How to Write a Media-Worthy Pitch (Plus, an Email Template Guaranteed to Get a Reply)
Here’s how to grab an editor’s attention.
Photo: Smith House Photography
So, you've registered your business, the website is up, and your product is ready to ship, but no-one knows about it yet. Now is the time to reach out to publications (both online and off) and create some serious buzz. But how do you pitch yourself to media? We've all been witness to the major changes to the publishing industry, both digital and print, over the past year but there's one thing that stays the same: pitching.
Ahead, our C&C editorial director, Sacha Strebe, has outlined a few things you should consider before compiling that pitch so you get the word out about your amazing new business and the customers start buying.
Priority #1: Grab their attention.
Editors have limited time. They receive a ton of pitches so make sure yours stands out. Really think about your angle and who you’re pitching to. Condense your copy. Add bullet points to amplify the main points you want them to read.
Priority #2: Don’t write clickbait.
Keep it simple and relevant to the pitch. Write a subject line that stands out but isn’t over-promising. Consider a personal touch. Don’t forget to consider WHO you're pitching to!
Priority #3: Tailor your pitch.
Don't pitch the same thing to all publications en masse. Pitch a different angle for each publication. Make it very clear in the email if this is exclusive to their publication or not. If you have pitched it elsewhere, let the editor know and when the other outlet plans on publishing (if you know).
Understand the brand you are pitching to. Read their sites, reference stories or franchises that you love in your pitch. Commend them on the work they're doing and reinforce why you’d love to be featured on their platform. Pitch headlines. Check their site for examples and write a similar headline with your brand/story in mind.
Pro Tip: Make sure you’re calling out the right publication in your pitch. If you’re pitching to Vogue, don’t have a rival publication in your copy.
Priority #4: Don’t guarantee an exclusive if it’s not.
Be transparent. If you can’t guarantee an exclusive then make sure they feel special, too. Perhaps you can secure different parts of the interview or exclusive photos, too.
Priority #5: Make it personal.
Tap into sentiment and emotion. Provide a brief but detailed synopsis of what the pitch topic is about. Make sure you are clear within the first sentence. Two paragraphs are ideal but don’t go beyond three. Editors are busy so you want to grab their attention first, then once they express interest, hit them with detailed information.
Pitch Email Template
Subject Line: Make it short, succinct, and timely (if it's an exclusive, then add that here!)
Email Body:
Hi EDITOR NAME,
I hope you are well. I’m reaching out to pitch you a [EXCLUSIVE?] story around our [LAUNCH, COLLECTION, FOUNDER etc].
We [SHARE NEWS/INFO HERE IN SIMPLE, CONCISE FORMAT]. I’m sharing a few story ideas below that might work for a story on your site [AROUND THE LAUNCH/ABOUT OUR FOUNDER ETC]. We are happy to [COMPILE QUOTES, WRITE AN OP-ED, GIVE EXCLUSIVE IMAGES] and anything else that will help if these are of interest.
STORY TITLE IDEA (research their site and write potential headlines/story ideas that look like stories on their site)
STORY TITLE IDEA
STORY TITLE IDEA
I’d love for you to let me know your thoughts on the above pitches by EOD today if possible as we are holding this exclusive for you and would love to start pulling together the information and imagery you need for any of the story ideas listed. Let me know.
Kindest,
[FOUNDER NAME]
Business Credentials
Ready to pitch to the press and get online exposure?
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5 Marketing Mistakes Too Many Small Businesses Make (and How to Avoid Them)
Mistake #2: You ignore your competitors.
Photo: ColorJoy Stock
If you are a small business owner, you are likely juggling numerous tasks to keep the business afloat. Although the goal of many owners is to sell more products or services, very few know how to effectively do so through marketing (on top of everything else).
According to Investopedia, one of the most common reasons businesses fail can be attributed to poor marketing and internet presence. It is no longer enough to have a website or social media page. You must ensure your marketing reaches the right people at the right time with the right message.
While there is no marketing rule book that will guarantee virality or increase customer retention, there are, however, many marketing mistakes that can hinder your chances of growth. Here are the five common mistakes I have seen during my 10 years working as a marketing strategist, and how to avoid them.
Mistake #1: You don’t know your ideal customer.
The first step in any effective marketing campaign is knowing your ideal customer. While many new business owners think of their ideal customer demographically (i.e., age and gender), many do not have a deep understanding of who their customer is psychologically (i.e., interests and desires). Thus, making it challenging to find and target them through marketing.
How to Fix It
Form a detailed description of your target customer; this is also known as a buyer persona. A buyer persona is a fictional person who embodies the characteristics of your ideal customer. To help build a strong buyer person, conduct market research from your customer base through surveys and interviews.
The goal of this market research is to deeply understand how and why your customers make certain buying decisions. These findings will help you create detailed content and messaging that appeals to your target audience.
Mistake #2: You ignore your competitors.
No business can operate in a complete bubble. However, many business owners prefer not to look at their competitors in fear of losing focus or becoming a copycat.
How to Fix It
Running a competitor analysis can help you understand your competition’s strengths and weaknesses in relation to your own. Tools such as Facebook Ad Library and SpyFu allow you to view your competitors' marketing campaigns.
Analyzing your competition will help you better understand your market and how your customers are responding to it. You can use these findings to run more effective marketing campaigns online.
Mistake #3: You focus too little on brand awareness.
According to Small Business Trends, making money is listed as the top concern for many business owners. However, if your ideal customer does not know who you are, how can you make more sales? Many business owners spend too much time focusing on bottom-funnel marketing activities (i.e., purchases), that they forget to establish trust and credibility through brand awareness.
How to Fix It
Focus on building brand awareness through public relations, influencer partnerships, and social media advertisements. Use this opportunity to establish your brand voice, build relationships, and inform your target customer that you are a credible solution to their needs.
Mistake #4: You are not focused on retaining customers.
On average, it costs six times more to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one. According to a McKinsey study, repeat e-commerce customers spend more than double what new customers spend. So, why are business owners unable to focus on customer satisfaction and retention?
How to Fix It
Ensuring customers stick with you throughout your business life cycle will not only increase profits but yield higher positive word-of-mouth referrals (hello, free marketing!).
To achieve customer loyalty, prove your customers are important to you through rewards, social media shoutouts, and personalized communication. Customers that trust companies they do business with are more likely to purchase again in the future and recommend to others.
Mistake #5: You don’t look at your analytics.
Marketing analytics helps you understand how well your marketing campaigns are working and assists you in recognizing what adjustments need to be made in order to achieve success. However, many business owners complete their marketing campaigns without ever analyzing the data.
How to Fix It
Develop key performance indicators (KPIs) before running any marketing campaign. KPIs are specific, numerical marketing metrics that businesses track to measure progress toward a defined goal. Example KPIs can be digital marketing ROI, conversion rates, and traffic. Set aside time every week to track the results of your marketing. Take note of what is working versus what is not, and use that information to inform your next marketing initiative.
“Many business owners spend too much time focusing on bottom-funnel marketing activities (i.e., purchases), that they forget to establish trust and credibility through brand awareness.”
