5 Easy Marketing Lessons We Can Learn from Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones, one of the most popular shows on television, offers us more than just great entertainment, it offers us lessons about marketing as well. If you have not seen the show, then you should give it a try. Regardless of that little plug, here are some lessons that we can learn from GoT that apply to marketing.

1. Talk the same language as your consumers. In the show, a character by the name of Kraznys is working on a business deal with another character, Daenerys. When he starts insulting his business partner in a language he believes she does not understand, he gets in trouble. See, it turns out Daenerys did understand the language that Kraznys was speaking; in the end, the deal burns up and it was Kraznys's fault. 
1. Of course, we can learn that we should definitely not insult our consumers, since they'll likely end any deals with us but also to speak the same language as them. Don't try using words that the consumer will not understand, you want them to understand your message; if they do not understand your message, then all marketing efforts will flop. Think like your consumer. Think. Like. Your. Consumer. This is where market research comes into play. 
2. Keep your ear to the ground. Remember to keep close to the chatter and hear what is going on. In the show, Tywin uses information that is gathered through special means to always be one step ahead of everyone else. This is a great concept to apply to marketing; this is why we have things like market research. When performing a market research group, the goal is obtain information that can be used to see where trends are going and stay a step ahead. Info is like gold to everybody but especially an industry like ours. 
3. Just be you. Nothing is worse than someone or something trying to be something they are not. In GoT, Jon Snow tried to convince another group, the wildlings, that he was no longer loyal to his previous group, the Night's Watch. However, his true identity is revealed and he is ousted. It is important to remain true to who you are and who your target market is. Now, you can rebrand and shift but always be genuine. 
4. Be able to adapt and shift. Arya Stark is constantly running to one place, then captured, moved to another, and so on. What we can take away from Arya is that you have to be able to change directions when the times call for it. This does not negate point three above; rather, it means that sometimes rebranding or introducing a new product or structure is needed. For example, in the midst of this gluten-free crazy time, many food brands are preparing their food gluten-free or at least giving gluten-free options. They are remaining true to who they are but still remain true to who they are. 
5. Do not back off promises. In the show, Robb Stark promises to marry a certain woman, Lord Walder Frey's daughter, however, he backs off that promise and decides to marry someone else instead. Do not be like Robb. If you make a promise with your consumers, hold to it. 

If you are looking for a creative marketing agency that is able to adapt and provide top notch marketing, then contact Integraphix - a Los Angeles marketing firm. 

Getting the Most Out of Your Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing is a job that requires creativity, patience, intuition, and ability to analyze. There are so many ways you can use social media to build your business and maintain contact with your consumers and clients. According to various social media pros, here are ten things you can do to get great exposure via your social media.

1. Use LinkedIn tags. If you are on LinkedIn, and you should be, you should be using tags. Create a list of groupings that you can send any relevant, helpful, and important news to at times they'll see it. If you use tag connections, you are able to sort them into groups by tags and send them a message at once. 
2. Post at opportune times. If you are doing social media for a business that is B2B, then you are obviously reaching other people in the working world. For reaching people who are likely to be in meetings, try to post on your social media when they are likely to be in between meetings. Meetings are almost always scheduled every hour or half hour; this likely means that business people are likely to be checking social media just before and after the start of every hour, post at these times. 
3. Post popular content. If there is content that is popular with your competitors, your audience, and the audience of your competitors, then you should be commenting on it. You do not want to be copying the info but merely relaying the idea. 
4. Limit the social media platforms. It seems logical to want to jump on every social media platform available but what you want to do is find the ones that will do the most good for your business and work with those. 
5. Use twitter's search. Twitter has the nifty feature that allows you to search for things and people. Use that search to find people and topics that are related to your business. As a creative marketing agency, we look for people and discussions related to internet marketing, graphic design, and web design. 
6. Give things away. Use your social media to give things away that people will actually want to win; perhaps that means some of your good stuff. If your consumers, prospective clients/customers see how good your stuff is that's free, they're more likely to jump in and pay for things too. 
7. Connect with people on Twitter. You can promote your business, you can retweet, but you should also create conversations with people. When people post tweets, give a reply back. When people reply to you, respond back to them. 
8. Connect with email subscribers on LinkedIn and Facebook. Create another layer of connection with people you already know by adding them on these two social networks. 
9. Have good content to share. Having content that is boring or is not relatable, then people will not engage with you on social media. Worse, they might unfollow you. 
10. Use platforms as distribution channels. There is content and there is content that is perfect for sharing on social media. You want to share info that is suited for you consumers, not just random people. The reason this works is because people want more and more valuable information that they would like to share with others as well. If you have good content on your social media that people can talk about, then you've created a good WOM effect. 

If you are looking for a Los Angeles marketing firm or you just have questions about the tips above, then contact Integraphix, or contact us via our twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or Google+.