Canadian Small Business Women

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2019 Marketing Strategy Planning Checklist

It’s year end. While for many that means a bit of a holiday break between Christmas and New Year’s as well as an end to the fiscal year, not enough business owners think about what it means for their marketing strategy. Year end is a great time for you to figure out what worked and what didn’t so you can set yourself up for success in 2019.

Here is a planning checklist to help you get your marketing strategy in order for 2019:

  • Market analysis: Start by identifying any trends that are driving growth in your industry. This will ensure you are keeping up with how your industry is shifting. Once you have identified how the industry is shifting, figure out what your competitors are up to with their marketing strategies and how your audience is responding to them.
  • Audit your brand: While you don’t need to go through a rebrand every year, you do need to make sure that your brand message is still relevant to your audience. It could be that you have changed your focus since the beginning of last year to follow industry trends, or perhaps you shifted your focus to cater to your audience’s changing needs.
  • Define your marketing goals: Before setting your goals for 2019, you need to identify whether you achieved your goals from last year. It’s the idea that you need to look back before looking forward. If you didn’t achieve your goals, figure out why and set more achievable goals for the upcoming year. If you did achieve your goals, make sure you are pushing yourself to go further in 2019. And remember to make your goals measurable so you can figure out when you are successful.
  • Set metrics: Once you have defined your marketing goals, you need to figure out how you will measure your success. If your goals were measurable, it’s a matter of selecting the appropriate metrics to track along the way. You also need to figure out how often you will prepare reports to measure your progress. At the very least, you should track your metrics once per month. If you are running an important tactic or trying something new, it might be good to do weekly check-ins.
  • Choose your tactics: Figure out how you will reach your target audience in 2019. It could be through things that are already in place, but perhaps you want to try something new. At this stage, think beyond your budget. You can include things on here that might be out of your budget now, but could be considered as future options.
  • Set your budget: Were you on budget in 2018? Perhaps there were things that cost more than you thought they would? Now that you can figure out the answers to those questions you can set your budget for your 2019 marketing strategy. Knowing what your goals are you should be able to pinpoint if there are areas you want to increase your spending. It’s important to be realistic about your marketing budget so you don’t spread yourself too thin, but you also want to give yourself enough of a budget to invest so you can achieve results that will allow you to grow.
  • Set your timeline: Prioritize your chosen tactics and select those that you can both afford to do and have time to do this year. Then create a timeline for the year of when you will use your chosen tactics. Basically, this is a snapshot of your overall marketing plan for the year.
  • Set milestones: Now that you have your overall plan in place and the timing of your marketing tactics, set smaller checkpoints along the way. This will help to keep you on track throughout the year. It will also indicate the steps needed to help you achieve your marketing goals.
  • Create your content strategy: Before developing a content strategy, you need to figure out how much you can handle. The idea is that you want to be consistent with the content you are putting out there. Your audience will come to expect certain things from you. Create an editorial calendar for your blogging and set up scheduling for your social media content.
  • Update your website: Year end is a great time for a content refresh on your website, especially if you have tweaked your brand messaging at all. You can also review the design of your website to make sure it is not out of date. It might just be time for a redesign!

A new year is a chance for you to start fresh for your marketing strategy, but you want to make sure you are starting off on the right foot.

Candace Huntly is Founder and Partner at SongBird Marketing Communications, an award-winning agency working to take company and expert 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

Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn/email/Website

Four ways to beat content marketing overwhelm

For many small business owners, trying to keep up with content marketing and social media as ways to grow business is a lesson in overwhelm that happens on a regular basis! It’s time for an intervention! There are a few simple steps you can take to break through the overwhelm and get content marketing working for you. Let’s look at a few (4) of those now:

Identify your goal

What are your goals for you content marketing? Having a goal of making more sales is way too broad and will lead to a sense of overwhelm. Instead, break that broad goal down into specific, measurable goals such as turning leads into customers or driving traffic to your website.

Get a strategy

It’s easy to fall into spending too many hours creating and posting content with no plan or strategy in place. For your content marketing to work well and to return the results you want and need, a solid strategy is required. Never create content for the sake of creating content – always have a strategy. Take the time to plan this important step.

Once you’ve identified who you are trying to reach, where they spend time online, what types of content they like and respond to and what you want them to do with it (like, share, join your mailing list, buy your product…) you’ll be able to design a strategy for meeting your marketing goals.

Make sure to gather leads

You’ve heard the one where social media has killed off email? Not so much. In fact, that’s simply not true.  Social media is great to build and strengthen relationships but aim to entice your followers to join your mailing list, as well. Not only does this make good business sense but it will also fight those feelings of overwhelm because your email list is an asset you own. Those frequent changes made by social media have no impact on your email list and nobody can take that away from you (as long as you regularly back up your data).

Outsource what you can

Before you think about outsourcing, it’s essential that you work out your strategy and goals beforehand. If you don’t you could end up paying someone to do work that has no benefit to your business. You can avoid this once you know exactly what needs to be done and how you’ll measure your results, you’ll find some tasks that would be better done by someone other than you. We know that overwhelm can be the result of too much work, but it can also come from trying to do work that isn’t using your strengths when you could be doing great work elsewhere.