—Allyssa Munro, Founder of Meg & Munro
About the author: Allyssa Munro is a marketer and published writer with a decade of experience building strong brands for top retailers, organizations, and business leaders, including Lord & Taylor, Dolce & Gabbana, Buxom Cosmetics, and Bare Minerals. Allyssa holds an MBA from Baruch College, Zicklin School of Business, and is certified in marketing research by The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Allyssa founded Meg & Munro, a digital-first marketing and communications agency for beauty and lifestyle brands and the creators who lead them. The agency specializes in public relations, social media, and content creation. Learn more at www.megandmunro.com or follow @megandmunro.
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3 Branding Mistakes Most Startups Make (and How to Avoid Them)
A brand strategist breaks it down.
Photo: ColorJoy Stock
With gorgeous visuals dominating our social media feeds and splashy companies with impeccable design popping up all the time, it’s impossible not to think about branding as a modern startup. But, despite the amount of attention so many founders give their brand identities, I see some common mistakes that can hold their companies back.
The good news is, developing a solid brand doesn’t have to be as complicated as many folks make it out to be. Here are the three most common branding mistakes I’ve seen startups make during my 15+ years working as a brand strategist—and how you can easily avoid them to ensure you’re putting your company’s best foot forward.
Mistake #1: Spending Too Much on Branding
If you’re like most startup founders, you’ve probably spent a lot of time fretting over your budget for branding. Is it worth trying to scrounge up the $50k you’ll need to work with your dream agency?
I’m going to let you off the hook and tell you, no, it’s almost certainly not. What so many founders don’t account for when doing this math is just how often early-stage startups pivot as they’re trying to figure out their product-market fit.
Considering that good design is all about tying your brand to your business strategy (more on that in a minute), you don’t want to invest a lot into your brand until you feel secure in that strategy. If you do, that investment is quickly going to feel like a waste when you realize you need to rebrand to match your company’s new direction.
But you also don’t want to try and create a sexy brand on the cheap. You get what you pay for in the design world, so this usually won’t end up looking as professional as you’d like. Instead, I recommend startups aim for simple branding that allows you a lot of flexibility for future changes. Think of this like a black dress: it’s nothing revolutionary, but it also looks timeless and sleek.
For instance, make a wordmark—your company name in a timeless typeface, à la West Elm or Glossier—instead of trying to create an image-based logo. (I even created a tool to help entrepreneurs do just that!). Use a color-palette generator to choose a few simple colors based on the feeling you want to evoke. And make ample use of the templates available on sites like Canva for everything from websites to business cards to social media posts, customizing them with your wordmark and colors to make them yours. This sort of approach will get you good-enough branding, even on a budget.
Mistake #2: Focusing on Form Over Function
Especially when you’re DIYing your company branding, it can be tempting to choose what you think looks coolest. The problems come when brands solely select design elements based on their beauty without considering their usability in the slightest.
I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve seen brands design funky logos that are impossible to decipher when they’re scaled down to fit in a social media icon, or choose a typeface that looks cool but is challenging for users to actually read, or pick a website design that looks unique but is difficult to navigate.
Instead, make sure you think about your users at every step. When designing your logo or wordmark, test it at a bunch of different sizes to make sure it works. Check your color palettes against accessibility tools that ensure there’s enough contrast to be readable (and that your chosen palette will work for colorblind folks, too). Have a friend try and use your website to see if they’re able to navigate easily to where you want them to go.
Any time you’re making a brand decision, just take a step back and ensure it supports your users rather than getting in the way of them engaging with you entirely.
Mistake #3: Not Tying the Brand to a Solid Strategy
Of course, a DIY brand strategy may not work forever. At some point, once you’ve found your product-market fit, you’ll want to invest in professional design and branding work to take your company to new heights. But too many startups walk into that process with a mood board of what they want to look like, instead of focusing on what they want their brand to convey.
The best brands aren’t plucked out of thin air—they’re rooted in the company’s business strategy. All of the design elements, from the logo to the colors, are carefully selected to align with a company’s mission and goals, to attract their target audience, and to set them apart from the competition.
So instead of spending time blue-skying about your dream design, use your energy to do some actual business exercises. When I work with clients, we go through branding workbooks that ask questions like:
What’s your company’s vision statement? Its mission statement?
What are the in-depth demographics and psychographics of your target audience?
Who are your biggest competitors and what does their branding look like?
What characteristics do you want your brand to be known for?
Yes, working through these types of questions is a lot harder, and a bit less fun, than thinking about your favorite colors and fonts. But doing so will be infinitely more valuable to your brand, and the future of your business.
“Any time you’re making a brand decision, just take a step back and ensure it supports your users rather than getting in the way of them engaging with you entirely.”
—Saskia Ketz, Founder of MMarchNY
About the author: Saskia Ketz is the founder of MMarchNY, an NYC-based branding agency that’s worked with world-class brands like Netflix, Ikea, Timberland, and Mojomox, an online wordmark builder that allows startups on tight budgets to create dynamic, professional-looking logos themselves.
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How to Land Your Dream Business Collaboration (and Double Your Revenue)
It’s a win-win.
Photo: ColorJoy Stock
The word collaboration is being thrown around like gifts in Oprah’s Christmas special. From brand-to-influencer collaborations to employee collaboration and collaborative playlists, there are so many contexts in which collaboration is used. However, when it comes to growing a community and a business, collaboration marketing is the strategy you need to know about.
If you’ve ever spotted the likes of Uber x Spotify, Allbirds x Shake Shack, or Rimowa x Supreme, you’ll know how brand collaborations have the power to spark interest and, in some cases, cause a social media frenzy. So, how do you find your own dream collaborator?
Much like networking, collaboration marketing can be likened to dating in more ways than one. You could say that a dream brand collaboration is like a “friends with benefits” for your business, and you’d be right. Collaborating with a complementary brand has benefits, for example, you can use them to:
Double your organic reach
Build buzz and engagement
Attract media attention
Boost a new or existing revenue stream
Grow your community across social media, event audiences, and email lists
Grow your network
In fact, Collabosaurus ran a research study that found collaborations to be up to 25x less expensive than digital advertising. Want to get on the collaboration marketing bandwagon? Here’s what you need to know.
1. Know your value.
Collaboration marketing is all about win/win value exchange, and you likely have a lot more to offer in a collaboration than you think. You don’t have to have an immense social media following, significant cash flow, or the ability to just give away “free things” in order to collaborate. Collaboration is about leveraging what your business already has to benefit another business and vice versa.
Perhaps you have a cool office or event space, content creation skills, excess product, an engaged social media community, or an email list—collaboration is possible for all brands, big or small, it’s about getting creative with value. Start conversations with what you can offer in a collaboration, then ensure that you’re communicating your marketing objectives.
2. Find the right partner and tie your collaboration to a marketing objective.
How do you find your dream collaborator? Start with complementary industry spaces. Look for companies that share values, objectives and have a similar brand aesthetic and target market to your business (so that any cross-promotion is super valuable).
Platforms like Collabosaurus are incredible for finding amazing brand collaborators for all sorts of campaigns in social media, products, or events. They also have a nifty idea and strategy generator that generates creative collaboration ideas for your business.
