#AwesomeConsistency - How Consistent Video Supports Company Culture & Expectations

We keep talking about how video, live video in particular, has the biggest impact in social media in 2017 - and that's just facts. If you are planning to incorporate video into your social media or marketing strategy on a regular basis, to take advantage of the benefits of consistency, then you will need a game plan for the videos you create. Why? Because your videos will become a part of your corporate and personal branding - they will speak to your company culture and visually demonstrate your mission, vision and values to your audience. Expectations will be the ultimate result of this effort so if you do not begin with the end in mind, you could miss the mark with your video marketing.

Company Culture

How do your marketing videos affect your overall company culture? It's a twofold approach. First, they act as an example to your team of what your business stands for both internally and externally. They can be used to showcase the brand, boost employee morale, and leverage both recruiting and retention efforts.

Not only are they a promotional tool for hiring the best talent, they build your company's online presence in a way that sets expectations for the audience. Video is a way of demonstrating what you stand for, what you do, and how you engage with others. It establishes trust and a level of comfort, as your viewers start to feel like they know you and what you stand for. This lowers any perceived or hidden barriers between you and your followers. Know, Like, and Trust - the social marketing triad - is established by posting videos regularly.

Starting with Video

The great thing about video marketing is that you can begin with as little as a cell phone or invest in really high-quality production experts - depending on your budget and what you are looking to achieve with your content. With the rise of live video, people no longer expect an expensive end result. Often, just sitting down, speaking to your audience, and responding when they engage is all that is needed to make video worthwhile.

Stay on Point

If you don't really understand your own branding yet - I mean backwards and forwards - then take time to fully develop your brand story before diving into video. Why? You are going to want to display those aspects of your branding that make you unique, interesting, and that differentiate you from your competition in your videos. Clear and concise content is what is needed to retain attention and audience.

Spotlighting

Do you hate being spotlighted or feel uncomfortable with the idea that it must be you on camera every week? Get creative or switch it up. Give your staff a voice by interviewing them. Highlight your products as they arrive or as you are packing them up to ship out. Show off your work space. Give viewers an insider's perspective on how and why you do what you do.

Have a Purpose

As with any decent marketing strategy, understand before you start what you are wanting to get out of this process. What is your call to action? Are you trying to connect with your audience and deliver your brand messaging to more people (reach)? Trying to grow your list / sales funnel (lead generation)? Do you want to flip viewers into paying customers (conversions)? Communicate what you need and what is important to you, and your business. In order to get your audience invested in you, they need to understand your "why."

If you haven't started creating videos for your website, email newsletters, vlogs, or social media - then now is a great time to start! Soon everyone will be doing it and it will be more difficult to #BeAwesome and get the sort of results you can get right now while this movement is fairly new.

Ready to brainstorm and talk strategy? Book a discovery call with me!

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Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and the tools to manage them.

Click here for her Social Media Workshops, Classes, and Seminars

#AwesomeConsistency - The Value of Blog Routines

Consistency is relevant to your brand in regards to ALL of your content, not just social media. When a business owner thinks about social media marketing, a blog isn't usually top of mind. However, blogging + social media can be a powerful promotion combination!

You've probably heard of other businesses that have been successful either as bloggers or on social media. This is not an either/or scenario as having a content plan for both will boost each individual effort.

Blogging

A company blog accomplishes a great many things. In this world of content marketing, it's difficult to justify not having one. A blog is great for SEO purposes since it keeps your page looking fresh and consistently updated so that the search engines crawl it on a regular basis. It's WAY better than an About Us page when it comes to showcasing your brand to your audience and allowing them get to know you - and what you do. It's an organic, non-pushy sales, marketing and branding tool that often requires little in the way of monetary investment but, when done well, reaps rewards.

Blogging + Social Media

There are a great many benefits to blogging but my favorite is that it makes creating social media content so much easier! Pulling content directly from the blog can be used to great graphics, infographics, quotes, etc. A regular blog means consistent, but still relevant, content to pull from without staring at the screen and wondering what to post next, or posting from the same well over and over. This keeps the content fresh and interesting for everyone involved!

