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
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.
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.
This 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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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…
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.
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
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)
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!
… 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==
For years people have been saying the next big trend on social media is video. More video content. Get in ahead of the curve and start producing video content now! What was the next trend has already arrived. It is time to start engaging our followers with video content or be left behind.
We created our June Video Content Challenge to help all of us jump-start our video content game. It’s also a great way we can help each other as we take a 30 day (or more) adventure through the land of video. We even created our first social media video in quite some time to talk about it!JTNDaWZyYW1lJTIwd2lkdGglM0QlMjI1NjAlMjIlMjBoZWlnaHQlM0QlMjIzMTUlMjIlMjBzcmMlM0QlMjJodHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRnd3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbSUyRmVtYmVkJTJGLWlBdzl5OV80Wm8lMjIlMjBmcmFtZWJvcmRlciUzRCUyMjAlMjIlMjBhbGxvdyUzRCUyMmFjY2VsZXJvbWV0ZXIlM0IlMjBhdXRvcGxheSUzQiUyMGVuY3J5cHRlZC1tZWRpYSUzQiUyMGd5cm9zY29wZSUzQiUyMHBpY3R1cmUtaW4tcGljdHVyZSUyMiUyMGFsbG93ZnVsbHNjcmVlbiUzRSUzQyUyRmlmcmFtZSUzRQ==
The Numbers Say It All
85% of US Internet users watch video content on their device monthly.
Videos are the consumers favorite type of content to see from a brand they follow.
Videos engage people for a longer amount of time, meaning they stay on your post/site longer.
Video is 95% more captivating than other types of content.
54% of consumers want to see more video content on social media.
With numbers like this, it is hard to deny the need for businesses, bloggers, influencers and more to start engaging followers using video. So how do you even start? Buy an expensive camera? Hire a video production team? Maybe, the first step should be deciding on a content-based strategy. One that allows you to plan out what value video could add to some of the content you are already posting.
If you are a JRH Graphics client, I would recommend that your first step is to review the 9 Essential Posts for Businesses on Social Media and look to see what types of posts we are already doing could be enhanced by adding a video component. If you want a free copy of the 9 Essential Posts, just click here and provide your email!
Let’s Start Creating Video Content
First, its time to jump right into making videos. We all need to move past the excuses (I don’t like the way I look on video, I don’t like the way I sound on video, I don’t know what to say about my business on video). You can choose to make excuses or you can choose to grow your business! Videos are simply a tool you now must use to grow your business.
Secondly, start videotaping everything you do! Meetings, presentations, group discussions, if you think you may potentially discuss a topic that would make great content on social media then ask the other parties if its okay to tape the meeting with the camera focused on you. You can later edit it down and use it for important sound bytes or video clips as needed. How many times have you regretted not capturing something on video? Taping everything will prevent that regret.
9 Ways to Create Brand Appropriate Video Content
1. Go Live
You represent your brand and your business every day in Live interactions with customers, over the phone and on social media. You absolutely should know your business and brand well enough to “go live” once a week. It’s an opportunity to interact with your users in some way on a topic that matters to both parties. Provide value to your customers with these live videos by helping them solve a problem or answering a question. When you are feeling good about your ability to go live, look at other opportunities like going live at an event, using the event hashtag to cross promote your business by providing added value to the discussion.
Live videos are great for announcements about your business, behind the scenes looks at your company and mini product tutorials. Whenever possible try to go live regularly, at the same time each week and promote/provide the topic discussed in advance. This will get your viewers in the habit of looking for your live videos at a specific time. The best part about Live videos is it is okay for them to be a bit rough around the edges, so this is truly a great place to start!
2. Create Video Content That Answers Questions Your Followers Have
Do your fans and followers ask you questions about your products or services? Are you answering the same question numerous times? It is time to create videos that answer these questions. You are automatically filling a need. Your followers need answers to help them understand your product and brand. And you are investing in the success and training of those using your product/service.
