Attention Startups! Effective and Efficient Marketing is a Must!

We all would love to win the lottery.  And in the entrepreneur and startup world, landing a large investment at the onset is just as likely as winning said lottery.  So, it’s likely that you don’t have a great deal of cash to spend on marketing for your business. And that sucks.  But, you can still develop an effective and efficient, successful marketing plan – even with limited resources.  How?

The majority of startups don’t have enough money to hire a marketing expert right away. Therefore, it’s up to you to determine the best route to take to get the word out regarding your startup. If you’re working with a very small budget, the road to success can get tough. But, keep the faith because here are a few guidelines that will get you started in the right direction.

1. Solidify your brand.

You must have a solid concept regarding what your business is, what you desire to accomplish, and why it even exists before you can even think about launching a successful marketing campaign. Make sure you know exactly who you are, since understanding this will greatly help you determine how to position both you and your company.

·         Stay true to yourself.

Be yourself and stay true to your original business concept. Show people who you really are and don’t pretend to be somebody you’re not.

·         Determine why you’re unique and what sets you apart from your competitors.

This is your key selling point. What can you offer the world in a special and unique way that no one else can? If you’ve ever watched Shark Tank, you know how detrimental it is to show up without a solid understanding of what sets your business apart and what the competitive landscape is.  The Sharks will rip you apart…and so will your prospects.

·         Be consistent when presenting your image.

Don’t try to change your image to attract a variety of audiences. Present a consistent overall look and feel so you’re crystal clear about who you are.

If your business is experiencing an identity crisis, it’s best to address it prior to marketing your company. If a brand is continually changing their approach or image, it can be a huge red flag to potential customers. While every startup will inevitably face challenges that will make them rethink or even second-guess certain things, branding is the one aspect that you can control 100 percent right from the start.

Simple tip: Use the same company name and your name consistently.  If people know you as James T. Kirk, then use that name everywhere in exactly the same way.  Don’t be James on your business card and then Jim on LinkedIn.  The same is true with your company name.  

2. Clearly define your key goals and metrics.

The less money you have to work with, the more you need to be completely clear and detailed concerning your goals. Of course, you want to make money, but not every marketing endeavor is going to make money. Therefore, you need to figure out all the potential outcomes in terms of what you actually consider ‘success’; whether that means a certain amount of lead generations, more subscribers to your list, or more traffic to your website. All of these things combined mean more publicity regarding your startup and can eventually result in making more money.

3. Determine your budget.

This is a complicated, yet simple step. Determining your budget simply means figuring out how much cash you can actually afford to spend on marketing and how much time you can spend both planning and managing your marketing campaign?

This step often confuses people since they don’t exactly know the amount of money it requires to achieve results. It’s kind of like “which came first, the chicken or the egg” scenario.  Unfortunately, no magic number exists. For most startups, this dollar amount boils down to putting aside only as much as you can spare.

Tip:  Focus on internet spending first.  Other marketing avenues can come once money flows in.

4. Choose your target niche.

Although your products may appeal to the masses, that also presents somewhat of a problem when marketing your business. Overall, the more customers you desire to reach, the more money and time you will need to pull it off. Choose a segment, or niche, of your potential audience and focus on that. Not only will it decrease your marketing expenses, it makes sense regarding messaging.

5. Follow and engage with your audience through social media.

In order to succeed, you need to market your brand where your potential customers are. If your niche is in the fashion industry, using Pinterest is a great way to connect to your female-based audience. However, if you want to reach young male gamers, Pinterest is not the ideal social media channel to use.

Study the various social media outlets and find out where your target audience hangs out so you can connect with them. Spend your time and resources on the ones that are most conducive to your brand.

6. Focus on quality content and audience interaction.

Although you may not have a great deal to offer people in terms of discounts and giveaways in order to attract potential customers, you can present good, quality content that’s related to your target audience.

The most successful brands continually share interesting content that’s frequently not obvious advertising or a direct call for action. They often post and share ideas that their audience is most interested in. Interact with your audience. Directly connect with them by responding to their comments. This is huge in terms of building a long, trustworthy relationship with your potential customers.

7. Know your partners and potential partners.

Find key experts within your particular industry and start interacting with them. Follow your brand’s influencers on Facebook and Twitter without coming right out and asking them to directly promote you. Simply continue to comment and share the good content they keep posting. The key is to develop a solid relationship with people. You can do that by continuing to publish useful content that your audience can benefit from. Over time, one of your brand’s influencers will eventually notice it and then share it, which results in getting you exposed.

