April 8, 2025 Marketing authenticity, branding, credibility, customers, differentiate, digital-marketing, logo, Marketing, social media, storytelling Leave a comment

Banish Marketing Buzzwords to Build Your Brand

by Kim Clark

What’s the first thing that every Freelancer, business leader, or marketing director would do well to realize about branding? That the purpose of branding is not about constantly sprinkling stardust and aiming to get the company, service and product names in lights. The purpose of branding is to create and reinforce trust in the company and its services and products. When branding strategies are designed with creating and reinforcing trust in mind, then products and services will be positioned to stand out in the marketplace in ways that matter to the target audience. The perception of trust and reliability associated with your brand will enhance your ability to both persuade prospects to become customers and persuade customers to remain customers and also make referrals.

Unfortunately, too many marketing “experts” don’t quite understand the true role of branding. As evidence, I refer you to the avalanche of marketing-themed articles that routinely appear in business publications and also marketing-themed webinars, podcasts and conferences hosted by business associations that feature a local or national marketing “expert” who advises readers, listeners, or audience members to “tell their brand story” and “be authentic.”

Readers and audience members who pay attention may have noticed that the nuts and bolts of developing the “brand story,” examples of key elements of a company origin story that might resonate with prospects and customers and therefore ought to be included in the brand story, are unlikely to be shared. On the other hand, recommendations on how to communicate “authenticity” usually involve making broad statements about the founder’s support of social or environmental issues. In the end, marketers looking to raise the level of their game and help their business thrive are left to stumble in the dark as they attempt to find an inspiring theme to explain why their company was launched.

In the real world, Freelancers and other marketers are interested in strategies that help grow customer lists and market share, in order to generate greater sales revenue and profit. Branding, when properly understood and executed, is used to further those objectives and goals. To understand how you can develop an effective brand strategy and marketing messages aligned with that strategy, you may find the insights suggested by Scott Baradell, CEO of Trust Signals Marketing of Dallas, TX and author of Trust Signals: Brand Building in a Post-Truth World (2022) to be instructive:

Credibility over visibility: Being seen means nothing if people don’t believe in you.
Customer needs over corporate storytelling: Your “why” is only useful if it serves their “why.”
Alignment over “authenticity”: Be real in a way that reinforces, and does not confuse, your brand.
Meaningful differentiation: Be different where it matters, not just for the sake of being different.
Substance over style: A good reputation beats a good logo every time.
Listening over dictating: Your brand is what customers say it is.
Trust over everything: Because, in the end, nothing else matters.

1. Your brand is what customers think it is

The first and greatest commandment in marketing is that you do not, in fact, cannot, control customer opinion of your brand. That power belongs to the customers themselves—your brand is what they perceive it to be.

Let’s tear off the band-aid and examine the real meaning of brand identity, that is, the sum total of how customers experience and perceive a business and its services and products, from product packaging to tag line, price structure to social media presence. A brand consists of all the touch points that shape how customers feel about the brand. The interpretation of those touch points belongs to the customer.

Marketers can attempt to influence customer and prospect opinions and perceptions by developing a brand story, emphasizing authenticity and making any number of promotional marketing decisions; still, your brand is what customers think it is and no amount of marketing can undo their overall experience with your company. Unfortunately, many branding experts routinely sidestep this essential truth.

2. “Why” is always about the customer

Customers and prospects are forever tuned in to their favorite station— WIIFM–What’s In It For Me; but the marketing gurus do not always acknowledge this reality. Many marketing thought leaders have migrated to “why” as proposed by Simon Sinek’s 2009 blockbuster book Start with Why. Sinek is surely on to something—learning to understand and articulate the purpose of the business as you examine its why; confirming how the business addresses and can be positioned to achieve its purpose for existence; and clarifying what the company’s products and/ or services can deliver to customers—are foundational to launching and sustaining a successful enterprise. Defining the purpose of your company and understanding how your products and services fulfill the company’s purpose is unquestionably a worthwhile exercise.

Just keep in mind that customers are focused on their own needs and goals and that is what motivates them to seek out a solution and buy it. That is why customers become customers. What’s In It For Me motivates the sale. The service or product must fulfill the customer need and also live up to expectations—perform well (or taste good), be easy to obtain, priced right, user-friendly, look good.

3. Brand awareness or empty chatter?

Brand awareness can be less than the chattering metaverse says it is. Having your company name on the lips of prospects and business colleagues is flattering, but that might be all it is. As a business leader, you’ll be better served by working to position your brand to not so much create brand awareness, but to create trust that encourages that brand awareness—and loyal customers.

In other words, worthwhile brand awareness is not necessarily determined by the number of your social media followers or how many mentions the influencers devote to your company. While a recognizable business or product name and media visibility are highly desirable outcomes of marketing campaigns, brand awareness without substance is not guaranteed to produce the results you want. Prospects may recognize your company name, but you’ll gain very little if brand awareness does not also include the trust that motivates prospects to become customers.

You may recall a few well-known brands that lost the trust of the marketplace. Brand awareness was no protection for the former energy and utility company Enron, coworking phenomenon WeWork, or global giant Texaco Oil . Each of those companies had considerable brand awareness in their marketplaces and beyond, but each one collapsed, spectacularly. Remember, talk is cheap.

4. Authentic means keeping your brand promise

Customers and prospects have made it known that authenticity is a characteristic that they value and marketing experts have been squawking about the importance of demonstrating the aura of authenticity for several years, but what represents “authentic” to customers and prospects? What do they want to see and hear?

One thing is certain and it’s that authenticity does not mean making a show of your personal political or social statements about national or global affairs, even if many of your customers agree. Authenticity is the result of an impression created when customers and prospects believe that your company is fulfilling its brand promise. Do what customers expect from your company and they’ll know your brand is reliable, trustworthy and authentic.

5. Differentiation may not matter

Branding experts regularly extol the necessity of a brand to “stand out” and grab the attention of prospects in their target market. Identifying tangible or intangible features or benefits of your product or service that are unique in your marketplace are described as having the power to generate more sales, word of mouth and revenue.

That premise may be only partly true. The ability to include a different feature or benefit in your services or products can make prospects take notice, but that doesn’t automatically result in obtaining more customers and increased sales revenue. Differentiated characteristics are valuable only if your market segment thinks they are valuable.

So, if your ice cream shop is the only place in town to sell avocado ice cream your store will be unique—but your exotic product might not give many people a reason to come in for a double scoop on a hot day. However, if you differentiate by solving a real pain point or gap in an acknowledged need that competitors cannot match, you may win more customers. Cappuccino ice cream could be the real crowd-pleaser. Be different where it counts. Everything else is a distraction.

6. A cool logo and tagline are not enough

To those not in the marketing business, the meaning of a brand is often largely defined by a company’s visual identity and/or tag line—like the Mercedes Benz hood ornament or Nike’s Just do it tag line.

Yet marketers must see beyond visuals and slogans and communicate with actual customers who, whether they realize it or not, are typically motivated by practical considerations, such as product performance. Customers are also motivated by an emotional appeal, most notably, a company’s association with the attributes of reliability and trust.

Great brands are built on those emotional attributes and not on visuals. Your company logo and tag line cannot make prospective customers trust your company and its products and services, but how you deliver on your brand promise does exactly that.

A strong visual identity is powerful and it matters, but if you emphasize the surface attributes of your brand and give comparatively scant attention to the fulfillment of your brand promise and how your company delivers on what it claims to do, you won’t win the trust and loyalty of prospects and customers and your business will not fulfill its potential.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © United Airlines. A United Air Lines flight attendant/registered nurse in 1935. The company was founded in 1931.

