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Are you afraid of the Metaverse?

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Personally I think the metaverse (or VR/AR in general) has a ton of potential to do great things, but I don’t blame the people in this study one bit who said it made them “more scared” about the future. I’m not exactly excited to trust Zuck as our virtual leader either.

Here’s the reality (or maybe it’s the VIRTUAL reality … ba-dum-tss) … VR/AR will absolutely continue to grow and become a bigger part of our lives. There’s simply too many billions of dollars being sunk into it for it to not happen. So as a brand you need to start asking yourself, “How are ways that my brand can use this avenue for the GOOD of my business and my customers?” It about finding new ways to engage with your people on a personal level, and that can always be made into a positive thing when done properly.

Nearly a third of U.S. adults are more ‘scared’ of the metaverse than ‘excited’

Approach Your Business With “Little Dog Attitude”

 768 1024 Zack Jackson
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I have a little dog named Francy.  She’s a muttley rat terrier(ish) sort of dog that weighs all of about 14 pounds (we have a cat that’s bigger than she is).  She spends most of her life curled up on a pillow, a lap, or a blanket … to the point that I’ve always said she’d be perfectly content if she was a dog with no legs that had to be carried around everywhere she went.  She’s super sweet, cuddly, and friendly to just about anyone and anything on earth … until she sees a big dog.

Then … “little dog attitude” kicks in and Francy ain’t gonna take no crap from nobody.

I’ve seen this little dog launch herself into the air, land on top of a dog four times her size, and pin them to the ground in a growling fit of unexplained rage.  Why? I honestly have no clue.  I don’t know why this dog spends 98% of her life perfectly content to be in some sort of snuggle position, only to turn into a rabid beast with more attitude than Conor McGregor’s pre-fight interview.

But what I do know is this … that’s “tiny dog attitude,” and that’s how every small business owner should operate.  Don’t be afraid of the big guys … attack them!  Better yet … COPY THEM!!!!

These large corporations can spend millions (or billions) of dollars on marketing, advertising, and branding on a level that a small business will never be able to equal.  However, what a small business can do is study the big dogs, and then emulate these practices for their own brand.

Before Wal-Mart was … well … Wal-Mart … Sam Walton built his empire by doing one thing amazingly well … studying his competition.  He walked around other stores, paid attention to how things looked, where items were located, how shoppers behaved, etc etc. He then took this data back to his own store and used it to improve his own customer experience to a level that nobody else was even considering.  He had “tiny dog attitude” back then that allowed him to grow into one of the biggest dogs of them all.

Soooo … that brings us to the present, where we can see what the big dog is up to, and that my friends, is first-party data collection.  That’s right, the JPG Agency mantra of OWNING YOUR AUDIENCE is in full effect! (Excuse me while I sprain my shoulder patting myself on the back for a minute.)

Wal-Mart knows that the key to their continued dominance is to know, first hand, everything they possibly can about their customer, their wants and needs, their purchasing patterns, their lifestyle interest, their moods, and just about anything else they can get their hands on.  And while this data leads to an enhanced shopping experience for their customers, what it also does is give them an additional cash cow that they can use with others.

Did you know Wal-Mart made $2.1 billion dollars in ad REVENUE last year?  That’s right, other brands are paying Wal-Mart to get access to the data they’ve collected, and the home of “Everyday Low Prices” is poised to become one of the top ten ad agencies in the country within the next five years.

So how do we apply this to our “tiny dog attitude” lesson for the day?  It’s simple … we OWN OUR AUDIENCE.  We don’t rely on some social media algorithm to reach our customers or PPC ad spend or whatever.  We develop ways to obtain the contact information of our customers in a way that allows us to directly engage with them without having to depend on anybody else to do it for us.  Nobody … and I repeat … NOBODY is going to understand your business better than you, so why in the world would we put all of our reliance onto somebody else to do it for us?

Is there a place within our success path to do things like social media marketing, digital ad spends, and things like that?  Absolutely!  And we here at the JPG Agency are happy to help you do that, but we also believe very strongly in helping you develop ways to grow your direct data streams with your customers, because we know that is the true key to growth and long term success.  Don’t let the big dogs strut around like they control everything … launch yourselves into the air and pin them to the ground yourself!

Here’s some additional articles/resources for the details discussed in this article today:

Walmart made $2.1 billion in advertising last year—here’s how

Walmart Media Group Rebrands to Walmart Connect in Bid to become a Top 10 US Ad Biz

Walmart moves further into livestream shopping

A Bad Digital Impression is Costing You Revenue!

 150 150 Zack Jackson
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Having a strong digital presence isn’t a luxury in 2022, it’s a NECESSITY. This article will open your eyes when you see things like “increasing a customer’s satisfaction score can increase their spending by up to 37%. Reducing the effort required to complete a task online can lead to a 23% increase in the amount they spend.”