8. Listen and observe.

You can’t simply launch a marketing campaign and receive instant results. It doesn’t work that way in the real world. You must listen and pay close attention to what’s actually happening.  See what is trending in the news and on social media.

Chances are your initial marketing efforts will probably fail. Successful marketing is all about refining your methods so you can determine what works best for you. Go back and evaluate each step of your campaign. What areas can you improve upon? Are you targeting the wrong audience? Are you using the wrong social media channels for your particular niche?

Marketing your startup can be overwhelming.  There are so many components to consider that you may feel like a failure before you even start.  Don’t go it alone.  Enlist some help.  SK Consulting would be happy to help you effectively and efficiently navigate the marketing landscape.  From concept to creation to implementation – we’re there with you every step of the way!

Content Marketing for Non-Profit Organizations

It’s no secret that the majority of nonprofits work on a limited budget.  Employing a fully-staffed communications team is typically unheard of.  Many rely on freelance writers, editors and designers to help them develop content. Higher education institutions tap their alumni to make connections with each other, generating content to draw more alumni into donating to their alma mater. Organizers in the nonprofit world, especially those who are conscious of every donated dollar they spend, should embrace the high ROI of content marketing.

No matter how an organization generates content, it is a necessity for them to understand their audiences and be able to tell their most authentic stories. The more targeted, the better. This means that content managers should continually develop new strategies to add to their arsenal of best practices. 

How can this be done?

1. Segment your donors.

When program staff and nonprofit managers become more aware of their target audiences, they become clearer about how to craft unique messages, and begin framing their content towards getting specific results.

This may require some research and data analysis of your donor portfolios, but segmenting your donors, or grouping them into categories (such as place-based locale, giving amounts, or issue-based interests), will allow you to integrate storytelling, story gathering, program planning, and monitoring and evaluation all into your content marketing strategy.

2. Craft audience personas.

With some light research into your donors, nonprofits can learn about donors and alumni by how they interact with your web pages, your calls to action, your social media feeds, and your e-newsletters and donation clicks. Nonprofits can use this data to create an audience persona, or multiple audience personas based on your donor segmentation research.

Audience personas can help your team create content for a more specific group of supporters than ‘the general public.’ These audience personas, developed and based on actual supporters (or potential ones), can give direction on how to create content in the personalized ways your donors like.

3. Plot your supporters’ journey.

When you ask people to take on your cause, it has to be something the donor feels speaks to their own goals. How you craft your content will depend on what you believe is your supporters’ journey. Plot the supporters’ journey with clear calls to action and share relevant stories that help them see how supporting your organization’s cause or mission allows them to succeed in their own goals.

Organizations often frame content from an internal projection, rather from the donor’s point of view. Make your content about the donor, not only about your organization.

4. Encourage constituents in sharing their story.

Your most powerful, often overlooked, and untapped resources for authentic storytelling are the people you serve. With some initial investment of time and training, and sensitivity to constituents’ comfort in sharing their struggles, failures and successes, constituents who share their stories can become the nonprofits most impactful storytellers.

Constituent personal experiences ring true to donors in ways and words that scripted mission and vision statements cannot. When a person who has benefited from your organization’s programs can speak to how effectively your interventions addressed their problems in unique, highly-personal, and innovative ways, those stories reveal the profound ways in which your organization values and measures success.

5. Allow for authentic voices to tell your organization’s story.

Nonprofits, whether they recognize it or not, naturally attract authentic storytellers. Your message drew them to you, and they want to give back, and share the purpose of your organization’s mission. That’s why they showed up.

And don’t overlook your staff!  They were drawn to your organization for a reason as well.  Why do they show up every day?  What does your mission mean to them?  Everyone has a story to tell and theirs could be key to a great campaign for your organization.

6. Set clear guidelines on how individual stories highlight your organization’s mission.

Some precaution and clear guidelines should be established with constituents, volunteers and staff when their individual stories are used to highlight the organization’s work and mission.

Make sure you get signed waivers for all photographic images and text.

Add time at the tail end of deadlines for stories to be properly reviewed for cultural and political sensitivities that might create difficulties for constituents, volunteers or staff whose stories are featured.

