Business Strategy – Riley & You

Creating Content That Matters

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Content creators are different from content consumers, and the success of your marketing strategy depends on the content you create. According to Forbes, “Creating new, frequent and insightful content is a healthy and necessary practice of business in any industry. Many companies choose not to allocate the time and resources towards content creation, and in doing so they often fall short of their marketing goals.”

Content is all about building your audience. When you position yourself as an expert through your content, it establishes your brand as a trustworthy source with your audience. Over time, you build a library of content that improves your SEO. This, in turn, creates more inbound leads and web views and supplements your inbound marketing.

Creating new, quality content is very time-consuming. We know that you may not be an expert writer or graphic designer and that you are focused on running your business, not just creating content. At Riley & You, we focus on three things to help you create content.

Trending – We stay on top of the latest trends to know what your audience is looking for. We know what kind of posts are the most popular and generate the most leads for your business.
Customizing – We create custom content that is specific for your business and your customers. Once we know your target market, our team of experts goes to work creating content your audience will want to read.
Engaging – Our team knows your audience wants content that is smart and easy to read. We also know how to avoid spam and content that is useless for your audience, and we track the data in order to know what content works and what doesn’t. Then we adapt in order to keep your audience engaged and sharing the content.

Take a look at these examples of content we’ve created for some of our clients and you’ll see that we practice what we preach.

This blog from Friedman’s Appliances created customized content that capitalizes on the struggle consumers feel when trying to purchase a new stove and frames it like a personality test in order to engage the audience and deliver quality content.
This blog from Appliance Gallery may not seem like an appliance-related article. However, we recognize that part of their market is designers and trend-setters. Providing relevant content like the Color of the Year can expose their brand to even more designers by giving them content they can use.
This content from Buckhead Vacuums positions them as an expert on this topic. It also gives their audience the information they need to make decisions about their purchases. It asks them engaging and relevant questions, and the format makes it easy to read.
This blog from Distinctive Appliances capitalizes on their audience’s desire for luxury living and features engaging pictures of their products. Lists such as “Top Five…” are trending and we know how to combine eye-catching photos with creative content to showcase your brand in list form.

Riley & You is here to help you create quality content that matters to your brand and to your audience. Plus we work across many platforms including social media, blogs, newsletters and print to get all the pieces to work seamlessly together. Contact us today for a business strategy to take your content to the next level.

Marketing to the Generations

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Understanding generational characteristics is essential in connecting with your market. When we approach potential customers with the mindset and intention of beginning a new relationship, trust and loyalty will follow. By studying generational behaviors, we can gain insight to drive sales, marketing, and measurable results.

When looking at the generational sales market, there are 4 key groups to consider.

Baby Boomers represent a post-WWII boom in the birth rate from 1946-1964.
Gen X-ers came of age during a surge in divorce rates and a new trend of both parents working.
Millennials (born 1977-1995) were affected by Facebook’s birth and the early adoption of social media around 2004 and The Great Recession in 2008.
Up-and-coming Gen Z is the most influential group of technology trendsetters.

To connect with various generations, it is key to familiarize yourself with their background and characteristics. Learning to communicate with specific generations in their preferred format (ie: sending text follow-ups to Millenials) is the gateway to understanding their needs. Once you know their needs and desires, communication preferences, and buying habits, you can market and sell effectively.

Do you struggle to connect with your market? While it’s often easy to understand and relate to those in a similar life stage, knowing how to market to other generations can be a challenge. Through studying generational behaviors, we gain insight to drive sales, marketing, and measurable results. Let our team create an effective marketing strategy for your business today.

The Power of a Great Headline: Using the Curiosity Gap to Sell

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One of the most important elements of digital marketing is writing a great headline or email subject line. It makes your audience want to open the email or click to read more. It prompts them to take the next step toward making a purchase. It’s an essential component of your marketing campaign, but it can also be very difficult to craft.

The key to creating a successful digital marketing campaign is the headline or subject line. You need to know your audience and know what works the best. The most popular types of headlines are list posts, how-to posts, resource posts, question posts and heart to heart posts. Effective headlines give the subject, but also make your audience want to find out more.

At Riley & You, we have the experience and the time to help you craft the right message. We know that you don’t want to use cheap clickbait headlines because they chase clicks and gossip without fulfilling content. They’re written for scanners rather than readers. But they are effective because they open the curiosity gap and make your audience curious about finding the answer. There are ways to open the curiosity gap without the bait and switch, and we know how to make them curious and lead them to real knowledge that comes from an expert – you.

