Digital marketing: ‘The industry is a generation behind’

The industry is not just years behind, but a whole generation, when it comes to its understanding and use of digital marketing, compared with other industries, believes Mark McCulloch.

Speaking at last week’s Experience 101 Live event, the founder of WE ARE Spectacular and now Supersonic Inc, said there were “too many bad marketing decisions being made”, and that the sector needs to “start marketing like the year that we live in”.

Research last year found that people in the UK spend a day a week on their phone, on average – the equivalent of scrolling the length of the Empire State Building each day, according to McCulloch. If that is where their attention is focused, then logic says we should be paying a lot more attention to marketing in those channels, “interrupting that person’s feed in a good way and adding some value”, he said.

But before you do anything on social media, you need to be absolutely sure of what your brand is about, he explained. He said a lot of brands think they have this sorted, but they don’t. There are many different areas that need to be considered, including: purpose, mission, vision, brand DNA, tone of voice, values/personality, USPs, evidence of your USPs, and your story.

“Have you got all of this down on one page, and more importantly, is it not just in your head, but every other person that is interacting with your business?” he asked. While it’s a huge amount of work to do, once it’s nailed down it will give you a strong foundation from which to base your decisions around recruitment, products and services, and your culture, he said.

Is Facebook really dead?

“There is so much boardroom bullshit going on, with people saying Snapchat is dead and Facebook is over,” said McCulloch, adding that it’s important not to dismiss people on those platforms. He said it’s important to do your research and get the facts, as these can help unlock resource and more budget for digital marketing. But don’t try to kill yourself trying to cover all platforms really well, select a few that you feel most comfortable with and concentrate on those.

He said that while a lot of energy goes into Twitter and Instagram, Facebook, which has essentially become a community noticeboard, still has the highest number of active monthly users than any other social channel, with 35 million in the UK. “Instagram is the darling of our industry but actually it has still got a way to go to catch up with Facebook,” said McCulloch. Second on the list is YouTube, which he said is often overlooked, but is a great channel for evergreen content such as recipes and company stories.

Twitter on the other hand tends to be used for news and events. So just think the next time you are posting on Twitter – is it newsworthy, or is it about an event? And don’t just link up your Instagram and Twitter feed, it’s just lazy, he said. “If people are in Twitter they don’t want a link that is going to take them through to Instagram.”

In addition to the more well-known channels, others are coming to the fore. Instagram Stories is now more popular than the news feed, said McCulloch, suggesting that in the future it may become solely a video feed. For operators using it he says around four or five different clips is optimal, try and include a beginning middle and an end, and make use of the features such as location tags and GIFs. And make sure you shoot video in vertical – apparently people are not too lazy to even rotate their phones nowadays.

Other opportunities include Insta TV, which he said Marks & Spencer has been using effectively, as well as Insta shopping – you could include links to recipe books or gift vouchers, for example. People can even book on Open Table through clicking the link on an Instagram post. “And start thinking about how to get a brand presence on Spotify and WhatsApp,” he said.

Hone your social media strategy

In addition to nailing what your brand is about and assessing the right platforms for it, operators need to consider several other things when creating their social media strategy, including their overall goal, workflow, resources, and, of course, the content they are going to produce – if it’s all product, product, product, people are going to get bored, he said. It’s also important to close the loop for users – make sure you get those people coming back to you… booking a table or buying your products.

McCulloch sais that when it comes to resources, the modern marketer needs to be an amazing hybrid of artist and scientist – they need to be analytical but also highly creative, and there are not a lot of people like that. However business can also utilise internal influencers. “How can you train all of your team to be Instagram or LinkedIn influencers?” said McColluch. “Why have a social media team of one and a half when it come be 400?”. He said that John Lewis was doing a great job in this area by getting its delivery drivers to document their day on social media.

Linking in with the comments made by Loui Blake, founder of Kalifornia Kitchen and Erphingham House, McCulloch said that whether you like it or not, it is important to design your restaurants for Instagram, where that is giant displays of flowers, or beautifully presented dishes of food – every time. Remember, it’s not about a table of three, it’s about an audience of 3,000, so it’s important to give them something that will encourage them to share their experience on social media. McCulloch recommended paying attention to the latest trends in fashion, which he said tended to be six months ahead of other industries, to see what the next big thing might be.

Consider your budget, and be really harsh with yourself, he said. “Start thinking about where you are wasting money. You are probably burning cash in a number of areas… you are doing something because you always have done. I would like to see at least 80% of that budget spent on digital and social, including on things like SEO,” he said. “A lot of people in the restaurant industry have the Ferrari of websites, but they don’t put any petrol in the tank. It’s better to have a shit website that people can at least find,” he said, so think about the natural and paid for search mechanics.

There are also several tools out there that can help with targeting. Facebook, for example, has all sorts of stuff in the backend, which can help you target anyone that has looked at your business profile, or engaged with your ad, said McCulloch. “Also get close to your wifi partner – the amount of information they can give you to help you target people is absolutely incredible,” he added.

Then there’s voice strategy. Yes, that’s right, you should even be thinking about what the likes of Alexa has to say about your brand. What happens when you ask for the best restaurants in the area, or if you ask about your restaurant? These are things you now need to consider, he said. 

Content really is king

So how much is enough when it comes to content? Probably more than you’d think. McCulloch said that one of the foremost thinkers on digital at the moment, Gary Vaynerchuk, uploads around 100 pieces of content a day – these may be snippets from podcasts, or videos for example, many of which have been cut down from their full-length form to be spread across different channels throughout the day. Vaynerchuk also talks about documenting rather than creating stuff, he said. “Things are going on in every second of every day – try and capture that. Constantly film and get a fast editor,” said McCulloch.

Make sure you monitor how your community is reacting to the content. If something goes down well, then do more of that type of content, and if something doesn’t get a reaction, then don’t do the same thing again, he said. “Everything is not going to be perfect, but you need to get more stuff out there rather than being too polished all the time,” he said.

And don’t forget your hashtags. McCulloch recommended that at least 11 are used – he tends to use 30 – as he said if you don’t use any, or nowhere near enough, then you may as well not bother.