Add disclaimer-like language in the “ask” part of the content to make sure donors know they are giving to the organization, not the individual, and that giving to the organization adds to the collective impact on the community at large.

7. Build content marketing into your programming.

When planning events and programming, consider how to capture the events; how to frame the story of each activity to your donors and supporters; or the policymakers you want to hear your perspectives.

Try to have all visits, talks and trainings documented through video, in pre-event montages or post-event interviews. Often this documentation cannot be done by staff delivering the programming, but could be an ideal job for a volunteer, student or intern to show your mission in action.

Nonprofit organizations often go to great lengths to plan events, but neglect to create a content marketing strategy for how to capture these experiences and share them widely to donor audiences.

8. Assess what content marketing strategies work best for your target audiences.

Nonprofit organizations need to think strategically about communications – outline a plan; write it down; set measurable goals’ and assess them.  Not all steps have to happen in one year, nor in the order outlined here.

Developing branding, the time taken to review and analyze the organization’s content, has incredible intrinsic value. Often, organizations find a new voice, uprooting old organizational mindsets and changing the ways in which success is measured.

Highlighting your organization’s impact on the personal, community and social levels widens the net of who your content speaks most authentically to and helps open links for you to connect with new donors, volunteers and supporters.

Attention Start-Ups! Your Branding and Website Matter!

It’s no question that starting your own business can be overwhelming.  There are so many plans to implement, tasks to complete and strategies to develop to make your business a success.  It’s crucial to get your name out there to create awareness and establish your brand.  But, before promoting your grandiose idea – it’s important that you understand your business, your message, your brand…and have the tools in place for others to be able to understand as well. 

The first thing your potential customers will see is your brand name. How you have chosen to illustrate this reinforces what sets you apart from the competition. Many small businesses and start-ups do not spend enough time thinking about their brand and this can have a serious impact on their business.

Along with your brand identity and logo, your website is an important branding tool.  This is where people go to find out all about you and your business and the products and services you offer. Having a website isn’t enough.  You need an eye-catching website that serves as your online shop front and explains why visitors need your product and or services.

Why do you need effective branding and an exceptional website?

1. Website and branding build credibility

A website is crucial to a start-up because it’s where you sell your products and ideas, make a connection with your customers and build trust. These days having a website is a basic requirement.  If you can’t be found online or your web presence isn’t up to standard, then you can wave goodbye to your credibility and getting the attention of new customers. Without a website that is easy to find and easy to navigate, you cannot expect your customers to find out information about you and your products.

Your website should be visually appealing and professionally designed to attract visitors. Think about how you want your brand to be portrayed and reflect this in your web design as your potential customers will judge you on first impressions.  And remember, the design and flow of your website should align with your industry and how your target audience does research.

To make sure your website reflects a professional image that is inviting and engaging consider the following:

• Test to ensure your website looks good and performs well in all browsers.
• Make sure your website looks good on a mobile device. Increasing mobile usage means your website needs to be optimized for mobile viewing.

2. Website and branding can present a unified message about your company

A solid branding strategy builds a unified message across all your marketing channels from your website, to social media to printed materials like business cards, posters and direct mail pieces. A branding strategy often incorporates colors, images, fonts and language to convey to your target audience who you are, your brand personality and values. It is important to share this message consistently across different marketing platforms (even if you sell different products or services), so that your audience knows simply and quickly who you are and what they can expect from your company.

3. Website and branding allow you to stand out against competition

A strong, easily recognizable brand makes it easier to cut through the clutter and help you stand out from the competition. From your color combination, to the font, pictures and messaging, your choices help set you apart in the minds of your customers.

4. Brands generate referrals

Word of mouth is one of the most popular ways to grow your business.  Let’s face it - people love to give and receive recommendations. In today’s digital environment, where we are all so connected, word of mouth is extremely important. Today, our friends and family can easily share recommendations through social media channels or we can access social media influencers. This is why it’s so important to create a strong brand that is memorable in your customer’s mind.

A functional and fantastic website and a recognizable brand give your customers a reason to engage further with you. While your goods and services might be a great idea, they cannot stand on their own. First impressions count, so how you portray yourself through your branding and website is your chance to make your company shine.

Not sure how to develop an authentic brand?  Need assistance developing a unique, engaging website?  Contact the experts at SKConsulting!  From concept to creation to implementation – we’re there with you every step of the way!

