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Author: jonathan.howard
The 8 Benefits of Blogging for Your Business
Before Discussing the Benefits, What Is A Business Blog?
Before we discuss all the benefits of blogging, let’s talk what a business blog is, and how it can be used to generate leads. Leads that hopefully convert to customers for your company. A business blog is a regularly updated collection of short-form content that resides on your website, neatly organized on the “blog” page. This content discusses topics that are important to your business. It also answers common questions asked by followers.
These blog posts make up your “business blog.” Blogging is a marketing strategy that is used to increase your online visibility and support business growth. However, in addition to these goals, blogging also provides a plethora of other benefits, both large and small. However, many new companies that are looking to increase market share are not utilizing this multidimensional tool.
The Benefits of Blogging
- Helps drive traffic to your website and increases online visibility for your company
- Helps turn your web traffic into leads and your leads into customers
- Adds Value for Your Customers
- Establishes You as an Expert in Your Field
- Builds Relationships and Trust with Current and Future Followers
- Connects People with Your Brand
- Serves as a Content Source for Your Social Media
- Boosts Your SEO
1. Increase Traffic and Boost Visibility
Your blog increases your online visibility and traffic for your website, which is the primary intention of the blog. Remember, I said before that your blog is a marketing tool! Ok, great! Blogging provides your audience with interesting or useful information that will keep your current clients coming back and increase your exposure to new clients. It should answer the essential questions your audience might have about your field. Your blog is all your knowledge written down in an “edutaining” style. And most importantly, your blog is published consistently, and Google loves that! If your blog is all of these things, your visibility will undoubtedly increase as will your traffic. Writing content based on keyword research will help magnify the increase.
2. Traffic to Leads and Leads to Buyers
I am sure you have all heard about the three stages of a customers journey. The first stage is awareness, the next is the consideration, and the final is the purchase or decision stage. (While I believe there are two other vital stages in the journey post-purchase, that is another blog entirely).
The awareness stage generally begins with a pain-point, something that the customer is struggling with, once they are aware of the pain point, they start looking for a solution to the problem. The research is known as the consideration stage. The “final” phase of the journey is the purchase stage; many times, this is where a company that offers a solution is first made aware of that potential client. Wouldn’t it be great if you could have a stake in the customers’ journey before the decision stage? Ah-hah, you can, and blogging is your point of entry.
Blogging Throughout The Customer Journey
If you want to capture the customer in the awareness stage, you can post simple solutions to the common problems your potential clients face. You can do this in the form of checklists, or tips and tricks blog posts. These are great ways to get people interested in the solutions you offer in your products and services without even directly mentioning them. You can also utilize your blog to write a long-form post about the features your product or service offers and the benefits those features will deliver. Pair it with a video demo and post it on your blog and you may have just moved a few potential clients to the next phase. The best part, you were not sales-pitchy you just talked about your product, right!
How would you capture a customer in the decision phase? Post a customer testimonial about the product or service. Provide dome background on the problem you solved for the customer, highlight the critical points of that journey, and then include the “social proof” aka testimonial that the customer provided. That is how you win the decision phase without even selling!
3. Adds Value for the Consumer
If you are blogging, you are creating an additional “value” for your customers. Blogging without thinking about adding value to the customer experience is downright stupid, and can potentially harm your business. After all, you want to provide a better customer experience than your competitors. When you blog, you should be providing your customer with something of value for free. A checklist, a useful tool, or a detailed answer to an important question are all great examples of free stuff. Ideally, this leads to them choosing to purchase with someone they now have a relationship with.
The more your potential customers can get from you for free, the more loyal they will be when they become customers. Think of this as an education first policy! Teaching before selling is always a good tactic, which brings us to the next blogging benefit.
4. Establishes You As The Expert
Who doesn’t want to be the expert? If you are the person that people go to for answers, then you have won so keep up the excellent work. Blogging is a unique way for businesses to share knowledge with their customers about their industry. It is a great place to answer customer questions. A blog is a perfect place to build a loyal following. Successful companies consistently publish blog articles to highlight their knowledge and to position themselves as a thought leader and subject matter expert.
Regularly posting about your industry is all about building trust with your customers and confidence in your brand. When you get users to read your blog and engage with your brand, you are more likely to be the “first call” when they discover a need for the product.
5. Blogging Builds Relationships
You have now established yourself as an expert in your field. People follow your blog and look for the regular updates. You are now building relationships. These people may already be customers and clients, or they may be future customers, but they are now expecting to hear from you. They are people that respect what you have to say, look to you as a source of guidance and trust you. Your followers now trust you, and you are entering the customer for life/advocate portion of the customer journey.
6. Blogging Forms Connections to Your Brand
Everything you do as a business can impact the customers’ perception of you. That perception, aka the emotional response that your followers have to your business, is your brand. Your brand personality seeps out of your writing and into the minds of those who read your blog regularly. Loyal followers can hear the tone of your words and know how you would deliver them without ever hearing you speak. Your audience has a certain level of comfort with you as you come to them at regular intervals as a guide of sorts. You have created an emotional connection with your followers. Without even necessarily trying to you have begun to build a community around your brand. And if creating a community around your brand was not one of your goals this year, it will be next year so congrats on the headstart!
7. Blogging Feeds the Social Media Beast
Let’s all work smarter and not harder; are you creating social media posts for your business every week? Wouldn’t it be nice if you already had content that could contribute to those posts? Write a blog! Let’s take this blog as an example, how many social media posts do you think a content creator could get out of this blog? I certainly see at least 10 in my head complete with images and copy already written, and with some thought, I am certain 15-20. Yes, this is a content-rich blog post, but even getting 8 to 10 pieces of content per blog post is incredible. Spread those posts out over a few months, so it doesn’t feel like you are beating a dead horse and you suddenly have more time on your hands. Want more details on how it feeds the social media beast, check out this blog.
8. Last But Not Least, Blogging Helps with Your SEO
Blogging creates value for your customers because you are providing them useful information about what you do that solves a problem they are having. If these blog articles are valuable enough to answer a customer problem, they might get picked up by other websites or blogs too. Just take a few moments to build relationships with other bloggers in your field. When other sites link to your information, it creates a backlink, which looks like a strong recommendation to Google. The more someone recommends it, the more you want to use it. These digital recommendations increase your website authority. Increased authority means additional traffic, and we are back at the top!
Every time you create a blog post, you are adding a web page to your site. This page is indexed by the search engines making your website “bigger” and more valuable. You are also utilizing more keywords and discussing topics within your industry, thus increasing your authority and helping your page rank higher.
It Doesn’t Stop There, But This Blog Post Does
Phew, I am exhausted! That is a lot of benefits for blogging. And that doesn’t even include benefits like blogging helps you organize your thoughts and align them with your goals and values. Or the fact that writing about your business forces you to continue to learn about your business. Blogging even helps you refine your brand story, and it improves your ability to talk about your business. Blogging is a multi-dimensional tool that can help you reach numerous marketing objectives. When paired with the power of social media, you have a powerful one-two punch few will be able to touch. So if you are not blogging, start now by clicking the link below and getting your first five killer blog topics. If you are blogging, keep up the good work! You too can click the link below and pick up five killer blog topics and feel free to write about them!
Resources: LyfeMarketing.com and hubspot.com
Small Business & Social Media Takeaways from The Index
Small Business and Social Media
Download Your Copy Today A majority of the clients I work with own and run small businesses. Small business has many opportunities to capitalize on the power of social media but they arent sure how. When the Sprout Social Index Edition XV came out this year I knew it was the right report to break down to help these small businesses see the value of social media.
Social Media is in a constant state of change. Everybody has their theories on what will happen next. These reports provide you with stats that support some opinions and actual trends that paint a picture of what is happening in the world of social media. As a content creator and social media manager, it is my job to take all of the information and see how it applies to what I am seeing with my clients. I generally walk away from one of these reports with at least a few takeaways, this time I was directing those takeaways towards small businesses.