Blog Promotion

Many bloggers experience the same problem and that is their audience doesn't necessarily think of hitting their website on a regular basis to read their blog. How do blog owners expand their reach and consistently get their content in front of people? They post their blog on their social media platforms! Linking back to your blog on various social media sites gets the information in front of the right people so that they drift to your website organically instead of relying on them to remember to visit your website. This also opens up the opportunity for people to share the blog with their own followers, boosting the reach that could have been achieved by the blog owner alone.

Blogging Routine

Since this month is all about #AwesomeConsistency - understanding the value of setting up a routine is essential. Your audience is being inundated with content - content consumption is at an all time high. Between algorithms, competition and short attention spans, it can be difficult to achieve the viewing numbers small business owners are hoping for. How do you stack the deck in your favor? Consistency. As with social media, having a consistent schedule trains your followers to expect your content on a regular basis. It keeps your brand, image, and content in the running and helps people find you. Having a break in content may convince viewers that you are no longer serious about what you do - that you are on hiatus - or that you are no longer putting the same focus into your work. Since there is more than enough content online to choose from, the potential that they will drift to your competition is high.

There is different advice when it comes to frequency and that it really depend on a lot of factors including your niche, your industry, and your time commitment. We recommend posting a blog at least once a month (at a minimum). The best results tends to come from businesses dedicated to posting weekly. Daily is too much and waiting longer than once a month is not enough. Find the middle ground that works for you so that you can commit to being consistent.

I can't wait to read what you post and watch you #BeAwesome using the combined powers of blogging, social media and consistency!

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Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and the tools to manage them.

Click here for her Social Media Workshops, Classes, and Seminars

#AwesomeConsistency – How Consistency Makes Your Brand Stand Out

In our last post, we talked about why consistency is essential to your social media strategy. The focus was mostly on what your audience expects in terms of presence. However, there are many reasons why posting consistently is a game changer for your social and one of them is brand impact. Not only are you vying every day for your target audience’s attention, you are competing against other brands to earn influence and credibility as well.

With our shortened attention spans and the flood of content being directed at us daily, standing out as a brand on social media is no walk in the park. Without consistency, it is difficult to adequately get your vision across to your viewers.  If you haven’t managed to deliver this in social, you can bet someone offering something similar has cracked the code. 

The businesses that are doing this will be instantly recognized – at a glance. You don’t have to read an ad to know if it’s coming from Nike or Apple or Disney. Your peripheral vision, and this instant recognition of their brand, is enough for an audience to immediately pinpoint whose marketing it is. 

How can you switch up your social postings to make them more consistent – and instantly recognizable? 

Schedule

The first step is putting together a solid editorial calendar. Having a set schedule for your posts will help you when creating content but also helps your audience know what to expect from you. Brands can also post above and beyond what their calendar entails as long as they stick to the consistent schedule. 

Style Guide

Having an overall idea of what your brand will look like online is a good idea but having it all put together into a branding style guide is even better. If you are investing any amount of time into developing your brand, then a style guide is necessary for maintaining consistency. Here are some examples of what a style guide looks like to give you an idea of what you will need to pull together.

Tone/Voice

Writers (and copywriters) fully understand how essential developing the right tone for copy can be. Having a brand “voice” will remind you how to remain consistent. Are you sassy? Professional? Informative? If you could describe your brand in three words – what would they be? 

First you have to define your voice and then you have to ensure that you are using the same tone in all your branding. Here is an article to help you get started.

Graphics/Images

Last, but certainly not least, is developing visual content for your online presence, marketing, and social media. 

“Visual content has become so prevalent that it’s no longer just a piece of the marketing industry, but its core.”

Kimberlee Morrison

To get attention today, you have to invest in visual content. Videos, graphics, memes, infographics, slide shows – all of these are visuals. Our attention spans are ridiculously short and a brand needs high-quality, stunning, eye-catching graphics in order to grab attention and get noticed. Consistency comes into play when developing these because you want your audience to instantly recognize you, and your brand, when they glance at content you’ve created. 

If you follow these guidelines, you will find that you are already ahead of the curve when compared to much of your competition. Creating your social media strategy, so you can #BeAwesome at what you do, should involve a plan ensuring your branding is consistent across all channels. 

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Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and the tools to manage them.

