Canadian Small Business Women

Connection, Synergy, Community

Holiday Marketing During a Pandemic

The weather is starting to turn colder (I not-so-secretly love fall and winter, so I am one of the few that is super excited). Kids have started back at school. And business owners need to shift into the holiday marketing mindset. If you haven’t already started thinking about it, now is the time to get going on your holiday marketing planning!

2020 has thrown a wrench into so many of the best-laid plans. Most of your customers likely have the pandemic in the back of their minds (or at the top of mind). They have spent 2020 celebrating birthdays and other milestones via Zoom (or not at all) and they are grasping for some shred of normalcy in a world that is far from normal.

It’s going to be different this year. There is no getting around that. The big question is: How are you going to adjust your approach?

Focus on your loyal customers

Customer loyalty is everything. If you already know someone knows and loves your brand isn’t that worth focusing on? Half of the work to make a sale has already been done. There are three ways you can tap into your existing customer loyalty.

  • Revamp existing loyalty programs: Do something new that is a direct response to customer behaviour during the pandemic.
  • Offer exclusive deals: If you don’t have a loyalty program, that’s ok! But you likely have a database of existing customers or a community of followers that you can offer exclusive deals to.
  • Launch a loyalty program: If you are looking to launch a loyalty program, this is as good a time as any. Keep it simple and keep your customers’ interests at heart.

Keep your messaging consistent

There is a lot going on in the world right now. Keeping your marketing messages consistent will ensure that your customers and potential customers keep you top of mind. Competition among brands for customer attention will be different and more intense this year as businesses try to offset losses from early in the year when so many things were shut down.

Your customer needs will be different this year

Across various industries, brands will need to adapt to changing customer behaviour when it comes to the path to purchase and how they will be most comfortable shopping with you. Will your customers want to have the option to do curbside pickup or a call ahead service (The Body Shop has recently added this service as they adjust to reopening during COVID-19), a robust online shipping platform, or will they feel completely comfortable shopping in person.

In general customers will likely spend more time online this year for holiday shopping. While many customers were already doing online research before shopping in-store, many customers may try to limit time spent in-store. As a result, you will likely need to put extra effort into digital strategies so customers can easily discover what you have to offer while they are conducting online research – and shopping.

Let others tell your story

While it is important for you to connect to your audience through storytelling not selling in your own content, it’s equally as important to have other people talk about how great you are. There are a couple of ways you can plan for this:

  • Influencer marketing: Whether you run a largescale campaign with multiple different influencers or you only work with one or two influencers who are really into your brand, influencers will share your brand story in their own unique way to a large audience.
  • Customer reviews: Every time a customer reviews your product/service, they act as a brand ambassador for you. It could be tied into a larger loyalty program or simply asking for honest feedback, but customer reviews are priceless when it comes to your marketing strategy.

Build a safe in-store experience

While there are many government guidelines set out for businesses to re-open, can you go the extra mile to ensure your customers’ safety while shopping in-store? Customers will appreciate the brands that do go the extra mile. Think of creative ways you can do a little extra like exclusive shopping times for loyal customers and high risk groups or even staggered shopping times to minimize the number of people in-store and waiting in line outside as the weather turns colder.

Focus on getting attention, not selling

It should go without saying that you need to focus on building awareness for your brand. With so much noise out there now that everyone is trying to get customer attention, your customers will appreciate if you cut back on the urge to SELL, SELL, SELL! Put relationship-building first.

Social media isn’t a strategy

Social media for the sake of social media isn’t going to cut it. You need to put some planning into it and build out a content strategy that is tied into your overall marketing strategy. If you focus on great design and providing value rather than simply adding to the digital noise, you will see better results from your efforts.

Surprise and delight

Never underestimate the power of surprise and delight around the holidays. Tap into emotions, create memorable moments, and just find ways to do something unexpected.

Remember to have fun with your holiday marketing, especially during the pandemic as tensions and emotions are running high. If you have questions, feel free to check out SongBird’s upcoming FREE Masterclass on Holiday Marketing During a Pandemic to answer all of your specific questions!

 

Candace Huntly is Founding Partner at SongBird Marketing Communications, an award-winning agency working to take organizational and individual brands to the next level. With a passion for all things related to creativity and strategy, she specializes in business intelligence, marketing & branding, content strategy & development, media & influencer relations, and social media. Basically, if you need to put your brand, product, or cause in the public eye, she will find a way to do it, while making the approach unique to you.

Connect with Candace

Sign up for our free 20-minute consultation and we’ll help you figure things out.

A version of this article was originally posted to the SongBird Marketing Communications blog.

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5 ways to reach Millennials on social media

At the start of 2020, over there were over 3.8 billion active social media users in the world. While 90% of Millennials consider themselves active social media users, 79% of Millennials use social media multiple times per day, choosing to spend their time on multiple platforms. Instagram and Facebook are the most popular social media platforms, but how can you use this information when you are marketing to Millennials on social media?

Here are 5 ways to use social media to connect with Millennials.

Focus on what they care about

Causes and brand values have become even more important in today’s socioeconomic climate. The fact that over 60% of Millennials want their actions to make a difference because they are worried about the state of the world says it all. Every day there are renewed calls for brands to step up and support causes that are important – and do it in a way that isn’t performative. Performative means that you are doing it because it’s something your brand believes in, not just because you think it will sell more products. If you are trying to connect with Millennials, note that 8 in 10 Millennials want their beliefs and values to align with brands they buy from. Social media is a great way for you to connect with them on a deeper level.

Focus on creating a great brand experience

It’s well documented that Millennials are generally more interested in investing in experiences rather than owning things. You need to take this into account when you are building your social media strategy. Think about creating great brand experiences whether it’s through unique and interactive content, interactive contests, or even great takeovers with their favourite social media creators.

Be present. Be social

If you are going to be on social media and you want to connect with Millennials, you need to make sure that you are consistently present and interacting with your community. It’s never a good approach to ignore comments and messages as a brand, but Millennials will lose interest even more than other age groups if you don’t respond in a timely fashion. And the idea is that you should keep it social. While the majority of Millennials are on social media, one third feel that it has a negative impact on their lives. You need to find ways to add value rather than add to the negative feelings.

User Generated Content

If nearly half of Millennials are more likely to trust a complete stranger over your ads on social media, you should consider implementing both an influencer strategy as well as a strategy to share User Generated Content (UGC). If you are concerned that your followers won’t be interested in posting content that features your brand, consider that 44% of Millennials are interested in promoting brands on social media – especially in exchange for some sort of reward. Your challenge is how to introduce UGC into your strategy in a meaningful way.

