing approach that they had for some time, they had it pre COVID, for example. And if you look at other companies that are really, really successful, I will say, look into Tesla, or Apple, they don’t run a lot of paid advertising either. Most of it is PR, most of it is communications, brand and so on. And what does that mean then? Well, it means that I think in a recession now, I think it’s a great opportunity to start building brands, and also then thinking about a little bit about the marketing basics.
I don’t think a lot of companies even understand what public relations can do, corporate communications or brand, but I think a lot of companies, understand performance marketing, they understand platforms and so on, because these things you can measure them, right, it’s easy to measure, I think corporate communications or PR is a little bit harder to measure and brand also. But it doesn’t mean that you should not invest in it, especially if you’re thinking about building long term value. If you start thinking about the marketing funnel, the top of the funnel is when,and also according to Airbnb, but also to general marketing basics is brand, corporate communications, PR and so on. But how do you leverage these types of platforms in a digital setting? Well, first of all, I think one of the key areas is probably social, here I think, in most social media today, there’s a lot of brands that are being built. The traditional ones met those platforms like Facebook and Instagram, but also looking into TikTok and so on. The other one is to create content that features more than just product information, it also needs to feature brand value, brand attributes I think it’s called. what the brand is doing within sustainability, how they treat their workers, how they help people, how they support things, others things that are more about the brand, I will say that is important content now and maybe even more than before and also in consumer areas of course, not only B2B. The other thing is to get bloggers and journalists to write about your brand and in order to have that you need to have content that they can base their articles and their content on basically. So that’s also why it’s important to still think about that type of content.
So I think that’s some of the ways then there are, of course, the traditional way of working with public relations more in general, contacting bloggers, contacting journalists, contacting influencers, and so on, having kits ready made for them, that they can use, make it easy for them to consume your content and write about your brand. And then also, it’s about protecting the brand from different types of criticism, from different types of things that can happen to a brand, then you can also think about communications a little bit wider, you can talk about employee communications, that is also really important. And that is internal communications, having employees that actually speak to your brand to others, that’s really powerful. And then I’m not talking about HR communications, like recruitment, I’m talking about real employers, employees actually talking about their work, and way they work at that brand and so on. I think you can see, especially in B2B this type of communication being really, really successful. But also in B2C, it’s not only a B2B kind of communication offer I would say.
Then some other things that you can do, even though I’ve said this before we started to get into tough times, it’s really about having the focus on the whole consumer journey and the marketing funnel, in all fairness, you should have already from the start.
That’s thinking about how you consumers find your brand, how they develop an opinion about your brand, how they move into discovering your products, or offer or service, and then how they move into buying your product and offering a service and an offer to have bought it how you communicate with them how you build loyalty, and how you make them communicate or send brand ambassadors basically of your product. That’s the key and I think the best place to look at is if you look at HubSpot, for example, they have their inbound marketing methodology and I think that one is as relevant as ever, even more relevant now, than before. But it has always been like evergreen kind of funnel that works well, then if you look a little bit about the offer, I think if you look at the product and you go down the funnel a little bit, I think you really have to be in this type of market, you really have to be to the point with what your offer is to the consumer what your product does to the consumer and how it helps them. I think there is not really that much leverage to play more kind of, how shall I say, products that are not really clear on what their product offer is, I don’t think the leverage is there for consumers to do to buy those products anymore.
Also, I think it’s a question of value. And with value, I don’t really mean price, there’s many ways you can affect the product value in digital and in Ecommerce, using bundles, using loyalty and so on. But I think consumers want to feel like they get a deal, especially since you have to sometimes increase prices towards consumers, they still have to feel that while this is either supported by content, that the content you have connected to the product is really, really good. Or that there is actually something like an extra gift or a freebie or something that actually adds to the value of the product. I think you can see that in many cases, if you’re actually going online and buying things or in stores as well, that there is like a lot of different offers going on. And it’s also when you’re, for example, leaving your email address and so on, I have seen several retailers that give you extra discount, extra credit, and so on. So I think consumers are conscious about that right now, especially since they’re feeling that the money is becoming tighter and tighter.
Another thing I think companies should look into is to really look at what they have. So it’s easy to always think about what we should have. But if you look at what you have, you will see that many companies have a lot of nice assets, nice websites, old campaigns, and those kind of things that can be repurposed and this is something I think it’s important in a recession as well that not everything has to be created a new, some of it can actually be repurposed, re-remodelled a little bit change a little bit CTA’s using the same assets using the same campaigns using the same platforms, and it’s still as effective. So I think that’s also something to look into.
Then of course, it’s the whole operational effectiveness part. If you look into Ecommerce specifically, you can see that there is a lot of effectiveness measures going on in the area, a lot of retailers and so on are optimizing their operations. And I mean even me for my small company, I could find a lot of areas where it’s possible to optimize and save money. So I pretty sure that most companies have just through optimization have a chance of actually saving money and becoming more efficient.
Yeah, I think that some of the ideas that I have for marketing in a recession, I think the last one that is maybe the most important one is really looking into how you can upskill your employees. So I think if you have a team, but maybe they are not that savvy digital, or they need to be more savvy and so on, I think that’s where you start, you need to upskill your current employees more, I think that’s where you can really, really build a lot of good progress, because it’s not so easy to hire, even though there’s a lot of applicants, it’s not sure that companies have the budgets anymore to hire. So then the question is more of upskilling existing resources and investing in that or maybe even investing in mentoring some employees, that kind of thing.
Another tip for marketing and recession is really looking into what the most effective marketing strategies are in terms of sales, like investing in those channels that are close to the final sale. So for example, this will mean that you will not buy Google PPC, maybe you will use that to buy to buy Amazon PPC is that if you’re into performance marketing, and trying to kind of offset supply and demand, keeping in mind what we said about Airbnb and building brands long term. So that kind of thing. It means that you would probably activate closer to where consumers actually make the purchase, which I think makes sense, especially in the short to kind of write out the short-term problems the company could have. So yeah, that’s some tips for you marketing in a recession.
I appreciate you listening to these podcasts. And there will be many more episodes ahead. So stay tuned, and I hope too, that you will listen to me once again.
Thank you very much.
Bye