March 4, 2025 Marketing business, content marketing, digital-marketing, Marketing, social media Leave a comment

Is Your Social Media Strategy Delivering?

by Kim Clark

“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”

Possibly apocryphal quote often credited to 19th century Philadelphia department store magnate John Wanamaker.

Accurately measuring the impact of the marketing activities you create to promote your company’s services and/or products and, furthermore, analyzing the impact of your marketing to verify that the activities were worth the time and money invested in them can be somewhat of a puzzle for a marketing manager. In particular, the return on investment of social media activity can be nebulous, given that much of its focus is often devoted to relationship-building that stimulates one or more aspects of brand-building, for example, brand loyalty and brand reputation. Determining which of your go-to social media platforms is your top performer might be difficult to confirm, there is not always an obvious path to follow as you track and document your customer’s behavior or buyer’s journey from first contact through purchase; and then there are those who jump ship somewhere between those points and the debrief on that scenario is yet another drama to unravel.

Social media remains a hugely popular marketing tactic that for the most part has earned its accolades in both free and paid options. So, it comes as somewhat of a surprise that recent marketing research shows that at a representative group of enterprise companies, the social media marketing spend is softening. According to the Spring 2024 edition of the CMO Survey, which surveyed 292 marketers employed by leading U.S. companies, social media investments declined from 17% in Spring 2023 to 11% in Spring 2024, reaching its lowest level in seven years.

The CMO Survey found further confirmation of this occurrence in participant responses to the question “Which best describes how you show the impact of social media on your business?” and one-third, all of whom are marketing leaders, reported “we haven’t been able to show the impact yet.” The remaining participants were evenly split on whether they’ve “proven the impact quantitatively,” with some stating that they have a “good qualitative sense of the impact, but not a quantitative impact.”

Maybe you’ll soon decide to pull back on social media paid ads, too, and rely more heavily on the “free” option (free except for the time spent to choose and post content that interests followers, that is) since it remains an effective method of customer outreach and enables you to build and sustain relationships with customers, convert prospects into customers and boost brand visibility. Your social media spend may decrease, but that adjustment could motivate you to make the most of a reconfigured, but still valuable, marketing investment.

Multi-channel is most effective

According to an analysis of performance data associated with social media marketing campaigns, the format produces greater results when used in combination with other marketing tactics, e.g. monthly newsletters and/or case studies, e-books, podcasts, or webinars. Furthermore, when researchers examined 10 years of CMO Survey retrospective data, below-average performance of social media marketing campaigns was reported by participants whose answer to “How effectively does your company integrate customer information across purchasing, communication and social media channels?” revealed weak scores describing the use of that data during the period 2011 – 2023. The performance ranking scale measuring customer data sharing ranged from “not at all” to “very highly.”

In light of the findings of the 10-year retrospective, survey researchers recommend that marketers consult with a Customer Relations Management (CRM) company, e.g., Sprout Social, HubSpot, BuzzSumo, or SalesForce, to ensure accurate interpretations and beneficial integration of their social media marketing performance data to enhance the success of future marketing campaigns. Correctly interpreting and utilizing social media marketing performance data ensures that you’ll have a holistic understanding of customer behavior that’ ‘s inclined to positively impact the buyer’s journey your company provides.

Use social media to grow your customer list

The CMO Survey also found that nearly half of companies use social media platforms to sell their services and products. However, survey data reveals that fewer than 20% of those companies leverage their social media engagement to invite customer feedback that might improve aspects of the customer experience or even suggest new product or service opportunities that the company could explore and possibly launch. Companies that exploit this easily accessible customer feedback opportunity are able to develop a customer experience that responds to and retains customers, encourages referrals and increases sales revenues and profitability.

Improvise to stay timely and relevant

Finally, enhancing your ability to provide a timely response to breaking news that matters to your customers and prospects right now is just about guaranteed to enhance both the relevance and visibility of your brand—and using social media makes this possible. Still, marketing managers often neglect opportunities that are easy to address, as evidenced by the self-reported survey participant score of “average” when describing behavior associated with the statement “Responding quickly to opportunities and challenges when managing your most engaged customers.”

CMO Survey findings convincingly show that adopting a flexible, even improvised, approach to your social media engagement is the most effective aspect of your strategy and that your awareness of breaking news and developing events is most urgent and beneficial when providing a timely response is desirable. Communicating with your customers and prospects by acknowledging the unfolding event or unexpected (surprise) development, with a humorous or witty remark demonstrates your authenticity. In short, building in processes designed to make you ready for and prepared to quickly respond to various types of communication opportunities is able to improve the ROI of your company’s social media marketing and engagement.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Simon Smith. Bunhill for Getty Images

January 21, 2025 Marketing, Survival Strategies channels, content marketing, digital-marketing, email marketing, Marketing, pivot, SEO, SMS, website Leave a comment

TikTok Countdown: Proceed to Pivot

by Kim Clark

The Supreme Court announced on Friday January 17 that it voted 9-0 to uphold the Senate-approved “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act”, a ruling that defined TikTok and other apps owned by Chinese corporations that operate in the U.S. and have more than a million U.S. users as a national security risk for America and compelled ByteDance, owner of the popular TikTok social media platform, to either sell out to a U.S. company or cease operating in this country as of Sunday January 19, 2025. On Saturday night January 18, ByteDance shut down TikTok in the U.S., per the SCOTUS ruling. Site visitors were greeted with the message: “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now.”

Furthermore, the SCOTUS ruling prevents American companies from hosting or delivering content for the Beijing-based social media platform unless parent company ByteDance sells the platform to a U.S. buyer, or a U.S ally. A source close to TikTok reportedly said that “multiple critical service providers” indicated to TikTok that they would no longer carry the app or its data, which forced the app offline. Service providers cited fears that the ban would be applied starting Sunday January 19, despite Biden administration signals to the contrary. The app went dark on Saturday January 18 about two hours before the shutdown deadline and as of Sunday January 19, the TikTok app was not available at the Apple App Store or the Google Play store.

But in true soap opera cliff-hanger style, TikTok did not remain offline in the U.S. for any length of time and leave 170 million U.S.-based TikTok users in the lurch. In fact, it was evident that TikTok would quickly resume operating in the U.S., perhaps inspired by a growing awareness by lawmakers of both parties that the decision to force a TikTok closure is quite unpopular. Some congressional leaders who originally championed the TikTok law are now considering delaying enforcement. So, Washington is setting up to pass the buck—surprise!

A U.S. official has confirmed that the outgoing Biden administration would not force TikTok to cease operations in the U.S. on January 19 and will allow the incoming Trump administration to implement the law.
In a TikTok video, platform CEO Shou Zi Chew asked President-elect Donald Trump to find a solution that keeps the site available in the U.S. Trump said he would “be making the decision” about TikTok and confirmed that he discussed the platform with Chinese President Xi Jinping. In a phone interview with NBC News on January 18, the President-elect confirmed that he would “most likely” delay the TikTok ban for 90 days after he takes office on January 20 but added that he had not yet made a final decision. Incidentally, Mr. Shou expects to be in attendance for Trump’s inauguration.

What would a TikTok ban look like?

OK, so what might the world look like for TikTok users if the unthinkable happens and the site really is banned in America for a significant length of time? Before going any further, let’s confirm that it will not be illegal to have TikTok on your phone. TikTok has been banned in the U.S. as of January 19, but it’s not illegal to keep the app on your phone or other devices.

No new downloads: TikTok was removed from app stores on January 19 and aspiring new users were unable to download the app. Current user accounts were blocked and shown the message detailed above.
No updates: Those who are somehow able to access the site would no longer receive updates and the site would eventually stop working properly. Functionality would diminish.