Click here for her Social Media Workshops, Classes, and Seminars

#AwesomeConsistency - Frequency of Posts to Stay Top of Mind

Keeping up with social media posts can be a tricky thing – if you are posting too much, your audience tends to tune you out.  Posting too little can lead to a dropping off of followers. So what is the secret?  Consistency.  Consistency gives your readers and followers a predictable flow of information from you and keeps them coming back for more.

Consistency in Tone

The tone and voice used in your posts should reflect your company and its culture.  Are you laid back and willing to take a lighter tone or are you more professional and serious?  Take a look at the tone you want to represent your brand and stick with it – your tone should reflect the audience you are trying to attract.  Once you have set that tone, stick to it.  Be consistent, not only with the writing style and tone, but also with the content.  Every time you put a post on a social media outlet, you are releasing your brand voice to the public.  To make your brand more recognizable to new and old followers, consistency is the key.  Changing your tone or brand strategy too much can lead to consumer confusion.

Consistency Across Platforms

Your brand voice is your identity, and your identity should be consistent no matter the social media platform.  If you want your customers to know your brand as relaxed and witty, then it should reflect that across all social platforms.  Followers will be disappointed or confused and your brand voice will lose credibility without this consistency.  Focusing on keeping your tone and brand voice consistent will resonate with customers across all social media platforms.

Consistent Timing

Not everyone can post every day and that is ok. Whatever your schedule and preference, the key is to be consistent.  If you are posting every single day on Facebook but only twice a day on Twitter, don’t switch schedules.  What if you post every single day on Facebook for a year and then something happens that cuts into your time?  You have a couple of options – inform your followers that there will be a change coming in your posting frequency, or hire someone that does your posting for you.  The key is consistency – if your customers have to guess when they will see the next post from you, you could fall from top of mind and the audience may move on to the multiple other options available.  However, over inundating social media platforms with your brand voice can lead to content fatigue.  Pick a schedule, according to when your audience is most active online, and be consistent!

Consistently Relevant

Relevance goes hand in hand with consistency.  If you are updating your social media consistently with relevant posts, your followers will stay engaged.  An engaged follower is more likely to talk up your brand and bring in more followers.  It is important to not only be consistent with your brand voice and timing, but also with the relevancy of the topics you are covering.  Part of creating a brand that stands out on social media is maintaining consistency on relevant topics that are in the interest of your company and your followers.  In fact,  according to the Sprout Social Q3 2016 Index, 41% of consumers admitted to unfollowing brands who don’t share relevant information.

Consistency is important in so many aspects of your small business, but it can make or break your social media presence. To keep your followers happy and to gain a stronger brand voice and a strong reputation, be consistent in voice, timing, and relevancy across all social media platforms.

Be sure to Follow us and Let's Engage!

Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and the tools to manage them.

Click here for her Social Media Workshops, Classes, and Seminars

#BrandConsistency – How Consistency in Social Media Helps Your Brand

Consistency in Social Media is a necessary component for gaining and keeping loyal followers. Here are some of our top tips on being consistent:

1. Create a familiar look across all platforms. Your brand is a style, a unique voice among a sea of distractions. You want your potential clients and customers to recognize your brand no matter the platform (or mobile device) they use. Visual branding is just as important as the message you wish to share. For brand consistency, you’ll want to use the same color palette, logo/avatar, use the same filters in places like Instagram so your images look organized and part of an overall package, and consider using templates for graphics you share on social media sites. This will make the fonts, colors, designs, and size constant.

2. The voice must be the same across all platforms. A voice is more than grammar and spelling (but that’s important too!). It’s about how you speak to the public. Are you relaxed? Do you take a formal tone? Do you go out of your way to make viewers feel invited? Or do you prefer to keep a wall up between you and your customers and client? Deciding your brand’s voice involves these three elements: company culture, your audience, and your authenticity.

3. Humor is a unique form of communication. It can break the ice, relax or offend others, or reflect on the social and moral core of the individual. Sometimes, it can be all of these things at once. Keep your humor focused on your brand. When you use humor, imagine how someone new to your brand would interpret it. According to Sprout Social, 71% of consumers have unfollowed a brand on social media because they were embarrassed by the brand’s posts. You are on public display. Don’t forget that.

4. Consistent posting is key to brand success. Lack of interaction on your social media pages will leave a potential client/customer thinking you have gone out of business, or worse, that you don’t care about their business. If time is a factor, use social media tools to keep your pages updated.