When it comes to finding a creative idea and executing your collaboration, don’t forget that it’s a marketing activity. Just like any marketing strategy, make sure you have a goal in mind, an objective that you can track against (such as growing your email list, getting content created, or increasing event shares on Instagram).
3. Leverage, leverage, leverage!
You could have secured the coolest collaboration in the world, but if no one knows about it, what’s the point? It’s crucial to have a promotional plan in place, for both yourself and your collaborator, that reflects a mutually beneficial sharing of marketing responsibilities. Identify all of the promotional channels and opportunities available to both yourself and your collaborator. Then, set a schedule so that everyone is on the same page when it comes to who is promoting what and when.
Want to keep things #legit? Consider signing a joint marketing agreement, or MOU document to keep things in writing, and using platforms like Bit.ly or Sked Social to track the impact of your collaboration against your original marketing goal.
4. Use collaborations in your broader marketing strategy.
Don’t be afraid to incorporate collaborations into your strategy frequently. Mix up your collaborators, as well as the types of collaborations (social media, product, event, etc.) you explore to keep your exposure opportunities fresh, and engaging.
The benefits of brand-to-brand collaborations are endless, and if you’re interested in giving it a try for your own business, check out Collabosaurus, a match-making platform for brands to collaborate for win-win marketing collaborations that help businesses grow. It’s free to start, takes less than five minutes, and from over 6000+ collaborators to choose from, including Porsche, ASOS, Olay, and RedBull, your dream brand could be waiting for you.
“You don’t have to have an immense social media following, significant cash flow, or the ability to just give away ‘free things’ in order to collaborate.”
—Jess Ruhfus, Founder of Collabosaurus
About the Author: Jess Ruhfus is the founder of Collabosaurus, a marketing platform that match-makes brands for clever collaborations and partnerships. With a background in fashion publicity and marketing education, Ruhfus was frustrated sourcing cool brand partnerships in events, products, and social media. So, she launched Collabosaurus in 2015, which has now attracted over 6000+ brands including Porsche, ASOS, Olay, Topshop and one of the largest global retailers in the U.S. Jess has also spoken for Apple, Vogue, and The College of Event Management, splitting her time between Sydney, New York, and Los Angeles as Collabosaurus continues to grow.
This story was originally published on August 5, 2019, and has since been updated.
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You Need to Stop What You're Doing and Make a Marketing Plan Right Now
Here’s why.
Photo: ColorJoy Stock
Very few small business owners want to sit down and write out a marketing plan. Even fewer want to regularly review what’s being implemented, how it’s performing, and what needs to be revised.
I had a realization recently, after coming across an alarming statistic saying that half of small businesses operate without a marketing plan. My realization? Marketing plans are like annual pelvic exams. No one wants to do them, but we know we must so we call, make the appointment, and go in and get it over with.
Unlike an annual pelvic exam, however, marketing plans can make us money. Marketing plans aren’t just nice to have, they’re imperative to planning where we’re going and how we’re going to get there. Baseball great Yogi Berra once famously said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up someplace else.” The same goes for marketing.
Here are seven reasons you need to stop whatever it is you’re doing right now and draft your plan:
Direction: It forces you to think about where you want your business to go, in addition to what’s working and what’s not.
Purpose: It sets measurable goals.
Motivation: A marketing plan creates motivation, and even better, once the plan is in place, it allows you to delegate and have more time to work on the things you are good at and love.
Time: You’ll spend less time reacting to things if you are working proactively.
Value: You’ll provide more value to your clients because you’ll be laser-focused on their needs, challenges, and motivations.
Organization: Your marketing plan will organize your time and prioritize what you are doing. If everything is equally weighted as a priority, nothing is a priority.
Revenue: You’ll earn more money. Do I need to say more?! You’ll maximize all marketing dollars you spend because it’ll be well thought out and you’ll put metrics in place to measure if it’s working.
How to Get Started With a Marketing Plan Outline
I've helped hundreds of small business owners over the years simplify their marketing to have more time and energy to do the things they love. (I've been in business development for 15 years and have owned a strategic marketing agency specializing in small business for the last five).
In my business, we’ve identified four pillars of writing and effectively implementing a successful marketing plan. These pillars are intent, insight, infrastructure, and action. Answer the questions below to get in the right mindset for planning your business. Then go download our free content calendar template, which will help you organize the specific tactics on which to move forward (including blog posts, social media, and email marketing).
Intent: What do I want to accomplish? (Don’t get lazy here. “Get more business” doesn’t count. It’s not specific enough). Identify your SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic, Timely) for the next 30, 60, 90, and 180 days.
Insight: What do I know about my customer? What data do I have about them? Who they are, what they do for work, where they hang out online, what questions do they have, what answers do they need? How long does it take for my customer to make buying decisions?
Infrastructure: What do I have already that can be used for marketing? Content (blogs, brochures, flyers, business posts, etc.)? An email list? Social media channels and an audience?
Action: Given what you've developed as a goal, what data you know about your customer base, and what you currently have, what can you accomplish? Does your goal fit with your overall goal and messaging as a brand? Does your infrastructure allow you to be successful?
Do you currently know enough about your customers to effectively motivate them? What additional assets need to be created? What is the flow of the user experience? What should your audience see first and where should they be pointed next? What information should be offered at each stage?
Brief: Write down what everyone on the team should know about your business, including branding tone, mission, purpose, etc.
Brainstorm: Use what you have and build off of it! For example, we have over 1K subscribers - let’s email them weekly and include offers. We have 5K followers on social media - let’s create a piece of content where they can opt into our mailing list. We have a handful of great blog articles - let’s put them together into a guide and offer it to build our email list.
Schedule: Look back at your SMART goals and your brainstorm list and make 30-day and 90-day plans.
Delegate: Gather your team on a call, review your plan and creative brief, and delegate tasks to get started! (You may only have one other person; that’s OK! If you don’t have anyone yet, consider hiring a virtual assistant)
Review: You will be continuously gathering more data and coming up with more and more ideas. The important part is not to STOP anything and pivot. Stick with your 30-day plan and check things off your list. Review and analyze what’s working, and what’s not, when jumping into the next 30 days.
After you take the time to go through these steps, I guarantee that you’ll feel your creative juices come back. You can move forward with confidence because the basics (the foundational pieces) are being taken care of.
It’s important to understand that there will be cycles to your marketing plan. You’ll start small; you’ll add things over time, based on what’s working and what’s not. You'll pass more things off your plate as they’re up and running. This will leave you the time and energy to actually focus on the part of your business that you love.
Also? The silver lining is that when you have thought things through and made the plan, each thing builds upon another thing. This means that your marketing dollars will be maximized because all the things are working together rather than the scattershot approach created when you throw 5 different things out. Better yet, you can diversify your efforts, similar to those 5 different “things,” but they will all lead back to the same specified goal.
“If everything is equally weighted as a priority, nothing is a priority.”
—Shanna Goodman, Founder of AMP’D
About the author: Shanna Goodman is the founder of AMP’D, helping people build businesses that give them life. She is a brand strategist with 15 years in business development and five of those years as a brand strategy agency owner specializing in small business. She is a regular contributor for Business Insider, Forbes, Fit Small Business, and Working Mother.