If you are one of the approximately 7 million U.S. residents who use TikTok one minute videos to promote a business, you are advised to act now to protect your entity. President Trump‘s vow to keep the app available notwithstanding, the clock really is ticking and this drama is your wake-up call. It’s imperative that you be proactive and prepare to pivot into Plan B and develop actionable strategies that enable the transfer of your business marketing functions out of an exclusively TikTok arrangement and into a safe, multichannel harbor. Whether or not there is a prolonged TikTok shutdown, keeping all your eggs in one basket has always been risky and is nearly always inadvisable. There is strength in diversity and that’s our mission today. Let’s discuss Plan B—your pivot and survival strategy.

“We have to save it”

As you’ve heard, the TikTok shutdown was in effect for just 14 hours and President Donald Trump pledged to issue an executive order following his inauguration and give TikTok a 75-day reprieve before the SCOTUS law goes into effect, saying that “We have to save it.” President Trump suggested that a 50% American ownership of TikTok is his preference at this time. If TikTok plays a vital role in your marketing campaigns, you can breathe again—-but this soap opera isn’t over yet and you would be wise to use the 75-days to get your house in order.

1. Build and optimize your own website

You relied on TikTok and don’t have a business website, you say? You should protect yourself and take control now, by way of a DIY site-building (and tutorial assisted) project or by outsourcing to a Freelance web developer colleague whose references you’ve checked, so that you can create a website solution that’s customized to fit the needs of your business venture. The only online platform that you completely control is your website. Social media platforms belong to the company that owns them, meaning that your TikTok content actually belongs to ByteDance and your Facebook posts belong to Zuckerberg. If that thought doesn’t motivate you to create a functional website for yourself, I don’t know what will.

On your website, you own and control your marketing content and can also sell your products and services, post customer surveys and calls-to-action and, maintain a sales/marketing funnel for inbound customer appeals and, best of all, you’ll own and control all customer data that you collect and maintain because the site is yours. Keep in mind that your website can and should be designed to function as the primary hub for all activities that drive customer engagement and transactions of any kind. Furthermore, be certain to enable site cybersecurity and configure https in your website address, which is the secure version of http, the primary protocol used to send data between a web browser and a website. The principal motivations for https are authentication of the accessed website and protection of the privacy and integrity of the exchanged data while it is in transit.

2. Develop a robust email list

Congratulations to you if your TikTok following is significant—but during the site shutdown, all of your customer contact info was Missing In Action, beyond your reach. Because email marketing remains a powerful resource, act now to find an alternative platform that gives you control of your most important piece of customer (and follower) data—email addresses. Investigate and compare email marketing platforms and get started ASAP. Once you’ve selected a provider, create opt-in forms to grow your list as you continue contacting and nurturing your relationship with your loyal base of customers. Your email list is how you own your audience and you must be able to support mutual communication between your audience and your company.

3. Diversify your online channels

Don’t be complacent and let yourself remain a one-trick pony. The TikTok drama reminds us all that social media platforms you rely on today might be gone tomorrow. A good defensive strategy is to spread the wealth and consider multiple channels for your content and customer outreach, guided by the platforms your target market follows. TikTok followers are obviously visual and gravitate to videos, so think Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts and Facebook for your Plan B pivot into multiple channels—plus your website, which will be the gatekeeper of everything. Pinterest, a visual imagery search engine, could be another useful marketing channel that your customers and prospects like. Diversifying will give you better control over customer engagement and monetization, so instead of betting the house on a single platform, spread your bets.

4. Create a viable sales/marketing funnel

Why not launch your pivot by creating landing pages that lead prospects and other followers to sales/marketing funnels you’ve established on different platforms and advertise your powerful new online presence? It will also be good for brand building to give prospects (followers) and customers a reason to connect with you outside of social media — whether it’s a free e-book, a special offer, or a chance to join a community of customers and followers. You could do well to check out Constant Contact to automate those funnels and turn prospects and followers into active customers.

5. Use SMS marketing to connect instantly

SMS marketing (text messages) can give a jolt to customer outreach. You can invite your email list members to opt-in for real-time updates (always request permission, even if you send the first message without asking first) and exclusive offers via text. This tool can be one of your most powerful ways to stay connected with your target market and reach them instantly. For example, a strong SMS list can boost sales conversion rates of limited time special offers and also lift attendance at your webinars and podcasts where you are a guest or the host.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: ©Shopee Mobile Malaysia Sdn.Bhd.

December 3, 2024 Marketing campaign, story Leave a comment

How to Choose the Right PR Expert

by Kim Clark

When the goal is to promote your business, to spotlight a product or service or nurture your brand, for instance, it has been convincingly demonstrated that your marketing content is king. Promotional content, packaged as relevant information, has become a highly effective vehicle for businesses looking to build reputations and engage with audiences. When appropriately developed and presented on platforms trusted by the target market segments, good PR/marketing content can convey the story that a brand needs to publicize. If you have at least a modest talent for promotional marketing, you may be able to perform reasonably well as your own in-house PR/marketing specialist. However, should you have a big project in front of you—like maybe the launch of a new service or product? An objective assessment of the task may tell you that the talent of a marketing expert who is also a public relations savant, who knows how to wordsmith an old-school press release and send it to the right media outlets and also stir up tempting social media posts for placement on platforms that your target market follows. Your ideal PR/marketing expert will no doubt get you featured on a podcast (or webinar) or two as well, to let your audience see or hear you in action.

It could be that you’ve never worked with a PR expert, whether Freelance or employed by a promotional marketing firm. You may have had conversations with one or two such individuals and they may have promised you the moon as they enthusiastically made it sound as if you would be featured in a well-known newspaper or magazine (could that be the New York Times business section, above the fold?) and maybe a television spot, too (OMG, maybe The Today Show?).

However, you may have come back to planet Earth and concluded that it’s better to refrain from diving into the deep end of the swimming pool, as you recognize that the best-told story that some PR “experts” tell is the one used to sign gullible prospects. So, when searching for an expert to develop and guide your PR/marketing content and roll-out, choose carefully. It’s imperative that the person or firm you work with understands where your business is now, “gets” the logic of your big picture goals and is able to construct and communicate a narrative that will advance your mission. Here are six qualities to inform your search for PR/marketing talent that can drive your business goals.

1. Displays trustworthy behavior.

Ultimately, you must be able to trust the PR expert, just like you trust your bookkeeper, accountant, or attorney. Whether you prefer to work with a Freelance or agency expert, you must trust that this individual understands how to shape, present and distribute your story in a way that supports your overall business goals. As you interview potential candidates, ask questions that shed light on client retention rate—has your potential PR expert worked with at least a few clients for a number of years? Repeat business is an excellent barometer of performance and trustworthy behavior. A Freelance or agency PR expert who has long-lasting client relationships—partnerships, really—demonstrates the essential qualities you seek.

2. Understands your big picture business goals.

The most highly valued skill in the PR industry is strategic planning, according to a report published in 2023 by the global data and business intelligence platform Statista. In other words, you should be able to regard your PR expert as a strategic partner and more than someone who gets you a guest spot in a webinar. Your PR expert, whether agency employee or Freelancer, should be prepared to serve as a trusted adviser who is able to seamlessly merge PR initiatives with your business goals. Stories must do more than promote products or services or announce your presence at a prestigious event. Effective PR is about engaging audiences and building lasting relationships, along with a noteworthy brand.