Now take some time to look at your own content marketing – which areas could you work on to break through your sense of overwhelm?

 

Barbara Jemmott is the founder and business strategist at Your Entrepreneurial Spirit. Her 4-point YES to Customer Acquisition Program (C.A.P.) allows her to work her passion which is helping entrepreneurial women grow their audiences and income, online. She got here through her 20+ years of experience helping businesses understand and implement systems, strategies and procedures to increase productivity as well implement change and streamline operations. With experience and responsibilities to design, develop and deliver training for small to large technology training initiatives for Fortune 100 companies, she brings “Big Business” expertise to the small business space. Learn more about Your Entrepreneurial Spirit and the YES to Customer Acquisition Program at www.yourentrepreneurialspirit.com

Easy Summer Marketing Cheat Sheet

Now that the weather has us all hoping that the sunny, warm days will stay, you have some decisions to make when it comes to your summer marketing strategy. While it might be tempting to slow things down for the summer in favour of vacation time because “business slows down anyways,” you should consider kicking things up a notch for the summer or at least maintaining the momentum you have already built throughout the year. I could give you a million reasons why keeping up with your marketing is important throughout the summer months, but you can check out my top 5 reasons here.

What I want to focus on is how you can make the most of your summer marketing strategy by following this cheat sheet as you build out your strategy over the next month or so.

Here is an easy cheat sheet for your summer marketing strategy building – all of the nitty gritty details that you can check off your list on your way to success.

  • Status check: Figure out what you’re currently doing that is working and the things that just aren’t. Create a spreadsheet where you can list your metrics for success for each marketing tactic you have tried in 2018. Once you have it written down it makes it easier to see the big picture.
  • Review your goals/objectives: What were you looking to accomplish when you started your current strategy and how does it relate to your results? Did you reach your goals? If not, what held you back? Have your business priorities shifted?
  • Look ahead: What big announcements/milestones do you have coming up for the second half of the year?
  • What’s trending in your industry: Do an audit of social conversations, pop culture, and other channels to figure out what’s trending in your industry (and for your audience as a whole). How do these topics relate to your brand?
  • Identify unique summer opportunities: There are a lot of events and social activities that go on in the summer. List potential opportunities for you to get involved as a brand and/or organization. Some things to consider are: Partner with a non-competing business to offer summer promos that sweeten the deal; or get involved as a sponsor for a summer event to get your brand in front of your target audience. These types of opportunities are a great way to generate buzz in the media.
  • What’s on your wish list: Are there any marketing tactics that you haven’t ever implemented but you wish you could? For example: video marketing; experiential marketing; mobile tactics; etc.
  • Set your budget: Carve out a budget for summer-specific marketing initiatives – be realisitic.
  • Write it down: Build a document that outlines everything you are going to do this summer when it comes to your marketing. This includes tactics you are continuing from the first half of the year as well as anything new you want to try.
  • Identify milestones: Once you have decided on what you are doing, figure out when you will implement everything.
  • Think beyond summer: You should look to build momentum beyond your summer marketing strategy. Look at summer as a jumping off point for future success in the year.

Summer marketing doesn’t have to be expensive, and it shouldn’t be ignored. Shake off that sudden urge to slow down when it gets hot and sunny and use the summer to your advantage.

 

Candace Huntly is Founder and 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

Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn/email/Website

4 steps to changing up your marketing strategy for the better

Have you hit a plateau in your marketing efforts? You’re definitely not growing your business. Or maybe your business is falling short of your competitors and they are squeezing you out of the market. Whatever the case, it’s time for a marketing strategy change. Changing things up shouldn’t happen on a whim, and it should be a slow and steady process that you work through, otherwise you will likely find yourself in the same place six months from now, needing another big change.

The need for a marketing strategy change can be triggered by a number of different factors such as industry developments, audience needs, market trends, a change in service offerings, etc. As a business owner, you should be reviewing your marketing strategy at least on a quarterly basis to make sure you are staying on top of things.

Step 1: Identify gaps

Gaps are where there is a need that is not being met. You might be surprised at what you are missing if you aren’t listening intently to your audience. Here are some common gaps:

  • Lack of customer engagement
  • Slow customer service response times
  • Lack of product education
  • Missing skill set on your team to get the job done
  • Misaligned strategy and goals

Be honest with yourself about what is working and what isn’t. It makes it easier to identify these areas if you look at the data related to all aspects of your marketing. These are some common data touch points:

  • Social media engagement
  • Website traffic
  • Conversion rate (those who go from browsing to a sale)

Once you have identified where your marketing gaps are, figure out the solutions necessary to fill those gaps and let that be the foundation of your new marketing strategy.

Step 2: Set objectives

Your marketing strategy should fit within the bigger picture of your overall business strategy. Set your marketing objectives with this in mind so your marketing strategy will help you achieve your overall business objectives.

As you are setting your marketing strategy objectives, make sure that they are quantifiable, so you can measure your progress. You should also identify both short-term and long-term objectives.