About AMP’D: AMP’D arms small businesses with actionable insights to succeed and grow, helping create life-giving, sustainable businesses in the process. With comprehensive programs and resources, we help clients uncover, discover, plan, and implement ways to generate new revenue and a sustainable business. Download our free content calendar template or learn more at ampdnow.com.
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This story was originally published on January 7, 2021, and has since been updated.
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3 Proven Strategies for Generating Hot, Inbound Leads Without Spending a Dime
That’s right, organic lead gen *is* possible.
Photo: Create & Cultivate
“I'm struggling with attracting hot leads because I can't figure out how to get myself in front of the right people and resonate with them.”
“When we’ve been able to get in front of the right people, it’s great—and we see a huge influx of new members. But I’m struggling to find them, attract them to our platform, and retain them”
“I’m not hitting my income goals because I can’t get in front of the right audience.”
Generating quality customer leads is one of the most persistent concerns for entrepreneurs. One of the things I hear most often from our potential clients and community is that they struggle to get in front of, and convert, the number of clients or customers they want to (and need to) in order to meet their goals.
Plus, constantly promoting your business can feel exhausting for you and redundant for your community. But, the fact of the matter is, you’re running a business, and a consistent flow of leads and reliable client or customer-acquisition method is necessary for the sustainability and success of your business.
Here are three ways to generate leads for your business without burning yourself (and your community) out.
1. Perfect Your Brand Messaging (Really Perfect It)
Ultimately, generating inbound leads starts with rock-solid brand messaging that is unique enough to capture your customer’s eye, but not too creative that it gets confusing and forms a barrier to purchase. Start by getting clear on your ideal client profile, your company values, and unique value propositions. Then, craft a transformation statement or brand bio. This is a one-sentence statement that describes what you do and who you do it for. You’ll use this statement on the home page of your website and in your social media bios.
Example: Curate Well Co. helps impact-driven entrepreneurs intentionally scale while maintaining the integrity of their work and leadership, and without losing connection to their community.
Next, write your elevator pitch. This statement answers the question, “So what do you do?” and highlights the problems you solve and the unique ways you solve them.
Example: Impact-driven entrepreneurs want to transform the lives of thousands of women but they lack intentional systems to scale. At Curate Well Co., we help you amplify your impact while maintaining the integrity of your work and without losing connection to your community. We take a data-based approach (because spreadsheets are sexy!) Best of all? We provide a top-shelf experience that you don’t have to put makeup on for.
Finally, create a mission statement. This is your big picture “why.” Why did you start your brand or business? Why are you so passionate about it? If you really want to stand out, know how your ideal client self-identifies and speak to their personality, values, and soft skills — not just their goals and challenges — and get clear on the role your brand plays for them in their journey.
Example: When I first entered the entrepreneur space, I noticed there were a lot of people doing high-level strategy and vision work, and there were other people doing purely execution. But there wasn’t anyone teaching women how to exist (and see success) in the space between manifesting and making shit happen. So I created Curate Well Co. to help impact-driven entrepreneurs put processes behind their purpose (by connecting their big vision to the data-driven details) so they could implement thoughtful strategies, instead of copy-paste solutions, to scale their businesses intentionally. The best part? We believe you don't have to change who you are to be successful — everyone has a gift that uniquely and exceptionally solves a problem.
Make sure that your messaging is consistent across your whole online (and offline!) presence, and test it to ensure it resonates with the right people. Testing your messaging will lead to higher conversion rates because you can verify that your ideal client feels a connection to you and your brand, feels confident you can support them, and feels like your product or service is a no-brainer purchase for them!
2. Prioritize Community Activation and Relationship Building
Building relationships is never a waste of time, even if they don’t seem to pay off immediately. Not only is relationship-building essential with your potential customers and clients, but being active in your community and generating a network will also help you become omnipresent in your space, and garner referrals for your business.
By building relationships and ensuring every person feels seen, heard, and known, you’ll create champions of your brand. While there are plenty of ways to market your product or service, very few are as effective as a glowing review from someone who has experienced it first hand, can speak to specifics about their experience, and is excited about sending someone your way.
A few of our favorite ways to activate a community are to:
Bring humanness to your online connections.
Slide into someone’s DMs and ask them to a Zoom coffee date, send voice memos, and ask personal questions to really get to know someone! Aim to get to know someone, rather than convert them.
Co-host an event, workshop, or giveaway.
Partner with like-minded peers to cross-pollinate communities and support each other’s endeavors.
Ask for introductions.
Need to hire someone? Looking for an expert in X? Ask your current connections to make an intro for you! This is one of the best (and easiest) ways to organically grow your community.
When it comes to engaging your community, it’s really about removing anonymity. We pull from leadership practices to infuse connection in our business model. A few of our favorite ways are:
Speak to each person.
Welcome people by name onto your webinar, share individual customer or client stories, hold space for people to ask unique-to-their-situation questions.
Send personal invites.
Hosting a masterclass? Opening enrollment for a new program? Pre-selling a limited run product? Make your best customers and most engaged clients feel like VIPs by sending personalized invitations—they’ll feel special, and it supports true relationship-building.
Make connections.
Introduce two people in your network to each other, send referrals to businesses you believe in, share a guide of resources you love.
Once you have effectively enrolled people in your community, be sure to reward their stewardship! We love to send holiday cards at the end of the year, birthday cards, and support our clients’ businesses by leaving reviews, promoting their offerings, and offering them our platform (such as our Instagram Stories or blog) to share their voice on.
One of our favorite ways to encourage community participation and reward our brand champions is through a referral program. Since we focus so heavily on our client experience, a lot of our business comes from referrals. By formalizing our referral program, we not only build long-term relationships with current and past clients, but we can also maintain a consistent client acquisition funnel.
Plus, our leads that come from referrals are generally more bought in, faster to make a buying decision, and excited to talk about their experience with us.
3. Create a Holistic Brand Experience
Last, but not least, focus on the details to create a holistic brand experience that embodies your values, which reinforces your brand messaging and community activation efforts.
When generating leads for your business, steer clear of hard sells, pushy conversations, and anything else that feels “salesy”—after all, we’ve all had that awful sales experience that left us traumatized. Instead, try the following strategies:
Ask permission.
Whether it’s telling someone about your program, or getting on a call, offer people a choice.
Have clear tone guidelines.
Ensure your communication is straightforward yet empowering so your community knows they can count on you for tangible info that genuinely supports their goals. Answer strategic questions thoroughly, with consideration for each individual’s nuances.
Ask for feedback and involve your community in your evolution.
Listen to your ideal clients and community and make changes that account for their experience and feedback. This will allow you to continue to hone your brand experience to embody your values, and also meet your clients and community exactly where they’re at with what they want and need.
From investing in high-quality photo and video assets, sending carefully curated client gift boxes, sharing discount codes to your favorite brands with your community, to asking for objective feedback from your clients and community (and actually implementing it), ensure that everyone who interacts with your brand has an experience you feel proud of.
Just because you say your business is something, doesn’t mean it is. You have to show up, create processes, and grow in a way that really brings those qualities alive. Doing this will result in authentic word of mouth, leading to inbound leads that already have awareness and affinity for your unique value add.
