#Brief 67: What does your brand stand for?

This content originally appeared on June 17, 2021 as part of the Future of Marketing weekly email series. Subscribe here.

Welcome to Future of Marketing.

Each week, we send you the most relevant trends, resources, and strategies in social and user-generated content (UGC) from leading marketers and brands around the globe. 

Today, we're discussing: 

• Using hashtags for social listening
• The “why” behind Future of Marketing
• #BrandCrush: TikTok 💘

We're giving away three (3) Premium Passes to AdWeek's upcoming Social Media Week LA (including a free one-year subscription to AdWeek).  

To enter, share your predictions for the Future of Marketing by tagging #FutureOfMarketing on Twitter or LinkedIn for a chance to win and have your response featured in our weekly brief.

PS. Don't miss our session on Wednesday, June 30th at 1:25 pm ET. We're discussing, “Think Small: How Micro and Nano Influencers Drive Big Change.” Check out the agenda.

Using hashtags for social listening

How do you get complete strangers to trust your brand enough to recommend it to other people? The answer is simple – create a brand experience worth talking about, and apply social listening to improve your brand. 

For example, there are conversations around Juneteenth and Pride Month happening as we speak, but are you really paying attention? Are you making an effort to be more inclusive with your team and customers? And if so, what are you doing about it? 

Some say hashtags are dead – but in reality they're probably just using them wrong. 🤷🏻‍♀️

In fact, a quick keyword or hashtag search of #PrideMonth or #Juneteenth on social media will reveal sentiment around these important conversations. After all, people are becoming more selective about the brands they invest in – and ethnically and racially diverse companies had 43% higher profits. 

When customers and employees share their feedback and experiences online, they're telling brands exactly what they value – whether that's sustainability, diversity and inclusion, or equal pay. 

Asking for feedback is standard, but user-generated content (UGC) and social listening can accelerate the feedback loop without having to create a formal feedback program. Instead, try adding a community Q&A on your website, share a poll, ask customers (and team) to submit testimonials, or search for a relevant hashtag. 

The “why” behind Future of Marketing

Ever wondered who and what's behind Future of Marketing?

We sat down with Jason Bradwell, host of B2B Better, to share the “why” behind Future of Marketing (and ideas to connect with your audience). 

We uncover: 

• How distribution is one of the most common challenges in marketing (and how to alleviate it)
• Why word-of-mouth matters more than follower or subscriber count
• Why focusing on brand first is detrimental to your company's long-term success 

Listen to the episode here – you won't want to miss it.

What we're learning

• Our first podcast episode is now LIVE! 🎉 Learn how the Oklahoma Aquarium reached over 1 MILLION views on TikTok. 
• Social listening to build brand trust 
• Don't miss today's webinar with Hootsuite at 11am CT! Learn how social content is impacting travel marketing 
• User-Generated Content: Why It's Effective and How to Use It in Your Marketing Campaigns
• Amazon Prime Day Predictions
• Twitch introduces official partners program for Twitch gaming

#BrandCrush: TikTok 💘

We've been crushing on TikTok for quite some time now, so when we stumbled across their latest #CreativityForGood campaign, it felt natural to (finally) profess our love for them. 

“Since TikToks didn't quite fit into a specific category within the [Cannes Lion] competition, we decided to give all creators the opportunity to make a positive impact while flexing their creative muscles,” TikTok shared.

The #CreativityForGood challenge celebrates Cannes Lions, and encourages TikTok creators to create campaigns showcasing how they drive change or inspire action on the platform – whether through a random act of kindness, volunteer work, or supporting a charity. 

Creators can participate by uploading a video about one or all of the partner organizations to TikTok (or their favorite organization) and tag #CreativityForGood – a great way to leverage user-generated content and bring awareness to important issues.