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#DigiBlogChat Video Clips and Marketing November 7

November 6, 2023 By Carol Stephen Leave a Comment

#DigiBlogChat Video Clips and Marketing November 7 | Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

We’re talking about Video Clips and Marketing this Tuesday! Do join us on Twitter (now “X”) on Tuesday, November 7, 2023 at 1:00 pm Pacific Standard Time for #Digiblogchat!

Join us each Tuesday from 1:00 through 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time, 10pm CST (most of W. Europe), 9pm + WEST (UK + Portugal), 4pm ET (Eastern). My partner for these chats is @LazBlazter. If you need to know how to participate, click here: How to Join #DigiBlogChat. P.S. Don’t forget to add the #digiblogchat hashtag!

Here are the questions:

Q1. Why do short video clips on Tik Tok or Instagram influence users to engage with content? #Digiblogchat

Q2. What types of video content are the most engaging for users, e.g. product or action segments? #Digiblogchat

Q3. How can a business embed branding in video clips, should it be part of the content or in the links? #Digiblogchat

Q4. What are best practices for optimizing video content, taking account of formats etc, and does it vary between Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok and X? #Digiblogchat

Q5. How do search engine and platform algorithms impact ranking and visibility of video content over other content? #Digiblogchat

Q6. What would you consider good ethical considerations for producers of video clips and is that affected by variations in platform policy and guidance? #Digiblogchat

Q7. In what ways have live streaming and story platforms like Snapchat and Instagram changed the dynamic for video content producers? #Digiblogchat

Q8. How do user-generated video clips challenge professional content creators? #Digiblogchat

Q9. Is #AI capability on new smart devices, e.g. like cell phones, a game changer and should this refocus intellectual property considerations? #Digiblogchat

Q10. Where does storytelling fit in terms of the short video clip, is it still significant and worth creating? #Digiblogchat

Filed Under: Digiblogchat questions Tagged With: DigiBlogChat, marketing, video

#DigiBlogChat November 22, 2022 Topic: Gratitude Marketing with @RandyLyleClark

November 18, 2022 By Carol Stephen Leave a Comment

Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/huoadg5888-8934889/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=4415649">huoadg5888</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=4415649">Pixabay</a>

The topic for Tuesday, November 22, 2022 is Gratitude Marketing with @RandyLyleClark! Image by huoadg5888 from Pixabay

The topic for Tuesday, November 22, 2022 is Gratitude Marketing with @RandyLyleClark! Join us on Twitter each Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. PDT for #DigiBlogChat. My partner for these chats is @LazBlazter. If you need to know how to participate, click here: How to Join #DigiBlogChat. P.S. Don’t forget to add the #digiblogchat hashtag!

Here are the questions:

Q1. What is Gratitude Marketing?

Q2. How can a business creatively show gratitude to customers?

Q3. Can a business show gratitude to a community? How?

Q4. How can an organization show gratitude to employees?

Q5. How can a company show gratitude to a prospect who didn’t make a purchase?

Q6. Is it a good idea to show gratitude to a consumer who points out a flaw or mistake? Why?

Q7. Can a business overdo gratitude marketing especially over the holidays? Examples, please.

Q8. How can promotional products be used to show gratitude?

Q9. How can transparency and honesty show an organization’s gratitude?

Q10. Share something you and your business are grateful for.

Filed Under: Digiblogchat questions Tagged With: DigiBlogChat, gratitude, marketing

How Gratitude Marketing Helps Your Business Be Powerful

November 17, 2022 By Carol Stephen 2 Comments

Although it’s easy to be negative right now given all the strangeness on social media, this time in November is all about gratitude because Thanksgiving. So for the purposes of this blog post, I’m going to try to stay positive. We’ll see how long that lasts! After all, Twitter is having issues, and Meta has also had a massive layoff. In fact, all over Silicon Valley, there are layoffs and rumors of layoffs, too.

Counter the negativity with gratitude marketing

What’s good about your business? Here’s some help thinking of a few things. First of all, you’re still in business, am I right? So that’s a big thank you to the universe–for keeping your business afloat after Covid (and many say it’s still here, but it’s not the same as it was a couple of years ago). So congratulate yourself just for staying in the game all this time!