By merging your selling strategy with your brand experience and incorporating community-based selling tactics into your processes and systems, your ideal client will already know who you are, what you stand for, and why they want to work with you before it’s actually time to close the sale—making the process of generating hot, inbound leads more natural and efficient.
Everything you do on a daily basis—your content creation, your client touch-points, your problem-solving—will do the heavy lifting for you, so you can do what you do best. And, in the meantime, you’ll build relationships that will have incomparable ROI for years to come.
“Just because you say your business is something, doesn’t mean it is. You have to show up, create processes, and grow in a way that really brings those qualities alive.”
—Pia Beck, CEO, Curate Well Co.
About the Author: Pia Beck is a life and business coach known for turning pain points into action items. As the CEO of Curate Well Co., coined “the queen of implementation,” her expertise is in connecting the big picture vision with the nitty-gritty details in order to create an instinctual strategy, systems, and steps. She helps her clients and community organize, implement, and execute.
At Curate Well Co., she combines purpose and process to help emerging and established entrepreneurs start and scale savvy, streamlined, sensational businesses, make an impact, and launch a life they love and leave a legacy. At Curate Well Co., we believe in a curated life on purpose through sharing your unique gifts. Curate Well Co. has been featured in Thrive Global, Darling, Buzzfeed, Medium, and more, and has collaborated with brands like Bumble, Havenly, Lululemon, and The Riveter.
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5 Branding Lessons from an Influencer with Over 1.35 Million YouTube Subscribers
Here’s how to stand out from the rest.
Photo: Karen Rosalie Courtesy of Aileen Xu
Here’s one thing that has remained consistent since I started Lavendaire in 2014: My hair color is constantly changing. My subscribers always notice when I go from pink to blonde to lavender to blue, and everything in between.
At this point, my changing hair color is part of the Lavendaire brand. I encourage my audience to experiment with their looks as a form of creativity and self-expression, which are core values for Lavendaire as a personal-growth brand.
Framing my hair changes as an example of how to embody Lavendaire values is just one way I’ve been intentional with my brand.
If you’re looking to start or refresh your own brand, here are five other lessons for you.
Lesson #1: Choose your brand name wisely.
It would have been easy to name my brand after myself, but “Aileen Xu” is not easy for people to spell or pronounce. I wanted it to be easy for people to recognize and—more importantly—to share my brand name.
“Lavendaire” was unique, easier to spell and pronounce, and it also reflected the aesthetic of the brand itself: dreamy, fresh, and clean.
Bonus tip: Think about Google-ability. If you Googled your brand name, would you get a bunch of results unrelated to your brand? Since I made up the word, if you Googled “Lavendaire”, you’d only find Lavendaire-related results.
Lesson #2: Be strategic about your niche.
Here’s a lesser-known fact: I used to be involved in the Asian American YouTube community, mostly through music videos. It was a fun experience but not related to what I wanted my brand to be about.
So, I made the decision to distance myself from that niche and create content in my own niche of personal growth. I wanted to be “Aileen of Lavendaire,” not “Aileen from that music video.” If I hadn’t made that decision, it would have been harder to position myself and my brand as separate from the entertainment niche.
Lesson #3: Make what’s missing, and make it your own.
Self-help content already existed online, but it didn’t feel like it existed for me. The people creating the content were generally older white men that I couldn’t relate to as a young Asian woman.
So, I made the content I wanted to see, but I also put my own spin on it. I wanted to bridge the gap between practical self-help and woo-woo topics like manifestation. Other people who couldn’t relate to existing self-help content could turn to Lavendaire instead and get that extra value from the woo-woo topics.
Ask yourself: What gap does your brand fill and how can it stand out even further?
Photo: Courtesy of Aileen Xu
Lesson #4: Have a long-term vision.
Here’s mine: In ten years, I want Lavendaire to be a household name. It sounds a little vague, but having that vision allows me to ask, “Okay, so what would it take to get there? Marketing, PR, maybe projects with a wider reach.” And so, we planned projects with that in mind.
Your vision doesn’t have to be super specific, but you have to have some sort of idea of where you want your brand to be a year or five years from now. That way, you can work backward and plan projects that will get you closer to that vision.
Otherwise, you might just keep churning out work without direction, using your time and energy just to keep your brand relevant.
Lesson #5: Curate your brand with one person in mind.
I create content for Lavendaire with one person in mind: a girl in her early twenties who’s looking for her path in life. She loves inspiring books, yoga, astrology, and journaling. Her fashion is feminine and relaxed. Ultimately, she’s the ideal client for Lavendaire.
She’s who I had in mind when I created the 2021 Artist of Life Workbook. I know this girl wants to plan her year with intention, and it would be a bonus to do all of her planning in a pretty notebook that she’d be proud to keep by her side at all times.
By keeping this ideal client in mind, Lavendaire’s branding and messaging stay consistent across the board. Obviously, not everyone who follows Lavendaire fits perfectly into that mold, but enough of the brand resonates that people are drawn in.
If you know who your brand is for, you’ll reach and attract people who resonate with it. You’ll also naturally repel people who don’t resonate with it, which is perfectly okay and even beneficial to your brand! Don’t think you’re shutting anyone out or losing potential audiences.
As Lavendaire subscribers know: It’s more valuable to use your energy on people who effortlessly vibe with you than to use it trying to convince people who don’t.
About the author: Aileen Xu is a content creator and entrepreneur in personal growth and lifestyle design, inspiring people around the world to embrace their true potential and create their dream life. Her YouTube channel, Lavendaire, has over one million subscribers and her podcast, “The Lavendaire Lifestyle,” has over five million downloads. Aileen is the creator of the Artist of Life Workbook, a detailed guide to creating your most inspiring and successful year, and the Daily Planner by Lavendaire, a tool for designing a productive, effective and meaningful day.
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How to Get Better Results From Your Marketing Efforts (Without Spending a Ton of Money)
Hint: Messaging is key.
Photo: Anthony Shkraba from Pexels
As an online business owner, one of the most important parts of your marketing strategy is your messaging. What you say to your ideal clients and customers (and how you say it) is just as key to your overall success as where you say it, which makes sense when you think about the fact that how we connect and communicate with other humans is through storytelling.
Unfortunately, the “messaging” part of marketing is often overlooked, in part because it requires time and effort. It’s easy to set up an account on the social media platform of your choice or throw some money at paid-for ads, but it’s harder to actually dig into and strategize what you’ll spend your time saying to your audience once they’re sitting in the room.
This is one of the most common mistakes online business owners and entrepreneurs make when it comes to their marketing: they spend A LOT of effort (and time and money) bringing in new leads to their business but they forget to take a minute to think about how they will convert those leads into actual clients or customers.
Which is where your messaging comes in.
So, what do you need to be hitting on in your messaging to see more results, more revenue, and more impact from your marketing efforts?
Here are three key things to lockdown so you see better results from your messaging.
1. Cultivate a strong brand identity.
In order to stand out from the crowd with your messaging (and let’s be honest: in the online business world, it’s BUSY), you need to first cultivate a strong brand identity. This means digging into and defining your core messaging aspects like your why, your mission, your values, and your beliefs. It also means shaping your story and putting into words what makes you different from all the other [insert what you do here] out there.