The Nuts and Bolts of the Index
Nobody can deny the power and value of social media. As I mentioned earlier this year, social media touches almost every single aspect of a business. It is too big to ignore. It supports virtually any marketing objective, and moreover provides useful insights to teams outside of marketing. The team at Sprout Social surveyed over 1,000 social marketers and asked about their social goals, challenges, and expectations. They also surveyed 1,000 consumers to understand what people want from a brand on social media. The Index XV explores how social media and marketing teams can better use social data to drive success for bigger picture business goals. It also explores how to use customer insights and trends to improve social performance.
Breaking It Down
For this blog, I focused on a few of the findings that are relevant to the small businesses I tend to work with. When you view the report through that lens some different items stick out. However, all the results are exciting and relevant. If you are interested in knowing more, I recommend getting your copy of the Index and digging in. And speaking of digging in, here we go!
Marketers and Businesses Need to Dig Deeper to Understand the Audience
Forty-three percent of all social marketers say a significant challenge is identifying and understanding their target audience. To address this concern, marketers turn to social data. Sprout Social explored what your audience wants, and I comment on some of the findings below.
What Your Audience Wants
Why do people follow your business on social media? What do they want to see from your company? To answer these questions, you need to understand how and why people use social media in the first place. While 50% of people follow a brand to find out about new products and services, almost as many (48%) follow a brand to be entertained. Other key reasons that a consumer follows a brand is to get up to date news, connect with others, to be educated, and to communicate with the brand.
What Your Audience Does Not Want
Equally crucial for businesses is to understand is what consumers do not want to see on social media. In business today, the customer experience is of the utmost importance. Delivering poor customer service, including being late to reply to a customer concern can be considered poor service. Poor service can result in an unfollow (read like a lost customer) for 56% of those asked. Your audience wants you to respond quickly, knowledgeably, and provide them with entertaining and informational content daily.
Content Misfires
Poor customer service is the number one reason to unfollow. However, posting irrelevant content, too many ads or too much promotional content can all result in a consumer unfollowing your brand. The importance of having a well-planned posting schedule is evident, and it must be robust with entertaining, useful, and educational content. A plan that does not merely focus on your products and services but adds value to the consumer. A social media calendar like with the aforementioned items is a great way to make sure what you are posting is not pushing customers away.
Social Media Essential Post Framework
Our framework for businesses on social media has addressed this since the beginning. The 9 Essential Posts for Businesses helps you create relevant content in 9 categories. It also serves as a reminder of the 80/20 Golden Rule of Social Media, 80% of your content should be informational and 20% of your content can be promotional. When used with a content calendar, a business can plan content and ensure that it is varied, tells a larger story, and engages the audience. Download your free copy of the 9 Essential Posts here to jumpstart your audience engagement.
Social Media Accountability
This report also made it clear that social media is a massive and essential job. Small businesses need to look at who is manning their social media daily. Are they equipped to answer customer questions? Are questions being responded to within an hour on your social media platforms? Have the correct answers been available? It is my opinion that businesses need to embrace new technology and dedicate capital to the task of engaging customers on social media. Look at chatbot options to serve as the front line and invest in a dedicated “position(s)” to manage social media every day. Social media is no longer a part-time job for the business owner. It is crucial for building an audience and growing your business.
Potential Solutions
If your business can not afford to hire someone internally to manage your social media look at hiring an outside company to handle it. Make sure that the company you hire will be posting custom content that speaks to your brand. JRH Graphics specializes in delivering customized content to our clients. Another option for minimizing expenses and maximizing return is to look for interns at a local college to help you post and manage your daily social media presence. No matter what you do, we recommend upping the attention you pay to your social media. It will continue to be an integral part of your business.
What Content Do Your Followers Like
We know that your followers want to be inspired, entertained, educated and informed. The pattern is the same with the types of posts that a consumer will take action on. Sprout Social asked consumers what types of posts they are most likely to leave comments on or share, the answer was posts that entertained them. This is in line with what most social marketers consider to be effective; 50% of social marketers say entertaining and inspirational posts are the most efective in helping them reach their goals according to the Sprout Social findings.
Consumers Want to Be Engaged and Entertained- Edutained As We Say at JRH Graphics
As you saw in the above chart above, posts that inspire, entertain, teach, and have a story are the most likely to create engagement. What is interesting is that consumers are engaging less and less with offers and coupons promising savings. While sales can attract consumer interest, entertaining, and inspiring posts get the most engagement. Both marketers and consumers supported this finding.
People Want to Learn
Creating posts that are engaging and entertaining and speak to your brand can be slightly overwhelming. But here are a few key things to keep in mind. Remember that you are the expert, share what you know in an engaging way. Use what you have around you when thinking about things to post, your company is unique highlight it. Look at what your competition is posting to get ideas, don’t flat out copy it, but research is ethical. Use your brand story and differentiators as guidance on what to post. Finally, use your team to deliver the message.
Employee Advocacy to Shorten the Long Game
Social media is part of the long game. You are building a loyal customer base that likes, knows, and trusts your business. One way to get your audience to like, know, and trust you sooner is if your employees like know and trust you. According to the Sprout Social report, almost three quarters (72%) of all social marketers use their employees as social media advocates. The report also revealed that forty-five percent of consumers say they are more likely to research a product or service when someone relatable, like an employee, posts about it. Using your employees as advocates helps you keep the content varied on your social. It also helps shorten the time it may take for a follower to become a faithful customer.
Converting Followers to Customers
Not every consumer is going to click the checkout button on the first go-round, and that’s okay. It is vital that you still invest in your followers online. Strengthening the connection you have with your followers can lead to more authentic interactions, more word of mouth referrals, and a loyal customer base. Merely looking at the actions consumers take when they follow a brand highlights some of the value they are bringing to the brand.
Actions Followers Take with Your Brand
Eighty-seven percent of consumers who follows a brand on social media will visit the brands’ website. Seventy-eight percent of consumers visit the brands’ physical store, talk about the brand, or recommend the brand to friends and family. Finally, 77% of consumers will buy that brand over another. These are all substantial numbers that indicate a relationship that is worth nurturing. When it’s time to convert people into active buyers, social marketers should use a combination of discounts, product demonstrations, and educational content, Once again, it is the educational and informational content that is driving consumers forward in the customer journey.
Brands Are Only Scratching the Surface of What Social Can Do
Social media has so much unforeseen power, and you are in a position to experiment and see what else it can do. While sizeable social marketing firms are working to break down silos, you have the freedom to break down existing social barriers and see what lies on the other side. You have the benefit of seeing an opportunity on one day, and the next day be capitalizing on that opportunity. It is not necessary to chase after every wild idea that passes, but it does mean you have the chance to try new things. Based on what has worked in the past or what trends you are currently seeing.
What Trends Could You Capitalize On
From creating video content to building a community around your brand, the opportunities to get more out of social media are out there. An excellent place to start experimenting would be with those things your followers have requested. The end of the Sprout Social report provides you with some trends to watch out for in the future. How could you do more with live video, user-generated content, Instagram Stories, and creating a community around your brand?
In Conclusion
Social media is not going to disappear tomorrow. It will continue to expand before it disappears if it disappears. If you are a small business and you have not been investing in social media, the time is now. Get on the bus because it is about to pull out of the station. And for those of you who say, “I am good right now, I will start doing it if I see my sales slipping,” at that point, it is too late. The long game of social media will have passed you by then.
I am not saying that you need to come by my office and sign up for a social media management or content creation package immediately. Although we do things differently and would have a package that fits your needs. What I am advocating is that you do more to increase your reach. It is time to tap into the power of social media for your business.
Download Your Copy Today All Stats and some inspiration provided by the team at SproutSocial Download Your Copy of the Sprout Social Index Today!