Step 3: Set milestones

After setting both short-term and long-term objectives as well as identifying your tactical changes to your marketing strategy, build out a timeline to help you implement and track your success. You can always tweak the timeline as necessary, but it will keep you and your team on track. Be sure to include things like major deliverables, growth targets, and strategic decision deadlines.

Step 4: Execute and let it breathe

The hardest part about starting something new is waiting to see if it will work after you set it in motion. Depending on your goals (short-term vs. long-term), your strategy can take up to 6 months to see full results. Adjust your expectations and don’t start messing with your new strategy unless you know something isn’t working. In these cases, make sure you figure out why it isn’t working before creating a solution.

If you are ready to change up your marketing strategy, it’s important to realize that you likely have a good base to work from already. Don’t throw out your current marketing strategy, figure out how you can tweak it or build on it to make it better.

Candace Huntly is Founder and 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

Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn/email/Website

5 Big Marketing Mistakes for Small Business

As a small business owner, you need to make sure that you are using your resources in the best way possible. It can be easy to let things fall through the cracks, but you need to make sure that your marketing strategy is on track otherwise, it will be hard for you to succeed.

Here are six big marketing mistakes many small business owners make, whether they are just starting out or they have been in a business for a while and have hit a plateau in growth.

Targeting too broad an audience

As a small business owner, if your audience is too broad you will find that you go through your budget quickly and you won’t see great results because you are trying to reach too many people. Instead, conquer your audiences one niche at a time and let your reputation spread organically. If you do it right, your loyal customers will do your marketing for you. Focus on more grassroots and targeted initiatives to stretch your budget while getting bigger results. For example, you could run an influencer campaign to reach a small group of bloggers or other “celebrity” type influencers who will share your brand story with their audience. This helps you to amplify your marketing message while only marketing directly to a smaller group.

Not knowing where you fit into the competitive landscape

I have run into countless business owners (or those at the idea stage) that truly believe that they are the only one out there selling their product or service. While that might be true, chances are, you’re not first to the market with a product or service that is similar. And just because a company isn’t offering the exact same thing as you doesn’t mean that their similar product doesn’t have some of the same benefits. They may not be a direct competitor, but they are a competitor. Do your research before launching your business to see what else is out there that is similar. To ensure that you stay on top of industry developments, you should be constantly looking for new players in your market to see where your product fits into the industry and why your customers and target audience should buy what you are selling over your competitors.

No big picture strategy

Your marketing strategy needs to be carefully planned out in advance so you can see how all of the elements fit together. You can set yourself up for success better if your marketing objectives tie directly into your business objectives. Develop detailed timelines for each tactic you are looking to implement over the next year and set milestones to measure your success by. Keep in mind that this doesn’t have to be a rigid planning document. You can adjust your timelines and the overall strategy as you go as needed. But it will act as a guide to keep your marketing strategy moving in the right direction.

Not starting early enough

A common mistake many small business owners make is not starting early enough. This has to do with both planning and marketing for specific initiatives. Unless you have an unlimited budget that will allow for you to create a massive spectacle that can’t be missed (ie. Public stunts in multiple cities, or one major public stunt that is larger than life) you want to make sure people know what’s coming so they can get excited for it and start helping you build buzz. For example, if you are planning your product launch for September, you need to start planning in detail in June (at least!) and start talking about it publicly – even as a teaser at least a month in advance. Another example would be if you plan to run a holiday gift guide campaign where you intend to be included in media gift guides. For certain media, you need to start that in August.

If you are bringing in a third party to execute your strategy (like an agency), bring them in at the beginning and figure out the best timeline for success. You might think you are saving money by bringing them in later, but in reality, you are just cutting your success short.

Starting out free gets your name out there

This is a highly discussed topic. Sometimes people think that giving away your products/services for free in the beginning will mean that you will gain more exposure. While you might get more exposure, it’s not generally the kind you should be looking for because you are severely undervaluing yourself. In many cases, once people get something for free, they will continue to expect free, which doesn’t help you in growing your revenues. The first thing I tell brands/experts is to stop working for free just for exposure.

The only time giving your product/services away for free is acceptable is if it is part of a larger media strategy where you will get third party reviews from credible sources. This type of exposure can be very helpful in amplifying your brand message because you are tapping into their networks and building trust. It is also ok to choose a small test group of customers at the beginning for market research to get feedback on your product/service, but it should end there. Giving severe discounts and freebies to everyone in the beginning is going to make it difficult to start charging what you’re actually worth.

 

Candace Huntly is Founder and 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

Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn/email/Website

Setting New Year’s Marketing Goals You Can Actually Accomplish

A new year means a fresh a start, right? When it comes to your business, December is a perfect time to strategize for the year ahead, especially for your marketing strategy. The problem is, it’s really hard to set marketing goals that make sense for your business while driving it forward to help you grow throughout the year.

Before you can strategize for the year ahead, it’s always best to look back to see what you have accomplished in the past year. Using simple metrics, you can track your progress. Reflect on what worked, what didn’t work, and what your best marketing moments were for the year. That will shape how you move forward in this process. You should always focus on whether your marketing strategy in the past year helped you reach your business objectives for the year. If it didn’t, then setting your goals for 2018 will be especially important.