If you don’t think your followers have questions, ask them! I recommend going onto Instagram stories and using the questions feature. Ask them about challenges they face daily. How do they use your product and service? What do they wish your service provided? I bet you will be able to create at least 5 videos that answer a question for your customers just from a single Instagram survey.
3. Tutorials or Product/Service Informational Videos
Do you have a product or service that you regularly need to provide one on one training for? Or maybe a service you offer solves a variety of problems for the person using it but many people don’t recognize the hidden benefits. Doesn’t that smell like a great opportunity to create some video content that is useful for your followers and has the potential to streamline your business?
The key to these types of videos is to make sure they are not too long and technical and they aren’t dry and boring. Enfuse your videos with energy and some excitement. Quirky is a great way to create interest. You want your videos to engage followers as well as provide useful information.
Say you have a service that has 5 hidden benefits other than the intended use. It is better to create 5 or 6 separate, quick paced and fun videos for sharing on social media, even if you also create a separate video that includes all 5 benefits so you that to provide as a teaching tool to those using the service.
4. Create Some Behind the Scenes Videos
Everybody loves to get a special peek to see what is behind the curtain. In my personal experience, this is the best performing type of video content. We are all a bit curious about what brands are like behind the polished facade. The key with this type of video is to allow some personality to show thru and to be a bit more casual than in other videos. However, it is important that you remember you are representing your brand and you should do so according to your standards. Some great uses of Behind the Scenes Video content include product launches, special events, highlighting a collaboration with another company, or even a day off with the boss! Just make sure the video is short, entertaining, and adds some value (like actually showing some behind the scenes stuff)!
5. Customer Service and Customer Feature Videos
Do you have regular customers that come in weekly? A customer who uses your venue or service in a unique way? Why not take a 60-second video to feature them (with their permission of course)? One of the things that make your brand unique is the customers/clients you attract and this is a great thing to feature in a video.
Tell the story of your customers. Show how you solve their problems. Highlight all these happy customers that love your business. Stories sell and the stories of your happy customers on video has an incredible power to help you build your brand. You can even ask customers to submit videos with their customer testimonials to be shared.
6. User-Generated Video Content
User-generated content is like when your best friend brings you dinner and wine because they knew you had an awful day. It is a gift from above and like winning the jackpot for several reasons 1) free content for you 2) expanded audience of the original poster 3) User-generated content connects to more people than brand generated content 4) free marketing.
Specific Rules for User Generated Content
So if you are lucky enough that a user creates a piece of video content that features your service or product this is a mega win. Watch the content closely and review the other content featured by this user before you blindly post. If the content aligns with your brand, messaging, and quality is up to standards and you wish to share it you must first ask permission from the user who created it. Also, ask if there is anyone you should give credit to when you post, and any hashtags that should be used. Do not use user-generated content and videos for promoted posts or advertisements. If you do they can legally ask for a portion of each sale that was generated from the use of the content they created.
They Created Content for You for Free- Thank Them A Lot
When you post the user-generated content make sure to thank and tag the creator in the caption and make sure you tag them in the photo/video as well. Be super nice to them and more user-generated content will follow. From them and others who saw that you shared the content and were super nice too!
7. Create Employee Focused Video Content
Do you have an employee recognition program? Or is one of your team members getting a well-deserved promotion? This is a great opportunity to create some employee focused video content that can highlight the unique culture of your business. As well as show off the accomplishments of your stellar employee. It’s a humble brag with a video component.
You could also create a day in the life series and create video content around what the day in the life of one of your brand consultants is. Follow the employee as they complete the unique tasks throughout there very interesting day.
Your employee is your greatest asset and has the potential to be an amazing storyteller and brand ambassador. Prep them well for the video but don’t overcoach them. Make sure they are aware of the expectations and the brand standards that must be represented but allow them some free reign in the creation of the video content. The business gets the final say in what is posted to the business account but you want the content to be a real team effort. If you picked the right employee to feature, have confidence that they will shine.
As a side note- don’t plan to film these features on a normal day. To keep them exciting for your followers make sure to tape them on a busy day in the life kinda day.