Authenticity: Beyond the Buzzword
Authenticity: Beyond The Buzzword
What does it mean to be authentic? What does authenticity really mean? This week, I talked with Lea Berry for the weekly video and we took a deep dive on the topic of authenticity. We went past the inauthentic hashtag and beyond the buzzword. In Authenticity: Beyond the Buzzword Lea and Jonathan explore authenticity and highlight the benefits of living an authentic life and running a truly authentic business. There is no quick formula for authenticity. Just like there is not a 1+1 formula for storytelling. The essence of being real is knowing what you care about and doing your best to be true to your values.
Authenticity: The Modern Day Definition
The modern-day definition of Authenticity reads like a formula. A business is authentic if they are genuine, true, and real. What does that even mean? The definition lacks a great deal of information. What makes a business authentic? In my opinion, in order for a business to be authentic, they need to do things according their belief system. Decisions should align with why they started the business in the first place. A business has to be true to the “why” that they have told followers in their brand story. An authentic brand makes decisions based on what they believe and know to be true to them. One business can make a decision based on their core values and beliefs and another business can make the opposite decision yet both businesses could be considered authentic.JTNDaWZyYW1lJTIwd2lkdGglM0QlMjI1NjAlMjIlMjBoZWlnaHQlM0QlMjIzMTUlMjIlMjBzcmMlM0QlMjJodHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRnd3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbSUyRmVtYmVkJTJGajQybV9oSW9yQWMlMjIlMjBmcmFtZWJvcmRlciUzRCUyMjAlMjIlMjBhbGxvdyUzRCUyMmFjY2VsZXJvbWV0ZXIlM0IlMjBhdXRvcGxheSUzQiUyMGVuY3J5cHRlZC1tZWRpYSUzQiUyMGd5cm9zY29wZSUzQiUyMHBpY3R1cmUtaW4tcGljdHVyZSUyMiUyMGFsbG93ZnVsbHNjcmVlbiUzRSUzQyUyRmlmcmFtZSUzRQ==
Authenticity on Social Media: It’s Time to Walk the Walk
Azita Ardakani the founder of Lovesocial hit the issue on the head in my opinion when she included authenticity as a top marketing trend. She said, “Nobody wants to hear the words authenticity or innovative ever again. However, saying the words and walking the walk are wildly different. Businesses that don’t have internal alignment on why they exist or what problems they are solving will continue to fail”
It is time for businesses to show what they believe in not just talk about it
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Branding Workbook: 9 Brand Components
Creating Your Brand Is Not Easy
Are you in the process of brand building? It is overwhelming, isn’t it? There are so many things that you want to say. So many services that you offer and they are all to solve problems that are loosely related. Or you are offering an alternative to the status quo. It doesn’t matter it feels like it is going to be impossible to get all of this into 10-15 words that speak clearly about your brand! It is not impossible, many have done it and you can as well. We created the “9 Components of Brand: Branding Workbook” to help you get organized and break you “brand” into pieces that you can manage and help you work up to the big picture.
For more information on Brand, click here
What Exactly Is Brand
Remember that a BRAND is not your logo. It is not your identity and your BRAND is not something that can be sold. Brand is moments, memories, sights, sounds, tastes and smells. It is a gut feeling that a person has about your business. A BRAND is emotional because humans are emotional and they make decisions based on feelings. Therefore, your brand is not what you say it is… it is what your audience feels it is. You have to make your audience feel something. What are you going to make them feel?
For more information on Brand Storytelling, click here
Getting the Most Out of the Branding Workbook
In order to get the most out of the Branding Workbook, you should set aside time to work on each of the activities, time that you can focus on just the topic at hand. Be completely honest with your answers. Make sure that you are realistic with your strengths and weaknesses so that you aren’t building your brand on false pretenses. As you proceed through each component in the workbook, take a look back at the previous components and see if they align with one another. If they don’t think about why that is the case and how you may reconcile those differences as you continue to develop your brand and brand story.
Most importantly, be open and honest with yourself about why you decided to do what you do and why it matters to your audience. Your “why” is the foundation for all the other components, if you aren’t honest with this then your brand will forever fail to be authentic. Branding is an iterative process, you won’t complete this workbook and have the perfect brand statement immediately, but you will get there. What you will have is a better understanding of all the components you should take into consideration when working on branding your business.
What Are the 9 Components?
- You
- Your Competition
- Your Differentiators
- The Audience
- Your Business Personality
- Your Story
- How you React In Crisis Situations
- Your Vision (Goals, Plans and How You Communicate them)
- Perceived Authenticity
You Are the Number One Component
The first component of your brand is you. It is your business, after all, so it makes sense that you are the number one component of your brand. Component one is where you are going to look at your passions, your values, the things you want your business to be known for, and most importantly, you examine your “why.” Take your time with this section; honestly think about your answers to the questions.
Don’t stretch the truth; don’t overstate the facts, and think about how your answers will be received by the audience. You are building all the other components of Brand off of this foundation, make sure it is stable. If you nail this component, you are well on your way to creating a viable brand. Your chances of being seen as authentic by an audience are not good if you lie, stretch the truth or “fudge it.” Be honest, real, and emotional in your answers.
The Next Component Involves Examining Your Competition
Presumably, you are entering the marketplace with a product or service that was not available before, or you have an improvement to an already existing item. To know this, you examined the marketplace and what other vendors and businesses had available. What were the voids in the market before your product? How does your product fill those voids? How does your product/service change the lives of users? This is a basic before and after arc in a brand or product story, and the only way to tell it is to examine your competition. Honestly and objectively look at how you compare. They will naturally do some things better than you, and you will do other things better than they do.
Component Number 3 is Defining The Differentiators
You have determined what you do well, you have looked at and compared what others in the market do well, and you know how you, your business, and your products compare, So now, what are some of the critical aspects of your business that makes you different. At the core level, not superficial things but a differentiator that will make someone choose you over your competition.
Differentiators should be marketable things AND something that your customers/clients will value? Remember you can’t be everything to everybody, so if your differentiators narrow your audience down a bit but open the opportunity to have more engaged followers who share your values and believe in your business, then that trade-off is undoubtedly worth it.
Without Component 4 Your Brand Does Not Exist
Your audience holds a great deal of power in this process and it is imperative that you examine the likes, dislikes, habits, and expectations of your ideal clients and make sure that your brand is offering them what they are looking for. Your audience is your potential customer base and they are the reason you are in business. Without your audience, you have no customers. No customers mean no business. Oh, and if you don’t have an audience then you don’t have a brand, remember your brand is based on the emotional response to your business. So take the time here to do some research and develop a few personas that accurately represent your customer.
What Emotion Directly Proceeds the Purchase
You felt overwhelmed, so you bought a planner to help you keep organized. You felt old, so you bought a bright red sports car. You felt betrayed by corporate America, so you get your coffee at the local coffee house. An emotion directly proceeded these decisions to purchase and emotions are powerful motivators. Marketers know this and that’s why they capitalize on them to sell products, yes even the local coffee house does, and it’s not betrayal it is a smart business strategy. So what emotion are your customers feeling right before they come in to make a purchase with you? Pinpoint that, and your business changes. Emotions are universal, sell the emotion everybody will get it.
Your Business Personality
Businesses have personalities just like the people who run them. After all, you would not expect Oprah and Gary Vaynerchuk to run a business the same way. Oprah’s company has a different character, then Gary V’s who curses all the time provides blunt, real advice, and he most certainly will not be wearing a gown to a gala anytime soon. The idea here is if you are representing the company, the personality of the company should match your personality.
If you are the chief behind the scenes guy, then the personality should match your chief front of house officer. Neither is right or wrong, but it may feel incongruous and impact the perceived authenticity if the eccentric scientist at the head of your company was forced to waddle out on stage for company presentations in a tuxedo he only wore for those occasions, and shoes he always fell in. Let the man wear his Birkenstocks and lab coat for goodness sake.