3. Recognizes your potential best stories.

Before a PR/marketing professional can create effective campaign content, the story determined to be best suited to achieving publicity goals must be identified. Your PR sherpa must have a feel for asking the client (you) questions that surface stories capable of building a compelling narrative. The most valuable PR experts are story finding geniuses. A content-savvy PR expert will have a time-tested script that s/he follows to tease out the most newsworthy hook that will allow your company’s story to stand out from the rest. Real PR experts have always been storytellers and the most successful stories are those that are authentic. They are the stories that cut through the ongoing roar of the crowded marketplace because they go beyond merely promoting products or services. These stories skillfully engage audiences in ways that build lasting relationships. When interviewing a prospective PR expert, ask for information on performance metrics that reveal not only audience reach and impressions, but also viewer engagement.

4. Knows the right content distribution platforms.

In the 21st century communication environment, it has become obvious that creating desirable content is just the beginning of a successful campaign. Your target audience must also notice your content and drawn to view it—and placing your content where your audience will see it demonstrates the importance of content distribution. In order to reach your target audience, be aware that there is no one-size-fits-all content distribution formula. In your interview with prospective PR Freelancers and agencies, you’ll be wise to ask for verification of strategic choices made for the client’s best distribution platform for each story. The channels utilized should be selected based on your target audience and goal.

One of the challenges—and opportunities—is the multichannel maze. PR and marketing campaigns can no longer rely on one channel or strategy. It is now required to focus on multiple platforms that each play a part in the overall story. For instance, content that works well on LinkedIn may fall flat on TikTok, even when there’s value to be found in posting on both platforms. Effective content distribution demands a deep understanding of audience behavior and content trends; it requires PR professionals to be agile and creative in their approach.

It is also necessary to plan for the impact of the metaverse, the constant recycling of content that typically includes comments made by influencers and those who consider themselves stakeholders (for reasons that perhaps only they themselves understand). Again, your PR expert must learn what content works for your brand and your big picture goals.

5. Uses relevant metrics to drive campaigns.

The best PR Freelancers and agencies understand the importance of campaign performance analytics. Before any project begins, forward-thinking PR experts will focus on the client’s business goals and design content to achieve a brand’s desired results. Your PR expert should be able to seamlessly blend analytical knowledge with your business goals. PR professionals now need to have the strategy and skills to tie their work to bottom-line business results such as increases in sales, web traffic, or sales numbers.

6. Beware the digital PR campaign pitch

Finally, in the rush to embrace advanced technology, digital PR campaigns are increasingly offered as an attractive method to enhance brand visibility, build authority and boost Search Engine Optimization results. Digital campaigns are being sold as the most cutting-edge way to get a company and/or product into the highly coveted search list Top 10. However, clients may not realize that the promised outcomes may be an illusion. When evaluating digital PR, it’s imperative to recognize and fully understand the risks.

Recommendation of press release syndication is a red flag. Press release syndication typically results in low-value media placements that are seldom noticed by your target market; following this strategy most likely will not benefit your SEO or communicate your story. Misrepresenting paid media placements as organic PR is unfortunately another digital PR practice that can cost your business a 4-figure fee but without delivering the value you thought you were paying for. Some PR independents or agencies may claim to provide real digital PR services, but in reality, they just use third-party press release syndication services.

Disappointingly, even properly executed digital PR campaigns frequently do not succeed because the distribution is patently ineffective. A client may spend $5,000 to $15,000 on a campaign, but if relevant media outlets don’t pick it up the hoped-for backlinks, for example, will not materialize. This is especially frustrating for clients, as they have no certainty about what they’re getting for their money. It’s a risky investment, and unfortunately, the outcome can sometimes be nothing but lost money.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © PictureLux/ The Hollywood Archive. Swedish actress Anita Ekburg (September 1931 – January 2015) creates brand-defining content in Rome’s Trevi Fountain on December 31, 1959, while filming La Dolce Vita (1960, directed by Federico Fellini).

November 19, 2024 Marketing brand, clients, relationships Leave a comment

10 Under $40: Holiday Client Gifts in 2024

by Kim Clark

The December holidays are the Number One relationship-building bonanza of the year for the B2B sector. Whether you lead a multi-national enterprise company, operate a small business, or maintain a Freelance consultancy, December is the time to show appreciation for the opportunity to do business with your clients. Nurturing relationships is a crucial element of your strategy to cultivate repeat business by staying on the radar screens of those who can offer still more billable hours.

If you’ve been lax about reaching out to current and lapsed clients, now is the time to redeem yourself. Start by sending a (secular) holiday card to all clients you’ve worked with over the past five years. Current clients, in particular those you’ve billed $1000 or more, deserve a business-appropriate gift. FYI, Christmas falls on the fourth Wednesday of December this year and Hanukkah begins at sunset on the same day and will be observed until sunset on January 2, 2025.

In acknowledgement of inflation, I’ve raised the price threshold this year from $35 to $40, to maintain the quality of gift selections. My goal is to identify modestly priced, business-appropriate gifts that reflect well on your brand. To ensure that your card and/or gift arrives on time, I recommend that you mail or ship no later than December 10. Also, be aware that some offices, particularly in the not-for-profit sector, may close on the Friday before Christmas, to reopen on January 2, while Work From Home employees could be Missing in Action after December 13 until January 2. In no particular order, my list of gift choices is respectfully submitted.

Clippable Card Pouch (Lulu Lemon) Zip, clip, go. Just clip to attach this stylish and durable little pouch onto your key chain, belt loop, or bag to have a hands-free and convenient way to keep IDs, cards and cash handy and secure. The zippered main compartment has interior slots that make it easy to organize and access what you need to carry. $34.00 USD

https://shop.lululemon.com/p/bags/Clippable-Card-Pouch/_/prod11130364?color=64803&sz=ONESIZE

2. Winter Bloom Wreath (Uncommon Goods) Graceful grapevine 6″ diameter mini-wreath will brighten a desk, window, or door. The wreath is hand made and decorated with colorful live succulents, redwood and cedar foliage, sphagnum moss and fresh botanicals. This lovely wreath will stay vibrant throughout the holiday season and well beyond, with no misting needed. $35.00 USD

https://www.uncommongoods.com/product/winter-bloom-live-succulent-cedar-wreath/606280000001

3. ChargeCard (Aquavault Inc.) Featured on Shark Tank (ABC-TV) and backed by Daymond John, ChargeCard’s innovative design includes durable stainless steel construction and fast charging technology, making it a reliable source of power for your devices. ChargeCard comes with built-in cables for both iPhones and Android devices, including USB-C, Lightning and Micro USB. Visit the official website link to obtain more information and click here to order. ChargeCard | Order $39.99 USD

https://theaquavault.com/pages/pre-v1

4. Travel Mug (Zojirushi) Advanced engineering and superior materials result in a streamlined design and superior performance for this 20-ounce stainless steel, easy-to-carry container. Vacuum insulation makes sure that the hot soup or cold beverage you pour in and carry will stay that way. Microwavable inner bowl design ensures convenient use. The mug is crafted from quality 18/8 stainless steel and BPA free plastics and are designed for easy use and cleanup. $34.74 USD

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Zojirushi-SM-SHE60BZ-Matte-Black-Stainless-Steel-20-oz-Steel-Mug-SM-SHE60BZ/315359230

5. Winter Forest Guest Essentials Gift Set (Williams Sonoma) Includes 8-oz. bottles of hand soap and hand lotion, plus a votive candle in a reusable glass holder that features a festive winter fragrance that combines the uplifting aroma of freshly cut pine with subtle notes of cedar wood, citrus and sweet spice. The hand soap contains soothing olive oil, aloe vera and glycerin; the hand lotion nourishes skin with natural shea butter and vitamin-rich botanical oils. The eco-friendly candle is a beeswax and vegetable wax blend and is scented with natural essential oils. All products made without parabens and have not been tested on animals. $34.95 USD