Recruit, Retain and Engage With Video Testimonials

Whether you are just starting your business or you are well established in your industry…testimonials are key to recruiting and retaining customers.  When we meet with individuals or organizations, we preach the importance of obtaining testimonials from individuals who have done business with them. 

But the written word isn’t as powerful as it once was.  Yes, a great review on Yelp or Google is beneficial, but the way to capture people today is through video. Video is one of the most effective content mediums in today’s digital marketing landscape. However, simply knowing this fact doesn’t do you any good. If you want to maximize the value of video, you must know how to effectively use it. And today, more than ever, you’ll want to focus on video testimonials.

The Value of Video Testimonials

In order to fully understand the value of video testimonials, just look at the two root words: video and testimonial. Video has quickly become the most effective content medium in Internet marketing. 

Whether it’s a product video, live streaming event, or testimonial, video engages users unlike any other content form.

Now look at the testimonial aspect. Testimonials – whether written, visual, or auditory – always hold great value with customers. When people make a purchase, they want social proof from unbiased sources. Testimonials provide that.

So, when you combine video with the traditional testimonial, you’ll produce high returns.  Right? 

The following statistics are from Boast, a leader in professional video testimonial production.

• 65 percent of your audience is inclined to visual learning.
• Website visitors are 64 percent more likely to follow through with a conversion after watching a video.
• Online shoppers are 63 percent more likely to purchase a product if it has reviews and ratings.
• 90 percent of online shoppers say their buying decisions are influenced by online reviews.

This is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. When you look at video testimonials in action, it’s clear that they provide high returns, no matter the industry.

Obtaining (Better) Video Testimonials

The problem is that most businesses don’t know where to start with video testimonials. Sound familiar?

1. Contact Your Most Satisfied Customers

You should be very selective in who you choose for your customer testimonial videos. You don’t just want any customer to volunteer. Carefully identify the most satisfied customers and see if they’re interested in being featured.

This is a chance for you to promote your valued customer and their business.  Who’s going to turn down free publicity?  Just make sure they’re well-spoken and look presentable!

2. Guide without Writing a Script

There’s a major difference between giving your customer free reign to say whatever they want and putting a script in front of them. You don’t want to do either. Ideally, you should give the customer a chance to speak from the heart, while guiding the direction of their story.

If they are truly a valued customer who is genuinely happy with the product or service you provide(d), tell them to just explain why.  Why would they recommend you to others?

3. Keep it Brief

Nobody wants to see someone drone on endlessly – so keep the testimonial short.  Testimonials should be two minutes maximum. Anything longer and you’ll notice that viewers will lose focus and drop off. Anything shorter and you really don’t have time to get the message across.

4. Choose Good Lighting and Backgrounds

Please make sure you use a good background and lighting. While having someone shoot a shout out on their phone makes it seem less staged, make sure that the quality is good enough for people to see and hear clearly.  There is something to be said about raw, man-on-the-street style of video, you want to make sure not all of your video testimonials are in that format.  Invest in some great equipment and great lighting to ensure a multi-purpose video is produced.  Remember, the last thing you want to do is film with a shoddy background or poor lighting.

Winning Customers with Video

There’s no question that video is one of the highest returning content formats in modern marketing. And while there are many different types of video content, the customer testimonial appears to be the most valuable. It gives your website visitors an authentic, behin- the-scenes look at how your products and services work and how much value they afford customers and potential customers.

If you are unsure how to capture and implement video testimonials into your marketing plan, contact the experts at SK Consulting.  From Concept.  To Creation.  To Implementation.  We’re there with you every step of the way!

Attention Job Seekers: You Need a Personal Brand

Subway has challenged the world to “Eat Fresh.” Nike encourages people, regardless of age, gender, or physical fitness level, to “Just Do It.” Dunkin’ Donuts continues to persuade busy professionals that “America Runs on Dunkin’.”

Over the years, these recognizable slogans have morphed into rallying cries—setting the tone for how each company communicates and identifies itself in the market. In just a handful of words, these slogans tell a story and influence how people perceive the organizations behind them. Together, they represent the power and potential of branding.

Branding is what companies stand for. It’s reflected in how that company acts, how it serves people, the value that the company shares, and how the company projects those values. But branding isn’t just for companies. Professionals each have their own story to tell and goals, skills, and expertise to share. In today’s increasingly digital world, a personal brand is expected.