Thank friends every day

Your business has a lot of people who help, even if you may not know who they are. For instance, the store where you buy your supplies. Who ships your products to you? Try to find out, and thank them. Or the guy who helps you when you get stuck with technical issues? An article in Entrepreneur states that gratitude is the best marketing plan ever. And probably you have collaborators, too. Those are also good people to thank. I’ve written about supporting your friends while supporting yourself before. You might like to read it.

Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/bogitw-851103/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=877121">Gerhard Bögner</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=877121">Pixabay</a>

How Gratitude Marketing Helps Your Business Be Powerful | Image by Gerhard Bögner from Pixabay

Give good reviews

For the most part, I’d rather give someone a good review than a bad review any day. If a business has bad service, I’d rather vote with my feet, as they say, and not go back. But for the ones with good customer service? They really appreciate good reviews on Google or Yelp. After all, people read those reviews! That kind of review isn’t something that’s easy to come by. Sites like Amazon or even your local grocery store are always wanting you to tell them how you feel. Did you like the product? How was the service? They want to know! Good reviews are priceless.

Read what others do to improve their gratitude marketing

There are lots of examples out there of people who use gratitude marketing. For instance, here’s an article about the Power of Gratitude in Marketing, from Duct Tape Marketing. What I like about the article is it goes beyond saying thank you, and also focuses on the benefits to your business. Another great idea from the article? Thanking your social media fans when you reach certain milestones. I’ve seen people do this on YouTube and Twitter.

What are the other benefits of gratitude (in marketing or in your life)?

When I think about expressing my own gratitude, it always gives me warm fuzzy feelings. If feelings could be warm and fuzzy, that is. And studies show that gratitude, as a practice, helps you be healthier. What benefits has gratitude marketing made in your business?

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: gratitude, marketing

How to Write a Perfectly Fine Blog Post in an Hour!

August 2, 2018 By Carol Stephen 2 Comments

Actually, you can write a perfectly fine blog post in 20 minutes, but here we’ll talk about one that takes an hour. For the ones I’ve written in 20 minutes, those usually have no images, and they’re somewhat limited by the amount of research I do, too. If you’re feeling tired and uninspired, you might want to read this article first: Content Creation: How to Inspire Yourself When You’re Tired.

Start with the Headline

Getting the headline done is the hard part. Really. After that, it’s all downhill. Choosing the subject is what takes the most time. So don’t spend too much time. Use Coscheduler’s Headline tool to help you. I try to get a headline that’s in the “green.” You don’t want it too long or too short.

Done, Not Perfect

One thing that’s important to keep in mind if you’re writing quickly, is that it won’t be perfect! But it will get done. So if you’re planning to write something that’s fast, you can definitely do it. If you’re a perfectionist, this might be the most difficult part for you, not the headline. But keep the goal in mind of finishing, not writing and rewriting ten times. If you think you’re a perfectionist, you might want to read this short article on perfectionism by Psychology Today.

You’re Allowed to Repeat Topics

Yes, you are. For instance, I wrote about this very topic before here: How to Create a Wonderful Blog Post in One Hour. But you know what? What I write today and what I wrote then will be different. And your audience won’t be the same, either.

Add Outgoing and Incoming Links

Add a few links. I like to add two outgoing and two incoming links–two links to my own blog and two to outside blogs or articles. Of course, you’ll need to read or at least scan those other links for accuracy and to make sure they support your premise.

Add An Image and Some Tags

I like ImageInject for free images, which is a nifty plugin that also includes the attribution to the image for you. Or, if you have someone to help you, that’s also a wonderful option! Adding tags can be done in probably under a minute.

Done for You

If it’s still too much pressure, shoot me an email or connect with me on social media. I’d be glad to help!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: blog post in an hour, done not perfect, marketing, writing, writing quickly

How to Write Headlines that Will Help You Reach Introverts

October 5, 2017 By Carol Stephen 6 Comments

How to Write Headlines that Will Help You Reach Introverts

Keep Your Promise

That’s not so difficult, is it? If you promise something with your headline, keep your word. Deliver what you’ve promised. So: no click-baity headlines for introverts. Instead, prove your point and show us what you mean.