To help you follow through, your marketing goals for 2018 should:

  • Reflect on your overall business objectives – you are building your business through marketing.
  • Be measurable – you won’t know if you have achieved your goal if you can’t measure it.

Here are a few goals to consider as you are preparing your 2018 marketing strategy.

Cut the fluff from your strategy

Build a solid strategic foundation by figuring out what’s working and what’s not. If something isn’t working, set it aside. You can always revisit a strategy later if the timing is better. By eliminating tactics that don’t work you’re freeing up resources (time and money) to invest in other tactics. Cutting things from your marketing strategy might be the easiest thing to accomplish because you are saving time and money rather than spending it!

Identify the time and budget resources you can allocate to other marketing projects throughout the year.

Engage daily on social media

Social media isn’t something you say you are going to do and then log in once per week. It takes commitment, but you should be engaging with your followers and potential follower on a daily basis. This is how you will build relationships with customers and potential customers online. If you can’t commit the time to social media (at least 15 minutes per day), consider hiring a third party to build your social media strategy. Your success depends largely on your ability to create dialogue among your community, and social media is a great way to connect with large numbers of people at once.

Make sure you track your increasing engagement through specific and measurable metrics such as brand mentions, retweets/shares, Likes, Review ratings, etc.

Drive traffic to your website

Your website should be an information hub for your brand, and if you are selling products on your website, then traffic is even more important. Customers should be able to navigate across your online channels easily, and all roads should lead back to your website. Post new content regularly to your social channels (ie. Blogs, product reviews) that links back to your website. If you are running a sale, change the link in your Instagram profile and drive people to that link in your promo posts.

Track metrics such as website traffic numbers and your click through rate.

Try something you haven’t tried before

It’s easy to get stuck in a marketing rut. Maybe you’re afraid of change, or perhaps you were just burnt out, but success usually lives outside of your comfort zone. Sometimes that means learning about something new or really getting to know what your audience likes. You will start to see business growth when you push your own personal boundaries as a business owner. This will also help to create new touchpoints for your customers to experience your brand. For example, if you have focused a lot of your energy on social media and digital marketing tactics, try something experiential to hit a targeted geographical group.

Make sure you choose metrics to measure the success of your new tactic. If it is successful, continue doing it, if not, there is no point in wasting the resources.

Your marketing goals for 2018 should make you feel a little uncomfortable, but they should also excite you. It is a good combination when you are building your strategy. Your audience will appreciate you taking the time to see your relationship with them through a fresh perspective and it gives you the opportunity to stay on your toes in business.

Candace Huntly is Founder and 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

Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn/email/Website

North Aware Founder Jamil Khan Gives Inside Look at Kickstarter Crowdfunding

north aware - jamil kahn - kickstarter - smartparka

People who live in cold climates need outerwear to protect them from often harsh elements. Jamil Khan lives in Canada and has experienced his share of frigid winters. That was the driving force behind his idea to found North Aware, an apparel company that came out last year with the Smart Parka – the first winter coat to include built-in gloves, a removable liner, length extension and separate pockets for your hat, glasses, and technology.

“People who live in cold weather understand a good coat is a necessity, not a luxury,” Jamil Khan explains. “You need to know your winter coat will protect you.”

Taking his idea from concept to reality, however, was challenging to say the least. The first hurdle he had to cross was to secure start up capital, and for this reason, he turned to Kickstarter, a popular crowdfunding platform.

“Our product was really well-suited for the platform,” Khan says. “The Kickstarter community is very supportive of new products.”

North Aware’s Kickstarter campaign, which was launched in January of 2016 and ran until late March, raised over $3.25 million, more money than any other crowdfunding campaign in Canadian history, in fact. With an original goal of generating $30,000 in start up capital, it’s safe to say the results of the campaign exceeded Khan and North Aware’s wildest expectations.

However, North Aware’s story is far from typical and the vast majority of Kickstarter campaigns fail to reach their initial funding goals. While Khan was genuinely amazed by the positive response, he is quick to acknowledge a host of factors that contributed to the campaign’s success.

“Prior to launching our campaign, we advertised on different platforms to build momentum,” Khan said. After building a base of interested subscribers, the North Aware team contacted them to promote the campaign launch. Once the campaign launched, word spread rapidly, with people sharing it with their friends and social networks at an unprecedented rate.

“We reached our goal on the second day. It felt great, but it was a mixture of joy and responsibility. We immediately got busy taking the campaign to the next level,” he explains. “We really didn’t have time to celebrate.”

The campaign continued to raise funds at record breaking speed, but there were some pitfalls along the way.

Launching a successful Kickstarter campaign is “a learning process, all along the way,” Khan adds. “Whatever you do, the first time you will do it wrong. Don’t be afraid of mistakes.”

Khan says that the majority of backers pledged their support in the last ten days, with the bulk of supporters hailing from Toronto and New York.