Your Brand In A Crisis
We don’t like to think about things like a crisis, but you are better off preparing for a disaster that will never happen then assuming it will never happen and having to scramble to make difficult decisions in unfriendly conditions. Have plans in place, communicate plans clearly, and if the worst happens, you activate those plans. The essential thing to keep in mind here is how you will respond to the crisis without undermining your values. In a crisis, you must make decisions based on your company values do not abandon them for the business as you are merely prolonging the demise. A business shaken by a crisis can recover, a business that leaves its values to save face is doomed to fail.
Component Number 7: Your Vision
The goals and plans for the company and how those are communicated to employees (if one of your goals is to grow).
A vision statement is a form of internal branding that reflects the values of the company and plan for where the company wants to be in the future. Every member of your business should be able to identify with the vision statement .it should make them all feel like they are a part of something bigger than themselves. Think big and stretch the concept of your business with your vision statement. Your own little business may surprise you and show what it is really capable of.
Bringing It All Together With Your Story
Component 8 is where we start to pull it all together. You are looking to engage your followers with an authentic story that answers important questions like the following:
- What do you do?
- Why do you do it?
- What problems do you solve?
- Who is your ideal customer?
- Who else do you serve?
- How are you different from your competitors?
- What does the company believe in?
- Why should the audience care?
Man, that is a mouthful… and I even forgot something, you need to be able to boil your story down to 10-12 words at times! As you begin the process of building out your story you may feel a need to go back to a previous component and revise it because it does not quite ring true to you. That is okay, it is why we call it a workbook. You are working to develop your brand and you should do everything possible to make sure it feels right for you. If it doesn’t feel right for you it won’t feel right for others. Go back tweak it, make it feel good. Be honest, and be real. Include your struggles and don’t forget your journey.
Once you have your brand story you can use it to create your key messages, brand talking points, and other marketing materials, Brand story first so that your brand identity is reflective of the values and story.
What is Number 9?
That last component of a brand is an essential one, and that is authenticity. You have not arrived at your finalized brand, brand story, and visual components to support it until you can say, “yes, I feel good about all of that and I have no problems defending that statement for as long as this company is in existence.”Ask yourself if you are being real. If you can answer a truthful yes to all these questions you might be ready to go.
- Does your brand story sound like something a human would say?
- I can not identify a single place I embellished the story, used hyperbole, or misrepresented my experiences.
- I made sure the emotions portrayed are real and will connect with others.
- I talk about the struggles and hard times for myself and the company.
- I let my passion show?
- I highlight the unique qualities of the company in a way that will appeal to our audience.
You know your business better than anyone else. You know what is true and what is a lie and so will your audience. Branding is a long term strategy when it is layered together with storytelling, and engaging your followers regularly on social media it helps you build an audience that likes, knows, and trusts you. An audience that will call you first when they need your services, or know somebody who does. Don’t rush it. Sit with it for a couple days, allow it simmer in your brain and if it feels good in a couple days then try it out on somebody. Edit based on the input you recieve, let it sit, repeat.
Download Your Copy of the 9 Components of Brand: Your Branding Workbook TodayThis workbook is created as a tool to help you focus on your brand and what items should be taken into consideration when brand building. We believe in the power of stories, We recommend you develop your story first and then focus on the brand.
Video Content Creation Using the 9 Essential Posts
Creating Video Content Stresses You Out, Doesn’t It
When you hear the words “video content” do you scream a little bit? Are you stressing out because you don’t know what to create? Or is it more stressful thinking about going in front of the camera, recording something, and then putting a video out there for all the world to see? Well, the good news is I can help you because I am going to provide you a framework that will help you decide what kind of videos to create. I can also tell you as somebody who hates being in front of the camera, that it gets a bit easier each time. You just need to get in front of that camera and go for it. Remember it is your business, you are the one with the experience and you are the Subject Matter Expert.
Video Content Challenge for June
Leading into the Video Content Challenge for June I discussed different ways you could incorporate video into your social media. This was based loosely on the 9 Essential Posts Framework that we use at JRH Graphics to help make sure that each of our clients is posting a variety of “Edutaining” Content. The major benefits of following this framework for your video content as well as all your other content is it ensures that all of your posts are working towards telling the same story and the content remains varied. well, for July we are digging into video a little bit deeper and you will be asked to create video content for 7 of these 9 Essential Post Categories.
I recommend you take into account your June results when deciding what to post for this challenge. What worked in June for you? Which videos did your followers engage with? What platforms worked the best for you? Which platform do you want to add next? Answer these questions as you prepare for the July Video Content Challenge (VCC) so you are making the best use of your time when creating content.
Video Content Created for These 9 Categories
Since I am such a nice guy and I want to help you all succeed in the July VCC I am going to review the 9 Essentials Posts below and provide you with some ideas on how you could create video content for each of them. Want a little behind the scenes here, when I thought of this blog post I already had content in mind for 8 of the 9 essential post categories, know which one I forgot? Yup, you guessed it the motivational quotes argh!
Product Posts
Product Posts may seem easy but be sure to not constantly post or repost the same content about your product. Keep it fresh. Get ideas from your customers how are they using your products or “product in the wild” posts. Make sure to highlight what features and benefits users will get from your product that differentiates it from the products of your competitors.
Video Content Ideas
Tutorials on how to use the product. Features and Benefits Demo- think simple but impactful and easy to digest here like Bounty Commercials. Go live for new product releases or possibly show your product being used in an unexpected way. Showcase how the product is made. You have lots of options with this one, just make sure you are highlighting what makes you special.
Customer-centric Posts
Customer-centric posts focus not only on the overall customer experience (which is a good focus) but this is also where a lot of your user-generated content comes from. User-generated content is huge for a business because when you share that content the creator is much more likely to also share the content with followers. And beyond that it shows followers you care about how you engage with your customers and encourages them to share without even asking.
Video Content Ideas
Yup, if one of your customers creates a video post and puts in on their social media, you can share that! You got a freebee but that is great. User-generated content is a huge win for any business. If you are that good then who am I to deny you a freebie. If you were not that lucky it is okay, think about ways that you currently interact with your clients and customers, do you have a regular that is hilarious and would love to be a ham and drum up some attention for you? The person who is always raving about you? An organization that meets in your space that would love to cross-promote or drum up some new members. Yeah, you guys have this one.
In The Hood Video Posts
I call these the “In the Hood” posts and they really touch on the things happening in the community around you. They can be lighthearted and silly or seriously important things that are happening in the hood. What is important is that you are engaging the potential clients that are immediately in your area that are customers of the other businesses. You are also providing those in your neighborhood beneficial information and helping build trust. These posts allow you to partner with other businesses in your neighborhood magnifying your reach.
Video Content Ideas
Partner with another business and feature them and have them feature you. Cover a local neighborhood event. Check out the newest restaurant in town and live post about it. Video how you interact with your neighborhood every day as a business owner. Feature some new people in town or do you always have that one dog in the neighborhood who is your best client, go get him on video.
A Day In the Life Posts
Highlight things that usually happen at your company a pre-opening chat, lunchtime discussion, shared news about employees. Remember Instagram is very visual so make sure you have a good brand-appropriate visual if you are sharing on Insta. Think of these as a quick filtered peek into the back of the house. People love to get a peek behind the curtain, and you want to give that to them. Be real but brand appropriate.
Video Content Ideas
This type of post is awesome for video content and stories. Feature a day in the life from a specific perspective and make sure the day is entertaining and informative for your followers. No further tips needed this is gold!
Giveaways and Contest Posts
Product launch, new item, a special time of the year… make it super special with a giveaway or contest. It’s a great way to gain followers by encouraging them to follow you on social media as a way to be eligible for a prize. Keep in mind that you should always post appropriate disclaimers and follow all posted social media platform rules! This could also include tools and freebies that you can offer up to those who follow you. Maybe a free 30-minute consultation etc.
