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Two Simple Tips For Building Brand Community

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What makes a community? I was on a social media panel at MIT Sloan, where we began the conversation with this topic – community building. How do you use social media to build a community around your brand?

There are two key words that come to mind when I think of community:

  • Helpful
  • Resourceful

It’s easy to broadcast on social media, but if you’re looking to build a community and advocacy around your brand, lead with these two values. Be helpful – post tips, tricks, and hacks – tell people how they can do things better or easier. Be resourceful – build up your thought leadership around key subjects that you know are important to your connections. Offer insights, experiences or opinions. Be thoughtful. When people know they can rely on your for quality content, they will continue to come back to your channels. You have become a resource to them.

Another simple approach is to think about walking into a party in your new neighborhood. Let’s say you’ve just moved in. If you want to become a part of the community, you don’t barge into the party loudly broadcasting how great you are and pitching people on what you do. You’d likely take the time to introduce yourself, get to know what matters to your neighbors and, if appropriate, offer up insights on things you have in common, sharing your experiences.

Online isn’t really all that different. Brands lose sight of this. Just because you can broadcast on social media doesn’t mean that all you should broadcast is information about yourself. Brands especially need to take care with how they establish and build community. It’s okay to share information about your products and services but in the end, by being a resource and offering ongoing information about topics related to your business – and to what your audience cares about – you will develop stronger relationships.

For more on this and other social media tips, check out the video from the panel. Bobbie Carleton of Innovation Women was our amazing moderator. Thank you for the opportunity, Bobbie!

Sunglass Hut: One Simple, Smart Marketing Move

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Sometimes small businesses get overwhelmed with the idea of creating marketing campaigns. They often think effective marketing has to be expensive and intricate. But the truth is, sometimes the best marketing comes in the form of simple, smart moves. One example comes from Sunglass Hut.

When you buy a pair of sunglasses at any Sunglass Hut, they’ll ask you if you’d like to purchase one of their cleaning kits. Great. But did you know that if you do, they offer free refills of the cleaning solution for life?

Pretty smart, eh? Here’s why:

  • Doing so means you’ll come back into the store. Getting customers in the door is always key in retail.
  • By getting customers in the door, they’re more likely to make a repeat purchase – they see new merchandise, engage with sales executives, etc.
  • Offering “free for life” increases loyalty and brand stickiness.

The company offers several other smart marketing examples such as free shipping, fittings and returns. For marketers who understand the psychology of “free,” you know these are smart moves. You don’t have to be a large corporation to implement some kind of repeat business campaign. Maybe you can’t afford to provide free shipping or products, but I bet you can afford to give loyalty discounts or other creative reasons for a shopper to return to your store. Perhaps it’s a free pair of earrings with every necklace purchase during the holidays, or a Free Refill on a shopper’s Birthday. Get creative and remember, you’re trying to get them back into your store – online or off – to encourage additional engagement.

Marketing doesn’t have to mean a huge, flashy campaign. The best marketing keeps the customer in mind, and looks at offers and promotions from their perspective.

Marketing Is Like A Cocktail Party

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There’s one simple thing marketers are overlooking when it comes to the type of content they’re developing. Unlike traditional marketing, content marketing is not all about you. In the past, marketing used to be all about your brand – marketers would develop ads, direct mail, email newsletters, press releases, sales collateral and more – usually focused briefly on a prospect’s pain point, and at length on how the marketer’s company would solve it.

That’s all well and good – but today content marketers have to go a step further.

You have to be a resource.

Think of marketing like a cocktail party – you’re never going to keep someone engaged if you ask them a question about a challenge they’re having, only to barely listen to the answer and then go on and on and on for the rest of the party about why YOU are the answer to that question (what your product/service is). Even if you do have the answer, you’d come across as shallow and not all that interested in learning more, but rather just in talking about yourself.

Nobody likes the gal who just brags about herself and doesn’t really listen. Think of your company the same way.

Content marketing has got to be resourceful. You have to share information that’s not just about you. You have to think of how to help, not just sell.

What information can you share with your prospects that educates, informs, resolves an issue and otherwise benefits your fans over time? Give, even when you don’t need or expect something (like a sale). People remember how you make them feel – not just what you say. And when you make someone feel important, cared for, and understood by being a resource that helped them, they’re more likely to want to do business with you when the time is right.

 

Do You Suffer From Marketing Content Fatigue?

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Brands are trying desperately to push out content – a lot of content. And content is great, it really is. Owned content is a smart part of your content strategy, and it’s an exciting time compared to 15 years ago when most companies relied heavily on third party journalists to publish their key messages (and hope they came across accurately). To be able to post, share and spread our content in exactly the way we want, where we want and when we want is a great thing.

But lately some of the content overload reminds us of being at a teenage dance, where kids who don’t quite know who they are yet bumble about awkwardly trying to be funny, cool, cute or smart. They wear too much makeup, have extreme hairstyles and wear clothing that they’re clearly uncomfortable in. They’re trying out everything because they’re still figuring out who they are.

Is your brand an awkward teenager still figuring things out, or do you know who you are? Are you a humorous company, so it makes sense to post cat memes? Or are you a serious B2B company for which informative and resourceful infographics make more sense? Is Snapchat really a network that will reach your audience, or are you just trying it out because you’ve seen other brands – completely different brands – using it? Great, you’ve joined Instagram! How is it contributing to your bottom line success?

Stick to the advice we’ve been giving since brands started to catch on to the social media craze – don’t try to be everything to everyone. Don’t feel like you have to be on every single social network. Stop, calm down and look at your business goals. What are you really trying to accomplish? What other marketing channels are you using? What percent of those should be social? What really works for you, not just the brand next door? Who are you trying to reach and where do they spend their time online?