Social Commerce

Retail is constantly changing and it was only a matter of time before social media created more robust ways for brands to sell through each platform. Judging by the way Millennials interact with brands and discover and perpetuate trends on social media, I’m only surprised it didn’t come sooner. Millennials have huge buying power and are expected to spend $1.4 trillion in 2020. Paired with the fact that almost 60% explore trends on various social media platforms, social commerce has huge potential.

Candace Huntly is Founding Partner at SongBird Marketing Communications, an award-winning agency working to take organizational and individual brands to the next level. With a passion for all things related to creativity and strategy, she specializes in business intelligence, marketing & branding, content strategy & development, media & influencer relations, and social media. Basically, if you need to put your brand, product, or cause in the public eye, she will find a way to do it, while making the approach unique to you.

Connect with Candace

Sign up for our free 20-minute consultation and we’ll help you figure things out.

A version of this article was originally posted to the SongBird Marketing Communications blog.

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Social Media: 4 things to focus on other than follower count

If you have 10,000 followers, but no one is buying from you, then who cares if you have 10,000 followers? If you have 100 followers and 100 people are buying from you, doesn’t that seem better? It’s time for businesses to start prioritizing engagement over follower count when it comes to social media. Follower count is a vanity metric that really doesn’t do much to drive your business unless it is paired with high engagement.

We have to retrain our brains to think differently when it comes to social media. Here are four things to focus on instead of follower count.

#1: Quality of followers

High quality followers are highly engaged and even loyal customers. They will be the first to act as brand ambassadors because they know you and they believe in what you have to say. This will help to increase brand awareness so you are top of mind. Overall, focusing on building a community of high quality followers will lead to more meaningful and relevant interactions.

#2: Engagement metrics

Increased engagement usually means higher visibility and a more interactive social experience within your community. It is also indicative of how much your audience likes your content. A few of the engagement metrics you can track are likes, comments, shares/retweets, and saves. Certain platforms favour different metrics over others. For example, Instagram algorithms favour saves and shares. The key to tracking engagement is that you should identify your overall social media goals first so you can choose which metrics you want to focus on most. Your content strategy may vary based on different metrics.

#3: Content value

Everything you do should be centered around the needs of your audience. If you focus on providing value for your audience you will find that your connection becomes stronger. It will also increase overall engagement. You can provide value through various different content strategies. A few to try are:

  • Long captions: More information sharing, and encourages people to save/bookmark your posts
  • High impact visuals: This will increase sharing and help to draw people to your content
  • Giving away almost too much information for free: Especially good for professional services, it showcases your expertise and separates those that want to do DIY from those that would prefer to pay for a professional.
  • Video: Your audience is consuming more and more video online because it is easy to digest information.

Test what content resonates best with your audience or, better yet, ask them what they want to see. If you’re really listening, you will get some great insight into the types of content you should create.

#4: Timing

Timing is everything on social media. While many social media platforms have built in analytics to show you when your audience is online or when they are most active, it takes a bit a trial and error to find what works best for you. Plan ahead and track when you are posting so you can see what works best.

Stop looking at social media as a popularity contest and start getting more social with your strategy. The more emphasis you put on your relationship with your followers, the more successful your strategy will be.

Candace Huntly is Founding Partner at SongBird Marketing Communications, an award-winning agency working to take organizational and individual brands to the next level. With a passion for all things related to creativity and strategy, she specializes in business intelligence, marketing & branding, content strategy & development, media & influencer relations, and social media. Basically, if you need to put your brand, product, or cause in the public eye, she will find a way to do it, while making the approach unique to you.

Connect with Candace

Sign up for our free 20-minute consultation and we’ll help you figure things out.

A version of this article was originally posted to the SongBird Marketing Communications blog.

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4 ways to get your brand tone right in your content strategy

Your brand personality is something that is quintessentially you – but how does the brand tone fit into the picture? The brand tone of your content is what will help you express your brand personality and the values that make you unique. It is how you will connect with your audience to build trust and a meaningful community.

So how do you decide what brand tone to use for your content? Here are four ways to develop the best tone for your brand.

Break your brand down

It’s hard to know how to communicate as your brand if you haven’t done the work to figure out who you really are. A good way to start is to identify 2 or 3 words that describe your brand. For example, your brand could be:

  • Cool
  • Quirky
  • Innovative

Then, take those three words and describe them further:

  • Cool: young, fresh
  • Quirky: funny, unique
  • Innovative: smart, pushing boundaries

Once you do this, you can start to figure out the type of language and content that would make sense to use for your brand. You would use this description as the roadmap for your content creation.

Focus on clarity of communication

When you muddy up your messaging in any communications, it makes it hard to get your point across. You need to develop a clear sense of purpose when you create content. That starts with drafting a well-defined messaging document. Your messaging document should have 3 or 4 main messages that tell your brand story. Each main message should have 2 or 3 supporting points that highlight facts and details about each message.

If your brand descriptors (above) are your roadmap, your messaging document is your guiding light. You can pull from this document for most of your brand content. And the messaging will already be drafted to match your brand tone.

Match your marketing channel

Your brand tone should match the channel you are creating content for. While your personality won’t change, the tone you use across platforms might. The best way to approach this is to consider your audience behaviour on each platform. How do they interact with friends and family? How do they interact with other brands? How long is the average caption on the platform? What caption length do you find works best for you? Is the platform geared more towards professional networking or social interactions? Is it a marketing channel that you control the message (ie. Email newsletter)?

Asking yourself these types of questions about your selected marketing channels will allow you to match your brand tone properly for each.

Adapt over time

As your business grows over time, you might find that the brand tone – maybe even a few aspects of your brand personality – will change. Check to make sure that your brand is still headed in the same direction as when you first started out. As your business changes, you will discover the best ways to connect with your audience and your brand tone needs to reflect that. When you are first starting out, it’s good to check in more frequently (3 – 6 months), but after a couple of years, it is ok to simply include your brand check in when you do your annual strategic review.

Your brand tone will help you to connect with your target audience, so it’s an important aspect of your content strategy.

Candace Huntly is Founding Partner at SongBird Marketing Communications, an award-winning agency working to take organizational and individual brands to the next level. With a passion for all things related to creativity and strategy, she specializes in business intelligence, marketing & branding, content strategy & development, media & influencer relations, and social media. Basically, if you need to put your brand, product, or cause in the public eye, she will find a way to do it, while making the approach unique to you.