Video Content Ideas
Video reminding them of a contest. How about a video of you picking the contest winner. Or a video of the contest or giveaway winner picking up prize and being super excited. You could create some video content around you free tool you are offering for people who sign up for your email list. Or highlight how they can use that freebie.
Food, Babies, and Dogs on Video
Want some more social media gold? Then post about food, babies or dogs! Posts like this help you keep your content varied and make sure that you are not talking too much about yourself! Remember that just because the post is not directly related to you does not mean that it shouldn’t add value to your followers. These are not throw-away posts they are still an opportunity to get followers to like, know, and trust you. Think about favorite lunch places around your business, a new bar for after-dinner drinks, or your favorite quick and easy meal you love to make. Keep it light and brand appropriate.
Video Content Ideas
Ok so here the dogs and the babies might be more entertaining on video, but if it is not your dog or your baby make sure to get permission. But seriously, you could do a post around food on video. Like your morning trip to the coffee place. Better yet if you are promoting your restaurant, or you are a lover of chocolate, wine, scotch, pizza whatever, share your love with your followers. Make sure you aren’t throwing these posts away- they should add value.
Motivational Quotes on Video
Motivational quotes on #motivationalmonday or any other days of the week when a little pick me up are in order. Keep the quotes brand appropriate. Try to share quotes that you find meaningful in general or on a specific day. Generally, I recommend posting 1-2 quotes a month. Also, please do not just find one on an ugly background and slap it up on your feed, pay attention to the look of it and when possible add your branding.
Video Content Ideas
Yeah, this is the one I sorta didn’t have figured out but… How funny would it be to have the grumpiest guy on your staff read motivational quotes on the video to cheer people up on a Monday! Or do you have a yoga fanatic that can offer some Monday Motivation and a tree pose? Tell a motivational story that helped you, or one about how you achieved your goals to give followers a different perspective on you. All possible ideas and I will keep thinking!
EDUTAINING Video Posts
Remember you are the expert in your field you should be EDUTAINING your followers. That means the information you are sharing is EDUCATIONAL, USEFUL & ENTERTAINING. People love little tidbits of knowledge especially if its something cool that they can use to impress somebody at a bar or a party. Share fun little bits of knowledge or inside info on what you do. Ask them what they want to know and then educate them on that.
Video Content Ideas
Ask your followers what they want to know or what questions they want to be answered and then go live and answer them. It’s fairly easy, it encourages engagement and you know all the answers! Plus it fills you in on areas that you can improve messaging or provides you other ideas for videos you could create to help educate followers. Also in this category, product demos, useful tips, unknown facts about your business.
Employee-centric Posts
Employee Takeover: Have a trusted employee who has been briefed take over your business account for the day. A few video posts in the story and a post for the feed that is on brand. The story can be less refined it is set up to be snapchatty for a reason!
Employee Profiles These are a bit harder but they are great for morale and a great way to feature specific employee on social media. Ask a set of questions to an employee and take some cool fun photos and viola.
No Employees- No Problem: Do you work with another company in a partnership for an event? Or are you welcoming a new vendor, artist, or chef into your location for a limited time? Do you sell products from local artisans? These all provide an opportunity to do a profile of sorts or even have the partnering brand take over your social media for the day.
Video Content Ideas
Do all those things mentioned above in a video. Employee profile on video (interview style). Employee takeover with video. Brand takeover with video. New vendor or partner, feature them on video. Prep all parties in advance of the video and have fun.
A Final Thought
Before you post content think about what value it will add for your followers. Is it something that will solve a problem that they have or help them in their daily lives? Is it introducing them to something new or highlighting an unknown feature of a much-utilized tool. Helping your followers manage pain points and excel where they struggled before is a surefire way to build trust. Try to not post content that does not add some value to your fans, they won’t stay fans for long if you post too much useless content.
Are you ready for Video Now?
Start by going live and work your way into creating other video content. Video content in stories such as on Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook can be a little rough around the edges, that is expected. However, video content in your feed should be more polished and professional.
Keep in mind with all your video content that it should be short, concise and beneficial to the person watching. Break the videos down into easily digestible segments to increase retention. Plan your videos in advance and make sure to follow an outline so you present a well-organized idea.
Now get out and start making some videos, we can’t wait to see what you come up with.
What is Social Media Management?
What is Social Media Management?
Social Media Management is a foreign concept to many people. The list of questions I am tired of answering probably goes on for days but here are a few #epic ones.
- What does a Social Media Manager even do?
- Does Social Media really need to be managed?
- You just sit on Instagram all day and take selfies, right?
- And, my favorite… Do you know Kim Kardashian?
There is a deep misunderstanding behind what social media managers actually do, especially in the business realm. No, it does not take me an entire 8-hour shift to create an Instagram post that says, It’s Friyaaaay where is the Partaaaayyy! First of all. I own my own business. I wish I worked shifts, especially one as short as 8 hours. Secondly, this is not what you hire a social media manager to do. A social media manager is charged with creating and posting engaging content that advances the goals of the business.
So, now that we have gone over some of the things that we do not do; we can review why your business will benefit from having a dedicated social media manager.
The Role of A Social Media Manager
Each business decides what the role of the social media manager will be in an organization. However, these following tasks generally fall under the roles and responsibilities of a social media manager. We also provide some needed skills for each task. As social media becomes more ingrained in all we do the tasks will continue to become larger and more complex.
- Represents your brand online
- Manage all of your social profiles
- Create custom content for your business
- Engage followers and build up a new following
- Balances informative content with promotional content
- Monitors and responds to comments and questions
- Tracks and analyzes the results of social media campaigns
- Ensures that the voice used to post is consistent
Social Media Managers Roles and Responsibilities
Jonathan Howard, lead content creator and business consultant at JRH Graphics defines the role of a social media manager and discusses what makes JRH Graphics unique.
Manage Your Brand & Maintain Your Brand Identity
Your brand and your story are essential ways you connect with followers. Your social media manager is the promoter and protector of your brand. They ensure profile images are all recognizable and follow branding guidelines. Create posts that are branded and use the brand story appropriately. They are the first contact point with new customers and customers looking for support and service via Twitter. Some are even tasked with maintaining your shop presence on Facebook and Instagram and promoting new items via product posts.
Communication, Attention to Detail and Organizational Skills Are Required
A social media manager controls the conversation on your social media platforms. They accomplish this with a well-planned content calendar complete with key promotions, events, and new product releases. As well and educational and behind the scenes content that is EDUTAINING – Educational -Useful- Entertaining. Your brand and story are powerful connections. With social media becoming integrated into so many facets of your business, your social media manager has the power to shape your story and brand in all that they do. They must possess strong communication skills and be well organized to manage this aspect of the job.
Create Customized and Engaging Content
A social media manager brainstorms, researches, creates copy and visual for all your social media posts. In many cases even today, a social media manager is the sole creative for social media posts. They are also the one who actually does the posting. A social media manager is charged with creating engaging content for followers to consume from start to finish. They must be aware of trends and know what types of content is engaging followers. A plan to eliminate the content that is no longer essential is key. They function as brand ambassadors, storytellers and must be able to create an emotional connection between customers/followers and the brand.
A Social Media Manager Must Be Creative and Flexible
Flexibility and creativity are essential. The demands of the users and the lightning-fast pace of technology is changing every platform at a record pace. It is certainly feasible for you to develop content at the start of a month only to find that the platform you were going to post it on has changed the format or size. Or in the case of Google+, it is gone! They should be early adopters of new technology but still, be willing to work to get results on existing technology and platforms. Create Great Content Often, Adjust for Algorithm, Repeat should be their motto.