“If you look at our photos and videos on the site, they’re all set in metropolitan areas,” Khan says, a marketing decision he explained was intentional. Additionally, all of the photography and videography used as part of the Kickstarter campaign was professional in nature, another conscious choice.

“With Kickstarter, it’s really important how you present photos and videos. Do it professionally. Spend time on how you display your products.”.

Obviously pleased by the overwhelming success of North Aware’s campaign, Khan would “absolutely recommend Kickstarter for people starting out” trying to market a new product.

“Kickstarter is great for publicity. You can start playing with the big boys right away,” he says, which isn’t necessarily true of other funding sources.

Khan’s advice to those considering a Kickstarter campaign is “to create a really good product people need and want,” and then “get the word out anyway you can, as quickly as you can. If you have 100 ways to get the word out, you do all of them.”

 

Employee vs. Contractor

In most cases you hire someone to work for you and you put them on payroll. You pay their taxes, CPP, EI and it is a fairly straight forward process. But what if someone comes to you only part of the time, or they are hired for a specific purpose only, how do you handle those individuals?  Many of these part-timers or “occasional” workers are being treated as contractors which means they are not going on your payroll, you are not deducting CPP/EI/Income Taxes. Instead, they are invoicing you for their time, maybe even charging you HST (which you get to claim back!), and you treat them like an operating expense vs. salaries and payroll.

So what is the big deal? In the eyes of the CRA it is a huge deal. They lose out on CPP & EI contributions and receive less income taxes too!

So how can employers help make the right choices? Ask the following questions:

  • How much control does this individual have on their own activities? If you’re dictating what they have to do (i.e. giving them tasks and deliverables and reviewing their work)
  • Do you provide the tools and equipment (computer, phone, equipment)
  • Can that individual subcontract the work or hire their own assistants?
  • How much financial risk is the person taking?
  • How responsible is the worker for their deliverables?
  • Is there an opportunity for the worker to profit?
  • Other factors such as the written contract

All of these individually and combined, as well as the stated intention, is considered in the choice of employee vs contractor.

Let’s take a look at an example:

I need help with my marketing. Person X is great for the job.

Employee à Person X is going to work from my office 2 days a week from 9-3, on my computer, I am purchasing the marketing software, there is no fixed amount of work but they will be told on an on-going basis what we need (e.g. I am telling Person X to write me 5 blogs, 2 Facebook posts with content relating to ABC), I am reviewing that content. Person X is more likely than not an employee and I should put Person X on my payroll.

Contractor à If Person X can choose to work from home OR my office until the work is done, have their own laptop and software, and I am paying them for a package of 5 blogs and 2 Facebook posts, and I approve the final content. Person X could be considered a contractor.

Each scenario needs to be evaluated accordingly. If you are unsure take a look at how similar positions are being treated.

 

 

 

“Behind Every Great Business is a Great Accountant”

For more information on how to keep your business tax efficient, or to get a consultation on whether you are making all the right tax choices for your business, contact Dharna CPA. www.dharnacpa.ca. Info@dharnacpa.ca

Put Some Emotion Into Your Marketing

Emotions can be a powerful thing in business when it comes to marketing. Think about it. If you feel emotionally connected to something or someone, you invest more time and money into that thing or person. Why wouldn’t you want to tap into that power when it comes to your brand?

Everything you do when it comes to selling your brand story should be tapped into emotion to make a stronger connection with your audience.

Here are 5 ways to use emotions to build out your marketing and PR strategy:

Focus on the human aspect of your story

The media hears about so many different businesses, big and small, new and established. You have to set yourself apart from everyone else. Find a human interest story to focus on when you are pitching the media. All of a sudden the story becomes more than a business pitch – you have a living, breathing, feeling focus that your audiences can relate to and become invested in.

Be human

You do so much work to build your brand character so you can’t forget that you should interact with your audience like you’re interacting with a friend.

When in doubt, think nostalgia

Nostalgia will always be a good thing to tap into when you are trying to emotionally connect with your audience. The notion of the “good old days” brings on an array of emotions, and if you have done your homework on your target audience, then you will know what they are nostalgic about. Whether it’s Toys R Us getting their audience to think about never growing up or Tim Horton’s nostalgia over national pride, those are the campaigns that stand out.

Avoid fear

While “prankvertising” and other public stunts that invoke fear in audiences have become popular over the past few years, you have to stop and think how it will affect your brand. For some, playing on the negative side of emotions is great – if your audience is into that sort of thing. Fear as part of a marketing strategy works if you are launching a horror movie, an exhilarating extreme sports campaign, or a provocative public safety ad (PSA). Before having someone dressed as a demon jump out of a TV screen or have someone free fall towards earth from space, think long and hard whether it a) fits within your brand story and messaging and b) will draw people into your brand rather than repel it.

Think Seasonally

Throughout the year, there are holidays and special celebrations that are focused on specific emotions. Why not join in the discussion that is already happening and tap into those emotions people are already feeling. Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, so you can focus on love and how that would fit into your brand story.

