2020 has been dominated by the coronavirus pandemic, and rightfully so. Though there is light at the end of the tunnel, there’s still a ways to go until we see the end of this thing, which means your PR and marketing strategies must continue to be informed by what’s happening with COVID-19. Here are a few tips on how to adapt your strategies for these uncertain times.

1. Be Aware. With news about the pandemic in the spotlight, a story about your organization may not get top billing or even any time in the news cycle. Resources may have been reallocated and many media outlets are stretched thin covering health and political-related news so your business’s news might not have the same interest it did pre-pandemic. That doesn’t mean you should hold back, but consider other avenues of getting the word out, such as social media or creating your own content via blog posts on your website.

2. Be Self-Aware. Does your story/news/etc. matter right now? With businesses closing, people dying, and many struggling, be self-aware enough to recognize whether it’s the right moment to be sharing your PR material. And if you’re referencing the pandemic in your marketing strategy, make sure it’s with empathy and not in a way that makes it seem like you’re trying to profit from this public health disaster or turn the focus to your company if it’s managing to survive when so many have not.

3. Change Your Focus. Rather than spending your time and efforts on short-term marketing and PR strategies where you’ll be competing in an overcrowded news cycle, think long-term instead. Now may be a great time to focus on building your company’s brand recognition and reputation, maximizing your social media presence, overhauling your website, and developing other beneficial PR materials that will position your business for success going forward.

Keep these three tips in mind as the coronavirus pandemic continues to affect lives and livelihoods and your PR and marketing strategies will be better off for it. Here’s to a better 2021!

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Branding your company on social media in a way that makes you stand out from your competition can make all the difference when it comes to success and increase your name recognition. To help you with your social media branding efforts, here are three key starter tips to make sure you are implementing.

1. Start simple. A quick basic branding 101 crash course: consistency is key. This applies to your logo, account handle, bio, color scheme, etc. You don’t need to have your Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms be the exact same as far as what photo is used for your logo but there needs to be enough similarity between your accounts on different sites to make your business easily recognizable to users. Once these foundational branding elements are set, you’ll want to update them to keep them fresh at least a few times a year, perhaps tailoring these changes as appropriate for various holidays and exciting launches and changes at the company.

2. Think visually. What color palette do you want to use for your brand? What fonts? Beyond just basic photos, logos, and general color schemes, you need to ensure your individual posts on your various social media have the same filters and colors and use the same fonts. This is the next step in maintaining consistency and building brand recognition beyond your logo. To help with this, consider creating templates for different types of posts so that you are using the same features for each post, such as sharing blog posts, exciting announcements, etc. When posting graphic content like videos and photos, in particular, you want to be aware of the overall aesthetic you are presenting as a brand.

3. Establish your voice. Now that you know more about the visual aspects of your brand, it’s time to focus on your persona. Setting a specific tone and voice is key — and these may be slightly different depending on what social network you’re posting on as audiences vary by platform. Your voice may be more tongue-in-cheek on Twitter and more informational on Facebook. The idea is to firmly establish each and stick to them, and this extends to vocabulary and how you interact with your followers.

Of course, branding is an extensive process and an ongoing one. But implementing these three basic branding tips on all your social media accounts — and continuing to keep them in mind — is a great place to start.

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The coronavirus has wreaked havoc on communities and businesses across the world — and about six months in, many businesses are still suffering. With so much uncertainty and a big decrease in revenue, it’s important for organizations to make their marketing count during this crazy time and change their strategies to better engage with potential consumers. Here are some tips to consider using in your marketing efforts throughout COVID-19.

Be Creative. Don’t be afraid to take risks and throw some of your old marketing go-to’s out the window. Now’s the time to take risks and stand out. The more creative you can be, the better. Think about why customers should buy your product or engage with your site during this trying time. Figure out how to sell your business or frame your items as what can help people get through quarantine or otherwise act as a pick-me-up type of reward during this stressful period.

Be Reassuring. It seems like more businesses announce every day that they are folding or declaring bankruptcy and closing stores. Your business relies on customers and you want to reassure both past and potential consumers that you’re not going anywhere but that their business is needed and appreciated especially now. Give updates on what’s going on, safety precautions you’re taking, etc.

Be Social. More people are online for more hours than ever before and you need to take advantage of that by meeting your customers where they are. Post frequently, be part of the conversation, interact with your followers, offer deals, and special promotions. Social media has established itself as a must-do for any business but especially with the coronavirus keeping more people at home, you need to still engage with your consumer base and ramp up your efforts on social.

Be Aware. There’s a lot going on currently just with the coronavirus alone — but that’s not all that’s going on. You need to make sure your business, its practices, and its employees are all on the up-and-up and that you are sticking to exacting standards of PC-ness and respect. This should be what your company does all the time but with more eyes watching and with people having less to do, the coronavirus has become a bit of a powderkeg when it comes to reckonings, many justly so, and you don’t want your company or products in the news for the wrong reasons.

Keep these four tips in mind as we continue to navigate the coronavirus pandemic so your marketing efforts are beneficial and continue to help your business stay afloat.