These are the things that make you and your brand truly unique. By clarifying them, you’ll ensure that your brand identity and personality are completely aligned with who you are (which means your messaging will draw in your dream ideal clients who are actively searching for someone like you).
2. Optimize your offerings.
Your offer is more than just the thing you’re selling. It’s how you change your client or customer’s life. But in order to convert the browsers into buyers, you need to make sure that the messaging and copy around your offer is telling them everything they need to hear to be ready to buy.
This means diving into things like understanding where your ideal clients are right now so you can make sure that your offer is exactly what they want and need, seeing what others in your niche are offering so you can position your offer as different (and better), and then clarifying the core aspects of your offer from a messaging perspective. If you can understand exactly who it is for and what big transformation it will bring them, you’ll be able to create the kind of messaging and copy you need to see great conversion rates and results from your funnels.
3. Create a scale-worthy strategy.
In order to achieve anything in life or business, you first need to have a plan. When it comes to your messaging and marketing, I call this creating a scale-worthy strategy. This is where getting clarity on things like how to share your vision with your team, what kind of content you need to be sharing to prime your audience, and what your big goal map for your business actually looks like comes into play.
When you have a strategy like this, it means sustainably scaling your business will be so much easier, and it means you can finally stop spinning your wheels thinking you need to be doing all the things and being everywhere in order to achieve your goals. A simplified strategy that is focused on building your authority, creating real connections with your audience, and crafting impactful messaging is way more effective than throwing spaghetti at the wall or copying what your competitors are doing (top tip: do not do this. You want to stand out in your industry so that means zigging when everyone else in your niche is zagging).
So there you have it, three things you can start working on today that will allow you to create the kind of messaging strategy that will bring better results from your marketing and get you closer to your business goals.
“In order to achieve anything in life or business, you first need to have a plan.”
—Ciara Gigleux, CEO of The Copy Atelier
About the author: Ciara Gigleux is CEO and chief copywriter at The Copy Atelier, a boutique copywriting agency for online business owners and CEOs that specializes in pairing conversion copywriting with a high-impact strategy for maximum results. She’s also the host of The Copy Coach podcast. She is (slightly) obsessed with all things messaging, marketing, and copywriting, and the main mission of her business and podcast is to help entrepreneurs use their copy and messaging to cut through the noise, stand out online and maximize their results, revenue and impact. Find her on Instagram and Clubhouse @ciaragigleux.
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5 Social Media Trends to Watch in 2021
Psst... here's what you need to know.
Photo: Color Joy Stock
For years the social media industry has been constantly evolving, but when you throw a global pandemic and stay-at-home orders in the mix, well… buckle up! Social platforms really hit the gas in 2020 on coming out with new updates that would accommodate and entertain the sudden spike in online traffic and high demands of consumers.
As Tyra Banks once said, “You want to be on top?” Then you HAVE to prove yourself as a powerful force in the digital space by keeping up with the latest industry trends and features. Your foresight on exactly where the field is heading and implementation of that insight in the present will position you as an expert in the industry, boosting your credibility and the value you provide to your audience. With that being said, read on for five social media trends to watch out for in 2021!
Video Content
If you’ve ever doubted the value of video content on social media, wait until you hear this: our agency saw a 91.7% growth rate in our Instagram following during 2020’s Q4 alone as a result of using Instagram Reels. If you aren’t aware, consider Reels as Instagram’s version of TikTok. You essentially share short videos paired with existing audio. Thanks to their appearance on Instagram’s Explore page (and for some, an exclusive Reels feed), this new feature is a great way to organically expand your reach to thousands of new accounts.
Plus, let’s talk about the Instagram algorithm for a second. We have to understand that Instagram is a business and wants users to stay in the app for as long as possible. Because of this, your goal as a creator is to post content that users will spend an extended amount of time-consuming. When you do this, the algorithm will “reward” you by showing your content to more users because it has been deemed as valuable.
The easiest (and sneakiest) way to accomplish this? Video! While a static photo may capture your audience’s attention for a few seconds to a minute, video can keep them engaged and entertained for minutes on end. Because of this, be sure to use video to your advantage in 2021, whether it be through Reels, IGTV, IG Live, or regular videos shared to your feed.
Nostalgic Content
This second trend proves that you and I aren’t the only ones longing for the good ole days, and we’re not just talking pre-COVID.... we’re also talking ‘90s and beyond! Now more than ever, audiences, especially those that include millennials, are loving nostalgic content because of the comfort and familiarity it carries.
In 2021, expect to see brands putting a fun, retro spin on their graphics, imagery, and storytelling. After all, you want the positive emotions connected to this content to be tied to your brand, right? Then put your creative caps on and start embracing the old as new! Whether it be a Britney Spears GIF, a graphic depicting a ‘90s computer aesthetic, or bringing back some of your brand’s past campaigns, your audience is going to love mixing in the old with the new!
Gradient Imagery
One specific ‘90s trend that has been revitalized is gradient imagery. Gradients are essentially color transitions that depict one color blending into another. This design trend is often used to enhance various graphics by adding dimension and texture to an otherwise flat image. Here are a few ideas on how you can incorporate them into your next graphic:
Use it as your background image. You can find an example here!
Make it a color filter to put over an image.
Use it to accentuate headings or specific details like this post!
Make it the focal point of your graphic. (Psst… the Instagram app logo is the perfect example!)
Humanization of Brands and Influencers
After an unprecedented year like 2020, brands have had to embrace authenticity and vulnerability on social media in order to avoid coming across as tone-deaf. What we believe a majority of brands and influencers have realized through this, however, is that the best way to ultimately grow and convert an audience is by fostering a relationship with them.
Consider the know, like, trust factor. First, an audience has to know about you. Once they know about you, they can come to like you. Once they like you, they can grow to trust you. Once they trust you, they’re sold! Consumers purchase from brands they trust.
In 2021, we can expect brands, both personal and corporate alike, to connect with their audience by sharing their faces, mission, values, and behind-the-scenes on social media. Don’t expect it to stop there! We can also see brands placing an emphasis on engaging with their audience via comments and DM. Through this trend, brands can speak to the hearts of consumers by allowing them to fully know and trust the faces behind the brand.
Inclusivity and Social Consciousness
We saved the best trend for last and may have fibbed a bit because our fifth one is hardly a trend at all. It is not something that will come and go like the seasons—it is a movement that is here to stay.
In 2021, we believe both business and personal brands will continue to advocate for and promote inclusion and social consciousness on social media. 2020 ignited an eye-opening fire for many, and 2021 is the opportunity to continue making that change. In addition, we can expect to see an overall increase in real conversations and standing up for various beliefs and causes across social platforms.
I hope this blog post was insightful for you in understanding what social media trends you can expect for the year ahead! Position yourself as a leader in the digital space and give these a try for yourself.
“After an unprecedented year like 2020, brands have had to embrace authenticity and vulnerability on social media in order to avoid coming across as tone-deaf.”
—Becca Booker, Founder of Homemade Social
About the Author: Northern-California made, Becca Booker received a double-major in marketing and journalism from Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University, and now lives under the sun in Phoenix, Arizona. Shortly after graduating, Becca created her business, Homemade Social, and quickly became a respected entrepreneur in the valley. Dubbed the “modern social media queen” by AZ Foothills, Becca is revolutionizing the social media game and inspiring brands to use innovative tactics to grow their social media.