Brand name recall is key to building a loyal following. Reinforce your brand’s beliefs and goals.

And one more bonus tip: Create powerful calls to action. Don’t be shy. This is still business. 

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Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+,YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and the tools to manage them.

Click here for her Social Media Workshops, Classes and Seminars

#SocialIsntScary – Fear of Getting Started

With around 78% of people using at least one social media platform, nearly 1/3 of the Earth is on social. This infographic from Uzu Media breaks down the number of users on the most popular social media websites to give you an idea of the possible impact of participating on these platforms.

While small business owners are aware of the need for social media marketing, as well as the potential it generates, many have yet to get started. Only 31% of small business owners have created and cultivated an effective social media strategy. These professionals are afraid of quite a few things when it comes to doing their own social media. Do any of these sound familiar to you?

• Don’t know where to start
• Afraid of failure
• Not sure what to post
• Not sure where to post or how often
• Worried about negative engagement or reviews
•  Not comfortable putting myself out there
•  Concerned about the level of commitment necessary to be successful

I bet at least one of those resonated with where you are currently. That’s okay. With any new endeavor, sometimes you just need to make a plan and jump in!

Have a Strategy

The best way to eliminate your fear is to make a plan. Marketing and social media strategy is essential. Goal setting, analytics, decision making, ROI and impact will be difficult to incorporate and track without a plan. You need to know what you want to do ahead of time and then you need to be able to measure what worked and what didn’t so that you can adapt your strategy for success as you go. 

Here are the elements that need to be included in your strategy:

• Where to post content.
• When to post content.
• Who you are posting content for currently.
• Who you’d like to reach with your content.
• What to post
• Why you are posting.

Monitoring

For those concerned about negative social engagement, the key to keeping the trolls at bay is having a plan in place to monitor your social accounts. You will need to understand the difference between engagement that offers opportunities to fix the problem versus engagement that is spammy, inappropriate or harassing in nature. The quicker you delete the spam, the inappropriate posts and harassment – the better. Understand how to delete, block and remove content from your social feeds.

On the other hand, don’t go around deleting every negative comment. Part of what makes social media work is that it gives your audience the opportunity to connect with you and be heard. If they have a genuine complaint or concern, simply deleting and ignoring them will not be viewed favorably by your audience. Once you see this type of negative engagement, immediately post so that they know you’ve seen their comment/post and want to have an off-line conversation to cover what can be done to resolve the issue. They are giving you an opportunity to turn it around. Just take the conversation offline so that it’s private.

Consistency

Once you get started, be sure you’ve come up with a way to remain consistent. This may mean starting small and working your way up. That way the audience doesn’t notice that you aren’t posting as often as you used to and then make the assumption that you are no longer invested in your social. Adding more is always better than cutting back. The old adage of don’t bite off more than you can chew is the key here. You can always add new platforms or more posts later if you discover you have the capacity to do so.

Be Authentic

Today, people are more likely to support brands that they know, like and trust. That means they aren’t investing in a logo, or a big office, or an online shop. They need the opportunity to get to know, like, and trust you. Purchasing anything has an emotional element to it as well. Provoking an emotional response from your audience will help them become more interested in you and what you do. 

However, people are smart. They are assaulted on all sides by direct mail, spam, advertisements, commercials… they’ve learned how to spot a person who is being authentic from a used car salesman type. 

You will need to truly understand your target audience and what they are seeking. The more authentic, genuine and real you come across, the more they will trust you. If you can combine that authenticity with a message that appeals to your followers – you’ve hit the social jackpot!

Team Up

It can be frustrating to create great content when you haven’t built a following yet. However, that content is what is going to grow your audience. If you want an organic way to fast track your exposure, find influencers that have a similar target audience and collaborate with them. Guest blogging is the easiest way to do this. This will expose you to their larger following and connect you with experts in your field or industry at the same time.

Once you create and implement a solid marketing strategy for your social media, you will only need to focus on maintaining it. Start small and work your way up – just one social platform to start is more than enough if you are worried. If the effort you are putting into social is too time consuming, contact our team. We specialize in helping small businesses #BeAwesome with their social media, branding, and marketing strategy online.

Be sure to Follow us and Let's Engage!

Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+,YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and the tools to manage them.

Click here for her Social Media Workshops, Classes and Seminars