Connect with Candace

Sign up for our free 20-minute consultation and we’ll help you figure things out.

A version of this article was originally posted to the SongBird Marketing Communications blog.

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7 steps to better content marketing during COVID-19

While we’re all inundated with discussions of how the economy is going to reopen and speculation of when that will actually happen, you should be asking what is going on with your marketing strategy. Specifically, what kind of content are you putting out there? Has your content strategy changed since the start of the pandemic? What about since the start of the lockdown?

Here are seven steps to follow to help you tackle your content marketing during this uncertain time.

Step 1: Identify current organizational goals

You may or may not be able to continue to offer the same products and services as before. However, the way your customers consume those products and services will absolutely change – whether it already has or when we find out what our “new normal” is.

How you prepare for the coming months is just as important as how you are managing on a day to day basis right now. You may think that stopping all marketing efforts is a great way to save money if people can’t buy from you, but what happens when you can re-open? Are you planning on starting from scratch to build relationships? You need to plan and figure out what today brings for tomorrow.

What are your goals right now? Are you trying to maintain a presence on your marketing channels so you don’t get forgotten about even if you can’t sell right now? Are you trying to maintain or grow your sales? Are you focused on building a community of loyal followers? Are you prioritizing educating your customers? Something else?

Once you figure it out, you can begin to build your strategy.

Step 2: Identify how your audience behaviours have changed

Audience behaviours are constantly changing these days as more information becomes available. Any time their behaviour changes, you need to adapt your approach to communicating with them. Figure out how your audience behaviour has shifted by asking yourself a few questions about your audience:

  • Are they directly affected by Coronavirus?
  • Have their priorities shifted during this time?
  • How have their purchase habits shifted? Are they comfortable buying more online? Are they buying less? More?
  • Can they still use my product/service? Do they have to alter the way they use it?
  • Are they spending more time on social media? Watching videos online? Participating in discussions on social forums?

These are just a few things to consider when you are figuring out how your audience behaviour has changed. Answer honestly and, where possible, ask your audience directly.

Step 3: Figure out what your competitors are doing

Look at the types of content your competitors are putting out there and figure out if there is anything they are doing that you think might work for your own customer base or even things that you think won’t work at all. It provides a good foundation to figuring out what type of content you should be creating in a time like this.

Step 4: Develop new messaging guidelines

Your key brand messaging should remain in tact (unless you have shifted the entirety of your business) because people still need information about what it is you are selling and they still need to get to know you as a brand. However, you should draft messaging to reflect the current situation that we are in.

A healthy mix of messaging is good because people don’t ONLY need to hear about Coronavirus updates and information from you. Your content should still reflect who you are as a brand.

Step 5: Develop content to help you communicate clearly

Your content should help you meet your goals, but it should also help you connect with your audience in the best way possible.

Focus on visuals to stop the social media scrolling and the type of content that will resonate with your audience. Are you hoping to inform, entertain, educate, promote, a combination of all the above? Your task at this stage is to create content for the needs of your audience.

Step 6: Engage your audience daily

While your scheduled content is important, your day-to-day interaction with your customers and target audience is equally as important. Now that we’re all stuck in a socially distanced world, making human connections will help you grow your community. You can use content in many ways to help you build a loyal community. For example, you can host webinars, create podcasts, develop an IGTV series, and so much more. The challenge is that you need to think beyond this time period to ensure you can carry it on beyond social distancing to show you value your community.

Step 7: Monitor content and engagement daily

Things are changing on a moment’s notice. You can’t just schedule your content and forget it. Keep revisiting the same questions throughout this time to ensure your audience behaviours and overall goals haven’t changed.

Candace Huntly is Founding Partner at SongBird Marketing Communications, an award-winning agency working to take organizational and individual brands to the next level. With a passion for all things related to creativity and strategy, she specializes in business intelligence, marketing & branding, content strategy & development, media & influencer relations, and social media. Basically, if you need to put your brand, product, or cause in the public eye, she will find a way to do it, while making the approach unique to you.

Connect with Candace

Sign up for our free 20-minute consultation and we’ll help you figure things out.

A version of this article was originally posted to the SongBird Marketing Communications blog.

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6 tips to help you run your business during a pandemic

During a pandemic, there is always so much change and you have to be able to adapt quicker than usual. It is common to feel uncertain when it comes to your business and how to market it and stay on top of the changes so you come out ahead. Here are 6 tips to make sure you are able to stay on top of your business strategy and keep your audience interested during a pandemic.

Don’t communicate unnecessarily

There is a lot of unnecessary information out there about the pandemic itself. Everyone is adding their voice to the noise and you don’t want to be “just another email about coronavirus”. If you are sending an email communication, ask yourself whether it is necessary. Perhaps it’s better to share via social media?

It’s OK to take a step back and take a deep breath before you send out an email. During times like these where the situation can change on a moment’s notice, gather all of the information and make an informed decision rather than a knee jerk reaction.

Focus on what you do best

During times of uncertainty, it’s best to focus on what you do best – your core business. Now isn’t the time to start thinking about a new side hustle (unless you are completely shut down right now) or trying untested services (unless the market dictates this is where your industry is going). The world around you has moved to essential services thinking and so should you when it comes to marketing your business. Reinforce your messaging about what it is you offer and what makes your business so great.

This isn’t to say you can’t tweak how you offer your core business. Many businesses are moving strictly to delivery, curbside/porch pickups, and online channels. You should never stop innovating HOW you deliver what it is you do best.

Create content

Even if your customers can’t buy from you right now, they will eventually. You need to keep them interested in what you have to say so that when they are ready to purchase, your brand will be top of mind. Think about creating your content to serve a purpose, but also think about putting selling on the back burner. Your content could entertain, inform, or even teach something new. Your audience will appreciate the break from sales content – and they will definitely appreciate the fact that you aren’t focusing all of your efforts on reporting on the unfolding situation.

Be sensitive to daily announcements

If you have developed a robust social media strategy, you likely have pre-scheduled social media posts ready to go. Double check your content daily to ensure that it matches to the tone of the daily announcements regarding the pandemic. You might have to adjust your content or change it altogether to be sensitive to the situation.

WFH

It seems like a given, but if you can, work from home (WFH). This will help to stop spread of the virus within your community. As business owners, you should look at this as an opportunity to get creative with how you communicate with your team. During this period where you are either working from home or temporarily closed, make sure you take care of your employees. One sentiment that stands out right now is the brands that indicate that they will cover lost wages and their employees are protected.