What is a Personal Brand?

A personal brand is, in many ways, similar to a corporate brand. It is who you are, what you stand for, the values you embrace, and the way in which you express those values. Just as a company’s brand helps to communicate its value to customers and stand out from the competition, a personal brand does the same for individuals. Personal branding is one’s story.

That story can play an important role in establishing or boosting your career. Your personal brand should highlight your strengths, establish a reputation, build trust, and communicate the unique attributes that you bring to your current (or desired) industry. Cultivated well, your personal brand will signal to employers whether or not you’ll be the right fit for an open role.

Developing a personal brand might sound challenging, but there are incremental steps you can take to build credibility in your field.

Developing Your Personal Brand

Figure out who you are.
In order to build a personal brand that accurately reflects your personal and professional identity, you first need to know who you are. Create a list of your personal strengths and weaknesses. Ask yourself:

• In which areas of work do I excel? Where can I improve?
• What motivates me? What does not?
• Which projects can I spend hours on without feeling overwhelmed or tired?

In addition, ask others how they would describe you. Once you’re more aware of the different facets of your personality, you can decide how best to brand them.


Determine what you want to be known for.
Your personal brand is more than a reflection of who you are today; it’s a roadmap of where you want to go. In addition to understanding your existing skills and competencies, assess your strengths and weaknesses as they relate to whichever industry or career you want to break into next.

By doing this, you’ll uncover the skills and traits that make you unique, as well as the areas where you need to improve or gain new knowledge in order to advance.

Define your audience.
Before you start crafting your personal brand, you also need to determine who you’re trying to reach. The sooner you define the audience, the easier it will be to craft your story, because you’ll better understand the type of story you need to tell (and where you need to tell it.)

Research your desired industry and follow the experts.
As you start mapping out the career you want, do research on experts in those roles.

Find out who the thought leaders are in whatever field you’re interested in, follow them, find out if they have blogs, or where they contribute their thinking. Look for people who are successful and examine what they’re doing. Imitate them, and then do one better.

In building a personal brand, your goal is to stand out—but you can’t rise to the top without taking inventory of who’s already there.

Prepare an elevator pitch.
As you begin to conceptualize your personal brand, spend some time crafting an elevator pitch—a 30- to 60-second story about who you are. Whether you’re attending a networking event or an informal party, having an elevator pitch prepared makes it easy to describe succinctly what you do and where you’re going (or would like to go) in your career. Keep your elevator pitch brief by focusing on a few key points you want to emphasize.

Embrace networking.
As you cultivate your ideal personal brand, it’s important to network regularly (and effectively) to grow your professional circle. Connect with peers and industry thought-leaders by going to formal and informal networking events.

The more connections you make—and the more value you can provide in your interactions—the more likely it is your personal brand will be recognized. At these events, don’t be shy about asking fellow attendees to meet again for an informational interview or a casual coffee chat.

Ask for recommendations.
Having current and former colleagues and managers endorse you is one of the easiest and most effective ways to define your personal brand, allowing others to communicate your value for you. Just as a business might cultivate customer reviews and testimonials for use in sales and marketing collateral, you should cultivate your own reviews.

Grow your online presence.
One of the most important aspects of personal branding is making sure your online presence is engaging to hiring managers, co-workers, and others—even if you’re not on the job hunt.
With so many different social media tools available today, your online presence will likely look different depending on the medium you choose. Your story should match across all platforms, but tweaked to fit the language of each.

Platform-specific tips to help you effectively craft your personal brand online.

LinkedIn
LinkedIn the ultimate site for defining your brand. The best way to use this network is to participate in groups, make introductions with people who interest you, and ask for (and give) recommendations.
·         Focus on key industry skills: Recruiters often search for keywords that relate to the role they’re trying to fill, so it’s important to feature industry terms in your profile.
·         Quantify your accomplishments: Saying you’re “results-oriented” isn’t nearly as effective as quantifying your accomplishments - whether it’s the number of articles you’ve written, dollars you’ve raised, or deals you’ve closed.
·         Complete your profile: Recruiters want to see what work experience you have, your educational background, and a detailed list of accomplishments. Convince them you’re the person they should hire.
·         Use a professional photo: Did you know that LinkedIn users with a professional headshot receive 14 times more profile views than those without? The more welcoming you look, the more likely recruiters are to contact you.