Too often, companies try to follow suite because “all the cool kids are doing it.” Facebook isn’t sensible for every brand. Twitter might not reach your customers. Some companies don’t have the right resources to use more than one social network and do it well. Social isn’t a broadly applicable strategy – you’ve got to apply it like you would any other marketing initiative – is this [channel, campaign, update] right for us, what will it help us accomplish and how will we measure success?

No one can be everything to everyone. It’s more compelling to know who you are and be confident in that. Share content relevant to your area of expertise and your credibility will stay intact while your awareness grows – among the right audience for your company. In the end, isn’t that what really matters – quality over quantity?

Persuasive Picks – Week of December 14, 2015

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According to PRNewser, “The PR Industry Has a Big Problem“. Guest columnist, Colin Jordan reports there are roughly 5.7 PR professionals for every one journalist, according to recent Labor reports in the U.S. He offers insight on how the PR industry must change.

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Mashable reports on what we will see from content marketers in 2016. This article called “10 content marketing game changers to look for in 2016“, authored by Shafqat Islam, shares tips on what brands should do in 2016 to stay on top, including the rise of new platforms such as WeChat, Line and others.

Brent Gleeson, a Forbes contributor, pens a piece on social media marketing in 2016. “5 Things You Should Be Doing In Social Media Marketing In 2016” focuses on the top five things brands should be doing to better engage customers.  He encourages the use of live streaming and engaging more with key influencers.

 

 

 

Persuasive Picks – Week of November 30, 2015

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As we close out the year, we are now turning our attention to strategies for 2016. In a piece for Entrepreneur, contributor Sujan Patel takes on this topic as it relates to marketing strategies for small businesses. This article called “5 Marketing Changes Small Businesses Need to Make in 2016” emphasizes the importance of relationship and mobile marketing.

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In an article as part of the MarTech Landscape Series, we look at B2B marketing automation software and what it is.  This article called “MarTech Landscape: What Is Marketing Automation Software?”, we learn about what marketers need to understand before adopting a marketing automation platform.

Digital fundraising is the topic of NPR’s piece called “A Click Too Far: Why Using Social Media Isn’t That Great For Fundraising“. This piece, authored by Alina Selyukh, references some of the great social media fundraising campaigns such as the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, but goes on to discuss how most campaigns aren’t proven to be all that effective.  Only 3 percent of fundraising referrals came from social media.

 

 

Persuasive Picks – Week of November 16, 2015

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Ever wish PR stereotypes would vanish? Ned Ellison does in his PRWeek article called “Death to the PR stereotype“. His article talks about how gaining trust with your clients should help diminish the current stereotype.

“The Five Marketing Trends CMOs Can No Longer Ignore In 2016” is another insightful piece by Jennifer Rooney, Staff Writer at Forbes. This piece includes a list of the five top trends that will strengthen next year and beyond.

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Image credit: NASA on The Commons

Entrepreneur published an intriguing article authored by Rebecca Hasulak.  This article called “It’s Not Rocket Science: 4 Secrets Behind Good PR for Startups” focuses on goals and how you should commit your time, not your money behind a strategy. It also includes tips on pitching and how to keep things simple.

 

Persuasive Picks – Week of 11/9/2015

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In honor of Veterans Day, PRNewser shared an intriguing piece called “5 PR Lessons to Learn From Veterans Day“. This article, authored by Shawn Paul Wood, offers lessons that PR people can learn including focusing on the cause, not the client and daring to be different.

The Holmes Report asks a thought provoking question to the PR World – “Are After-Hour Email Bans Realistic At PR Agencies?“. This article, authored by Aarti Shah, discusses the controversial topic of banning email after-hours to create a better work-life balance.

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The Next Web covers the ever-popular topic of social media in an article called “4 tools for building a social media empire“. This thorough piece, authored by Mackensie Graham, gives practical advice and directs you towards the latest tools available to help increase your social media presence.

Persuasive Picks – Week of November 2, 2015

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“Chipotle’s E. Coli Crisis: P.R. Experts Say It’s Handling It Right” in a Forbes article authored by Geoff Williams. This article shares thoughts on how this brand can weather the storm of PR by making the right choices, which it appears to be doing.

PRWeek contributor, Nicky Imrie of The PR Network, pens an opinion piece about moving from full-time PR work to freelance PR work and how this type of flexibility is the key to the future of PR for women specifically. This article called “Why the PR industry needs to flex its muscles and support its women” talks about job shares, a topic covered at a panel discussion in May with Women in PR.

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Product marketing is the focus of a Business2Community article this week, highlighting what not to do as you market your product.  This article called “The 3 Deadly Sins of Product Marketing” offers 3 don’ts as they apply to your marketing plan, including how you should not decrease your marketing budget by relying on your sales team to pick up the slack.

Persuasive Picks – Week of October 19, 2015

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Collaboration is the focus of a Forbes article entitled “Collaboration Could Be Your Most Powerful Marketing Tool“. This piece, penned by Andrew Fayad, talks about how building alliances will help your business and how teaming up with others has its benefits.

In a bold article called “Can PR Firms Lead Brand-Building? These CMOs Are Unconvinced“, a survey suggests that PR firms stick to what they are successful at – traditional PR.  This new joint research study from the PR Council and ANA is particularly interesting as it only polled a small number of participants.

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An Entrepreneur article, authored by Rohan Ayyar, offers tips to social media marketers on how to engage better on social media channels.  This article called “3 Never-Fail Tactics for Superior Social-Media Engagement” recommends email marketing as well as new social tools like WooBox.

 

 

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