Candace Huntly is the Founder and Principal 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

Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn/email/Website

Doing Business Online – Your Website and Legal Notices

 

The theme of globalization that took center stage at the Canadian Small Business Women’s Expos in 2016 made one thing very, very clear – for small businesses, our communication HQ for reaching the rest of the world is our website.

While most of us are great at talking about our offerings and communicating our brand online, taking the time to set out certain legal notices, demonstrates how seriously we take our business and emphasizes what makes it unique. Drafted and presented properly, such notices can even take on the character of a binding contract between users and your business.

Here is an overview of the kinds of legal notices that should be considered for every website:

 

  1. Terms of Use – These are notices, which let web surfers know the ground rules for using your website by setting expectations with respect to the use of information and other content on your site. Different terms of use may be noted on various pages or footers, and/or consolidated on a separate page of your site. At a minimum, you need to notify users that the content of your website is: i) for their personal use only, and not for commercial application; and ii) intended for general informational purposes and not as advice that can be necessarily applied to their personal circumstances. You also need to provide notice about your intellectual property (IP) rights and the rights of others you have permission to use in connection with your business and site (such as trademarks and copyrights). If you provide links to the websites of others, it is a good idea to also remind users of your website that you are not responsible for the content of other sites which you do not control.
  2. Privacy Policy – This is a policy which every business needs to have to be able to describe for stakeholders, among other things and in accordance with applicable legislation: i) what personal information is collected and for what purpose; ii) how an individual may provide and withdraw its consent for the business to the use its personal information; and iii) how the business collects and safeguards personal information.  In Ontario, most businesses collecting personal information are subject to the FederalPersonal Information Privacy and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). Especially, if collecting personal information through its website, a business should provide notice of its privacy policy online, either as part of its consolidated Terms of Use, or on a separate page.  The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada offers guidance and a tool kit to help businesses comply with PIPEDA at https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/privacy-topics/privacy-laws-in-canada/the-personal-information-protection-and-electronic-documents-act-pipeda/pipeda-compliance-help/guide_org/.
  1. Marking Intellectual Property Rights – Every business website is likely to include copyrighted content and present its content using various branding elements, such as a logo and word marks to distinguish various service and product offerings for the benefit of customers. In addition, business offerings may have other IP rights associated with them, such as industrial design registrations and patent rights.  Making users aware of these rights by marking them where they appear helps you communicate to users what is unique to your business and makes it easier to prove that someone who misappropriates these rights had notice of them. Furthermore, if you are using IP rights, such as copyrighted content and trademarks with the permission of others it is best to include specific attribution regarding those rights, unless otherwise agreed to with the rights holder(s).

Marking IP rights is a shorthand way of giving notice of the existence of such rights.  A basic copyright notice at the footer of every webpage using the ‘©’symbol and using the ‘TM’ and ‘®’ symbols to denote unregistered and registered trademark rights, respectively, will be familiar to many business owners. Similar shorthand ways of denoting industrial design and patent rights also exist.  It is important to be aware that different countries may have different rules for how to properly apply IP markings to ensure that rights holders are not being misleading about the rights they have, or otherwise engaging in anti-competitive conduct. Given that websites transcend jurisdictional boundaries, understanding these rules in the markets you are targeting with your website is something every business owner needs to learn about, or seek the advice of a legal professional.

Providing conspicuous and clear legal notices such as those outlined above is a pillar of a B2B and B2C communication strategy that leads to mutually beneficial business relationships. It lets the public, potential business partners and competitors know you are aware of, and value your legal rights, as well as the legal rights of others.

If you would like to find out more about how to draft and create legal notices for your website, study the notices used by IP savvy businesses on their websites and consider consulting a lawyer to review the language of your notices and IP markings to make sure you are achieving the benefits that these notices offer.

Ariadni Athanassiadis is the lead attorney of Kyma Professional Corporation, which provides intellectual property (IP) legal services to help your business develop and benefit from the creative efforts and assets that make it distinctive. Whether it is your brand, product, services, designs, technology or business processes, Ariadni can help design IP legal solutions which let you make the most of what you give to your business.

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Ariadni Athanassiadis

Kyma Professional Corporation

T: 613-327-7245

E: ariadni@kymalaw.com

W: www.kymalaw.com

Is your business ready for 2017? 5 Social Media Predictions for the New Year

Kelly Farrell - Teach Me Social -headshot (2)

Wow! 2016 has flown past, and the changes in Social Media have been absolutely mind-blowing! Live video streaming has completely exploded, new apps have come and gone while Facebook has grown to over 1.7 Billion users worldwide and is now thinking far beyond the “like” with multiple “reactions” available now to respond to posts on your newsfeed.

Keeping an eye on the trends can really help us pinpoint where the world of social media marketing is headed as we get ready for 2017. Below are my top 5 things to keep in mind as you are planning out your social media strategy and budget for the next year.  

1. Video

Don’t ignore the rise of video as the world continues to get smaller, information is being consumed faster and in visual formats. Find new ways to engage your followers with exciting videos featuring behind-the scenes interviews or previews. Most video is watched without sound, so take the time to add captions to your videos (either yourself pre-upload, or using the built-in caption tools from Facebook or YouTube.