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Building up an online presence via content marketing will help exponentially in increasing your company’s brand recognition. So how do you go about doing this in a way that’s organic and authentic? Here are three tips to consider:

Blog Well. Blogging is an important factor in increasing your brand recognition. But you can’t just count on simply blogging. You need to come up with amazing content that’s original and be posting it regularly. Writing blogs sporadically won’t do you any favors, nor will just relying on the fact that you are posting at all. Quality content is key.

Email Smartly. With so many emails coming into inboxes every day, it’s easy for your email marketing efforts to go unread or directly to the trash. That’s why it’s important to strategize your emails and not spam your recipient lists. Email is still a better way than social media to acquire customers so it’s important to carefully plan out when and how often your email campaigns are going out to maximize the benefits.

Create Custom Content. Do your research and put in the effort when it comes to creating content of any kind. Consult experts, read studies, conduct interviews, design graphics, and personalize your content for your consumers. Those who see your emails, blog posts, ads, etc., will be able to tell if you are phoning it in or actually putting thought and energy into the content you’re putting out.

With more brand recognition and a stronger online presence, you’ll see increased traffic to your site and posts, which will result in increased sales. Your content marketing should be actively benefiting your company, not just allowing you to click the box of engaging in content marketing. Implement these tips so your content marketing efforts are the best they can be and raises your brand recognition online.

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As we’ve said in our first two installments of this series, there’s a lot to know about influencer marketing. This month, we’ll cover a few final tips you should know about using influencers for marketing on social media.

7. Know that influencers aren’t just celebs. Unless you’re a huge brand with name recognition, don’t expect to entice a celebrity to push your brand on social media. Influencers do not have to be celebs to have a big following and to influence the masses to your benefit — and sometimes, it may be worthwhile to go for an influencer with a smaller following but who really would align with your business or product. By doing your research extensively, you can make sure your influencer is the right fit for you and more of a small-time celeb on social media to their followers.

8. Don’t expect miracles. It’s important to have realistic expectations about what your influencer can and will accomplish with their marketing efforts. You are probably not going to double your sales or engagement with a few posts from an influencer — but that’s not to say they won’t be effective. Set real goals that can be accomplished and measured and respect your influencer’s opinion and judgment; they likely know best.

9. Reflect and share feedback. After a campaign with an influencer, it’s important to reflect and share feedback on both sides. What does the influencer feel could work better if you continue collaborating in the future? How can their efforts be improved? Is the influencer you used the best person to work with or should your business explore other options? Think about how you want to proceed going forward based on this experience — and make sure both of you are open to constructive criticism.

Hopefully, this series gave you some great advice on what to know and expect when it comes to employing social media influencers for marketing purposes. Now go forth and put these into action!

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The idea of influencer marketing on social media may still be pretty new but it’s an important tool your business should be using. As we started covering last month, there’s a lot to know about this unique realm of marketing so this month, we’re divulging some more tips on how to effectively engage in influencer marketing.

4. Make it worth their while. Many influencers receive multiple offers to push sponsored content and products to their followers — and while offering them free products or services may work for some, most prefer real dollars. Rates may vary and should depending on how big a following an influencer has but expect to pay out money for this type of marketing and not just free stuff, unless the influencer has a lesser following. Your influencer will work that much harder for you if you make it worth their while.

5. Count on Stories, not just posts. Particularly when it comes to Instagram, stories are an important component of user engagement. Make sure you ask your influencer to not just post about your business or product but that they do a Story about it as well. With Stories, your influencer can post multiple times in a series about whatever you’ve asked them to and they can collect data about views and actions credited to the Story.

6. Consider contests and giveaways. Having your influencer post about contests or giveaways from your business is a great way for your business to benefit. Everyone likes free stuff and if your influencer’s got a big following, you can guarantee that you’ll reap the rewards by sponsoring content that incentivizes social media users to follow or interact with your brand with the influencers acting as a sort of middleman.

Don’t miss our final three tips next month to ensure your influencer marketing experience is the best it can be!

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Influencer marketing has quickly become a crucial way that brands and businesses reach potential consumers. But the idea of utilizing influencers is still relatively new and as such, many organizations don’t know much about how to best employ these influencers — or even where to start when it comes to engaging in influencer marketing practices. In this three-part series, we’ll provide you with a brief intro and some great advice as you get into the world of influencer marketing.

1. Do your research. You want to find influencers who are a good match for your business —  and that means doing a deep dive on social to figure out if an influencer is a good fit. Influencers will be less likely to agree to a partnership if they don’t want to push your product or business to their followers as that could cost them numbers. The more an influencer may actually use whatever service or good you’re producing, the more effective your collaborative efforts will be.

2. Engage from the get-go. Because influencers receive a lot of pitches and cold-call type messages, you want to introduce yourself and your business in an interesting and engaging way. Don’t just copy and paste the same message to multiple influencers but instead personalize it and show you actually know who you’re reaching out to and why you believe they’d be a good fit.