Don’t panic

Your first reaction when it comes to business should never be to panic. If you feel like your business is going to be affected negatively by the pandemic, try to look at your overall business strategy to see if there are things you can do a little bit differently during this time. Figure out how your audience is doing and adjust accordingly.

Candace Huntly is Founding Partner at SongBird Marketing Communications, an award-winning agency working to take organizational and individual brands to the next level. With a passion for all things related to creativity and strategy, she specializes in business intelligence, marketing & branding, content strategy & development, media & influencer relations, and social media. Basically, if you need to put your brand, product, or cause in the public eye, she will find a way to do it, while making the approach unique to you.

Connect with Candace

Sign up for our free 20-minute consultation and we’ll help you figure things out.

A version of this article was originally posted to the SongBird Marketing Communications blog.

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Marketing, PR, or Sales: Which comes first?

What comes first – the chicken or the egg? It’s a question that has sparked debate for a long time, and it will continue to spark debate for years to come. When it comes to your business and connecting with your customers, there is a similar question. Does marketing, PR, or sales come first?

At SongBird, we strongly believe that – no matter how much bravado you use to try to argue otherwise – your marketing strategy should come first. It will help you create the foundation to grow your business.

Let’s talk about why it’s important to see your strategy development this way.

Defining Marketing, PR, and Sales

The American Marketing Association defines marketing as “the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.” I would add that your marketing strategy will define any of your outreach through the foundational work that is done to develop your brand strategy. If you take the basics into account, marketing is about the four P’s – Product, Price, Place, and Promotion.

The Canadian Public Relations Society defines Public Relations as “the strategic management of relationships between an organization and its diverse publics, through the use of communication, to achieve mutual understanding, realize organizational goals and serve the public interest.” It really boils down to the fact that PR is meant as a way to manage your brand reputation whether you are a business, organization, or an individual expert.

The Business Dictionary defines sales as “The activity or business of selling products or services.” Some also describe it as the actual exchange of money for products or services.

What It All Means

If you look at the above definitions, marketing is the umbrella that covers everything, whereas PR and sales are methods or tools to use to connect with your target audience.

Modern Challenges

While the definitions show that each fits into a different box or silo, technology has made answering the overall question of which comes first harder because it has blurred the lines between marketing, PR, and sales. For example, social media has changed the game for all three things. It could actually be considered part of Marketing, PR, and Sales given what it is used for. Where PR is concerned, social media has allowed the media landscape to shift significantly (hello, influencers!), created opportunities for digital brand experiences, and connects brands directly to their audience in real time. In terms of Marketing, it is a way for a company to promote what they have to offer as well as develop a strong brand presence and general awareness. Where sales is concerned, most social media channels allow you to sell directly from posts, and act as a lead generation machine to funnel into your sales funnel.

For small businesses – and larger companies running lean – whose teams are also small, the lines become even more blurred because one person might wear multiple hats. The same person might be responsible for the overall marketing strategy, creating branded sales materials, social media, experiential events, influencer relations, and media relations. In a larger company 5 or 6 people – or more – might manage these things.

Marketing first

In spite of the fact that the lines are blurred, marketing should always come first. Your PR and Sales strategies should support your overall marketing strategy and goals, which should support your overall business strategy and goals.

To be clear, marketing, PR, and sales all need to work together to get you to where you need to be, but you should really explore your marketing strategy before launching into your PR and sales execution.

Candace Huntly is Founding Partner at SongBird Marketing Communications, an award-winning agency working to take organizational and individual brands to the next level. With a passion for all things related to creativity and strategy, she specializes in business intelligence, marketing & branding, content strategy & development, media & influencer relations, and social media. Basically, if you need to put your brand, product, or cause in the public eye, she will find a way to do it, while making the approach unique to you.

Connect with Candace

Sign up for our free 20-minute consultation and we’ll help you figure things out.

A version of this article was originally posted to the SongBird Marketing Communications blog.

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Faking popularity on social media will hurt your brand

Hands up if you have ever wished your social media following would just grow wildly overnight. Almost every brand and influencer has wished this at some point (for some it’s an ongoing thought). Have you ever posted to Instagram only to check every 5 or 10 minutes to see if anyone has liked your photo?

Because everyone wants to “go viral”, social media has become a bunch of users and brands just trying to be the loudest in the room rather than thoughtfully engaging with the followers they do have. Of course, we throw statements like “fake it till you make it” into the mix and you end up with people buying followers and engagement to try to appear more popular than they actually are.

Whether you are partnering with influencers or other brands or you are just trying to build your own social media community, it’s time to take note of what’s really important.

You can tell if someone is faking it

It’s important to know if someone is faking it if you are doing any influencer marketing or brand partnerships, but it’s also good to remind yourself that people can tell if you are faking your popularity.

For any sort of partnership, you want to make sure that the parties you are working with can help you to reach your goals.

Here are the things that will help you figure out if someone is the real deal or not (and provide a good guideline for your own social media):

  • Genuine comments: Are the comments genuine or do they seem really generic and unrelated? A bunch of comments like “Great shot!”, “Cute!”, and “Nice pic!” are generally from automated bots that you either pay for or are spam. Also have a peek at the last 10 to 20 posts to see if it is the same group of people commenting over and over in the same ways.
  • Real likes: While Instagram removed total likes counts, you can still see who liked a post. A quick scroll through the list of names and profile pictures will give you a good sense of whether a profile is real or not.
  • Real followers: A fake follower will often have one or more of the following: random typos in the name, random numbers in their name, the generic egg profile image instead of an actual picture, low post count – we’re talking one random image on the feed, and often seems to have nothing in common with the person they are following. Most social platforms are starting to crack down on fake followers, but it’s definitely an uphill battle.

Keep in mind that your audience is also looking at you under the same microscope you are evaluating partners. It’s not worth it to fake your own brand popularity. There is no replacement for good strategy, great content, and meaningful engagement.

Why brands should keep it real

In a world where your customers and potential customers are armed with more information and the power to choose between an increasing number of options available to them, honesty is always the best policy. Also, with the increasing conversations and research studies about how social media is directly tied to mental health issues, you don’t want to be a part of the problem.

Knowing what we know about social media and what can happen if your target audience doesn’t trust you as a brand, here are some things to remember about keeping it real on social media.