8. Brand Takeovers
Uh oh, who just took over your Instagram page! Don’t call the IT Specialist in just yet! Remember, you handed over Instagram to Brand B Coffee because you have worked together many times and have a similar clientele that doesn’t always shop at both locations. But your baked goods and Brand B’s coffee are a perfect match! This also means that you have control of their Instagram for the day. Well, how fun is this! Hmmmm, now what is it that you are supposed to post again?
Remember, this is a huge opportunity for each brand to introduce themselves to the other brands loyal followers and while the story and videos should remain somewhat unscripted you should have each reviewed an outline of what will be reviewed. Make sure you plan to touch on the features and benefits of each others brand and share your mutual admiration for what each does. It is important that you both talk about what your brand differentiators are, how you will be working together, and why your followers should take the time to visit both Baked Goods + Brand B Coffee.
9. Create Some Quirky, Unique or Unusual Video Content
Don’t forget that engagement is the name of the game and sometimes it takes a bit of outside the box thinking to come up with the perfect idea that will engage and become viral. It’s okay to think outside the box and create content that is outside of the box as long as it ties back to your business and brand in some way. The danger of creating videos that are too quirky is that they will remember the video but they will have no idea what the video was actually promoting or what company had paid for the ad. Great job creative, bad job branding and marketing.
Are you ready for Video Now?
We hope that the different types of videos we discussed in this post help you understand how you can create more video content within the structure of your content calendar simply by adding some video to the stories you are already telling because you are following your 9 Essential Posts for Every Business Worksheet. 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.
Join the JRH Graphics community for tips, tricks, and support with your business’s social media, branding, and storytelling needs.
Did you know that 50% of businesses started do not make it to celebrate the fifth year in business? One of the largest contributing factors of failure for these businesses is an inability to differentiate from the pack.
Many businesses feel that in order to be successful you need to be everything to everybody. However, the exact opposite is true. To see success in today’s business environment you need to tell people why you are different and align yourself with those that appreciate those differences. Or as I like to say, “what is your weird?” If you embrace your weird and showcase your weird, you will be able to win with your weird. It is really just remembering a few of the basics or branding and marketing.
Believe me, I am weird I should know
Embracing Your Weird
The first step of differentiation is figuring out what makes you different than all the other companies out in the marketplace and embracing those differences. Did you create this business to fill a void? Do you serve a specific section of the marketplace? The answers to questions like this are all essential parts of your company story and can be a differentiator. A differentiator can be anything that you think is important to your company, that other companies in your realm do not offer or deliver. A differentiator is what will make someone choose you over another company, it is what makes you stand out. I call this part of the process, “embracing your weird!”
Some Ways Businesses are Weird
Below is a list of some differentiators, do one or more of them apply to your business? This list is not complete, a differentiator is whatever you honestly believe you do differently that impacts your customers or clients.
Deliver exceptional customer service, every single day by exceeding customer expectations
Make solving customer problems a keystone of your business
Focus on a very narrow part of the customer base
Do business differently i.e. always accept returns or charge a flat rate for services
Offer something up for free or a low price that makes a huge difference
Focus on your culture and what makes it different i.e. at JRH Graphics we like it if you are a bit weird but love it when you are completely off-the-wall weird
Focus on social media and make it so good people can’t forget you (think Warby Parker)
Surprise and delight your customers
Be Weird. Be So Weird People Notice You. Don’t Be Too Weird that they only remember the weirdness
Don’t Hide Your Weird
Whatever it is that makes you unique is your weird. Don’t shy away from your weirdness or try to hide it because you are afraid that these differences are weaknesses. These differences are the key to making connections with potential customers, they are essential for standing out in a crowded marketplace, and they could be a reason you make it to year six in business when half of your fellow business owners will not.
So you have embraced a few things that are weird and you have integrated them into your company story. You even discuss them as part of the unique culture of your company… now what?