As an advocate for healthy relationships with social media, she recognizes society’s obsession with vanity metrics and believes it is important to utilize her platform as an opportunity to provide others with the resources they need to take a better approach towards social media with their business. Becca is also a loving dog mom of Jojo the Cattle Collie mix (why yes, her dog has an Instagram), and can be found with a Venti Iced Soy Matcha Latte in hand at almost all times.
About Homemade Social: Homemade Social is a boutique social media marketing agency based in Scottsdale, Arizona that specializes in social, digital, and influential campaigns for lifestyle brands. The company's mission is to advocate for a healthy relationship with social media while providing small to medium-sized brands with exceptional social media management, advertising, and email marketing services to help them grow their businesses and digital presence.
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How to Build the Ultimate Support Network
It's 2017. Where's your support squad?
C&C is all about hugs, not mean mugs. And if you want to build out your support squad in 2017, we tapped major marketing boss and founder of BuzzMG Tina Wells to give us insight on how to do so.
JOIN LOCAL SOCIAL CLUBS
It’s important to build your personal network, and joining social clubs is a great way. Not only will you be exposed to great events, you’ll also meet potential clients, employees, and friends. Check out clubs like the Union League for “Young Friends” memberships, as well as the Young Friends clubs at your local museums, orchestra, and ballet.
JOIN ASSOCIATIONS
If you’re a female entrepreneur, look into local chapters of the National Association of Women Business Owners. If you are starting a plumbing company, check out the local chapter of a national plumbers association. You’d be surprised how many fields have associations. You can receive great product discounts, invitations to great conferences, and a network of peers. Entrepreneurship can be lonely, so cultivating a group of peers is important. And of course, there is the newly formed Young Entrepreneur Council (I’m a board member!).
CREATE A SMALL GROUP OF 5 LIKE-MINDED ENTREPRENEURS
You may have already heard of these “mastermind” groups. But what do you call a group for those who haven’t yet mastered something? Call it whatever you like, but build one – quickly. Make sure that the four other people you engage don’t have competing businesses, and think of ways you can help each other. I know of groups that meet monthly and each member has to come to the meeting with at least one lead for another member of the group. Also, be mindful of time. You’re all very busy entrepreneurs, so don’t schedule more than 60 to 90 minutes once each month.
HOST A DINNER/HAPPY HOUR EACH MONTH & INVITE NEW PEOPLE
Consider this your start-up marketing expense! Host an event for a select group of people you want to get to know. Be strategic in your invitations, and make sure you personally meet and greet each person who’s on your list. Allow each person to bring a guest if it’s a happy hour. If you’re hosting a dinner, it’s OK to extend the invitation just to that person. Also, make sure that the people you’re inviting can benefit from getting to know your other guests, not just you! I love to cook and entertain people in my home, so I usually host dinner parties once a month. At this point in my career, my parties are more about hanging out with my friends and mutual support. But they’re always fun! So don’t make it all about business!
DON'T MAKE WITHDRAWALS WHERE YOU HAVEN'T MADE DEPOSITS
It’s really unfair to email people asking them to mentor you when you have nothing to offer them. I know it sounds harsh, but it’s true! I get hundreds of requests for mentorship each year, and the ones I normally respond to (outside of the tip sheet I give to everyone) are the people who say, “can I take you to coffee?” The reason is, that small gesture shows that the person believes in a mutually beneficial relationship.
"Marketing #Protip: Don't make withdrawals where you haven't made deposits."
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I have a good friend who built his entire business off of taking people for lunch – even when he barely had the money to do so. And he was able to convince some pretty important people to have lunch with him and eventually fund his business. If you ask him his secret to success, he’ll tell you it was simply asking people to lunch.
GIVE BACK
My most important contacts professionally have been a result of my philanthropic work. I tend to join the marketing committees of non-profits I work with, and meet other people and collaborate on ideas. They get to see my skills firsthand and evaluate me as a colleague. You shouldn’t join an organization you’re not passionate about just to meet people, because that will backfire. But if you have an opportunity to partner your skills with a deserving organization, generating new business will be a nice result.
PARTICIPATE IN CONFERENCES & PANELS
I really like to spend time working – whether it’s at home or in the office. And while I love to travel, I don’t like being away from the office during the week. But I will make the exception for the right speaking engagement. Panels have been a great way for me to make new friends and expand my professional network. I’ve met some of my best friends on panels, and it makes sense. The best organizers work to place people with synergies on panels together. If you can have an hour conversation together on a stage, you probably will want to spend more time getting to know those people.
Tina Wells, founder and CEO of BuzzMG, earned her B.A. in Communication Arts graduating with honors from Hood College in 2002. Currently a Wharton School of Business student for marketing management, Tina continues to create innovative marketing strategies for numerous clients within the beauty, entertainment, fashion, financial, and lifestyle sectors. Tina has worked with clients including: Dell, Girl Scouts of the USA, Maidenform, SonyBMG, PBS, P+G, Sesame Workshop, and American Eagle Outfitters.
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How the VP of Marketing at CB2 Creates Its Swoon-Worthy Appeal
Plus her super sleek trick for Instagram giveaways.
photo credit: CB2
Alicia Waters is the powerhouse behind CB2's amazing marketing. As the Vice President of Marketing for the brand that attracts consumers young and old, she is responsible for the voice, the look, and the swoon-worthy pics we can't get enough of. Elevated doesn't have to mean $$$.
Who among the lot of us doesn't covet just about everything in those CB2 catalogs? And guess what? Traditional marketing has changed so much that user-generated content actually now informs what goes into them. If you're feeling curious, you're not alone.
We picked Waters' brill brain about collabs, campaigns, and hooking an entire world on the CB2 aesthetic. And trust us when we say, you might want their goods in your living room, but after reading the below, you'll definitely want to invite Waters over for tea too.
What was your very first job and what skill did you learn there that you still use today?
My first job was in sales at a custard shop. It paid $5.50/hour and was my first taste of independence, so was glorious. Plus lots of free custard -- so what's not to like? I worked there for five years and learned a lot about customer service - i.e. caring for customers when they were disappointed, rewarding best customers in special ways, among other things. (People can get pretty angry, especially about ice cream.) On my first week a man threw his half eaten custard cup at the window at me because I had topped it with hot fudge instead of chocolate... that experience alone taught me how to diffuse anger and to implement checks and balances to drive a more flawless operation.
What do you wish more people understood about what you do?
I think most people have an innate sense of how they want to be marketed to. This points to the fact that marketing really is about psychology and empathy at its core -- and that's what I love about it. That said, I'm not sure if people realize that marketing decisions are rooted in analytics. We constantly sift through data to identify segments and micro segments, to dissect / optimize media performance, and to understand the incrementality of various media platforms to make sure we're getting the best return on our dollars. Even with creative ideas and decisions, we are constantly looking through data to optimize performance.
"Even with creative ideas and decisions, we're looking through data to optimize performance."
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Which parts of your business come the most naturally to you? What skills have you had to work overtime to develop?
When I joined CB2, I was comfortable with the strategy & marketing pieces, having studied both disciplines in college/grad school and having led marketing teams at other companies. I truly do like all aspects of marketing, but my favorite marketing activities are collaborations and customer research.