  • Quality is way more important than quantity: You could have 10,000 followers and no customers or 100 followers and 50 customers. It doesn’t matter about how many people are in your community as long as they are engaged and loyal to your brand.
  • Prioritize meaningful connections above everything: Remember that social media should be social. The conversations you have with followers – whether they are customers, influencers, or other brands – should drive your overall strategy.
  • Don’t let social media become too commercialized: Social media isn’t about hard selling or telling influencers what they have to It always comes back to relationship building and dialogue.
  • Buying followers and likes will only hurt your credibility in the end: In short, people always find out and once they do, they will never forget.

There is no silver bullet or magic carpet that will carry you to successful growth on social media. You may be tempted to pay for followers and engagement because it’s so easy to do it, but if that opportunity ever tempts you, best to avoid it. Not only are you feeding into a toxic social media culture rather than fostering a positive channel for people to interact with your brand, but you could actually do more harm than good to your brand reputation.

Candace Huntly is Founding Partner at SongBird Marketing Communications, an award-winning agency working to take organizational and individual brands to the next level. With a passion for all things related to creativity and strategy, she specializes in business intelligence, marketing & branding, content strategy & development, media & influencer relations, and social media. Basically, if you need to put your brand, product, or cause in the public eye, she will find a way to do it, while making the approach unique to you.

Connect with Candace

Sign up for our free 20-minute consultation and we’ll help you figure things out.

A version of this article was originally posted to the SongBird Marketing Communications blog.

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Does Brand Reputation Even Matter Anymore?

Brand reputation will matter in any year as long as businesses rely on customers to be successful (so… always).

Consumers are more opinionated than ever before and it’s because they are armed with so much more information (whether it’s true or not). Everyone is facing increasingly aggressive dialogue about discrimination and social ideologies, and the mob mentality that comes with empowered social media users. As a result, consumers are questioning every move that brands make. Really, people are looking for complete honesty and transparency and to support brands that share the same values and ethics that they do. Over 80% of consumers want to trust the brands that they buy from.

That is why your brand reputation matters more than ever in 2020.

What is brand reputation?

Brand reputation is a fancy term for how other people see your brand. It’s their opinion of you. Brands with a great reputation are generally seen as trustworthy, which leads to larger communities of loyal customers. On the other hand, a bad reputation will negatively affect your sales and you will find that your customers are always looking for the next best thing because they aren’t loyal to your brand at all.

What will negatively affect your brand reputation?

The biggest mistake you can make is thinking you can pull the wool over your target audience’s eyes. Here are six things that will hurt your brand reputation:

  1. Buying fake followers and/or fake engagement on social media – bots can also be the end of you.
  2. Creating a social responsibility program as a response to a rumor.
  3. Trying to cover up or “spin” a story so it just goes away rather than dealing with the issue at the core of your brand or business.
  4. Partnering with influencers or other brands that you haven’t vetted or that you know aren’t fully aligned with your own brand values.
  5. Not taking a stand against hatred and bigotry.
  6. Taking a sales-first or a me-first mentality.

How do you get a better brand reputation?

With all of the security breaches and secret data collection being reported what seems like almost daily, it is going to take more than a flashy marketing campaign to get your target audience to see your brand in a different light. There are five things that you need to do to make sure you have a great brand reputation:

  1. Continuously think of how you can offer more value to your target audience – whether it’s through great content, a better product, or a better customer experience.
  2. Build transparency into your core communication strategy – you never want to lie to your customers, and omitting information is also not great.
  3. Build a brand and stay true to yourself rather than changing to fit what you think others want to hear.
  4. Align yourself with a cause that is meaningful to both you as a brand, but also your target audience.
  5. Partner with influencers that your audience trusts – 63% of consumers trust them more than they do you as a brand.

Have you really looked at how your audience sees you versus how you see yourself as a brand?

Candace Huntly is Founding Partner at SongBird Marketing Communications, an award-winning agency working to take organizational and individual brands to the next level. With a passion for all things related to creativity and strategy, she specializes in business intelligence, marketing & branding, content strategy & development, media & influencer relations, and social media. Basically, if you need to put your brand, product, or cause in the public eye, she will find a way to do it, while making the approach unique to you.

Connect with Candace

Sign up for our free 20-minute consultation and we’ll help you figure things out.

A version of this article was originally posted to the SongBird Marketing Communications blog.

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5 ways to start 2020 off right with your customers

2020 is right around the corner. It’s a fresh start for some business owners who almost want to wipe the slate clean and a means to kick up existing strategies to the next level for others who think what they are doing is working well. Regardless, you should absolutely review your current strategy to make sure that what you are doing is working for you in the best way possible.

For 2020, think about your customer relationships and how you can start things off right with them in the new year. Here are 5 ways to do customer relationships right in 2020.

#1: Real talk

There is a reason why influencers are throwing out the carefully curated images they have worked so hard to cultivate… Your audience is looking for real interactions with real people. Just because you are using your brand voice doesn’t mean you can’t be genuine in your interactions with your audience. Show your human side – it’s ok to be flawed as long as you own up to it.

#2: Stand for something

We live in a really divided world and chances are your customers are not sitting on the fence. Find a cause that is meaningful to both you and your audience and take a stand. Cause marketing gives you many fun opportunities to integrate messaging that resonates with your audience into your own strategy. Your customers will appreciate you for taking their values into consideration.

#3: Match your customer, not industry trends

Be a trend setter – but do it because you have adjusted your approach to match your customers. Maybe your niche doesn’t really fit the mold, or perhaps YOU don’t fit the industry mold. Standing out among your competitors will only help you, not hurt you. Plus, your audience will appreciate that you are connecting with them in a way they understand. This could mean making changes to your product or service offerings, how you deliver value to your customers, the language you use, your brand’s tone of voice, the marketing channels you communicate with, etc.

#4: Thank your customers more often

A simple thank you goes a long way. Showing you appreciate your customers is important because you want to build relationships based on mutual loyalty. Your customers want to know they can rely on you for great products and services and you want to know you can rely on them to keep coming back. Beyond saying thank you to them in emails, social media, and other marketing, consider starting a loyalty program that rewards them for sticking by your side.

#5: See 2020 as a fresh start

Overhaul your customer experience by finding out what’s not working. You can do this in a number of different ways. Internally, identify all touch points (any time they interact with your brand passively or actively) with your customers from the time they first discover your brand, to their first purchase, to their tenth purchase. Are you missing out on any opportunities? Are there any ways you can increase the number of touch points with them without feeling like you are pressuring them too much? Consider tactics like grassroots, boots on the ground marketing like flyering and experiential events, getting your product into brick and mortar stores, creating more VALUABLE content, and so much more. The key is figuring out what will resonate most with your audience.