Plain and simple … making a sucky digital impression with your customers will cost you money almost immediately and probably send future business elsewhere. And small business often gets the shaft in this equation because they don’t have huge budgets to have large marketing departments or to hire expensive agencies.

That’s why at The JPG Agency we’re committed to providing those opportunities to small businesses at a price point they can afford. Small businesses are the backbone of so many industries, and they flat out DESERVE the same access to these resources as the big dogs. So happy to have a squad in place that feels the same way!

Thank you Nicole Cooper for sharing this article with me and MediaPost for putting it together https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/372174/revenue-lost-by-poor-digital-experience-can-now-be.html

#digitalmarketing #socialmediamarketing

Wanna Preserve Your Privacy? Good Luck With That!

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One of the big buzzwords heading into 2022 in the digital space is “PRIVACY.” First … the word “buzzword” may actually be the most annoying buzzword people use for articles like this, but I’m not sure what other word to use.  The point is, everybody’s talking about how they want to protect their privacy and they don’t want Big Tech messin’ around in their data.

So let’s get the facts out of the way … protecting your privacy ain’t gonna happen.  All these companies may ACT like they care about protecting your privacy, but if you believe that then you probably also believe that Mark Zuckerberg actually cares about “community” and “bringing people together” on FaceMetaBook or whatever they call it now. 

Really what Big Tech wants to protect is their own behinds from any kind of lawsuits, so they may SAY they want to protect your privacy, but they’ll also be more than happy to mine all of your digital activity for anything and everything they can.

OK … rant over.  Now let’s get to something helpful … what does this mean for you as a small business owner looking ahead to 2022?  

1) It means people at least want to THINK that their privacy is being protected.  So first and foremost, don’t be all spammy and invasive. Lurking around in people’s data is the digital marketing version of that creepster in the bar who tries to buy you free drinks and take advantage of you.

2)  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it this time in all caps … YOU NEED TO OWN YOUR OWN AUDIENCE.  There should be no need for third party data on your customers. You need to be engaging with them first hand and gathering it yourself.  That way once you have it, it belongs to YOU and you are in control of how you use it.  

No algorithms, no confusing SEO, just you interacting with your customer base who actually WANTS to communicate with you.  Crazy concept, right?

I encourage you in 2022 to have FIRST-HAND interaction with your customer base, whether that be thru digital engagement, email communication, or even … gasp … actual human interaction in your store, or at an event, or however you connect.  Now when you reach out to these people again and again, their loyalty and support continues to grow and grow.

Don’t rely on somebody else to tell you about your customer base.  Gather that information yourself and own it forever!

So … What’s your pivot?

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You don’t need me to tell you that 2020 was a wild ride for small businesses in just about every way imaginable (not to mention every way that was previously unimaginable). As we move forward (hopefully) to the light at the end of the tunnel, we also need to look back and learn from this experience. Many businesses took a huge hit in 2020, some closing their doors forever.  Meanwhile others THRIVED during the situation.  How?  The pivot.

If there’s one thing that the pandemic has taught us as a business owner, it’s that we can’t put our entire business model into one expected outcome.  Many of our clients are in the food and beverage industry, so needless to say they had to make some massive pivots.  Restaurants that were built on the business model of “cram as many people as you can into the place” were suddenly forced with the reality that there were now ZERO customers that could be a part of that model. Suddenly they needed to learn how to adopt to curbside takeout, online ordering, minimal staffing, and more.

While it has been a very difficult journey for them, many of these businesses have learned that they are able to create new revenue streams within their business that they previously never thought they would be able to do. Even when things return to “normal,” many of these pivots will remain as part of their plans and will provide multiple revenue streams for the business and can also help protect against future unforeseen events.

We as a company had to pivot as well.  Clients that previously needed help with event planning and day to day social media marketing, suddenly needed help with web design, ecommerce, email marketing, and whatever else the day threw their way.  We made those pivots, and it helped us learn new ways we could help small businesses succeed in a forever changing marketplace. (We also found a new appreciation for tequila to help take the edge off this wild ride.)

Finding new ways to innovate and expand your revenue streams is the key to your businesses’ growth, while also insulating it during trying times.  So … what’s YOUR pivot?  If your number one source of revenue disappeared tomorrow, what would you do? Don’t rely on just one expected outcome. Explore things like ecommerce, affiliate marketing, social media, or whatever makes sense in your industry to always stay in touch with your customer base.

If you have any questions about content creation or marketing for your business, please feel free to reach out to me at zack@thejpgagency.com.  I’d be happy to provide any insight I can. Thank you!