Manages Your Profiles & Engage Followers
Your social media manager is the sole person responsible for managing the day to day of your social profiles. Is the person running your social media the first person that you want your customers to see when they enter your business? Your social media manager needs to be able to communicate and personify all your business stands for. Charged with engaging existing and new followers every day on your platforms, the social media manager holds a great deal of power. They define the message that helps define your audience. They are building your future customer base.
Must Be A People Person and Problem Solver
Responsive, tactful and eloquent. Three keywords to look for when hiring a social media manager. In addition to the story and branding, a social media manager must also be intimately aware of all company policies and procedures so they can provide the right information to customers when asked questions. A social media manager must be a problem solver. They are going to be asked to solve problems that your customers and followers are facing each day.
Track the results of campaigns and Adjust Accordingly
Your social media manager not only puts the content into play but they also have to measure for the ROI (Return on Investment). Using the many different measures of engagement, social listening and much more they need to rank the success or failure of posts (and aspects of posts). This allows them to see which pieces of content measure up to expectations and which fell short. They also need to react to the results quickly. If it failed once it will fail again. They need to know not to put content that will certainly fail into play when they could replace it will other content that a higher chance of success. Finally, they must also measure what types of content are engaging at what levels and if they need to restructure the content calendar to accommodate for the changes.
A Social Media Manager Must be Analytical and Proactive
Social media is bound to change. A social media manager needs to adapt. They need to analyze the results of their campaigns. They must double down on successes and eliminate content that fails. New ways to engage will always be emerging and some trends may be the perfect opportunity for your business to stand out. However, without an adaptable member running your social media team you may end up always arriving late to the party. Especially, if they aren’t even measuring the success of the posts they are posting.
Keeping the Brand and Voice Consistent
Want to confuse your followers? Have a different aspect of your brand identity as part of your profile photo on every platform. Change the order of the words in your tagline. Select a different color for your logo. Inconsistency confuses customers. And once a customer is confused they leave. What is worse they are not likely to come back. Equally confusing is when your brand changes the voice it speaks in on social media from post to post, I am guilty of this on my own brand and it is confusing to followers. Define the voice as part of your brand identity and stick to it.
Your employees can speak directly to followers but as brand ambassadors and that voice can be unique to that post once it is defined. I encourage you to use that type of post wherever possible as well as social proof posts (reviews from clients) as a happy employee and a happy customer both send a powerful and emotion-filled message.
A Deep Knowledge of Branding and Emotional Storytelling
A social media manager needs to understand branding and emotional storytelling and connect those skills to the product or service they are selling. They need to be aware of what the differentiators are that strengthen the brand as well as how the company is positioning itself in the marketplace. Finally, they also need to be aware of the known competition and stay ahead of any new competition. Many times the first place you can identify some new players in the game is on social media.
Does a Social Media Manager Just Take Selfies for Instagram?
I hope at this point, we all know that this is not the case. A social media manager holds an ever-increasing role in your business. They are an integral part of marketing and branding strategies. They are content creators that must create engaging content that will grow an audience and create followers for life. A social media manager must create and deliver a great deal of content each week as well as to measure the impact of that content. And if that is not enough, the entire job can change at the drop of a hat. Once again, a great motto for any social media manager should be…
Create Great Content Often, Adjust for Algorithm, Repeat!
Oh, you guys did get one question right… Of course, I know Kim Kardashian, totally bestiesWhat Does JRH Graphics Provide that is Unique?
Social Media Managers are a dime a dozen. There are many solutions available to create content for social media. Hundreds of people create logos and more people are entering the brand storytelling arena. Many of these people have little to no business experience. They went to school and studied advertising or social media marketing and know how to do that.
That is not JRH Graphics. We understand the day to day of business because before we started our own we spent 20 years in business. We learned the ins and outs of social media before it was commonplace among businesses because we worked on college campuses and “grew up” on the cutting edge of it. We have faced hundreds of challenges and created hundreds of solutions. With each new company we work with we have added to our toolbelt and made these tools available to other small businesses because when one of us succeeds we all succeed. A listing of the available tools can be seen here.
We Know Business
Running a business and promoting a business are two full-time jobs, each with different skill sets. The more time you take to promote your business the less time you have to run it and the time you take running your business impacts your ability to expand your network of followers, nurture leads and discover new revenue feeds. Having a social media manager with 20 years of business experience allows you to grow your business while not losing sight of the day to day because the team at JRH Graphics identifies opportunities to grow and nurtures those opportunities in conjunction with your team.
JRH Graphics helps you build your business via social media. We help you define a story that will engage by highlighting this story and your differentiators on social media. This establishes you and your business as a leader in your field. This works to activate your social media networks and local business networks. Once your network has been activated you begin establishing a collaborative relationship with them, allowing you to both grow your businesses and networks.
Our Clients are Proof
Jonathan has been a huge support for our small business. When we brought him on as our PR guy we also got a business consultant that truly cares about the success of our business. He is smart, savvy, innovative, and a risk taker that we trust completely. He has helped grow our business and introduced us to new revenue streams that have proved lucrative.
-Cody Alexander, Urban Jungle DC
JRH Graphics will help you become the smart, savvy, innovative business that takes the right risks and see the benefits.
Jonathan is fantastic support for my small business – he’s helped me scale quickly and helped me achieve so much through social media and engaging with a broader audience.
-Lea Berry, Berry Coaching and Consulting
We will help you scale quickly and reach your goals via the power of social media.
Choose JRH Graphics and grow your business.
Social Media Management Plus with JRH Graphics
With JRH Graphics you get a social media manager and much more. The knowledge and experience. The drive to push to be better. A stubborn man who refuses to take no for an answer. Creative line pusher. Dedicated partner. JRH Graphics is part of your team!
Brand Storytelling Matters: Tips for A Powerful Story
Brand Storytelling Creates Connections
Stories create connections, which an essential part of doing business today. Businesses can no longer remain faceless entities and be successful. In order to survive a business needs to find a way to connect with its audience, in order to thrive they need to pull on heartstrings and engage at a much deeper level than ever before. If a business isn’t making an emotional connection between its brand and its audience then they risk failure.
This is where your brand story comes in. It gives your business a human touch. Your brand story should weave together facts and feelings. It should include your why. Why you do what you do and why you believe it matters. It should also tell your audience why they should care about what you do.
Selling the Universal Emotion Not the Product
I remember when I first started doing marketing work a mentor saying to me, you aren’t selling a mattress you are selling a good night’s sleep. I was very confused as he dropped this piece of wisdom on my head and walked away because I wasn’t selling mattresses I was selling books. But the more I did social media and marketing the more I understood you are not selling products you are selling the emotional connections and the universal feelings. Nobody knows how your mattress feels, but everyone knows the amazing feeling of waking up feeling revived after a good nights sleep.
Be Heard in the Crowded Marketplace
Great brand storytelling allows you to be heard in a crowded marketplace. Now more than ever there are more people making things, and offering services. The marketplace is overcrowded. Some products and services are even great. So what makes you different? Why do I choose you and not your competition? How do you stand out? Your brand story is how you stand out.
Brand Storytelling is Powerful
When crafting your brand story think about what you want your business to be known for. When everything else is said and done what do you want people to say when they think about your business? What is the single most important message you want to deliver? Once you have that message in mind figure out a way to wrap that message into a story that your audience will connect with and you are now on the road to having a brand story that will connect.
Your story is the most powerful and flexible tool in your toolbelt. It should act as a compass that guides your business in all that you do.
Aspects of a Powerful Brand Story
So what are some things necessary to have a powerful brand story? That’s the thing with storytelling, it is not an exact science and there is not an exact formula. But we all know a good story when we hear a good story. So in my effort to figure out some things needed for a good story, I watched a lot of Ted Talks and searched around the internet for great sites on storytelling like echostories.com. I discovered great nuggets of wisdom, things that many of us already believe to be true. Unfortunately, I did not discover the silver bullet… the surefire way to have a story that connects with your audience. So since I can’t give you that yet here are a few tips.
