In June we conducted our Annual Growth Survey, targeted to startups and scale-ups in both B2B and B2C segments globally. As we all know, running a business in the growth segment is both wildly exciting and scary as $%@!. As the business scales up, it becomes crucial to “stay ahead of the curve, adapt to market changes, and effectively implement your marketing strategies” - or so they say (and who is “they” anyway??). Our Annual Growth Survey provides real-time feedback on what we care about right now, and where we need to focus our attention moving forward.

As marketers, we’re always thinking about what we need to do in order to better our social presence. From consistent posting, to using links and tags, and more, there’s a lot to think about when it comes to optimizing social media. But we rarely stop to consider that there are some things we should NOT be doing. Sometimes, avoiding certain bad practices of social media are actually even more important than following the best practices.

In a world where there are ads everywhere you look, and claims to do this and that, how can you trust the product or service you want to purchase? Showing strong testimonials is a great way to back up what you say and help convert possible buyers into a sale. It builds trust with your buyers and acts as a form of social proof, letting your customers do the work for you. Satisfied, genuine testimonials are as good as gold and all businesses should work on collecting this valuable information.

Recently we’ve seen a number of articles surmising about the death of social media as we know it. The growth rate peaked in 2020 / 2021 and currently time spent on social media is lower than it was in 2019 and growth itself has slowed as we reach a ceiling of usage. True, there are small pockets where the number of users is increasing - in the U.S. where current usage is below the global average. Overall, people are spending less time sharing and liking. Where is this trend headed?

VICE Insights recently released its 2024 Guide to Culture with Ten Culture Codes to understand the evolving needs of Gen Z consumers and the forces of change shaping their lives. Recently, two Red Cat Marketing colleagues got together, one Gen X and one Gen Z, with the task of representing their entire respective generations, and talked candidly about some of the report’s findings as compared to their personal experiences and viewpoint.

We all know that a brand is the identity and story of a product, making it distinct and recognizable to its consumers. This includes a company's values, mission statement and other non-visual aspects. While all aspects of branding are important, how often do you evaluate the visual expression of your brand? Things such as your logo, tagline, colours, typography, and aesthetic.

Branding is the process of creating a distinct perception and identity of your business. The logo is just one portion of this, generally the first thing a customer sees and recognizes about a brand. It is the visual signature that represents your company or product and should evolve with the business.