A new year means new challenges and new wins ahead of you. It all starts with your customers and that means you need to take special care how you are building your relationships with them.

 

Candace Huntly is Founding Partner at SongBird Marketing Communications, an award-winning agency working to take organizational and individual brands to the next level. With a passion for all things related to creativity and strategy, she specializes in business intelligence, marketing & branding, content strategy & development, media & influencer relations, and social media. Basically, if you need to put your brand, product, or cause in the public eye, she will find a way to do it, while making the approach unique to you.

Connect with Candace

Sign up for our free 20-minute consultation and we’ll help you figure things out.

A version of this article was originally posted to the SongBird Marketing Communications blog.

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7 Ways To Create A Memorable Brand

 

Think of some of your most memorable brand experiences… Were they experiential? Was it something the said? Something they did? Now think of your brand. Do you know how to leave a great brand impression? Are you connecting with your target audience in a way that will help you grow a community of loyal customers?

Here are 7 ways to create a memorable brand and help you connect with your customers in a meaningful way.

1: Develop a strong value proposition

Figuring out who you are targeting and exactly what you have to offer them will be key to figuring out how to create a memorable brand!

2: Put some effort into your brand name

There are a lot of different ways you can come up with a brand name. You can use an existing word, combine words together, come up with a new word altogether, or use an acronym. Regardless of your approach, make sure you think it through and consider these things:

  • Make it personal. Your brand should mean something to you.
  • Keep it simple. Making up new words might sound unique, but you need to educate people more to help them remember it and how to spell it, which takes more resources. Not everyone can come up with a new word and make it stick…

Key Consideration: Brainstorm among your team or with a group of friends or fellow entrepreneurs to help get you on the right track.

3: Think through your visual identity

Your brand is more than just your logo. Before creating any sort of visual identity, you need to figure out what your audience will respond to. Get to know what they like and dislike through market research, social listening, and competitor research. Then you can use your findings to select your brand colours, fonts, and create an impactful logo and wordmark. Once you have your basic brand identity in place, figure out how you want people to see your brand by identifying the types of imagery you want to use and your social media presets (filters, colours, etc).

Key Considerations: Try to step outside of what your competitors are doing when possible to help differentiate yourself.

4: Create your brand personality

Even though you are a company, there is still a person behind the brand – and you are marketing yourself to other people. So think of your brand as a person who has a personality. Your brand personality has everything to do with how you make people feel, how others see you, and the impact you have on your industry, community, and important causes. Are you fun-loving and care-free, using a flippant, conversational tone? Or are you more serious with a professional tone? Regardless of your answer, the only right answer is one that will help you to connect on a deeper level to your customers.

Key Considerations: Take this brand quiz to figure out your brand personality.

5: Consider how your target audience sees you and how you make them feel.

You really should listen when your customers give any sort of feedback related to your brand, customer experience, and overall business dealings. It’s one thing to have an idea of how you want to come across, but it’s a totally different thing when you talk about how you ACTUALLY come across to your target audience.

Key Consideration: Introduce audience listening into your overall strategy.

6: Get comfortable telling your story, not what you do

People relate to and remember stories, but there are likely hundreds or thousands of other businesses who offer the exact same product/service that you do. That is why you should answer “why” instead of “what” when you talk about what you do. Focus on the benefits of your product/service offering rather than the features of what you have to offer.

Key considerations: Figure out the difference between your features and benefits to make a difference in how you talk about your brand.

7: Talk about your brand… a lot

When it comes to marketing your brand, if you want to have a memorable brand you can’t be shy and just hope people discover you. You have to engage with your target audience regularly and consistently. Stay on brand message so you don’t try to be all things to all people. You invested in developing a memorable brand, now let people get to know who you are.

Creating a memorable brand doesn’t have to be difficult, but you do need to put the work in to make sure you have a great business and brand foundation set up.

 

Candace Huntly is Founding Partner at SongBird Marketing Communications, an award-winning agency working to take organizational and individual brands to the next level. With a passion for all things related to creativity and strategy, she specializes in business intelligence, marketing & branding, content strategy & development, media & influencer relations, and social media. Basically, if you need to put your brand, product, or cause in the public eye, she will find a way to do it, while making the approach unique to you.

Connect with Candace

Sign up for our free 20-minute consultation and we’ll help you figure things out.

A version of this article was originally posted to the SongBird Marketing Communications blog.

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4 ways you might be getting too personal with your business social media

In an age of “authentic” marketing, it can be easy to see where brands might accidentally blur the lines between business and personal – especially if you’re a smaller business with a smaller team. When it comes to social media, because it’s supposed to be social and you are interacting with other humans, a personal touch is nice – but you have to remember you are still interacting as your brand and not you. You need to stick to your brand voice and your brand personality.

 

Here are four ways that you might be getting too personal with your business social media and why it might not work in your favour.

 

#1: Your brand is on a particular social media platform because you like it, not because your audience does

When you launch your business – and all of the decisions leading up to that moment – everything has to be about your customer. Your business can’t thrive if it doesn’t have customers. All of your marketing choices should be made based on your audience behaviour. If you are too focused on doing things just because you want to rather than listening to what they want, then you are likely missing the mark. If you have selected your social media platforms because you personally like them but you haven’t taken into account where your audience likes to hang out on social media, then you might be finding it hard to connect with them.

Perhaps you know how to use one specific social media platform but not the one you should actually be on. In that case, make sure you educate yourself or hire someone to do it for you!

#2: Every other photo on your brand account is of you, your friends, your baby, or your dog

It’s great to show the human side behind your brand, but if the majority of our content is TOO personal, then your audience won’t really get to know your brand. They will only get to know you as a person. People want to hear about your brand and what you have to offer, not what you did with your family on the weekend. You can absolutely do some behind the scenes shots of the day-to-day of your business, but make sure they are carefully curated and inserted into your content strategy.

#3: You use your business accounts to regularly post political rants

We live in a very politically charged climate. Politics are one of those things that is extremely polarizing, and this can have a negative effect on your brand if you are too focused on your political views and not enough on your business and what you have to offer. Its ok to take a stand for something, but it’s not ok to position your brand as that crazy person no one wants to be locked in a room with.

#4: Not everyone will think you’re funny

It’s great to have a sense of humour as a brand, but it’s not great to use it when it alienates your audience. Make sure that before you launch into your next joke you won’t be offending the people who would buy from you. If you’re the only one laughing, it’s going to make it tough to successfully reach your potential customers.

