As much as I hate to admit it, even I (as a content director who is to look objectively at advertising with critiquing eye) follow the Starbucks’ “spiced” piper. For me and millions of other caffeine lovers, it’s the selling of the pumpkin spiced latte (PSL) that signals fall, not the leaves turning colors.
Bravo, Starbucks. Bravo.
Seasonal content marketing works for Starbucks because smells and tastes are associated so strongly with memories and feelings. They’ve mastered social media with simple hashtags and invitations to share photos with cups in hand. Starbucks took ownership of their PSL birthright with @TheRealPSL. They even created the illustrious orange knit cup sleeve offered to a select few connoisseurs, sparking envy in others hoping to have one bestowed upon them.
Seasonal content is community-focused to form an allegiance. It sells. Estimated $800 million worth since Starbucks’ baristas served the first cup in 2003.
Mmm… pour you a big cup of that. Success that is, not a pumpkin spice latte…
How to scale down big brand content marketing for your small businesses.
Starbucks parlayed its fall content marketing tactic into a year-round strategy, which bucks the traditional content marketing system rules. They use their seasonal content to play on emotions about the holidays and excitement with the changing seasons. Along with promoting interactivity through social media and delivering entertainment value in return, Starbucks content marketing is pretty fun as a participant or from the sidelines.
Use social media to start a conversation.
Even if pumpkin spice lattes taste and look better than your product or service, you can still apply this content marketing strategy to your business.
Encourage customers to take photos of your products in action or using your services. Invite them to share photos and comments on social media. Statistics prove that images are far more likely to be shared than text-only posts.
Consider creating a specific hashtag to start the conversation. Choose something unique to your business that is catchy and not easily confused with other hashtags. For example, if you want to promote your content marketing services in the fall, try #PSLmarketing. Post a picture of pumpkin spiced toothpaste or something equally absurd, and off you go.
Your fans, followers, connections, etc. make and share posts, you (like Starbucks) encourage it with a hashtag, a share, a retweet, etc. Every photo shared with friends, family, colleagues and acquaintances promotes your business and increases brand awareness.
Create demand where none existed before.
Even Starbucks experiences highs and lows. Rumor has it that Starbucks’ created the PSL to increase sales during a historically slow time for coffee sales. Depending on your business, your sales valley could be seasonal, monthly, weekly or daily.
When sales slow, customers’ attention is diverted elsewhere. The solution is to position a product or service in ways that draw attention back to your business. In Starbucks case, it was the PSL. In your case, an experienced advertising agency can brainstorm ideas and develop your version of the PSL.
Customer feedback is a great source of inspiration. What do they need or want to make their lives better or easier? Listen then offer it.
One day your pumpkin spice latte is hot; the next it’s not.
What is hot must cool down. Though pumpkin spiced latte and everything nice sales are strong in 2015, there’s PSL fatigue and backlash. NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” parodied PSL with a pumpkin spiced feminine product commercial. Even so, PSL isn’t going anywhere as companies still jump on the bandwagon each fall with pumpkin spiced potato chips, coffees, creamers, cookies, pastries, cars and socks. Don’t laugh. They’re probably coming.
Be prepared for your content marketing ideas to be the butt of a joke. Be in on the joke, laughing with them.
Whether your customers love or hate pumpkin spice, emotion is involved either way. That provokes reaction, which starts conversations. From doggie treats and IT services to content marketing, slap a pumpkin spiced label on it and your customers probably won’t buy $800 million worth of it, but you’ll most likely spark interaction.
Even the most gargantuan-sized, big brand marketing tactics and strategies can be scaled down to size to fit your small business. We can help assess your current strategy, identify where it could use some big brand tactics and execute them on a scale that is workable and affordable for your company.
It’s easier than ever to employ big marketing strategies for maturing and growth stage businesses because advertising isn’t about blanketing your market with generic messages. It’s about creating and building personal relationships with your customers, which is easier to do using the social media channels we have today.
Let us help you reach and make connections with your target audience. We might not knit orange sleeves to fit your product or take pretty pictures of pumpkins used in your services, but we definitely have some ideas up our “sleeves.”