Are you Gucci?

“Are you Gucci?” My 9 year old recently asked me this – too cute! It did pique my interest however.

Now, being my age, my mind went two ways:-

1. Is Gucci the brand doing a Commonwealth Bank (grabbing the kids from school age with their school savings model?) Therefore getting the kids to recognise the Gucci brand from young? OR is it
2. Simply a throwaway, short lived fad?

This got me thinking about all the new digital and traditional channels that have popped up recently and I saw it as an opportunity to show you, our audience, what we are doing or seeing digitally in the current market.

Here I wanted to talk specifically about the rise of TikTok, the power and reach of YouTube, and the alternative channel you may not yet have thought about that can potentially change your business – SMS!

Some interesting research:

Australian Tik Tok Stats

• They are the fastest growing social media company in Australia
• 5mn Aussies are using it per month – aged 6yrs+
• 60% of users are female
• 70% of users are Gen X and Gen Z
• Music.ly merged with Tik Tok in 2018 to increase users drastically
• It’s the 6^th largest social media network
• In 2020 it was the #1 downloaded app
• On average Australian users spend 26 mins on the app at a time
• 83% of users have posted at least one video.

Note that I’m not saying you have to go run out and start up a Tik Tok account for your business however it is fun!! (Thankfully my 80’s dance move videos are hidden ?). However… it is a useful tool to utilise in your marketing mix, add some “real”, “authenticity”, “human” pieces to your marketing.

This leads us onto You Tube – Google’s 2^nd dominant master

Did you know the first ever video was uploaded on April 23, 2005! Feels like yesterday right?

And look how far they’ve come:

• In Australia there are now 1.9mn users per month using the platform
• 1 billion hours are watched on You Tube every day
• 3bn users worldwide (Statista, 2021)
• It’s the 2^nd most popular social network
• 79% of internet users have a You Tube account
• Google bought You Tube in 2006 for US 1.65bn
• 2^nd most popular search engine after Google (like I said, world domination)
• It localizes content in over 100 countries in 80 different languages
• “How to videos” have grown 70% year after year
• 62% of business use You Tube to share content
• 90% of users say they discover new brands or products on You Tube (that’s because they segment to the user so well)
• 500 hours of video is uploaded every minute, worldwide (2019, Tubefilter)

Now this is a platform you need to be using for your business. For us, it’s fantastic for organic SEO and rising to the first pages of Google. It’s great for driving traffic and leads, it’s perfect for the “how to” videos to gain credibility and brand awareness.

Lastly but not least, a channel you may not have considered – SMS

As the name suggests, SMS = Short Message Service. Did you know the very first text message was sent in 1992! I must say I’m not sure how on those massive brick phones – was it Morse Code???

So Why SMS you might ask? Here are some very interesting stats:

• 95% of people own mobile phones
• 78% open every message they receive as long as they know the sender.
• 95% of texts are read and responded to within 3 minutes
• Customers who gained value from loyalty SMS programs – 90%
• Customers who want offers sent via SMS – 75%
• Cheaper than the phone and direct mail

SMS open rates for recognised brand providers

18-44 – 100%

44-54 – 95%

55-64 – 82%

65+ -75%

Why use SMS?

Another way to keep your Brand at the forefront of consumer’s minds – another touch point

• SMS marketing campaigns – promote new products/ specials
• It’s a fast, simplified method of 2-way communication

Consumers preferred channels for recommended brand updates

(Source: Esendex)

48% – SMS

22% – email

20% via an app

8% direct mail

Top industries that are using texting

Real estate – 73%

Agriculture – 65%

Entertainment/ Leisure – 63%

Construction/ machinery/ homes – 57%

Utlilities/ energy – 53%

Non-profit – 50%

Automotive – 48%

Education – 47%

I must admit when I looked at these stats I was surprised and then realised I had just paid my Optus bill because they reminded me via text and booked in my next gym session as a result of, guess what… a text. It is a subtle but very effective way to keep in touch with your clients. Make sure you get optin first!! and then warm up those fingers. If you’re looking for some great value, check out Omnisend, they have both excellent email and SMS packages, we are loving them.

I take you back to my original question, Are you Gucci? Which by the way means Are you Good – I just love kids minds can I tell you. If you’re looking for creative ways to attract new customers or nurture your current ones so they spend more, talk to us.

We mix digital and traditional pipelines to provide our clients with a 3-8 times return on their investment when it comes to marketing. Happy to have a conversation.