While you should have fun with your business social media – and be social – you also need to make sure that you aren’t crossing the line and becoming too personal with your strategy. You need to step back every-so-often and remind yourself that your business social media strategy is there to help you market your business.

Candace Huntly is Founding Partner at SongBird Marketing Communications, an award-winning agency working to take organizational and individual brands to the next level. With a passion for all things related to creativity and strategy, she specializes in business intelligence, marketing & branding, content strategy & development, media & influencer relations, and social media. Basically, if you need to put your brand, product, or cause in the public eye, she will find a way to do it, while making the approach unique to you.

Connect with Candace

Sign up for our free 20-minute consultation and we’ll help you figure things out.

A version of this article was originally posted to the SongBird Marketing Communications blog.

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9 Ways to Create a Beautiful Instagram Feed

Are you on Instagram for business? Part of your Instagram strategy is to determine the look and feel of your profile. You want to create a cohesive and consistent visual experience for your community that enhances your brand and what it has to offer. This can be challenging because it requires a keen eye and a little planning ahead on your part, but here are 9 tips to help you create the best possible Instagram feed for your brand.

  1. Set your Instagram goals: Why are you even on Instagram? Do you want to create a community of engaged followers? Do you want to sell products? Do you want to educate your followers? The reasons you are on Instagram will drive you to create certain aesthetics on your feed.
  2. Find inspiration from other brands and influencers: There are a number of brands who are killing it on Instagram. If others have found the magic formula, it’s ok to get inspired by them for your own account. If it isn’t brands, make sure you are connecting with and following some of your favourite influencers. Instagram influencers have such strong aesthetics that you can tell who they are immediately.
  3. Get inspired by your surroundings: You don’t want to be something you’re not. For example, if you don’t have a dedicated office and you choose to work in coffee shops, co-working spaces, and at home, you should create an aesthetic that mirrors that. Look out the window, check out the people around you, and try to convey the general feel of your everyday brand through the photos you post on Instagram. It’s easier to work with what you know.
  4. Define your look: Set guidelines for yourself related to the filters you use to edit your images, fonts used for overlays, your colour palette (also known as colour story), shooting perspective, etc. Like you put together your brand guidelines in the beginning to create consistency across channels, you create these guidelines (sometimes called presets) to create consistency on your Instagram feed.
  5. Be flexible: While it’s good to have guidelines to follow, make sure you aren’t being TOO rigid. Remember, there is a beauty to a little spontaneity. Social media is about being social and you need to be driven by feel as much as you are driven by the details.
  6. Plan ahead: Social media should feel spontaneous, but that doesn’t mean you have to sit down each day to think about what to post. You need to think about the bigger picture and create a content strategy that will drive your activity each day. If you plan at least a week ahead with your posts, you can focus on engaging directly with your followers more organically each day.
  7. Create a library of images: This is about more than just planning ahead, it’s about working smarter, not harder. You should consider creating a library of images you can choose from. Most people do this to get images to use in marketing materials and on their website. But you have to think beyond those channels and apply the same process to your social media. If you put together a month’s worth of images in one photo shoot, you can easily plan out your colour story by coordinating outfit changes, backgrounds, lighting, etc.
  8. Use Instagram stories for spontaneous moments: Instagram stories provide a unique opportunity to showcase the day-to-day life of your brand as well as live events and your product/service offerings. Be sure to create highlights of your best Instagram stories to keep that content living on your profile permanently.
  9. Invest in photography: Consider hiring a professional photographer to help you get the look and feel you want for your Instagram feed. Taking photos for social media might seem easy – your cousin’s son’s friend does it all the time! But when it comes to carefully curating your brand’s social media, you want to take extra care to present a cohesive look that helps to connect people to your brand in a meaningful way.

Creating the perfect Instagram feed for your brand profile can be challenging, but if you approach it in the right way you can have a lot of fun with it.

Candace Huntly is Founding Partner at SongBird Marketing Communications, an award-winning agency working to take organizational and individual brands to the next level. With a passion for all things related to creativity and strategy, she specializes in business intelligence, marketing & branding, content strategy & development, media & influencer relations, and social media. Basically, if you need to put your brand, product, or cause in the public eye, she will find a way to do it, while making the approach unique to you.

Connect with Candace

Sign up for our free 20-minute consultation and we’ll help you figure things out.

A version of this article was originally posted to the SongBird Marketing Communications blog.

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8 Ways to Get More Instagram Followers

There is no short cut to getting more Instagram followers. While there are companies out there that say they can guarantee to get you your first 1,000 followers – or 10,000 or whatever the number is – chances are they are buying followers. While you might think it’s ok to boost your numbers in the beginning because it adds credibility, you need to give your target audience more credit. They will know your followers are fake. And what is the point in building a marketing strategy if you aren’t going to engage with real customers? You can have a million followers, but little to no engagement.

So how do you grow your Instagram following to connect with even a fraction of the over 500 million daily active Instagram users? And what should your goals be when it comes to getting Instagram followers?

Here are 8 tips to help you get more Instagram followers the right way.

USE HASHTAGS – IN THE RIGHT WAYS

Hashtags are an incredible tool to help you find and connect with your target audience – not to spam them with a long list of the same hashtags on each post. There are a few ways you can use hashtags to grow your Instagram following.

  1. Use popular hashtags to join in on existing dialogue. Your target audience likely already engages with specific hashtags from competitors and other general Instagram accounts. They also use the search function to seek out new content. Using hashtags that they are already using makes it easier to find your content.
  2. Create a dedicated hashtag for your brand so your audience can follow and track your content. Make sure you don’t just use it on Instagram because no one will know it’s there! Promote it across all of your marketing channels – digital and otherwise.

MAKE SURE PEOPLE RECOGNIZE YOU

Instagram allows you to play around with the visual identity of your brand. This goes beyond your logo and branding. You also need to think about how your Instagram profile looks. To create a recognizable visual identity on Instagram, you should consider your overall themes, colours, and fonts. Your profile should be carefully curated when it comes to both style and content. And don’t forget that you can and should also brand everything you create.

SET UP YOUR PROFILE PROPERLY

A well-set up social media profile can make the difference between success and failure. Two features worth mentioning are your Instagram bio and making sure you write a great one that will allow you to be found. The other thing you should consider is changing up your profile URL – give people a reason to go to your IG profile page – and your website. One way you can do this is to post blogs regularly and include a post with a call to action that send people to read your blog.