Draw Us in

Don’t hit us over the head with your idea. Let us process all the parts of your proposition. Like most other things about introverts, we process more slowly, and perhaps more thoroughly, than others might. Luckily, we can take as much time as we need if we’re reading. By the way, here’s an article that you might like: Six Facts About Introverts and Social Media that Will Impress Your Friends.

Stop Talking

Seriously. Don’t talk so much. We like some silence, and that can help us as much as anything. If you’re writing headlines, keep them shorter and to the point.

Don’t Use Lots of Useless Punctuation

Any headline with an exclamation point will probably get skipped over. Quotes and an ellipses? Probably not helpful, either. And if you use both an exclamation point and ellipses? Stop right there! Let’s not even start on all the ellipses abuse that’s happening right now. Note that the definition of an ellipses is the omission of a sentence from one or more words. It’s not to show others that your voice is trailing off. So stop abusing that poor ellipses! Now that deserves an exclamation point.

Use Humor

A little humor never hurt anybody, did it? Humor is one way to Revamp Your Social Media–when used sparingly. Light heartedness might even be part of your brand’s style. In which case it’s mandatory! Just kidding. Not really.

We Don’t Need Glitter

While we introverts do love cats, we don’t need as much glitter as extroverts do. And by the way, did you know that Introverts tend to be better CEOs — and other surprising traits of top-performing executives? Probably written by an introvert, wouldn’t you say?

Photo by manfred majer

Keep it Brief and Inviting

Shorter headlines rock. And another thing? Don’t repeat the headline all over the place in each paragraph, even if it’s good for your SEO. That is annoying to everyone.

Accept That Headlines Are Limited

Sometimes even the best headline can’t convey a message accurately. So, in the body of your article or post, imagery or music may be able to express what the headline can’t. You can only say so much with words. Here’s an article that resonated with me: Introverts aren’t voiceless—they’re quietly powerful.

What Type of Headline Draws You In?

Let me know! And tell me if you’re an introvert or an extrovert. Thank you.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: headlines, introverts, marketing, writing, writing headlines

Gratitude Marketing: Spotlight on a Social Cynic

November 24, 2016 By Carol Stephen 6 Comments

Gratitude Marketing: Spotlight on a Social Cynic

This year has been a mixed bag, both in terms of business and the political scene. On the one hand, business is up. On the other hand, people’s expectations are higher than ever. The election has created a country divided, with many unable to disagree in a civil manner.

Photo by iantmcfarland

What’s in it for me?

The atmosphere in the country right now seems to be “I’ve got mine–too bad for you.” There is a divisiveness to conversations on social media, with people unfriending, arguing, and a lot of spewing and venting. And it’s funny that while writing these words, I keep imagining what Andy Roony would say. I don’t think he’d be happy about what’s happening.

Why Focus on Gratitude?

Mike Sciortino, who wrote a book and trademarked “Gratitude Marketing^®”had this to say,

“Traditional Marketing speaks at people. Gratitude Marketing^® engages and connects with people. When you combine relationship-building with consistent nurturing, you create clients for life.”

Thinking of customers first is one of the hallmarks of a successful business. So maybe Gratitude Marketing is an old-fashioned idea, successfully repackaged. And it’s certainly an idea that Baby Boomers and others can take to heart.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ9UtuWfs3U

A Leap of Faith

Personally, I think we need all the positivity and gratitude and beauty we can get right now. As tough as it may be to have that focus, it’s critical to move forward. We all need to assume that other people are good. Most of them, anyway. And we need to find ways to engage in a civil way. It seems simplistic, but peace really is every step, as Thich Nhat Hanh states. When he talks about “deep listening,” that it can create transformation and healing, could that not also be applied to our business lives?

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: gratitude, Gratitude Marketing, marketing, Social Media, Thich Nhat Hanh

How to Become a Digital Influencer: 10 Best Ways

September 8, 2016 By Carol Stephen 8 Comments

How to Become a Digital Influencer: 10 Best Ways

How do you go about becoming that person whose every word is listened to? How do you build trust so that you become an influencer? Digital influencers have not been around that long. However, there’s already a science behind influencer marketing. It’s not easy, but there is a path.

Photo by electrictuesday

Focus on Your Special Interest

Although it seems counter-intuitive, becoming more specialized makes you more likely to becoming an influencer. Pay attention to the small things.

“It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.”

