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Happy Marketing June 2023

Psst! Grab this month’s freebie below! This one’s a game-changer.

Hi Happy Marketers 🐮

This month we’ve got retro ads, our mid-year marketing check-in, and some more juicy marketing nuggets for the best people in the game: YOU.

Happy Pride, y’all xoxo

It’s all here – so grab your coffee and let’s dive in.

Crunching Data in a Recession

It’s no secret that times are tough for consumers. But as the economy shows signs of recovery, exactly how tough are we talking?

Well, the most recent data is in… and things still aren’t looking too pretty. PwC’s first bi-annual report for this year says that a huge 69% of consumers are restricting their spending on non-essentials. In general, it seems the mood is pessimistic.

There are some positives, though. 43% of consumers said they plan to increase their online shopping over the next half of the year, and it’s likely that the majority of this will be on social media – meaning that social ads effort is gonna pay off.

Our view? To capture sales, brands need to shift things up. When times are tough, consumers flock to brands they have a relationship with and who offer an experience and a product. In today’s landscape, digital innovation is critical on both fronts, and the biggest brands are already acting on this to stay ahead of the game.

Summer of SEO 🌞

Sneaky Elephants Online. Duh.

It’s the summer of search. Yep, we’re claiming it. And this summer, our top tip is to keep it local

Local landing pages are a great way to boost traffic and conversions. Creating highly specific content will attract more visitors, create more link opportunities, and generate more moolah 💰. So, if creating more local SEO pages isn’t on your to-do list, it should be.

Another SEO hack that’s been on our radar this month? Event link building. That’s sponsoring an event or signing yourself up as a headline act to get that juicy backlink from a reputable site. Tasty.

On the Socials

This month, my screen time has gone up by 48%. No joke.

I. am. hooked. I’m even watching webinars about social media.

My new fave bedtime social media? Reddit. Okay, okay, I know it’s a toxic cesspool of fragile masculinity and red-pill politics. But r/AITA remains unbeatable. 

And it turns out that it’s not just me who’s suddenly become obsessed with the front page of the internet. Reddit shows it can be a valuable treasure trove of brand data

In a more professional arena, this month, we’ve also become obsessed with
carousel posts on LinkedIn. Such a fun twist on IG’s carousel classic; the docs format on LinkedIn is a creative opportunity that we don’t think is getting the attention it deserves.

In the spirit of my increased screen time, this is your freebie this month – a completely free social media audit by yours truly. I’ll analyze your whole social media presence and give you some strategies to improve. And if you’re running ads, I’ll look at them too. This is exclusive to my Happy Marketers — just smash that reply button and let’s get a time booked in.

Are You Listening?

As I’ve been doom-scrolling, shouting into the social media void, I’ve also been thinking about who’s listening to the void.

(How was that as a segue!? Lol, bear with me; I’m running with it)

I’ve noticed that brands are often seriously content-focused, spending a lot of creative energy on outputs, but are less focused on the inputs. Social media has a lot more to offer than simply follower count and engagement stats.

That’s the topic of this month’s case study as we delve into our work with Lyft during one of the toughest times the brand has ever faced. By listening to what people were saying about them and identifying their allies online, they could navigate pretty tricky political waters and still come out on top. 

If you’re a larger brand and you’re not paying attention, your reputation could be at risk. Read the full story on Lyft for more. 

Sliding in Those Inboxes

We’re huge email fans, as you know. And I know you know the email basics.

But if we had a dollar for every client we took on who’s missing basic automated email from their strategy, well, I’d be writing this from a beach-side condo rather than my mom’s living room table lol.

If you’re not 100% certain you’ve included everything in your email strategy, . And if you’re an ecom brand who’s still
skipping out on an abandoned cart email in the year 2023, get out of here already.

A New Ad Age

One topic that just keeps coming up in these newsletters is that retro ad formats are making a comeback. Last month we had billboards, and this month, it’s all about the TV, baby.

But the new age of TV is not the same. Oh no. Gone are the days of scheduled content. Now, streaming is king. Johnnie Walker is getting behind the stream by shifting marketing to branded TV content, focusing on experiences and stories and connecting with the audience. It’s an excellent strategy for a whiskey that wants to become your best friend, and we’re going to be following their success closely.

Moral Panic 😱

There’s always some outrage in the world of marketing.

The drama this month? Walmart is getting sued for greenwashing (allegedly!) their ‘recycling bag’ product. The product, advertised as created specifically for your recycling bin, actually cannot be recycled and costs huge sums to sort and remove from waste processing plants.

Walmart is so colossal that this lawsuit is water off a duck’s back. But for smaller brands, a false claim like this could mean the end. A lesson to us all — don’t get too flexible in your marketing. Accountability is calling.

While Walmart is greenwashing climate change away, other brands are getting creative with purpose marketing to varied success. What are your thoughts? Do your morals have Pride of place in your ad strategy? Hit reply and share away.

The Month of Allies (or Not) 🏳️‍🌈

How could we leave you, Happy Marketers, without wishing you happy pride? This month it’s been time to turn up the gay and celebrate that LOVE WINS. Always.

Cue the outrage. This year there seems to be even more of a backlash than usual, and with corporate anxiety sky-high following Bud Light’s share price flop, this Pride Month feels different


In fact, it’s clear that some brands just couldn’t hack it the full 30 days, removing or scaling back their efforts in the face of criticism. 

Remember purpose marketing? What happened to that?
The only acceptable Pride month marketing strategy.

Last Word

I’ve always got to have the last word. Ask my parents.

But this month, rather than a word, I’m leaving you with a to-do list. Depending on your business, the 6-month mark is a great place to stop and reflect — is your marketing working? Are there tweaks we could make to get that sales number higher?

Here are your top three easy actions to tighten ship:

🦄 Get to work on local SEO — you don’t even need to be a service provider for this. Could you get some local pages created and optimized for your top sales locations?

🦄 Book your free social media audit — Just hit reply, and we’ll do the rest. Seriously, this is a great opportunity to get to grips with where you could improve.

🦄 Plug the gaps in your email strategy — Take a refresh on your automated emails; are you missing any? 

A couple of tweaks could make all the difference to next month’s number.

That’s all from me!

Natalie 

CEO & Founder,

Nouvel Âge Media

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