FOCUS ON CONTENT

Your Instagram content doesn’t have to be overly produced, but it does need to be quality content. This means producing visuals that aren’t pixelated, are on brand and branded, provide value, etc. Even more, to get more Instagram followers your content needs to appeal to your target audience – which means you need to figure out what they like. If they like your content, they will follow you to see more.

BE SOCIAL

Social media should be social. If you are looking to get more Instagram followers like and comment on other brand and user content and follow other people. Instagram users are more likely to follow you if you follow them – it’s been proven. Try to follow people that would be part of your target audience. You can do this by looking at the types of accounts they follow and checking out the engagement on other content.

GET TO KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

Post and engage when your audience is on Instagram. You can figure this out if you have a business profile by looking at your Instagram analytics. If you don’t have a business profile, it will take some trial and error, but you can also consider when your competitors post their content and how engaged their followers are. If that doesn’t work, then you can use good old trial and error, but make sure you track when and what you are posting.

If you already have followers on Instagram, don’t be afraid to ask them what they want to see from you.

Lastly, consider creating a strategy to reach your target audience that is hyper local by using geotagging on your posts. Your content will be more visible to those that are local to you.

COLLABORATE WITH INFLUENCERS

A great way to expand your reach on Instagram if you don’t yet have a lot of followers (of if you do have a good number of followers and you just want more) is to engage Influencers as part of your strategy. This allows you to amplify your reach through their community of followers.

INCLUDE CALLS TO ACTION

Calls to action are one of the most important things to include in any of your marketing tactics. If you want more followers, ask people to follow you! Ask them to visit your profile. Tell them what you want from them so it creates a path of least resistance.

It can sometimes feel like you are screaming into a giant content vacuum on social media. And when you spend the time to create great visuals on Instagram you want them to be found by an engaged audience who will become customers. Getting more Instagram followers isn’t necessarily easy – it takes hard work and dedication – but it is doable.

Candace Huntly is Founding Partner at SongBird Marketing Communications, an award-winning agency working to take organizational and individual brands to the next level. With a passion for all things related to creativity and strategy, she specializes in business intelligence, marketing & branding, content strategy & development, media & influencer relations, and social media. Basically, if you need to put your brand, product, or cause in the public eye, she will find a way to do it, while making the approach unique to you.

Connect with Candace

Sign up for our free 20-minute consultation and we’ll help you figure things out.

A version of this article was originally posted to the SongBird Marketing Communications blog.

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10 Marketing tactics that aren’t worth the money…

A great marketing strategy is one of the most important investments you will make for your business. You won’t have customers or a growing loyal community unless people know who you are. Without customers, you won’t have a business at all. We have all heard the saying “you have to spend money to make money,” and this is true when it comes to your marketing strategy. But what should you spend your marketing budget on?

For tactics that are directly tied to sales, it is easier to figure out what your return on investment is, but there are tactics that bring you other benefits that aren’t tied directly to sales such as thought leadership, some forms of content marketing, social media community building, and others that lead to brand awareness and act as tools to help you achieve higher revenues when you use them correctly.

Marketing tactics to avoid

Regardless of what your marketing budget is, you want to make sure you spend your marketing dollars on the right tactics that will move your business in the right direction. There are so many things you could invest in, but here are ten marketing tactics that aren’t worth your money.

  1. A flashy, expensive website: A fancy website might seem like a good idea, but you should never sacrifice function for design. The most important thing on your website is that people can navigate through it properly and that you are providing enough valuable content and a way for them to get in touch with you.
  2. High volume content output: Quality is better than quantity. Blogging once per week with high value content is better than publishing a blog per day with boring content.
  3. Buying social media followers: Buying social media followers is never a good strategy. You would be spending money on something that would likely never turn into revenues. It is better to grow your audience organically, connecting with people who are potential customers and are highly engaged with your content.
  4. Social media ads… without a content strategy: As a marketing tactic, social media ads have become a necessity for certain platforms (we see you Facebook). However, there is no point in spending money on social media ads without making sure that when you send people to your page you have some great content on there for them to read. A content strategy will ensure that your social media ad spend will get you the results you want.
  5. Being on every social media platform: People think they need to be on as many platforms as possible so they can be found, but it doesn’t make sense to be on five social media platforms if you aren’t going to be active on all of them. It’s better to have a smaller digital footprint and be on one social media platform and do it really well than it is to be on many without success. Stick to whatever you can handle otherwise you won’t enjoy it and you just won’t do it.
  6. Having multiple accounts on one social media platform: For large corporations with multiple product lines and a marketing team, having multiple accounts on each social media platform could make sense. If you’re a small business, those multiple accounts cost you time and money. Chances are you won’t be able to maintain multiple accounts while providing any value for your audience. Consolidate into one account and create a solid content strategy that will help you get your message across.
  7. Print ads: Depending on your industry and target audience, print can be great. However, if you have a limited budget, print ads are the last thing you should be spending money on. They are expensive and it is harder for you to track their effectiveness. If you have a large marketing budget and you can allot a portion to print ads, then it is great – but make sure you have a way to track it.
  8. Untargeted paid digital ads: Ads are easy to get wrong without a strategy. If you are paying to reach people, take the time to target the right Otherwise you will waste your time and money. And if you don’t know who your target audience is, it’s time to step away from the paid ads and create your buyer personas to build a target audience that makes sense.
  9. Untargeted Direct Mailouts: It can be hard to make a case for direct mail these days in a digital world. While it might make sense in some industries depending on your target audience (maybe they’re just not that into social media!), most people just recycle those carefully designed materials when they show up in their mailbox or at the door. If you do choose to do a direct mail out, make sure you are targeting properly geographically and tactically. Only do it if it makes sense for your audience.
  10. Generic press releases: Press releases are a great way to keep track of official stakeholder announcements for corporate communications or general announcements. However, if you are looking to put together a media relations strategy, you should rely more on individualized pitches that are more story based so you can tailor your pitch to each media contact. Sending out a blanket press release won’t get you the coverage you are looking for.

Marketing doesn’t have to be expensive, but you should invest in a strategy that will allow you to grow your business successfully.

Candace Huntly is Founding Partner at SongBird Marketing Communications, an award-winning agency working to take organizational and individual brands to the next level. With a passion for all things related to creativity and strategy, she specializes in business intelligence, marketing & branding, content strategy & development, media & influencer relations, and social media. Basically, if you need to put your brand, product, or cause in the public eye, she will find a way to do it, while making the approach unique to you.

Connect with Candace

Sign up for our free 20-minute consultation and we’ll help you figure things out.

A version of this article was originally posted to the SongBird Marketing Communications blog.

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