~ Arthur Conan Doyle, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

There is already talk of a skills gap in social media, due to the fast proliferation of new platforms, and the breakneck speed of digital change. With so much going on, developing a special interest doesn’t have to be difficult.

Follow Other Influencers

Read their books, read their blogs, and study them. Follow them on social media, and check in with them. Comment on their blog posts. Start conversations. Show up at their events. In my arena, that might be Mari Smith, or Gary Vanderchuk.

Find Your Social Media Voice

Write and rewrite your statements until they ring true to you. If you’ve ever written a journal, writing posts can be somewhat similar. Reading a post or tweet out loud can also help make it sound natural, and more like your voice.

Create Content

If you’ve followed some influencers, make yourself distinct from them. How does your opinion differ from theirs? There may be some areas where you have a strong opinion. Images and original artwork or video are becoming more and more important, so take advantage of images as well. Here’s an article about Secrets to Great Content You Forgot You Knew. It includes some tips about how to avoid procrastination.

Photo by volantra

Engage, Engage, Engage

Share others’ posts, and most of all talk to people online and offline. Engagement is probably the most important of the ten steps here. Why should you care about engagement? Because for your brand, you can speak to one possible client or many, you can drive people to a website to buy products, all while you work on your branding. Building relationships takes time; constant and steady engagement is the path to those relationships.

Sprout Social has a wonderful article about social media engagement: What is Social Media Engagement and Why Should I Care?

Photo by UT Connewitz

Be Useful

Helping others is an excellent way to build influence. Being a resource is one of the fastest ways to being influential. Find what people need and then provide it. Whether that’s giving someone a helping hand or solving a problem, being useful is a shortcut to influence success.

Overcome Failure

Get up every time you fall down. Rinse and repeat every day. The Positivity Blog has a great little article about failure: How to Overcome Failure: 9 Powerful Habits. As Henrick Edberg says, try to learn something from the failure, even if it’s just one simple thing.

Think Long Term

Nothing is going to happen overnight, although you can speed up the process. Unless you’re a celebrity, nobody gets a free pass. But all the organic reach, the followers and added business are worth it. Social media is more of a tortoise than a hare.

Photo by o. denise

Work Hard and Be Creative

Get the work done, definitely. But also be creative in how you get it done. For instance, you can recycle content, especially on Twitter. Save yourself from redoing your work. Even Guy Kawasaki reuses content! Nobody is going to read every single one of your tweets, so repeating them can be part of your strategy.

Photo by Aidan Jones

Be Approachable

Be like a pair of old shoes: comfortable and a little worn around the edges. I think Dale Carnegie said something like that. My friend, Bridget Willard, wrote a great post about being friendly, which you can be even if you’re shy. It’s in her Keys to Being Social: Be Friendly.

Do You Want to Be More Influential?

What steps are you taking to be more influential? I’m sure there are many missing here. Leave me a comment, and thanks!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: digital influencer, influencer, marketing, Recycle content, social media voice, special interest

The Surprising Importance of the Offline Meeting

March 17, 2016 By Carol Stephen 16 Comments

The Surprising Importance of the Offline Meeting

People crave connections. While those connections may begin with an online conversation on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, the best connections morph into face-to-face meetings. People sometimes then move back online, and stay in touch for years, meeting online and offline over months and years. But the offline meeting is what forges the connection.

Photo by vramak

Brainstorming, Laughing, and Whispering

Brainstorming often occurs best in offline meetings, where people are talking, interrupting, laughing, whispering, and in general having a good time. Social media can provide a strong introduction–and you can feel as though you know someone you’ve met online. But you won’t truly know them as well until you meet them offline. For instance, someone you thought was the biggest extrovert IN THE WORLD could suddenly turn into an introvert. Has that happened to you?

Photo by milesmilob

Technology Can Only Go So Far

Although we have wonderful technology to bridge the distances between colleagues, Google Hangouts, Skype, and Blab sessions can’t replace the face-to-face meeting, where we can see people roll their eyes, tap their fingers in frustration, or stifle a smile. And many entrepreneurs may dislike online meetings, especially Baby Boomers. By the way, here’s my post about Baby Boomers and Social Media.