Williams Sonoma Winter Forest Guest Essentials Gift Set | Williams Sonoma

6. Travel Bag/ Personals & Toiletries (L.L. Bean) A lightweight and sturdy hanging travel organizer is designed to hold all of your basic trip essentials. All travel organizers are not equal—this one is made with extra-tough fabric and technical details and has been extensively tested by L.L. Bean to prove it can hold up for the long haul. With over 9,000 5-star reviews, it’s no wonder customers rave about its unmatched quality. $34.95 USD

https://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/130057?csp=f&feat=509870-GNqv&imgt=41&page=ultralight-personal-organizer&bc=509870&itemId=523701&attrValue_1=46399&gnrefine=1Price30%20TO%2050%5E1DEPARTMENTBags%20%26%20Travel&pos=1

7. Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramels Gift Box (Crate & Barrel) Bite-size couture caramel candies are dipped in dark chocolate and sprinkled with sea salt. Ready for gift giving, the tin is tied with a festive bow. Sea salt caramels are a Crate & Barrel exclusive and made by Long Grove Confectionery since 1977. $29.95 USD

Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramels with Gift Box + Reviews | Crate & Barrel

8. Silver Chrome Rollerball Pen (Scriveiner) Beautifully crafted of brass and a silver chrome finish, with 24 karat gold appointments. The quality of craftsmanship and materials is usually found only in pens costing many times more. Scriveiner pens use the Schmidt liquid ink system that is superior to gel ink pens and combines the convenience of a ballpoint with the ink feel of a fountain pen. The client who receives this elegant gift will appreciate its smooth writing style. $32.99 USD

Scriveiner Classic Silver Chrome Rollerball Pen

9. Oh Mega Earband (The North Face) Practical and stylish, this cozy ear band makes a gift that runners, bike riders and anyone who doesn’t love wearing hats during the winter will appreciate. Available in six colors, the earband has a soft fleece lining that keeps those who wear it toasty, plus a recycled polyester body. $35.00 USD

https://www.publiclands.com/p/the-north-face-womens-oh-mega-headband-24tnowwmnshmghdbnacc/24tnowwmnshmghdbnacc?sku=26051887&camp=CSE:PBL_92700079948537142_PLA_pla-297072075353&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMImPmilYTYiQMVfG9HAR1E8DTgEAQYBiABEgI2WfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

10. Burt’s Bees Essentials Kit Give your clients a cold weather skin survival solution with this collection of natural essentials. These five travel-size products are designed to gently and thoroughly cleanse, moisturize, soothe and smooth face, lips, body, hands or feet. The Burt’s Bees self-care set is a perfect go-to holiday, birthday, or other special occasion gift.

https://www.burtsbees.com/product/essential-burts-bees-kit/ $9.99 USD

Happy shopping and thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums Collections, Scotland. Penelope and the Suitors, John William Waterhouse, 1912.

November 12, 2024 Marketing branding, memorable, story, viral Leave a comment

Is Your Content Shareable?

by Kim Clark

Whatever format you use to create content intended to promote your business, your mission is to communicate the essence of your brand: the solution, purpose, value and benefits that persuade clients and prospects to trust your product or service and motivate them to take a positive action in response—give a like, comment, share or make a purchase. When content viewers demonstrate their approval by taking one or more positive actions, they become brand cheerleaders who amplify its power and influence. Needless to say, instilling a deep connection to your brand is highly desirable and it’s very much in your interest to produce marketing content that generates strong positive responses in your target audience viewers.

Effective marketing content is a carefully calibrated mix of text, still images and/or video, often presented in digital format but occasionally appearing in print, that collectively tell a story about your service or product. Your number one goal is to make the story compelling, memorable and also shareable—you want content that builds enthusiasm for your brand and the story and persuades viewers to become cheerleaders. When viewers feel that the story told in your content is so compelling and memorable that they feel they must send it to others, you’ll know that you’ve done your job. The content might even go viral, or at least greatly exceed the usual number of viewers, likes, comments, or shares. The question is, how can you hit a home run like this a lot more often? Well, like becoming a reliable home run hitter, good results are produced by discovering the right technique and getting lots of practice.

The best marketing and branding campaigns have as their foundation an essential human quality that inspires a connection with viewers. That behavior is familiar and relatable; it can be comforting or exciting. Its effect promotes engagement that can lead viewers to take an affirming action, such as responding with a like, share, or comment, and/ or purchasing the service or product. Producing content that contains text and images that reflect your brand promise and perceived value is foundational to motivating viewers to take one or more of those positive actions.

“How do I love thee, let me count the ways”

As poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) wrote in Sonnet 43, it helps to understand the emotion that fuels your action. When building marketing content, it’s imperative that text and images used work hand in hand to address the client’s point of view—pain point or goal, possible solutions and outcomes. It’s also important to acknowledge the feelings that clients can expect to experience when doing business with you, such as relief and satisfaction, in contrast to doing business with a competitor.

This analysis supports development of a highly persuasive story that references the right behaviors and emotions and ensures that your content convincingly resonates with target viewers. By understanding the brand position occupied by your services and products, you can effectively differentiate from primary competitors by highlighting the strengths and other advantages that are highly valued by your audience. Your story is certain to stand out thanks to its emotional connection with viewers. Effective marketing is all about communicating unique differentiators that leave a meaningful, lasting impression that rises above the noise of a crowded market. Addressing the questions below should give a good start to your content creation:

What emotions do prospects experience before they use your product or service? What pain point drives them to consider your service or product?
How do clients feel after they’ve used your service or product?
How do you want prospects or referrers to feel after experiencing your marketing content?
Which values and behaviors most closely correspond with your brand promise and unique selling proposition?
How do behaviors associated with your brand compare with competitors’ brand positioning? (expressing differentiation is essential).

End with positive emotions

The final impressions expressed in the text and images of your content must leave viewers with a positive feeling toward your services, products and company. That your product or service delivers an excellent solution can be considered a given; it’s the human connection that leads viewers to perceive your content as a compelling and memorable experience. When content resonates with the audience on a human level, it taps into feelings, values, or aspirations that often surpass the functional aspects of products and services.

A truly successful branding campaign needs more than clever text and eye-candy images. Effective marketing is about presenting messages and a story that resonates with viewers and generates an emotional connection with them. While many brands obsess about going viral, sustainable success comes from creating stories that are worth sharing because they tap into human behavior and stir viewer emotions. The best content becomes memorable and inspires the viewer to take action. When you present content that accurately represents human behavior, viewers cannot help but identify with your story. Then, you go beyond merely selling a product or service; you create an experience and a valuable, long-lasting connection.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Philadelphia Museum of Art. Mary Cassatt Maternal Caress (1896)

October 22, 2024 Marketing content, credibility, influence, network, personal brand, relationships Leave a comment

What’s Your LinkedIn SSI Score?

by Kim Clark

Since its launch in 2003, LinkedIn has become the go-to social media platform for professionals, hosting 900 million members worldwide as of 2024, about half of whom log on at least once a month. Joining and being active on LinkedIn is now a commonplace strategy, used by Freelance and traditionally employed professionals to enhance personal brand and advance business or career ambitions. Establishing connections with peers, potential mentors, prospective clients, or possible employers whom you’ve had the savvy and good fortune to meet and interact with, is the primary benefit of the LinkedIn experience.

Connections are not the only factor that pay dividends to those who actively participate on the platform. Nearly as powerful is the content posted, that usually consists of articles or blog posts you’ve written, announcement of awards you’ve won or professional development seminars you’ve attended, and/or insights you’ve shared when commenting on content posted by others. Content posted on LinkedIn contributes to establishing, and often enhancing, your professional and personal brand and expands your credibility beyond the orbit of first degree and other connections and into the broader LinkedIn community.