Personal website or portfolio
If you’re in a marketing or a design field, it’s especially important to have a personal website or portfolio that provides essential information about who you are and visually highlights your work. You can create your own site using simple platforms like Weebly, Wix or WordPress.

Your personal brand isn’t just online.
Your brand is more than just an online persona; it’s how you carry yourself at home, in the office, and even on your daily commute.

Your reputation is everything. The more opportunities you have to work with others, volunteer for projects, and assert yourself as a leader, take them. That’s part of your brand.

Understanding Your Brand Message and Local Marketing Strategy

Branding goes way beyond a tagline and a logo.

The most important component is cultivating a strong brand message that resonates with your target audience. If you hop right into marketing tactics, you’re missing more than half of the equation. Start with research, hone your message, develop a plan and then implement strategies.  This process will set you up for success.

Conduct Local Market Research

When creating a marketing strategy, the first step is always to get an understanding of what it is that your target market actually wants. If you don’t, you may miss the mark completely and your marketing efforts will fall on deaf ears.

For local marketing, you also have to consider the location of your audience. So, answer the following questions:

• How large of a geographical area do you serve?
• If you have a brick-and-mortar office, how far are people willing to physically travel to get your services?
• How large is your local market?
• How many competitors do you have? What are their unique selling points?

Answering these questions will lay the foundation for your market research. Starting too broad will be a waste of your time, and you will spend energy focusing on people and competitors that aren’t relevant to your business.

Creating a Profile of Your Ideal Client

Understanding your audience is the best way to create a branding strategy that resonates with them.

To do this, create an “Ideal Client” profile to figure out who they are, what they want, what they need, and where they are searching for services like yours.

• What are their top three pain points?
• What solutions have they tried already?
• What did they like about those solutions? What did they dislike?
• How old are they?
• What is their income level?
• What values are they looking for in the business they work with?
• What online platforms do they spend the most time on?
• Where do they go to find brands like yours? (i.e., Google, social media, referrals)

This information will help you determine:

• What unique selling point (USP) should be used to make your brand stand out.
• What services you should offer that your audience will be most interested in.
• What tone to use in your marketing and website content.
• What platforms you should market on.

Once you have your market research, it’s time to master your brand messaging and engage on the right platforms in order to get in front of your audience.

Master Your Brand Message

Your market research should tell you what it is that your audience values and needs most.

Knowing this, you can position your brand to appeal directly to them saying, “Hey. We get you. This is why you should work with us.”

Your brand message should include:

• Brand Values: What do you stand for?
• Your Unique Selling Point: What makes you better than your competitors?
• Tone: Is your audience looking for professionalism? Humor? Directness?
• Benefits: What benefits do your services provide?
• Calls-to-Action: What actions do you want people to take when they see your brand?

The Brand Messaging Formula

Many brands think that branding comes down to brand colors, a logo, and a catchy tagline. Unfortunately, they focus too much on what they want and not enough on what their audience is looking for.

If you are going to create a brand message or tagline, it should put your audience front and center.  For example:

 “We help [ audience ] in [area] [ achieve benefit ] through [ services ] that [features].”

This can be replicated for any brand and can even be applied to individual service pages throughout your website.

Build Strategic Partnerships

Local marketing can be especially difficult if your audience isn’t highly engaged online. How do you tap into that market?

By building strategic partnerships with local businesses.

If you are a boutique pet store, you could build partnerships with local animal shelters.  Provide discounts to those who adopt a rescue animal.  If you are a building material manufacturer, build partnerships with local contractors who could be incentivized to use your materials and send business your way. In return, offer discounts on building materials and refer customers to them for their projects.

Focus on Mutual Benefit

These kinds of relationships can work in person and online. The goal is to build relationships that are mutually beneficial and funnel leads for each other.

You can build these partnerships through outreach and content marketing, LinkedIn and email marketing. Just be sure to communicate the value that’s provided to each partner and that values align.

Share Targeted Content on Social Media

If your market research determines that your audience is active on social media, it’s time to create content that grabs their attention. Many brands worry too much about “hacking” the algorithm and sharing content across all social media platforms. You don’t have to do that.

You simply want to share content that makes your audience say, “Wow – that sounds like me!” and entices them to read more.

