The Globe and Mail: Trend Hunter's Conversational Marketing and Advertising Options

Many would say that 2012 marks the peak of the digital age and thus, a pivotal change in the way people communicate. This means social media and conversational marketing is more important now than ever, and though some smart companies have caught on to this fact, very few have even scratched the surface of its potential. The Globe and Mail identifies Trend Hunter as a company that has gone beyond scratching the surface and dived deep into the belly of the social media beast and what it has to offer in terms of advertising strategy.

With more than 2 million Facebook fans and hundreds of thousands of Twitter followers, Trend Hunter saw a humble beginning in 2005 and has since kept the conversation growing at a rapid pace. "Social media has changed the number of influencers a brand needs to care about and amplified the importance of earned media," says Trend Hunter's Chief Operating Officer Marcus Daniels, who goes on to say, "Brands are dipping their toes in the water with test campaigns, but long-term efforts integrated with other marketing activities produce way better results."

Read the full article at The Globe and Mail
Social media shifts trend to conversational marketing
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
By Mia Pearson

"Toronto-based digital media company Trend Hunter is at the forefront of understanding the trends and shift to more conversational marketing.

Founded in 2005 by Jeremy Gutsche to sort and organize the most popular content on the Internet, Trend Hunter now attracts more than 35 million monthly views in addition to more than two million Facebook fans and more than 217,000 Twitter followers.

Its goal is to provide inspiration for professional innovators. It is essentially a repository of cool. And it’s seeing brands move away from traditional online advertising and more into social, conversational marketing.

"Social media has changed the number of influencers a brand needs to care about and amplified the importance of earned media," says Marcus Daniels, Trend Hunter’s chief operating officer and "chief trend hunter."

"We’ve seen a strong shift towards brands partnering with us to create conversational campaigns to build authentic relationships with influencers."

For small businesses, in particular, it’s incredibly beneficial. Small businesses tend to be more agile and have way more freedom to produce great creative content.

"Display advertising works, but is contingent on sustained volume to be effective, which is often too costly for a small business," Mr. Daniels adds. "That is where the ROI of a killer sponsored post that goes viral can be hugely valuable for small brands with limited budgets looking to compete in this noisy digital age."

Mr. Daniels also thinks that there is a great opportunity for Canadian business to take advantage of conversational marketing.

"Canada still lags behind the U.S. for long-term commitment and broader integration," he says. "Brands are dipping their toes in the water with test campaigns, but long-term efforts integrated with other marketing activities produce way better results.""