Marketing Signals - The Importance of Being Creative in Today's eCommerce Landscape

Marketing Signals are experts in the key trends and influences in the industry, and kindly agreed to share the latest insights with us at The Candidate.

Digital Marketing is a relatively new discipline in a world previously dominated by Madison Avenue dinosaurs, but its exponential growth is showing no signs of slowing down. Digital PR Executive at Marketing Signals, Yossy Akinsanya, reveals the knowledge everyone should know getting started in this wild and wonderful industry.

Yossy Akinsanya - Digital PR Executive at Marketing Signals

The digital world is many things, but constant isn’t one of them. Over the past few years, consumers have turned to eCommerce with increasing enthusiasm, accelerating the speed at which the online landscape has transformed. Coupled with technological advancements and the changes brought on by the pandemic, the digital market is now unrecognisable when compared with what it was a decade ago.

Today’s online landscape is one that thrives off trend-led innovation, making creative skillsets all the more valuable to digital business owners everywhere. Both established multinationals and new entrepreneurs just starting an eCommerce business have harnessed the power that meme culture and viral content have to offer. Many are giving themselves permission to move away from traditional approaches to marketing, embracing a more youthful, progressive outlook to engage their audiences instead.

Here are some ways that creatives can use their skillset to revolutionise the marketing strategies of some of the hottest eCommerce brands:

1. Viral Video Advertising

Every marketer would love to have the secret formula to viral videos, but the truth is, there is no guaranteed recipe for success. Viral videos are an art form, not an exact science, and each and every one requires not just an impressive creative skillset, but luck as well.

In 2012, Dollar Shave Club struck gold with their viral online video that helped to generate over $3.5 million by the end of the year. The video doesn’t have any expensive bells or whistles and instead focuses on a humorous, no-nonsense script that gets straight to the point while being entertaining at the same time.

The reason why Dollar Shave Club’s advert is so compelling is thanks to incredible storytelling. A transferable creative skill that isn’t just reserved for fiction, storytelling brings brands to life and helps audiences to connect more deeply with the content they consume.

2. Mosaic Instagram Layouts

By now most businesses understand that Instagram is a visual platform, but not all of them know how to use this to their advantage. High-quality photos and videos are one thing, but how can brands stand out from the competition through their Instagram accounts?

Damo’s Personal Training uses Instagram’s grid layout to their advantage by uploading photos that come together to form a much larger image when viewed at a distance – just like a mosaic. This gives their account a much more cohesive look, creating a stronger brand image and capturing the attention of their followers.

While many digital creative jobs require candidates to be competent in using social media, creating a striking grid layout requires a keen insight into design as well as careful planning and organisation. Other transferable creative skills that can help you exceed in this area include photography and the ability to use image-editing software.

3. Limited Edition Launches

Sometimes all it takes to reignite a customer’s interest in a business’s products is a limited edition launch. This involves a lot of out-of-the-box thinking and trend-related research, making it an ideal project for any eCommerce creative professional. Limited edition products usually feature a special new design, but can sometimes also tie products in with seasonal events, such as Christmas or Halloween.

Limited edition launches can drum up excitement amongst both new and existing customers, especially if the campaign includes a countdown. All kinds of recognisable brands are on the limited run hype, from clothing labels like Billionaire Boys Club, to Scottish beer enthusiasts BrewDog. Creatives will need to use their understanding of the market to come up with ways to encourage audiences to engage with the campaign, which might include running a giveaway, advertising the number of limited edition products that will be on sale, or asking customers to share photos of their new goods across social channels.

4. Social Media Memes

Much like viral content, memes are unpredictable, which makes creating new ones a monumentally difficult task. Fortunately, the appeal of memes is that they can be repeated and imitated by anyone in a wide variety of contexts. Rather than trying to create trends, it’s better to join existing trends and use them in a unique, creative way that will resonate with your audience.

Memes are commonly used across social media, with brands such as yappy, hydrop, and even fashion powerhouse Gucci integrating popular jokes and images into their marketing strategies. Successful meme content creation requires creatives to be up-to-date with trends and have the ability to tailor their tone of voice to suit a wide variety of contexts. Audiences will easily be able to spot brands that don’t truly understand memes and pick out their mistakes, so it’s crucial to practice social listening and really immerse yourself within popular internet culture.

Written by Yossy Akinsanya - Digital PR Executive at Marketing Signals

Thank you to Simon Rattray - Digital Marketing Specialist at Marketing Signals for helping facilitate this blog!

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