The aspects of the business that were newer to me upon joining CB2 were e-commerce and visual merchandising. The A/B testing approach of e-commerce has inspired me to mimic a similar process when testing new marketing vendors. Visual merchandising is an incredibly effective discipline that balances creative/analytical. I've realized that visual merchandising and marketing are cousins, and must work in synch at all times. So we've maximized our cross-functional communication among those two groups as well.
We now live and work in the multi-screen economy. How do you ensure the CB2 vibe is strong through all your channels?
We use a basic content calendar to coordinate messaging across channels. Our teams are challenged to ensure that our messaging is cohesive -- yet differentiated by channel -- so customers have a real reason to engage with us across platforms. Not an easy task!
Marketers need to know how to merge disciplines. It’s not just enough to have beautiful ad anymore. Would you say that marketing and branding need to have a 360 approach and how does social tie into this?
Not too many years ago, our distribution channels were really simple - retail, e-commerce, and catalog. Now, our distributions model has become exponentially fragmented. My role has morphed into the voice of the customer (across platforms & fragmented distribution channels), identification of new collaborators and technologies/vendors to test, in addition to my "base" job. When I first started at CB2, customers primarily got their inspiration from print and catalogs ... while both still play a role, clearly that model has blown up! Social media has become the place where our customers start their searches and do research. We need to be where they are (which means we test out new platforms continuously), providing information and inspiration that informs and excites them. The beauty of social media is the real time feedback ... our customers have impeccable taste and quickly give us a sense of where we need to head. Programs like #mycb2 (user-generated content) have started to actually inform our catalog shoots (vs. the other way around) as our creative customers use and shoot our product in incredibly innovative ways.
The CB2 collab with Lenny Kravitz drove crazy sales and engagement, which can be hard for any brand to pull off. What do you think you do differently that made that work so well?
Thank you!! I think a key factor in that collaboration's success was that it came from a place of authenticity. The theme and inspiration behind the collection came from Mr. Kravitz himself, whose own extraordinary vision & life shaped every glamorous, sexy piece. Also, the CB2 design and buying teams gave full rein to Kravitz Design to create the pieces (rather than micromanaging in any way), so they ended up in a place that wasn't watered down but instead true to the original vision. Our customers care a lot about authenticity. The visuals and tactics we developed fell into line under that same vision. My favorite individual marketing tactic was the social media auction on Instagram. We posted a photo of the sleek Nova Side Table and asked people to bid on the piece by commenting “I want it” in the comments. The person to leave the last comment at the end of the auction won the item. Trick is, we didn't state the end time.
photo credit: CB2
How did the collab with Ross Cassidy come about?
I met Ross through our Webby winning campaign, APT CB2, back in 2014. Ross was a rising star and Pin influencer who rallied our customer base to create a crowdsourced design of a stunning dining room online that CB2 then built out in real time in a New York City apartment. I was equal parts blown away by his unequivocal talent and his magnetic charm. It was clear there was an opportunity to share Ross' design vision with our customers as it felt really fresh and elevated for the brand. At his first meeting with our head of brand Ryan Turf, he came more than prepared, bringing along full sketches for a Japanese-inspired collection with CB2. We were smitten, the rest was history.
Any advice for young women who are looking to stand out in their careers?
My advice is to be authentic to yourself and to work hard. Understand your strengths and find environments where you can shine - run from those that require you to try and be something you are not.
"Run from environments that require you to try and be something you're not."
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What has been your personal edge and helped you stand out through your career?
A bit of a rule breaker attitude. I have never been a great rule follower. Today's constantly evolving marketplace, which is always thirsty for new ways of thinking and new models, suits me pretty well.
The Beyoncé lyric that describes your mood right now?
Don't bore me, just show me - Check On It
As someone who has to travel a lot for work, what are your secret airport hacks?
I always take a photo of my parking spot so I don't forget it, and I pack a few extra ziplock bags and am surprised every trip that they still come in handy. I wear a scarf on most flights and use it as a pillow if needed, and I bring my eye shade to I can get some zzzz's.
My favorite airport hack at Chicago's O'Hare Airport (my airport) is that you can order tortas by Frontera (acclaimed chef Rick Bayless's famous restaurant) on an app -- so I can pick them up on my way to my flights or I place an order as I'm landing and then have a delicious meal to pick up/ take home.
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6 Quick and Dirty Tips for Marketing Yourself
Build trust, not walls.
photo credit: Bloguettes
Are you looking to grow your following in 2017? Here are 6 quick easy to follow tips.
1. BUILD TRUST
If you’re asking yourself what’s more important going viral or a steady band of dedicated users, think on this:
Exposure is great. It can make you feel like you’re doing something right and the world is catching on for good reason. But exposure can also leave you bare naked in the public eye with no plan to backup your following. Trust is the most important element to growing exposure and that doesn’t usually happen with a viral hit. You want to grow your influence steadily, giving your followers a reason to stick with you, not give you a 15-second-of-fame career.
2. MAINTAIN CONSISTENCY
If trust builds brand loyalty, than consistency builds brand recognition. According to Lauren Hooker, founder of Elle & Co, “recognition is key to branding. It's why we automatically think of Chipotle when we see a foil-wrapped burrito or Apple when we hear Siri's voice or an iPhone ringtone. These businesses don't switch things up regularly; they maintain consistency across all of the visual and invisible components of their brand.”
She advises, to “choose fonts, colors, and imagery and use them over and over again. Over time, people will begin to associate those design elements with your business and easily recognize your graphics.”
“Consistency,” adds Lauren, “also makes your brand appear professional.” Speaking of…
3. ALWAYS APPEAR PROFESSIONAL
We turn to Lauren again for this, who says, “First impressions are huge; they can make all the difference between someone taking you seriously or writing you off. If you're just starting your business, you don't have to look like you just started your business.”
4. DON’T EXPECT INSTAGRAM TO DO IT ALL FOR YOU
Instagram is an amazing tool that can broadcast your brand to millions of people. That’s the goal after all. But it’s not a magic app.
Instagram is the connector, it’s not the business. Use it wisely (and maintain consistency), but if you want to market yourself, you need to cast your net wider. There are a TON of fish in the Instagram sea and you need the social platform to funnel back into something else.
"Instagram is the connector, it’s not the business."
Tweet this.
Whether it is a website, a service, or a product there needs to be something. Especially if you want to build out your brand to do more than schlock products in paid posts.
5. PARTICIPATE IN OFFLINE EVENTS
A like will never replace a handshake. And in many ways, they are not even comparable. You can pay your rent with a like, but you can bank on an IRL relationship. That means, attending conferences, like the upcoming Create & Cultivate New York, where you meet with like-minded professionals. Or pitch yourself to companies to speak on panels.
6. PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR COMPETITION
Marketing yourself isn't solely about you. You can't change the game if you're standing in one place. While an authentic brand is a successful brand, you also need to have a leg up on the competition. That means keeping in tune with what they're doing.
Fine tune your marketing efforts as you go. Pay attention to their audiences and see what they want and how you can provide a better service or product to them. Learn from their mistakes, and know that you can do much better.