2. Private Messaging

Consumers want direct access to brands and they want it now! Keep an eye on evolving options on private messaging apps to help you business connect directly with your followers. Facebook Messenger is becoming increasingly popular with both customers and brands for on-demand customer services. Twitter and Instagram also have direct messaging features that allow followers to ask questions. Keep in mind that social media users expect a reply in less than an hour – so make sure you have someone on-call to answer those inquiries when they come in!

3. Mobile First

With over 76% of Canadians owning a smartphone and over 50% of Google searches happening on these devices, make sure your website and social media are mobile friendly! If you aren’t sure if your website is mobile-ready, you can run a quick check at https://search.google.com/search-console/mobile-friendly . For social media, you will want to make sure your links and images show up nicely on mobile phones. On mobile, videos are usually viewed without sound, so be sure to add captions!

4. Pay-to-Play

Advertising space online is limited, and organic reach on all social media platforms is decreasing daily. Be prepared to spend more $$ to get your products and services in front of the right audiences. Social networks are meant to be social, so it makes sense that promotional content needs to be paid for, just as it is on any media publication. Small businesses can still afford to pay-to-play on social though, providing enough time is spent to set up proper targeting and content for social ads.

5. Focus & Plan

Don’t try to do everything. Focus on where your target market is most likely to consume your content and engage with your brand. Spend your time developing content that reflects your brand message and adds value to the social network where you spend your time. If social media plays a large role in your marketing plans, it may make sense to outsource the community management or advertising on social to an expert that can achieve higher results in less time, thus leaving you with more time to do what you love!

To learn more about how to maximize the effectiveness of your Facebook marketing efforts, schedule a complimentary consultation with Teach Me Social. Teach Me Social owner Kelly Farrell has been helping empower Canadian Small Businesses through social media since 2012. Teach Me Social offers effective social media services which include training sessions and consulting as well as full-service social media account management.

Why we hate MLM companies and any other direct seller business

Jemi

Nobody likes to be sold to. When we hearing the word “selling” of any kind, we turn our head away and run. The truth of the matter is, we are being sold through marketing everywhere we go. Everything from our clothing, cars, and even our toothpaste all has been marketed to us.  Why are we so hesitant to buy from a MLM company or any direct seller?

Direct sellers- Don’t have the marketing budget as big companies do and have to work harder to get through your door than an average company. By work harder, I mean that their frontline (Your Avon lady) needs to find you (the consumer) and teach you about her products. Bigger companies like Home Depot and Wal-Mart have big commercials and advertising teams that send their marketing message to you so that you will choose their brand over the competition. This marketing message comes to you in different forms like; TV, radio, print newspaper, social media sponsored ads.  Direct sellers only have brochures, a website, and themselves to send that same message to you. You see the seller as a seller, whereas a big corporation, you see a message.

Many MLM companies have started as a scamming business that looks legit in the beginning but have con many hardworking citizens. Some of these companies made millions misleading others and has made national news staining the MLM community. Not all multi-level businesses are schemes but because we have heard about horrible stories, we are forever tainted.

Most consumers don’t know that MLM are more often just like the companies we work for. There is a CEO that overlooks the company as a whole that delegates to a board, those delegates to managers, and those delegates to the frontline workers. This CEO makes the most money because they usually hold the most profit share and the bottom line business reflects their pocket size.  The difference between them and our direct sellers, is that these direct sellers are able to work hard and reap the financial benefits that come along with it, where in a corporation, they work on a wage.

Our direct sellers are our neighbours, friends, and family that are trying to make a little extra money to get out of debt, create savings, or have a dream that they cannot achieve in the standard 9-5 job. Many of these corporations do not give their frontline workers the bonuses or even benefits that they need in order to sustain a comfortable living. Direct sellers need to work harder to gain your trust and attention so that they can make a dollar. We as people don’t like being misled or sold to. We as people need time to trust a company or product before purchasing. Make an informed decision before choosing one over the other.

 

Jemi Smith guest blogs on numerous websites and owns a mom community website called momsgotodurham.com. She has a passion for business and marketing and is raising two young boys under 3. You can e-mail her at jemiechevarria@gmail.com or call her at (647)785-5851

 

How to Take a Vacation From Your Marketing

CHuntly

As a business owner, the most important thing you can do for yourself is take a break. It also happens to be the hardest thing to do if you are trying to run your business because the moment you go silent on the marketing front you will lose audience interest.

With the holidays right around the corner, it is the perfect time to take a breather from 24/7 entrepreneur brain. Taking both a physical and a mental break from your business (even if it’s a staycation) will help you avoid burn out.

If you’re looking to take some time off this holiday season, don’t let your marketing efforts suffer. Here are a few things to consider to keep that momentum going throughout your time away.