So, if you’re not active on LinkedIn, you may risk leaving brand-building and business or career growth opportunities on the table. But beyond receiving likes, the social media equivalent of air kisses, how do you know if your target audience feels your posts and comments are meaningful? Moreover, how do you stack up against industry peers and other connections in your network? Those questions can be answered in a LinkedIn user metric you may not know exists—the Social Selling Index (SSI) Score.

The SSI Score defined

The LinkedIn Social Selling Index Score was developed in 2014, after LinkedIn honchos decided to identify members who seemed to be killing it on the platform and figuring out how they did it. In 2015, SSI became part of LinkedIn Sales Navigator, a paid feature, but SSI is now available to all with a LinkedIn account. The SSI is a formula that evaluates social selling performance and measures mastery of what LinkedIn considers the core competencies of social selling on the platform.

The SSI gauges member success in demonstrating four social selling core competencies: establishing a professional brand, initiating communication with prospective connections and collaborators, engaging in valuable conversations and building high-quality relationships. For each competency, members are awarded between 0 and 25 points; the SSI Score is the sum of the individual scores from each core competency. The sum total of the core competency scores is also compared to the scores of others in your industry—and LinkedIn always assumes you’re in sales. That said, the higher your SSI Score, the more influential your LinkedIn profile becomes.

Establishing professional brand. This competency consists of two elements—the completeness of your LinkedIn profile and the quality of your posted content. The more detailed your profile and the more valuable your content, the higher your SSI Score.
- LinkedIn confirms the presence of a profile photo, detailed job history and educational background, plus the number of recommendations you’ve made and received.
- LinkedIn calculates the number of posts you publish and how many likes and comments your posts receive.
Connecting with the right people. This metric is connected to Sales Navigator and it may be challenging for members of free LinkedIn to obtain a good score in this component. It’s no surprise that LinkedIn prefers members to use the paid tools when searching for new connections.
- When members connect with or contact the right person—for example, someone with a C-Suite job title that usually indicates a decision-maker—it is assumed that the member is now better positioned to make a sale, win a client, or otherwise make a tangible improvement to one’s business or career.
Engaging by sharing insights. Sharing valuable content increases the SSI Score awarded in this category. The more valuable content that’s posted and the more comments and likes that shared content receives, the better the score awarded and the closer a member becomes to earning Thought Leader status.
Building relationships. This metric evaluates a member’s motivation to stay in touch with connections. It reflects how often members reach out to connections and other contacts and measures how effective that outreach is—meaning, if the message does not receive a reply, the LinkedIn SSI Score will be negatively impacted.

Benefits of a high SSI Score

The SSI Score is considered to be a comprehensive measure of social selling prowess, meaning that a high score is considered demonstration of a member’s understanding and optimal utilization of the platform. LinkedIn views a high SSI Score in the way airlines view frequent flier miles, as a gateway to desirable perks. A high SSI Score can enhance your online reputation with the gift of increased visibility, a powerful benefit that drives name recognition and brand awareness as it promotes trust and credibility. The halo of credibility can lead to more positive responses to your networking inquiries and, theoretically, result in more and higher-quality opportunities for collaborations or exploring business ventures.

But does the SSI Score actually translate into tangible business results? Maybe—you’d expect LinkedIn to claim that a high SSI Score correlates with business success. LinkedIn reports that the higher your SSI Score, the more likely you are to achieve your sales targets, for example. LinkedIn says that an analysis of platform members who’ve received a high SSI Score will on average receive 45% more sales opportunities than those with lower scores and they’ll win 78% more sales deals than peers who are not active on social media. According to a joint study by LinkedIn and Richard Edelman, CEO of the global communications firm Edelman, 58% of business leaders are willing to buy from an industry expert and/or thought leader and they are willing to pay more, as they feel they’ll receive premium service.

Lead generation. Allegedly, those who’ve earned a high SSI Score are 45% more likely to exceed their sales quota because they are adept at identifying and engaging with, the right contacts. The strategy is known to result in more productive leadgen.
Sales. According to LinkedIn, those with an SSI Score above 70 outperform their peers and achieve 45% more sales opportunities than those with low scores.
Brand awareness. A high SSI Score typically results in the reward of increased visibility for your content, leading to increased brand awareness and recognition in your industry.
Trust-building. A high SSI Score enhances credibility, a trust-building factor that can make a difference for B2B professionals, where relationships and reputations play a significant role in decision-making.
Optimized visibility. LinkedIn’s algorithm favors those who utilize its platform effectively. A higher SSI Score usually results in enhanced visibility for your posted content, opening the door to increased engagement with your connections and other contacts.

Monitoring your SSI Score is likely to motivate you to make the most of platform benefits—seeking strategically savvy connection requests as a way to maximize leadgen or business collaborations, positioning yourself as an industry Thought Leader and building your brand and credibility and working to increase your exposure by verifying that your content is relevant to your target audience. To learn your SSI Score, log onto LinkedIn and then click on this link. If you’re part of Sales Navigator, go to “Admin“ and click “User Report.”

While you’re logged onto LinkedIn, review your profile and consider what you might add—do you have a profile picture? Have you earned a professional certificate, or taken a skills-building course, that you never acknowledged in your profile? If so, add that accomplishment to the Licenses & Certifications section of your profile; if you received a certificate, scan and upload. Oh, and if you serve on a board or participate in other volunteer work, include your philanthropic and social responsibility commitments as well. Whether or not boosting your SSI Score is meaningful to you, remember that the purpose of joining LinkedIn is to display your professional bona fides.

Also, when’s the last time you made or received a recommendation? You can get the ball rolling by making a recommendation for a colleague and asking for the favor to be returned with a recommendation for yourself. While we’re on the subject of colleagues, take a tour through the extensive list of LinkedIn groups and figure out if there’s a new one you might join; if you’re already listed in a group or two, scroll through the content to get an update on the threads and see where you might be able to make a relevant comment, or ask a question. Giving a boost to your SSI Score is not labor intensive, but it does require some strategic thinking. It’s time to get busy!

Thanks for reading,

Kim

October 1, 2024 Marketing customer experience, customer retention, expectations, payment, revenue, value Leave a comment

Help Customers Trust Subscription Pricing

by Kim Clark

The mere thought of guaranteed revenue arriving each month like clockwork will bring a smile to the face of every business owner. Recurring revenue is a dream come true; now you’ve got the cash-flow to pay expenses on time and in full. You can replace or upgrade business equipment when necessary. You can invest in professional development that makes you more knowledgeable, and therefore more useful to customers, and more respected in your professional community as well. Recurring revenue enables you to plan for the future of your business with confidence—and sleep well at night.

The leading way to generate recurring revenue is by introducing a subscription payment option to your business. Savvy Freelancers and SMBs are reviewing the buying habits of their best customers to determine if converting certain of their products or services to the subscription model can be successful. In the B2B sector, subscription pricing is a payment option where customers pay a recurring fee, typically monthly or annually, to receive access to a product or service, most often cloud-based software or storage, i.e., software as a service (SaaS). Freelancers and SMBs might offer subscription pricing for coaching, marketing, network and website management, or bookkeeping services.

Thoughts of a subscription payment plan may make business owners salivate, but the process requires careful thought and planning. You’ve got to get things right from Day One and that is especially true for service-based businesses where value is not always immediately recognized. SaaS subscriptions, network and/or website management and bookkeeping services, on the other hand, have a readily apparent value that customers and prospects can picture themselves needing on a regular basis. For this reason, non-IT related service-based subscriptions may face challenges.