At Riley & You, we also take the time to track the results. We don’t chase clicks that make it look like the campaign was successful. We focus on click-through rates for emails, blog titles and Facebook ads in order to understand which style of headline is the best for connecting your audience to your content. Then we adjust the messaging to fit what works for them.

If you have been discouraged with your email marketing open and click-through rates, the problem may be in your subject line. We know that email is still a powerful marketing tool because it is the only digital platform where you have complete control of your message and don’t have to compete with an algorithm for market share. In fact, many people prefer that companies contact them through email, and it has a great ROI.

At Riley & You, we can help you harness the power of headlines. You may have great content, but if your reader doesn’t connect with your subject line, you won’t see the results you want. Contact us today to learn how our team can help you take your digital marketing campaign to the next level.

Get To Know Our Creative Side

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Any marketing agency will claim that they are creative. But at Riley & You, it’s not just about the creative people on our team. For us, creativity is more of a process, one that involves and ultimately benefits our clients. We wanted to take some time to share our creative process and how it might be different from other marketing firms.

We start as soon as we meet you. Early in your relationship with Riley & You, you’ll be introduced to various members of our team. We get excited about your company and start thinking and brainstorming about your project early – often before we officially start on your project. We love what we do and just can’t help it!
We get to know the client. We don’t want to carry out just our vision for your company; we want to carry out your vision. In order to do that, we have lots of discovery discussions to learn about your needs and goals. Every client is unique and worth getting to know on the front end of the project.
We all work on your project. This means you have our complete creative brain trust working on your behalf, not just one person. Our team has experience in all aspects of marketing from graphic design to visual merchandising to brand management. Your personal consultant is just the beginning of the talent you tap into when you work with Riley & You.
We use a variety of tools and resources to get your brand right. We walk you through every step of the process because our goal is to help you discover your true brand, not impose a brand upon you. Then we give you all the design elements that best communicate that brand in order to take your brand to the next level.
We have a deep understanding of the premium retail space. For over ten years, we have been working with retail clients. We have seen many changes in tools, technology and marketing strategies and helped our clients adapt to them all. Our team gets your world, so we bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table. Plus, we keep an eye on where retail is going so you can be on the cutting edge.

If you are ready to have our creative team come work for you, contact us today. We involve you in every step of our creative process, and we can’t wait to start working on your project.

Marketing Strategies of Premium Retail Brands

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Premium retail brands don’t happen overnight or by accident. They are often carefully crafted to fit the markets they are trying to reach. Affluent consumers comprise 20% of U.S. shoppers but account for 40% of consumer spending. These affluent shoppers are making purchases online, and 59% of the traffic to luxury retail sites comes from mobile users. If your brand is ready to step into these markets, we have some secrets that can help your product find its own space as a premium retail brand.

First, you need to have premium branding to reflect a premium product. This probably means you are not trying to do your own graphic design or hiring your nephew who likes to draw. The good news is that because of the advent of social media and email marketing, you don’t have to spend most of your budget on getting the marketing campaign in front of the consumer through expensive direct mail campaigns or buying television time. Instead, you can focus those dollars on creating high-quality and premium branding. Consumers want products that look and feel luxurious, and that starts with branding.

Secondly, you must always remember that you are marketing a lifestyle, not just a specific product. Consumers want to know that your product will help them achieve their best life, which is reflected in the images, copy and slogans you use in your marketing campaigns. Marketing has shifted from inspiration – being inspired to purchase a product because of a celebrity endorsement – to aspiration – creating the idea that a luxury lifestyle is attainable by anyone who aspires to achieve it.

Finally, brand loyalty remains important. You want consumers to buy into your brand and find a piece of the lifestyle they are looking for at their price point in your store. The research shows that affluent customers justify their purchases by passing over pricier options because it makes them feel like they are being responsible. The luxury items in your store window or center stage in your online video tell the consumer that your brand can deliver the lifestyle are looking for, and when you can deliver a great product, you become part of their new lifestyle.

Our team of experts at Riley & You has the experience you need to take your brand to the next level. We know how to brand your business, so it is positioned as a luxury brand. We also have a team that can create the photos, videos and online marketing tools you need to give your consumers something to aspire to. Let us help you tap into the brand loyalty of your market so that they will keep coming back and grow your business by spreading the word about your product.