Get Emotional
Inject emotion into your presentation with stories. The objective of a story is to make your audience feel something. Happy, Sad, distraught, hopeful. It doesn’t matter what emotion the story brings about per se as the emotion creates a connection. Tell the story of how your product saved a life, the story of how your business gave you a purpose, that great story about how you helped a mother connect with an estranged child. Take this commercial for example…
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Did You Feel Something?
No matter how you feel on the issue, I guarantee that ad for Verizon (btw) made you feel something. It injected emotion into its advertisement and that emotion made for a powerful commercial and made you feel some kind of way. Verizon is saying in this commercial that part of its brand story is the power of communication to bring people together. That love can always call back using Verizon phone service. The beauty of this for Verizon, is they didn’t even have to spell out the connection. By simply having the Verizon logo at the end of that spot creates the connection the emotions you felt there are tied to Verizon, and you want to go connect or reconnect with somebody using a Verizon phone! Yes, it just as easily could have been Sprint or Metro PCS but it wasn’t.
Make A Connection with Your Audience
The other thing that made the Verizon advertisement so powerful is the connection that they made with the audience. The story they are telling is aimed at those celebrating Pride in the month of June. It was created in partnership with PFLAG, a National organization that unities families and allies with people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer. They knew their audience. They knew that many people who identify as LGBTQ have struggled with coming out in their lives. This struggle is universal in the community so they were able to connect with the audience by being aware of, and sensitive to this universal truth. As a business, be aware of your audience and your followers. Is your brand story or aspect of a brand story something that they will connect with? If it is not, should it be part of your story?
At First This Then That
Change is a fundamental portion of a story including your brand story. At first, this was the truth, that is why our founder created (brand name) and now this is the truth. Apple is famous for using this in its story and in presentations. This is computing now, but with this brand new Mac we have challenged the status quo and this is what computing will look like! And those of you who are like me and want things to be easier, newer, better, and not the status quo eat it up. This then that creates suspense and excitement, both emotions and emotions create connections. And if you watch a lot of Apple product reveals you notice that they draw out the suspense to the point where your body is physically reacting to it. Ah the beauty of storytelling… when listening to a good story your body reacts like it is there and it releases hormones and endorphins. You are literally feeling the emotions and it does not matter that it is a new computer that has nothing to do with it, the feeling is what matters.
Don’t Forget Your Why
A key aspect of your brand story is your why. Why is it that you do what you do and why should your audience care? You need to wrap these into that emotional story to create the connection between the product/service, the emotions, and your overall brand. The why is not to make a profit, as Simon Sinek says that is just a result. The why is… why do you get out of the bed in the morning? What is it about your business or work that gets you excited? Why is your business special? That is what will connect with people and make your brand story special. I can’t tell you what your why is… you need to dig deep for that. Just remember that your story is the most amazing thing about you and your business so don’t be afraid to say what you believe. Highlight your values. And create a brand story that is awesome and will connect with your audience and beyond.[
Simon Sinek Start With The Why
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I hope these tips help as you begin to work on your story and make brand storytelling a hard skill in your business. If you need help with any of this check out some of our other resources or contact Jonathan at jhoward@jrhgraphics.com.
May we also recommend taking a look at this blog post.
Have I Got A Story For You: Using Stories On Social Media
Why Stories?
500 million people use stories every day. Stories are a great way to interact with your audience, experiment with content, and reach a wider subsection of the social media population. In 2018, a Facebook representative even said the increase in the Stories format is on a path to surpass feeds as the primary way people share things with their friends sometime next year (2019).
So, yeah… stories are no longer a place for throwaway content that has no real staying power. Stories are no longer just silly quotes, drunk nights, and delicious dishes. Stories matter! You can use stories to highlight your products, services, and features. Explore stories as a channel to highlight the more playful side of your brand. Use multiple slide stories to launch a new product or tell a customer’s story. There are many different ways to utilize the Stories format.
If you want to build strong relationships with your audience. Increase your overall engagement and get more eyes on what you offer, then Stories is going to be an essential tool! Just remember, while Stories can be more informal… as a business, everything you share on Stories should also be brand appropriate.
Story Basics
The Instagram Help Page has a lot of great FAQ’s with very detailed answers if you have any questions about the basics of Stories on Instagram. I am just including a few. All of the functionality between Instagram Stories and Facebook Stories is very similar so if you know one you pretty much can figure out the other. If you have questions you can always drop me a line and I will do my best to help out!
Sharing a Photo or Video to Stories
To share a photo or video to your story using the Instagram app:
- Tap
in the top left of your screen or swipe right from anywhere in Feed. - Tap at the bottom of the screen to take a photo, or tap and hold to record a video. To choose a photo or video from your phone’s library or gallery, swipe up anywhere on the screen.
- Tap , or to draw, add text or a sticker to your photo or video. To remove text or a sticker, drag and drop it on at the bottom of the screen.
- When you’re ready to share, tap Your Story in the bottom left.
- Stories disappear from your profile, Feed and Direct inbox after 24 hours, unless you add them to your profile as highlights.
How can I tell who’s seen my Instagram Story?
To look at who’s seen your story, open your story and swipe up on the screen. You’ll see the number as well as the usernames of the people who have seen each photo or video in your story. Only you are able to look at who’s seen your story.
How do I @ Mention Someone In My Story?
Tap in the top left of your screen or swipe right from anywhere in Feed
Take a photo or video, then tap
Type @ followed immediately by their username, then select the person you’d like to mention
When you mention someone in your story, their username will appear in your story with an underline. Anyone who can see your story can tap it to go to their profile.Viewing Stories
When you watch someone’s story, you can skip forward, backward and pause:
- Tap on the left of the screen to go back to the previous photo or video, or on the right to go to the next one
- Swipe right or left to skip between people’s stories
- Tap and hold the screen to pause on a photo or video
Again, the Instagram Help Page has a lot of great FAQ’s so it is linked as a resource and you can always email me. jhoward@jrhgraphics.com.
Ways to Use Your Stories to Get The Biggest Bang for Your Buck
Good use of Stories across platforms not only leads to good numbers for your Stories but also increased visibility, more brand recognition, and a more engaged group of followers. From Live Stories, to video, photos, polls, questions, boomerangs, quizzes. product stickers and much more the possible ways to engage your followers and build a greater following is endless. Play around with the options and see what is brand appropriate and works for your business. Review results regularly and proactively adapt as necessary. Here are some things to keep in mind.
Cohesive but Not Identical
Your stories should “speak” to your feed posts and vice versa. Your brand identity should match, logos, fonts and phrases should be apparent, but it is very rare that you would want to post something on both your feed and story using the same image and copy. Remember you Stories are a little bit more informal and fun, more day to day whereas your feed is a more refined and mature entity. I always think of Stories as the AAA Team and the Feed is the Major Leagues. You have some awesome players in Triple-A but they aren’t quite a Major League player. When they get to the Majors they need to learn to run with the big boys! They can do it they just need to get a bit more refined.
However, they can still work together as well. For instance, if you are running a big sale before a Holiday, you can run a feed post that advertises the sale and then during the sale, highlight certain items that will be on sale in stories. Maybe even show happy customers buying these amazing deals and leaving with smiles on their faces!
Tap into the Power of Social Media with @ Mentions
Social media is all about connections, which means that Stories are a great place to recognize those you have collaborated with, those that have given you props, and other businesses you like because an @ Mention in a story only ties you to a particular user for 24 hours. Plus the person receiving the @ Mention will love the recognition!
Sneaky Pro Tip: You can hide @ Mentions behind pictures if you like. They will still see the mention it just won’t be entirely visible.