3. Give up control. Influencers know their followers best and have usually put a significant amount of thought and effort into building their following. The more creativity and freedom you allow them in how they promote your product, the more engaging their marketing will be. Of course, you should always have some idea of how and when they’re going to post about your business and you can feel free to make suggestions but the ultimate decision should lie with the influencer.

Stay tuned for next month’s installment for more tips on influencer marketing!

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If you’re engaging in some email marketing, one thing that can really make or break your campaign’s success is when you send your email. There are specific times of the day and week when your recipients will be more likely to open your email instead of just letting it sit unread in their inbox or trashing it. Keep reading for some valuable insight!

The best day of the week. The overall consensus among marketing professionals is that Tuesdays are the optimal day of the week to send an email. Why? Because it’s early enough in the week without being the first day of the week that people haven’t gotten overly bogged down by emails in their inbox yet. Research shows 10 a.m. to be the sweet spot time to send an email on Tuesday… but given that so many marketing professionals are adhering to this day and time, you may be better off opting for the second-best day/time to ensure your email doesn’t get lost in a cluttered inbox.

Consider sending your email on Thursday at 8 a.m. or 8 p.m. Your email will stand out by being sent later in the week and can either be in people’s inboxes bright and early so it’s waiting for them when they get to work or ready for them to read on their morning commute. Alternatively, by sending at night, you’ll catch your audience after work when many people tend to check their emails before bed, all but guaranteeing you stellar open rates.

Know your audience. What type of recipient list you’re sending to can also play a part in what time of day/week is the optimal send time. Do some research into the demographics, locations, and careers of your audience. While it may seem tedious, those factors can all affect when the best time is for you to send your email.

A/B Testing. To figure out what time works best, do some A/B testing to determine, unquestionably, what time of day/week sees your open and click rates at their highest. By sending the same email at different times to different lists, you can gain a good understanding of your audience’s preferences. Once you’ve got that figured out, you can continue sending your emails during that ultimate time period.

Of course, your subject line, send name, and overall content will also affect your open rates, even if you do send your email at the best time each week. The best way to find out when your specific audience will open your emails is for you to do some research on your own as your audience is unique and may exhibit out of the ordinary behavior when it comes to timing and opening emails. Good luck!

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We’re back to wrap up our two-part series with some helpful tips on what you shouldn’t do when it comes to marketing effectively on YouTube. Let’s dive right in!

1. Don’t think “virally.”

Yes, it’d be great if you have a video or a couple go viral. But don’t let that be the goal that drives your YouTube marketing strategy. Trying to create content whose sole purpose is to rack up views will end up affecting the quality of your videos and you’ll likely lose sight of your overall purpose. Focus on coming up with interesting, engaging, and unique content and let the “going viral” happen naturally because you did good work, not because of any gimmicks or because you stacked the deck.

2. Don’t think about going it alone.

This is two-fold. Firstly, you need a strong team focused on creating effective YouTube content; no one person will be able to run the whole thing themselves unchecked and without people to bounce ideas off of. Beyond that, think about reaching out to other YouTube creators, partners, and influencers to work with on some of your content. This will help boost your credibility and likely help you reach new viewers and users.

3. Don’t forget to share.

Assuming once you have the content up on YouTube that people will just find it organically is naive thinking. Of course, many likely will, but you can’t just release your content into the internet ether and let nature take its course. You need to be sharing your content to drive traffic and views. Share on your company’s social media accounts and consider adding video content to your website as well to grow your presence.

Hopefully, this two-part series covering the do’s and don’ts of YouTube marketing left you with some good tips to think about as you plan your YouTube marketing strategies. Good luck!

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While some of the other social media sites out there may be at the forefront of your mind when it comes to marketing, an often overlooked site you should be using for marketing purposes is YouTube. In this two-part series, covering the do’s and don’ts, we’ll cover some tips to ensure your YouTube marketing efforts are effective and helping your company.

1. Think about your video titles.

What is the title of your video? Is it grabbing potential consumers’ attention and prompting them to click and watch? If your content has a boring title, you’ll see fewer views and less engagement. Think about action words or buzz words that would are good keywords people may search for so your content will rank well and invite people to watch. You also don’t want your video title to be too long so really think about how to most concisely and clearly relay what the video is about.

2. Think about length.

How long is your video? If it’s over five minutes, it’s definitely too long and you’re going to lose viewers or end up driving away potential viewers who decide they don’t have the time to invest in watching it. Make your videos interesting and have value by creating quality content that’s unique and to the point.

3. Think about the purpose.

Are you trying to grow your brand’s awareness? Drive traffic to your site? Something else? Whatever your goal, make sure you have a clear idea of what it is before diving into YouTube. You’ll definitely want to include Call to Actions (CTAs) like “Like” and “Subscribe” prompts at the end of your video but you need to also consider what else you want to accomplish using visual content.

Start thinking about how these tips can be implemented when coming up with your YouTube content and stay tuned for next month’s blog where we’ll wrap up this two-part series with some final advice on what not to do when it comes to YouTube marketing!

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