Value perception: To establish trust in a subscription payment plan, the business must demonstrate unambiguous value to prospective customers. If the customer begins to feel that s/he is not getting their money’s worth, there will be a risk of service cancellation.
Service enhancements: There’s an ongoing customer expectation to continually sweeten the pot with (free) service upgrades. Global enterprise companies (like credit card companies and banks) can afford this strategy and the expectation has been set. SMBs and Freelancers may struggle to fulfill this wish, however.

Talk up value

Your subscription pricing model and everything related to it must align with the perceived value of what customers get in return. Customers must be able to see and/or believe the value of your product or service, consistently and at every touch point. Your job, Freelancer or SMB owner, is to continuously communicate that value, so customers will understand the benefits they’ll receive when opting-in to the subscription. Only when that is achieved will customer concerns fade and trust in your subscription grow.

Communicating value begins at the introduction of the subscription model sales process; the offer of a free trial will play a pivotal role in building the value you want to demonstrate. A short free trial invites prospective subscription customers to test the product or service, if it is new to them, or experience how subscription pricing can work to their benefit. Businesses acquired 50.0% of subscribers through trials, making it one of the most effective customer acquisition strategies. Additionally, as customization has become a growing preference, add-ons have become an essential part of personalized offers and 28.1% of customers offered add-on options to allow customers to tailor the subscription to their needs.

Prioritize quality control

The engine of a successful subscription-based payment model is customers who feel confident and happy to use and pay for your service or product. Your quality control procedures will play an integral part of making that possible. You must be forever vigilant and closely monitor the quality of your product or service performance and delivery, customer service/customer experience and the payment process.

Embed quality control into your workflow by making it part of someone’s job description (yours, Freelancer friend!) to confirm that customer expectations are met, respond to and document glitches and monitor the turnaround time for resolving issues. BTW, attentive quality control will make you quickly aware of brewing customer concerns, knowledge that can, for example, reveal service enhancements that customers may appreciate. You may discover another way to instill trust and value in your company.

Expectations and the customer experience

Begin setting expectations when prospective customers first interact with your subscription sales funnel. Life is about managing expectations and it’s in your interest that every customer understands what is (and is not) included in the subscription you want them to buy—e.g., accessible services, products, tools, supporting technologies, change orders and how to reach customer service on the phone. In order to make an informed decision, subscription prospects must understand and accept what the service offers, channels for contact and the level of support offered by your organization.

Be advised that available payment methods are now an essential part of the customer experience. Economic uncertainty has made customers exceptionally price-sensitive and potentially influenced by their satisfaction, or disappointment, with the payment options you make available, along with the add-ons or upgrade options and other customization features. Debit cards remain the most popular payment method (68.6%), but the desire for access to alternative payment methods is now undeniable. Including subscription payment methods that were once seldom available can address the growing preference for a convenient, seamless payment experience that recognizes customer needs. Alternative payment methods have been proven to generate more revenue (5.0% renewal invoice decline rate) and help prevent fraud (0.9% of failed fraud transactions).

Customer retention

The smartest business owners will implement customer retention strategies designed to discourage customer churn and grow the subscriber base. The customer experience presents numerous opportunities to appeal to customers by offering potent sweeteners that may include loyalty rewards, product or service bundling, hybrid models, subscription pausing options, or other special offers designed to promote customer satisfaction and loyalty. In 2023, the average consumer churn rate was 4.1%, staying consistent year-over-year. As customers become more particular with spending, their purchases become more intentional, making them less likely to churn once a decision to buy has been made.

BTW, subscription pauses are a convenient alternative to sidestep cancellation when a customer needs relief from monthly payments or product deliveries. 39.7% of merchant sites enabled the pause functionality and prevented over 400,000 plan cancellations.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

September 10, 2024 Marketing buyer, GenX, GenZ, journey, millennials, strategy Leave a comment

Online Search: Every Generation Does It Different

by Kim Clark

Eye openers:

71% of Generation Z prefer mobile when shopping online.
21% of 18-to 24-year-olds start informational quests with TikTok, while 5% start on YouTube.
Gen Z (62.7%) and Millennials (64.6%) are twice as likely as Baby Boomers (32.9%) to use multiple channels in their purchase journey.
On average, GenZ uses Google for searches 25% less than Generation X.
30% of internet users aged 16-64 use voice assistants weekly.
94% of GenZ trusts influencers over traditional ads for product recommendations.

Business directories are good business. Way back in the 19th century, the groundbreaking publication that became the Yellow Pages began in Cheyenne, WY and eventually became a national, then global, business resource. The Yellow Pages was available free of charge and was delivered to your door. Everyone in the US had access to the Yellow Pages, either combined with the (residential) white pages, or available separately. The original Yellow Pages still exists and remains a leading business directory, but how business customers search for information to start their buyer’s journey has undergone a radical reset. The Yellow Pages has joined the other global search platforms and has gone digital; the print version is now delivered to your door by request only.

Because you are a business owner or leader, you are intensely interested in the buyer’s journey that your prospective customers launch and experience. You know that the platform used when prospects search for information about your products, services and/or company can potentially impact how they discover and interact with your company. It’s likely you also know that the appeal of social media platforms and other digital resources is influenced by the age of the user and the appeal and influence carries over to shopping—i.e., buyer’s journey searches.

In other words, you can add another dimension to how you use customer demographic info and incorporate the age range/ generational cohort of target customers when creating your buyer’s journey. Do that and you’ll give yourself an important competitive advantage because every generation’s idiosyncratic search habits show you how to win them over. By aligning your marketing strategies and tactics to synch with generational preferences, you can enhance company visibility, promote customer engagement, build trust and, ultimately, generate sales revenue. Ignoring the search trend preferences of your target audience means you could be losing opportunities to cultivate potential customers.

Generational search trends and business strategies

A comprehensive understanding of how the generational groups prefer to search will enhance the power of your marketing strategies and ensure that your content reaches and resonates with the intended audience. Business owners and leaders can then, for example, create detailed content for Baby Boomers, showcase social media for GenZ and optimize mobile for Millennials. Below are insights that describe the search tendencies of different generations search and suggestions of tactics likely to appeal to them. The info was provided by Azira, a data intelligence platform that focuses on marketing and operations, in its consumer behavior report The Great Generational Shopping Divide, that surveyed 2,048 respondents in the U.S., United Kingdom and Australia in July 2023.

Generation Z (Born 1997-2012, age 12-27 years)

According to Hubspot, the inbound marketing and customer relations management platform, GenZ uses mobile phones more than any other device for online shopping and searching for information online. Optimizing the shopping experience for mobile is a must; and as noted above, 74% of GenZ shoppers use a mobile phone to do business, while just 16% use a computer. Of Gen Z, 28% have found new products by searching the web in the past few months.

Search Preferences: Short, fragmented queries on social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
Typical Search: GenZ users looking for pasta recipes might search “best easy Italian pasta recipes” on TikTok and watch influencer videos.
Preferred Content: Favors audiovisual, especially short videos.
Strategy: Utilize social media platforms and influencers. Create engaging, brief and visually appealing content to capture their attention.

Millennials (Born 1981-1996, age 28-43 years)

Azira data found that 52% of Millennial customers engage in omnichannel shopping, meaning they use two or more online channels to conduct their buyer’s journey. GenZ and Millennial buyers are nearly twice as likely to engage in omnichannel shopping than Baby Boomers (63% and 65% vs. 33%, respectively). 70% use their mobile phones most often, compared to just 20% who prefer to use a computer, highlighting the importance of optimizing your site to be mobile-first. Millennials’ preferred channels for discovering new products are YouTube, Instagram and Facebook and 32% say they discover new products most often by searching the internet.