Use the Added Interactive Features… But Don’t Overuse Them
Stickers, GIFS, Polls, Boomerangs there are so many things that you can integrate into a story to make it more engaging. Just don’t overuse these features. I promise you that we all love a boomerang of your cat… once in a while but if we see 5 of them every day, we will skip your stories for many months to come.
But using the features that solicit feedback and engage your followers is a great way to grow. Try them out, see what you like and what your followers engage with.
You can also tag stories with locations and hashtags which gets your story sometimes featured in a “location story” or “hashtag story”
They Are Called Stories for A Reason- Tell A Story
Will a series of random photos added to your story engage followers old and new? Possibly. A good visual does tend to have power especially on Instagram but what if your visuals were great and they all worked together to tell a story? HOMERUN and second baseball reference in this blog. Put your visual storytelling skills to the test and weave together some great visuals with a few well-placed items of text and see if you can’t create a powerful brand story, product reveal or another engaging piece of content.
Recently, the engagement and reach on my Stories has been increasing but I was still seeing a big drop off after the first few Stories. On average I would drop 31% of impressions and a similar percentage in reach every 3 consecutive slides. But this Thursday I flexed my storytelling muscles and created a narrative about a project I was working on that continued over 15 slides (btw too long go shorter). But amazingly, after all, 15 slides I had a drop off of just 11%!JTBBJTNDaWZyYW1lJTIwd2lkdGglM0QlMjI1NjAlMjIlMjBoZWlnaHQlM0QlMjIzMTUlMjIlMjBzcmMlM0QlMjJodHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRnd3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbSUyRmVtYmVkJTJGTkdOOGJIUDN0bTQlMjIlMjBmcmFtZWJvcmRlciUzRCUyMjAlMjIlMjBhbGxvdyUzRCUyMmFjY2VsZXJvbWV0ZXIlM0IlMjBhdXRvcGxheSUzQiUyMGVuY3J5cHRlZC1tZWRpYSUzQiUyMGd5cm9zY29wZSUzQiUyMHBpY3R1cmUtaW4tcGljdHVyZSUyMiUyMGFsbG93ZnVsbHNjcmVlbiUzRSUzQyUyRmlmcmFtZSUzRSUwQQ==
Streamline Your Story Creation
You want Stories to be on Brand. But they disappear after 24 hours. So why no create reusable templates for some of your regular content. You could spend hours each week creating appealing content that will disappear in less time than it took you to perfect it or you could create templates that were brand appropriate with a visible logo and proper colors. Then they are easy to reuse, week after week. This is an awesome tip especially if you like our next one.
Treat Stories Like A TV Channel and Schedule Content for Specific Days
Plan out your social media content and theme it together. Followers will know when to expect content to be released and if you are releasing great content every let’s say Thursday, you are essentially creating “Must See IG!” Get it! It could be as simple as New Products Monday. New Blog Post Tuesday. Wednesday is Food Feature. So on and so on. Or another option is to ask a question on Monday. Post a funny story on Tuesday. Ask followers for input Wednesday. But creating and engaging with content becomes easier when you know what is coming.
Consistency is Essential You Are Building Trust
Stories are another way to get your followers to like, know, engage with, and trust your business. Consistency is an essential part of this trust building. Customers can’t get to know you if you aren’t posting consistently. The less consistently you post the lesser chance you have of seeing growth on social media. Use stories to your advantage by being consistent and see how consistency can provide a real advantage against your inconsistent competitor. Consistency will help you build brand recognition online and offline faster. Inconsistent messaging leads to gaps in memory of your brand and general confusion about your brand.
Remember that if you post consistently but messaging is off-brand, or not clearly branded for your company you may be harming yourself despite your best efforts.
You Worked Hard for Those 10K Followers
If you worked hard for those 10K and you are able to put a Call to Action in your Stories… Do it! Don’t waste them but use them. The “swipe up” feature in Instagram’s Stories is an amazing way to direct traffic to your site. Just one simple swipe up and boom. Just don’t overuse it, if you have a call to action on every story people are quickly going to ignore it and that defeats the purpose of such a powerful feature.
Tips from The Pros (and Me)
So while writing this blog I figured I would reach out to some friends to get some tips from the real Pros on what you should and shouldn’t do on the Stories platform… But before we get to the real Pros… I get to go!
JRH Graphics
- Keep it short, sweet and valuable- always keep in mind what your follower may get out of any content you share.
- Minimize text and maximize visual storytelling. Stronger less interrupted images for bigger impact
- Please don’t put a Call to Action in every frame
Blonde in the District
- While stories are a more informal representation of your brand, they are still a representation of your brand. So its important that you are always on brand.
- Don’t make your stories too long, people lose interest and you lose engagement.
- However tempting, don’t go off on a rant in your stories. Even a brand appropriate rant. (DM Jonathan and rant to him)
Stitch & Rivet
- Do a project with your followers and get them invested and involved over the course of the project (story).
- It’s called Stories. Don’t forget to tell a story!
- Go to @stitchandrivet on Instagram and check out the Military Duffle highlight for Storytelling in A Story Done right
https://www.shopstitchandrivet.com/
This is Made in DC
- Pay attention to your overall appearance and cohesion of story from one frame to the next. Even in a single frame that is important
- Keep it fun and playful. Many times they include a cool GIF!
Wrapping It All Up
The success of the Stories Format is not a surprise to anyone in the marketing world. Stories are the perfect medium to tell the story of a brand in bitesize, easy to digest parts. Branding and Marketing are all based on the concept of storytelling so why wouldn’t a usable and versatile tool like the Stories platform win? Stories help businesses tell their story. Stories (the ones the businesses tell) sell. Actually, Stories (the ones on social media) also sell! Use them, experiment, but stay active and engaging.
Share your wins and losses as well as pro tips with us we would love to hear from you! And look for some Instagram Story hack videos from Jonathan this week on his Instagram Stories of course!
- Tap
Your Brand Is Not This… Discover the Key to Branding
Brand is Not
… your colors, it is not your logo. The business does not control it. These things are all part of your identity, and while they may speak to your brand, they are not your brand. Your audience defines your brand. It is an emotional response to your business that includes sights, sounds, tastes, and past experiences.
In the following video, Jonathan Howard, the owner of JRH Graphics, discusses how a company can impact its brand, how every single interaction with a sales associate, or operator, or online service bot can influence the customer’s perception of your company. He also reminds people that it is incredibly important to believe in your brand. Make sure that everything you put out to your audience is representative of the values you think are essential. Be unabashedly true to your beliefs; don’t water them down to appeal to the masses. A company that aims to please all people ends up pleasing nobody.
Differentiators
The idea behind differentiators is also discussed in this video. A brand is what makes someone choose you over another company. So what is it that makes you different? Why would somebody decide to use you instead of another company? Branding is the art of differentiation, and if you don’t stand out, you aren’t going to win. For more on differentiation and how to win with your unique values, check out this blog post.
What is the Key?
The key is to find out what makes you different and find an audience that values those differences. Once you have discovered that audience, begin engaging them and providing solutions to the problems that they are facing. Keep your audience in mind whenever you are launching a program, product, or service offering.JTNDaWZyYW1lJTIwd2lkdGglM0QlMjI1NjAlMjIlMjBoZWlnaHQlM0QlMjIzMTUlMjIlMjBzcmMlM0QlMjJodHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRnd3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbSUyRmVtYmVkJTJGWW5CcXd1UDlhTkUlMjIlMjBmcmFtZWJvcmRlciUzRCUyMjAlMjIlMjBhbGxvdyUzRCUyMmFjY2VsZXJvbWV0ZXIlM0IlMjBhdXRvcGxheSUzQiUyMGVuY3J5cHRlZC1tZWRpYSUzQiUyMGd5cm9zY29wZSUzQiUyMHBpY3R1cmUtaW4tcGljdHVyZSUyMiUyMGFsbG93ZnVsbHNjcmVlbiUzRSUzQyUyRmlmcmFtZSUzRQ==