Showcasing Your Weird
The next step is to showcase your weirdness. This is probably the trickiest of the steps when you begin because it is easy to confuse people if you are not sending a consistent message or bouncing around in how you are telling your story. The best way to properly showcase your weird is to tie your differentiators into what you are doing every day and what you are posting every day. And the best way to do this is by planning what you will be doing and posting well in advance. Make sure that what you are doing and posting ties into your goals and brand story.
Tips for Showcasing Your Weird
Make sure every single person that represents your business inside and outside the company understands and represents the company story and company culture.
Tell the same story but don’t use the same examples. People will get tired of them and it shows that maybe what you are doing every day does not align with the story you are telling. If it did new examples would be easy to find.
Make sure that you are showing your brand in a similar and recognizable way across all of your social media profiles for your business. If I stumble upon your social media presence on Twitter and want to find you on Facebook I should be able to tell instantly what profile is yours when I search.
A key to showcasing your weird is making sure that people know who you are and are engaging with you. In order to accomplish this on social media, you need to be creating engaging content and posting regularly. If you need help deciding on some things to post please check out my 9 Types of Posts Every Business Should Try blog post.
Make sure that who you are online matches who you are/what your business is in real life.
Begin looking for and working with other businesses that share your weird. Collaboration is Key afterall!
Sharing the Weird
So number 6 above is kind of a “pro tip” but here is an example of how it would work.
Say you are a career specialist who helps people discover what the next step in their career should be. You believe that having a complete online profile such as LinkedIn with a fresh headshot that captures their true essence and a winning story that showcases accomplishments helps them stand out in the crowded job market. In order to help your clients accomplish this, you begin working with a headshot photographer who is amazing at letting a person’s personality shine through the photo. You later discover a social media specialist who helps your clients craft winning stories to include on LinkedIn. As you continue to work together the three of you are all showcasing your business strengths to multiple clients and your ability to work closely with other businesses in your field becomes another one of your differentiators.
Winning With Your Weird
You have embraced your weird. You are showcasing your weird. So how do you know when you are winning with your weird? Don’t we all wish that there was a clear and concise answer to this! I can’t provide one but I can say that when you start to embrace your weird and showcase your weird and it is connecting with others you will notice some things like more meaningful comments on your social media. More people writing reviews of your business because your business fills a specific need in the marketplace. You will see additional referrals from other businesses you have worked with in the past. More of your ideal clients and customers will be seeking you out. Overall, you should see an increase in your sales and a decrease in the money that you need to put in to close each sale.
Signs that A Company is Winning With Their Weird
They have a powerful and defined identity. They boldly proclaim what they believe and they stand by those beliefs even when tested.
Winning companies have identified an audience or audiences that will engage with their weird. They are targeting this specific audience where they live, with content that has proven to engage them.
Winning companies are passionate about what they do and they let it show in everything.
Honest with what they can and can not deliver for a client. They know their limits and are not afraid of losing some business because a client wants something that is outside of their wheelhouse.
Backs up claims with tangible actions and results.
Put their clients/customers interest ahead of revenue.
Accessible and real. They demonstrate the true meaning of authenticity.
Understand the value of consistency. Always live up to clear expectations.
Collaborate with other brands that share their values, potentially multiplying the customer base they have access to with the collaboration
A Weird Conclusion
Keep in mind that a winning brand has a proven track record and is a trusted member of the marketplace. They embrace the winning characteristics listed above in all that they do and they showcase them throughout their company. A new company cannot be winning until they have proven itself. However, it is important for a new company to make sure that they are embracing their weird and showcasing their weirdness right out of the gate. They should include the key aspects of their weird in their brand story to put them on the fast track to winning with their weird!
At JRH Graphics we tend to do things a little bit differently, so it should not really surprise anyone that we approach photo shoots differently as well. We don’t like to shoot in the studio. Whenever practical, we like to shoot in your neighborhood, where you live and where your business is located. Our photo shoots are “in the wild” as we say. This type of shoot encourages real-life engagement which leads to greater engagement online. So what does a photo shoot in the wild look like? How do we decide what photos to take? What do you wear?