  1. Blog early: You should have a regular posting schedule for your blogs so your audience can come to expect content at a certain time. Keep that schedule going while you are away by writing your blogs ahead of time. Most blogging platforms will allow you to schedule each blog to go live at a specific day or time.
  2. Automation is your best friend: This requires a bit of planning, but if you work ahead of time, you can schedule content to go out while you are away. Work with a program like Hootsuite, Buffer, Mailchimp, etc. Try to stay away from the bots that automatically like and comment on posts as those can seem too contrived.
  3. Delegate tasks: If you already have a team in place, make sure you put someone in charge while you are away. Empower them to make decisions without you, but let them know that you are available for emergencies. If you are a solopreneur, hire someone you trust to look after things while you are gone. Start working with them at least a few weeks in advance so they are fully comfortable while you are away.
  4. Prioritize tasks: Not everything has to be done right now. Have a look through your to do list and rank everything by due dates. If there are things that need to get done before you leave, then get them done. If you have tasks with no due date or ones with later due dates, leave those to get done when you get back.

After taking some time for yourself, you will find that you return more refreshed, which usually leads to more energy to put into your business. Taking time away from your business will allow you to approach your business from a new perspective. It will make you a better business owner – and your marketing strategy doesn’t have to suffer.

Candace Huntly is the Founder and Principal 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

Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn/email/Website

Get organized for 2017

2017-workbook

Tips for Holiday Marketing on Social Media

 

Kelly Farrell - Teach Me Social -headshot (2)

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Social media is all a-twitter with holiday promotions, holiday party selfies and businesses competing for your business and spreading holiday joy! The social media world can become a very noisy place during the holidays, but here are a few ways you can ensure your small business can stay ahead of the crowd.

Hashtags

Using holiday trending hashtags can keep your business visible among your target audience. Choose hashtags that your target market is already using or might be following. By providing content that aligns with the current conversations on social media you can ensure that your brand will not be forgotten when people create their holiday wish lists.

Seasonal trends

Stay tuned to what’s trending this season and share content that shows your brand is in-the-know when it comes to what people are talking about.

Visual aids

Getting noticed is all about standing out. Create captivating graphics for your social media posts and blogs that are sure to grab people’s attention and make them want to click. (lighting, graphics, design, colours)

Ads / promotions

Social media ads are the most effective way to grab the attention of potential customers. You can create custom audiences of people who may have already visited your site or may already be on your mailing list. This allows you to focus directly on an audience who is already familiar with your brand and thus more likely to follow through with a sale.

Use email

Email is still the most effective way to follow up with customers and potential customers. Many email clients can connect with your online store to help you follow up with website visitors who may have “window-shopped” without finishing their order.  Try sending exclusive coupon codes to your email list for special holiday offers.

Above all, remember that there are real people on the other side of the network who are just as busy as you are this time of year. Present them with solutions to solve their problems and make their life easier. Stay social and engage with your audience online through relatable, interesting and engaging posts and make sure to take time to answer back!

To learn more about how to maximise the effectiveness of your Facebook marketing efforts, schedule a complimentary consultation with Teach Me Social. Teach Me Social owner Kelly Farrell has been helping empower Canadian Small Businesses through social media since 2012. Teach Me Social offers effective social media services which include training sessions and consulting as well as full-service social media account management.

Don’t Do Marketing & PR… Until you can answer these 5 questions

CHuntly

Marketing & Public Relations (AKA PR) should be an important part of your outreach strategy. After all, PR is defined as interacting with your public, and you need to do that to communicate your brand message to your audience. If you’re not trying to communicate with your audience, you are relying too heavily on the “if you build it they will come” strategy. In a world of social media and other online channels as well as all of the visual and informational bombardment on a day-to-day basis face-to-face, there is too much noise in the marketplace to wait for someone to notice you. You need to initiate the connection.

It can be tempting to jump on the first opportunity you see to get your brand “out there” without thinking too much beyond that you just want people to see you. However, just because it is the latest and greatest idea doesn’t mean it is the right one for your business.

You have a lot of options available to you when it comes to marketing and PR. The challenge for you as a small business owner is to pick the right options that will give you the highest return on your investment (of time AND money!).

Here are a few things you need to get straight before you jump on that latest and greatest idea you came across:

  1. What do you do? Be able to identify in detail what product or service you are selling.
  2. Who would be interested in what you have to offer? When you can answer this question, you will have identified your target audience.
  3. Why would your target audience want what you have to offer? This is an important step often skipped by entrepreneurs who are launching a business. You need to be able to articulate – in writing and when you are speaking to people – what makes your product/service so great. Along the same lines, identify what sets you apart from your competitors.
  4. Where does your target audience congregate? Do a bit of research to find out where they get their information from, what organizations they belong to, their social media habits, and what their buying habits are.
  5. What are your goals? Once you have identified who you are and who would be interested in what you have to offer, you need to set goals so you can identify what a successful marketing & PR campaign would look like for you. Is it sign ups? Website traffic? Awareness?

Once you have answered these five questions, you can sit down and use the information to decide what kind of marketing & PR strategy you should run. Your audience and your goals will dictate what channels you use to reach out and your product/service offering and differentiators will help you determine what type of content and messaging to use on each channel.

While it means you need to invest more time in the beginning to help set yourself on the right track, it is worth it in the long-term.

Candace Huntly is the Founder and Principal 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

Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn/email/Website

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