Photo by kevin dooley

Real-Life Meetings Drive Business

In an article from Entrepreneur, 3 Benefits of Meeting Face to Face, Katherine Duncan mentions that Simone uses a personal approach because it’s about “how you make them feel.” You’d never know without meeting in person that a serious person could be the class clown. Or that the class clown online is deadly serious offline. For me, meeting in person has led to more solid connections, and more business.

Photo by jeanbaptisteparis

Body Language

How a person stands, sprawls on a chair, or crosses their arms say a lot about what they’re thinking. None of that comes through online. In this article about The Surprising Power of Body Language, Ronald Riggio writes about how power poses and eye gazes can cause a shift in power. We all know someone whose body language is intimidating. And we all know that person who shrinks when you meet them in person. That first meeting in person is always a surprise.

Photo by PeterTea

Get Off Your Phone

Instinctively, we know that meeting in person helps build trust, although being connected to a smart (or dumb!) phone doesn’t. It’s similar to receiving a handwritten card in the mail–something unexpected and unusual, and a good way to stand out. Not to mention when you’re in person you can show off your good manners.

Face to Face Still Matters

One story stands out to me, and that’s the day a year ago that I met some online friends at WordCamp San Diego. Bridget Willard (You Too Can Be a Guru), my bestie, was going to see Heather Steele of Blue Steele Solutions, since Heather was speaking, so we all decided to meet up. Then we also got to meet Frank and Adam (also of Blue Steele Solutions). We all still talk about that meeting and the long dinner we had with Tracy Phillips and Chef Ivan Flowers. Even though it was a year ago, we all remember that day. Could a tweet go that far? Or a Google Hangout? I don’t think so.

Photo by reggiepen

Your Turn

Who have you met and how did that meeting surprise you?

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: face to face meeting, Facebook, marketing, offline meeting, Social Media, Twitter

Promote Your Book on Social Media: Extend Your Reach

April 16, 2015 By Carol Stephen 8 Comments

Promote Your Book on Social Media: 6 Ways to Extend Your Reach

Every author uses social media to extend their reach. If you get on Twitter, you’ll see all kinds of authors tweeting nonstop, begging you to buy their new book. On Facebook, you’ll see authors posting continuously about their fantasy novels. And on Pinterest there are boards and accounts stuffed to the gills with pins about books. So what’s an author to do? With some planning, you can go beyond the usual social media posts. In this series of blog posts, you’ll get ideas for how to use the social media platforms effectively. Look for more posts soon.

The Website is the Torso

Picture your website as the torso of your online efforts, with the arms and legs as different platforms. Your website should be the first thing you work on. If you don’t have a website, where will you drive traffic? Yes, it’s great that you’re on Amazon selling, but it’s best to have a website because you own the content. You can discuss all kinds of things in blog posts, and you can take snippets of it to tweet or post in different places. You can also go back into the archives and recycle some of that lovely content. There are no gray areas, as there are on social media sites, about who owns your content.

Search Engine Optimization

If those aren’t enough reasons, the biggest one is search engine optimization. When someone looks for you on Google, your name should appear. In this excellent article in Huffington Post, Annik Lafarge discusses many more reasons to have your own website.

Hire Help if You’re Not Technical

Do not let the lack of a website stop you. You can find a developer to help you with a simple website. Attend a WordCamp in your area (San Francisco Word Camp is the mother ship, by the way) to meet developers and others with WordPress sites. I recommend WordPress because there is such generosity in the community. You can watch video (recorded or live streaming) if you can’t make it in person. But getting there in person is well worth the effort.

Branding Across Social Media Platforms

Make sure you have high-quality images of you and your book and that your branding is consistent. Your readers should not be confused about where they are–and they should know that you’re an author. Caterina Rando, my business coach, recommends having a picture of yourself holding a book right up against your face. Ensure that colors are consistent. For instance, Caterina uses rich reds, oranges and yellows in all her marketing materials. Your readers should know exactly what you do. For instance, Jack Canfield’s site is very clear. If you have a tagline, use the same one everywhere from your website through all your social media platforms.

Cross Promote

Once your website is dialed in (and I won’t go into details here, but there should be a few blog posts, at the least), you can use social media more effectively. Your tweets can send people back to your website. You can point to Twitter from Facebook, to Pinterest from Twitter, and from Google Plus to your website.