Search Preferences: Short, conversational queries; mobile devices and voice search integrated with social media are prominently used.
Typical Search: Millennials searching for a travel destination might use voice search to ask, “What are the top travel destinations for 2024?” and look for recommendations on Instagram.
Preferred Content: Prefer visual and audiovisual content; they trust peer reviews/opinions and want social proof.
Strategy: Optimize for mobile and voice search. Leverage visual content and social proof to build authenticity and trust.

Generation X (Born 1965-1980, age 59-44 years)

One in three GenX’ers say they prefer to discover new products through social media and 28% say that social media is how they discover new products most often. Additionally, 35% of GenX have discovered new products through online search in the past three months, placing it among the top discovery channels. Two-thirds of GenXers say they use their mobile phones most for online shopping, while 16% are on a computer and 11% use a tablet most frequently.

Search Preferences: Mix of specific and general queries using both search engines and social media.
Typical Search: A GenX consumer looking for a fitness tracker might search “best fitness trackers 2024 comparison” on Google and check reviews on Yelp.
Preferred Content: Seek quick access to practical information, relying on review sites.
Business Strategy: Provide efficient, practical insights and reviews. Balance traditional and modern search methods to cater to their adaptable nature.

Baby Boomers (Born 1946-1964, age 60-78 years)

Baby Boomer shopping habits stand out the most of any generation. For example, more than half of Baby Boomers have discovered new products through television advertisements in the past three months and 40% say their TV set is where they discover products most often. Baby Boomers are comfortable searching the internet, with 46% of them having discovered a new product through online search in the past three months. Additionally, 33% of Baby Boomers prefer discovering new products in online stores over any other channel. When asked about their preferred way to discover new products, just 17% say through social media; in fact, social media and ranks behind all the channels mentioned in the Hubspot survey, as well as word of mouth and direct mail (snail mail). Moreover, just 20% of Boomers have discovered a product on social media in the past three months and only 8% have purchased a product on a social media platform.

Search Preferences: Prefer detailed, specific queries on traditional search engines like Google and Bing.
Typical Search: A Baby Boomer looking to buy a new refrigerator might search “best energy-efficient refrigerators 2024 reviews” on Google.
Preferred Content: Favor comprehensive, well-researched articles from trusted sources.
Strategy: Create detailed, authoritative content that addresses their specific needs and concerns. Focus on building trust through thoroughness and reliability.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

September 3, 2024 Marketing authentic, budget, call-to-action, interactive, sell Leave a comment

Design Social Media Content to Fit Your Goals

by Kim Clark

News flash—creating social media content that advances your company marketing goals may demand more attention than you might’ve guessed. Checking social media accounts might be something you do while having lunch—why not log into Facebook to see what’s up?—but the “free” resource known as social media works best when you are strategic when using it. Effective marketing in any format demands precise planning.

Keeping a strategy in mind as you develop social media marketing content means that all posts—text, images, audio, video—will be designed to work in concert. That’s your recipe for social media that clearly communicates talking points, tells the story, follows the strategy and delivers the desired return on investment. So whether the plan is to promote brand awareness, cultivate customer relationships, or facilitate customer service, for example, there is documented evidence that well-executed social media campaigns are able to deliver the results you want. Your job is to create the right content and post on platforms your audience trusts and follows.

If your company maintains a presence on more than one site, keep in mind that content posted on multiple channels may be tailored to fit the unique strengths of each platform used, but content will be most effective when aligned across channels. You want to ensure that you communicate a unified message to the audience on all platforms used. Unaligned, inconsistent messaging can confuse audiences and undermine brand credibility.

Budget

Let’s start with money, the ultimate commitment. A financial investment is worthwhile for companies that are serious about social media marketing because a well-developed strategy that has the potential to achieve marketing (think revenue) goals can be realized only if all aspects of the content match your aspirations. If your marketing goals require a high-performing social media campaign, the strategies that get you there must be enabled by the right budget. Can you strike a balance between the funding needed to support the campaign you want and a financial commitment you can tolerate?

If the money is there, you might decide to hire a social media specialist to produce all text and image content. If your budget is modest, or you prefer to copywrite the text yourself, you could focus your spend on audiovisual elements and invite a pro to shoot and edit the visual elements.

Authentic

Today, “raw,” unscripted content sets the standard for what’s considered authentic and credible—i.e., trustworthy. Cinema verite is where it’s at and conversations and actions that feel scripted and rehearsed are a turn-off. Your followers want to see a slice of life—tear off the band aid, peek behind the curtain, get the view from backstage.

So, if you’re scheduled give a talk at a business association program, your social media audience may find it interesting to watch you getting ready to take the stage. Recruit a friend or ask your social media specialist, if you’ve hired one, to video you en route to the venue. Your commute to the venue can be filmed and you can supply background info about the organization during the ride. If the sponsoring organization allows, you can also be shown meeting the host, being introduced and walking to the podium to launch your presentation. If allowed, your talk can be filmed in its entirety and short clips can be edited to use in future marketing collaterals.

Interactive

Rather than waiting for your social media audience to make the first move, recognize that they will probably need a compelling invitation from you as motivation to engage with your content. The good news is that invitations to interact with your audience are not difficult to design.

For example, some of your viewers may agree to take a quick survey or poll that gauges their feelings about a particular topic (which may not directly involve your products or services). Social media users often enjoy opportunities to connect with the brands they follow. From time to time, just be sure to include a question or two about what they’d like to see added to your line, or what might make a useful upgrade for your product or service. Your audience will feel more connected to your brand if they feel as if they’ve contributed to your company’s product development.

Soft sell

The hard sell no longer works. The soft sell, like soft skills, is the new champion of today’s marketplace. Instead of coming on like a carnival barker on the midway and shouting “Step right up, folks!” the preferred approach employs social media platforms as a conduit to current and prospective customers who would like information about your products, services and you and your company. Customers, prospects (and influencers, if you’ve caught the eye of one) would like to get to know you. They often don’t trust or respond to aggressive sales tactics. A smart sales strategy is designed to cultivate a steady stream of customers and prospects who engage with your content and then make purchases and referrals, give testimonials and become brand cheerleaders, too.

Avoid over-sharing

It is true that being reliable and predictable—consistent—is reassuring and you should keep that in mind as you post content to your chosen platforms. But how do you know how often to post? Two posts a month is probably too little; two posts every day of the week is definitely overkill. You want site visitors to see worthwhile information—not always serious, sometimes amusing, always interesting and never a waste of time.

You don’t want your content (and company) to be perceived as annoying and irrelevant, a burden that clogs their feed with filler. Working with a good social media professional can help you determine how often you should post and how you might diversify your content to enhance interest and keep viewers coming back.

Call-to-Action

Remember to include a call-to-action in your social media content. It’s a feel-good to see great numbers when reading the statistics of your site’s impressions and views, but you won’t get your full reward unless followers are asked to do something—take an action—so you’ll receive a tangible result of some sort.

Your CTA completes the social media experience by inviting your audience to click a link and—-watch a video, request a free 30-minute consultation, register for a webinar or course. The CTA allows you to both collect and measure the ROI of your social media marketing campaign. You’ll be certain that your campaign goal is reached—brand awareness and brand loyalty enhanced, customer relationships nurtured, names added to your customer list (through the sign-up), warm leads created.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Rex Features. British actor Sean Connery (August 1930 – October 2020) with Anthony Sinclair of Anthony Sinclair Suits, his Savile Row tailor in London, during the 1960s James Bond movie era.

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