You want to focus on content that’s:

• Informative.
• Accurate.
• Relevant.
• Timely.
• Well-Written.
• Engaging.

Don’t focus on:

• Sharing your latest blog post without a caption.
• Stock images of people with a call-out to “Contact us for help today!”
• An update about what’s happened in your office this week.
• A trending video of a cat (even if it is hilarious).

Social media marketing is more about sharing value than it is about consistency or mastering the algorithm. Share what your audience wants to see to keep them coming back for more.

Attend Networking Events

Even online it can be easy to stay in our own little “bubble”. People value human connection, making networking and in-person marketing highly effective.

Not only will attending local networking events help you build strategic partnerships, but you may also brush shoulders with some big players in your industry. With an introduction and shared interests, they may turn into a potential client or partner.

Ad Campaigns

Whether it’s digital or traditional media, the only guaranteed coverage of your business, product, sale, etc. is to spend money.  Though the trend is moving more to Google and Facebook ads, your market research should tell you where to grab your target audience. That being said, if you don’t understand how to utilize different advertising platforms, enlist the help of experts to maximize your dollars and your reach.

What Does This All Mean?

Before focusing on marketing techniques, you need to gain a solid understanding of what the local market wants and where they are searching for the services that they want.

Without market research and a strong brand message, local brands will waste time and money focusing on the wrong demographic.

Need help with your brand messaging and target marketing?  Contact SK Consulting.  From concept. To creation. To Implementation.  We’re there for you every step of the way!

Don’t Settle for Mediocre Marketing

The word fluffy can be used to describe a wide variety of things – a puppy, a diet-cramping dessert, a new bath towel.  All of those are acceptable.  But, when your marketing efforts are referred to or proven to be ‘fluffy’, that’s not a good thing.  That means it is not measurable, not accountable and it is unclear how it impacts the business – it’s mediocre. 

As a business owner, you need to understand what your message is, what your products and/or services are, and how you want to effectively market them.  We can all learn a lesson from Unilever’s founder Lord Leverhulme who stated, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, and the problem is I do not know which half.”

Turn Fluffy into Functional and Fortuitous

Think of a chair. It may be a fairly beautiful chair; imagine its intricate carvings and a polish that reflects a flawless finish. But chairs aren’t for viewing.  They’re functional purpose is for sitting.

At the crucial moment of trust, we place a significant measure of personal pleasure or pain, joy or embarrassment in the functionality of a chair. No one desires to come crashing to the floor due to a mediocre chair construction process.

No one strives for mediocrity.

We all know that mediocrity is the result (at best) of minimal effort. Mediocrity simply accepts things as they are and does not push beyond normal desire to make anything better. Mediocrity, when accepted, is the acknowledgement that the goal isn’t truly worth pursuing and not valuable in the eyes of the pursuer. It is laziness in not finding new avenues to reach a desired goal…to think outside the proverbial box.

Does anyone value mediocrity? Is there any honor or prestige that accompanies that level of effort? Quite honestly, we all experience inherent shame in knowing that the effort could have been better and that it should have produced a more excellent result.

Commit to excellence instead.

In many ways, the concept of excellence is the foundation to all other guiding values in life. We may desire knowledge, wealth, or accomplishment; but, without a standard of excellence to measure our effort, we may be left with an empty hand or a half-finished journey. We are left with very little satisfaction from what we desire. Excellence frames for us a standard by which we measure everything we do. By setting a high standard of excellence, we convey a desire to do everything in the best way possible.

Most people will respond well to excellence. They will value the product of an excellent process, and they will trust the builder of the product if they see a commitment to an excellent method.

Now think of the well-made chair.

Imagine a chair made by an excellent craftsman, with hands skilled in the art of weight distribution and fingers controlled by a mind that is driven by excellence. The mind that is ever growing, ever improving, and seeking a better, more efficient way to build a better chair. The chair becomes more beautiful and sturdier, benefiting you and all who sit upon it.

Just like chairs, everything we build, or make, or do in this life should be done with a commitment to excellence.

Commit to excellence in both what you do and how you do it.

At SK Consulting, we don’t build chairs.  But, we do create effective and efficient marketing campaigns and materials – building trust within your target audience.  Don’t be mediocre in your marketing efforts.  Hire the experts who will help you not just reach your goals, but exceed them.

From concept to creation to implementation – SK Consulting is there with you every step of the way!