For instance, if you want people to come to a Tweetchat (a subject I’ll cover in an upcoming post), tell people on your Google Plus account, on Twitter, on Facebook, on LinkedIn, in your email marketing, etc. Promotion takes more work than you might think, so allow lots of time.

Add Badges to Your Website

Can’t Wait to Get Started?

If you can’t wait to start on your social media, here are some posts to read and videos to watch:

The excellent Keys to Being Social from You Too Can Be a Guru (highly recommended!)
Pinterest (how to pin)
Facebook (sharing content for more reach)
Twitter (best practices)
LinkedIn (top ten tasks and power tips)

Questions?

If you have questions that you’d like me to cover in upcoming posts, please leave me a comment and I’ll do my best to address it.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: book, Facebook, Google Plus, LinkedIn, marketing, Pinterest, promotion, Social Media, Twitter

Dialed In: Navigate Your Brand Identity through a Storm of Competition

January 8, 2015 By Carol Stephen 4 Comments

Dialed In: Navigate Your Brand Identity Through a Storm of Competition

Understanding who your audience–and isn’t–is critical for many reasons, but I’m going to focus on your being able to start blogging and using social media. Until you know who you are, you and your brand will be flailing to try to determine who your product or service will appeal to. Every day on all platforms, there are startups and brands who have the “shotgun” approach, who say that “everyone” is their target market. And we’ve all heard that “if everyone is your target market, then no one is” thought before. So where to start?

Simple Survey

Use something like Survey Monkey to ask your already-existing clients or friends what they think of your brand. A short survey of 3-4 questions (perhaps with a reward for finishing) could be very useful. For instance, “What one idea comes to mind when you think of our company?”

You might also want to ask your employees what they would change about the company, as Matthew Evins suggests in his excellent article Before Rebranding: Five Questions to Gauge Your Brand Health. As he says, simply asking the question raises morale. And who wouldn’t want to work somewhere with high morale? Of course if you’d rather have a demoralizing environment, you could read Startups: Ten Ways to Demotivate Employees.

Brand Identity and the 360 Review

360 Interview

For the more serious, Dorie Clark, the author of Reinventing You and a marketing strategy consultant, suggests the Personal 360 Interview, where you ask key people who work with you to provide anonymous feedback. You could provide a list of traits that people circle, such as “creative,” “generous,” etc. as one of the questions.

For a comprehensive list of why to conduct a 360 Review, here is a fab Guide to 360 Reviews. This guide is meant for an individual, but could be applied to an organization as well.

The Best-Laid Plans

Like a person, a business is an organic, living thing, and changes from time to time. The goals and resolutions you had as a 12-year-old kid won’t be the same resolutions you have as an adult. Why would a business be any different? Speaking of resolutions, here are my latest post, resolutions for social media.

Brand Identity and Authenticity

Authenticity in Words and Actions

Once you have a clear idea of what your brand is, creating the target audience for your brand should be much simpler. That means that the words you use in tweets, posts, and blogging should be consistent. Having a list of words to pull from, as well as those you won’t use, can be enormously helpful. Even if your brand consists of you (if you are the brand), you need to figure out who you are. Maria Brophy has a post about saying who you are in 5 words.

Consistency

Are you the same person online as offline? Do your actions match the attributes you want your brand to have? For instance, if one of your attributes is generosity, is your brand consistently being generous day in and day out? If you say you are about integrity, does everyone who work for you have it? You certainly don’t want your brand to be thought of as ironic.

Questions for the Small Brand

If you head up a small company, spending a day or two once a year to discover or rediscover who your audience is can be enormously useful. For example, is your product or service expensive? What kind of person buys your product? Is your target customer local or can they be located anywhere? Is there a target age or range to your ideal client? You may not know who your target market is quite yet, but over time you’ll start to see patterns emerge. Reviewing questions like these once a year can help you become more focused on your social media and blogging so that your tweets, posts, and pins reflect something appealing to your target audience.

Choose Another Company to Model

Some small brands like to choose a slightly larger company to model themselves after. Often I’ll hear “make our Pinterest look like their Pinterest” or “we like the tweets from ABC company.”

When you have that target audience narrowed down, you can hand that list of attributes to your social media manager.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: authenticity, branding, consistency, interview, marketing, strategy, survey, Survey Monkey