Well, aren’t you lucky… we are going to answer all your questions in this post!
Before The Photo Shoot Begins
Before each shoot begins we will discuss what types of images you wish to get from the shoot. We will also review key aspects like how we will be portraying the brand in the images. Are the shots a part of a planned campaign? We can also review what the overall feel you want from the photos. We will review the specific photos we wish to capture for posts we have planned as well as ways to get some more versatile images that can be used in multiple situations. We always try to capture as many shots as possible at every shoot.
Some Important Pre-Photo Shoot Questions
What to Wear
We have discussed the intent of the shoot and the message you wish to convey in the photos we will be capturing. So now, what about the styling? We may tell you what we envision for a specific shot or the overall feel but it is up to you and what you have in your closet. No matter what, make sure that whatever you decide on, matches your brand. That is the most important recommendation we can make. Other than that we recommend bringing a few versatile options with a variety of complementing accessories! Mixing and matching is the name of the game to get the most looks out of one shoot. Blazers, jackets scarves and statement jewelry help transform a look in seconds. Always bring great shoes, but wear sneakers as we will be walking a lot.
Where are we going:
Once the location has been picked we will scout it out and set up a plan of attack based on what shots you are looking for. We are flexible and can make changes on the fly so if you spot a shot you want while taking another one just let us know. We also may need to change a shot because of crowds or lighting etc. We roll with the punches and we will get the shots. Again, bring a pair of comfortable shoes. We will be moving and heels are not running shoes!
So What Else
We will take as many shots as possible from a variety of angles, sometimes the photos you don’t expect to look great look awesome. During the shoot I will be talking to you, working with you, and trying to keep you relaxed but we will also be capturing candid shots. Move around, play with the way your body bends, pose, then act naturally and sometimes be goofy. The more relaxed you are in front of the camera the easier it will be to get the shots we want.
Oh yeah… How long and how many shots?
On average a shoot will consist of 3-5 shots will take about 90 minutes depending on the distance between location, the number of people, and outfit changes, etc. The result is generally 150-200+ unedited images. Which converts to about 10-12 Awesome shots and 20-25 good shots if we vary outfits, angles, and even props. This is enough images to get you through a month of social media posts. Which is exactly why each monthly social media client above self-managed gets one shoot a month with their package.
It’s Photo Shoot Day
On photo shoot day we will meet at the specified location and review the purpose of the days’ shoot. Like a broken record, I will remind you that each photo should have a relatable story and every client and product should be approachable and have a personality. Once we begin the pace usually goes something like this… Uncomfortable photo, I try to make you laugh, we chat, I shoot, you laugh I continue shooting, you pose, I shoot, pose again, and then on to the next shot. The idea is to shoot candidly and comfortably. We move, we chat, we shoot, we look for a different backdrop, we move again, we shoot again. The same applies to the products- we just have to help them move!
Getting the Shots In
We work to finish our shot outline but sometimes we don’t so we try to stack the front end of the shoot with the necessary pictures and the back end gets the supplemental images. Expect about 50 varying angles, poses and/or positions per shot. Feel free to change up accessories during a shot but save outfit changes for between shots.
Remember we are shooting in public so sometimes we may need to wait for another group to vacate an area. Conversely, when we are shooting many people tend to steer clear of an area, if it is an essential area for a business or building we will need to act fast so we aren’t negatively impacting a fellow business.
So That Is It!
We hope this post helps you understand what to expect. Our number 1 objective is to get the shots we need to build engaging content for your website, social media, and other campaigns. But almost as important is having fun. These shoots are meant to be laid back and enjoyable so don’t worry you will look great so have fun!
Want to know more?
If you are interested in learning more about any of the services we have to offer or want to schedule a free 30-minute consultation call? Just fill out the form below and we will happily answer all the questions you have or set up your consultation call. We can’t wait to help you tell your winning story!
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.”
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If You Are Not Weird You Fail
