Your brand should be telling your story.
Are people reading?
I recently worked on a campaign that challenged me in every aspect of the word. This campaign sharpened all the tools in my toolbox. Some tools collecting dust from years past. Let me break this down in one sentence. A candidate enters the race with only six weeks before voting day. Prior to the start of this campaign he had zero online presence in social media. His website was affiliated with his private business and was built around 15 years ago and only used merely has a landing page with no activity. Okay, so it took more than one sentence to break down. Now add-in the simple little piece of knowledge that Facebook is under scrutiny in the politics of their platform. What do you think happens when a personal Facebook page & then a political page are thrown up in one day? Red flags and hoops that are taking weeks to unlock with any kind of sponsored/paid advertising.
I realized very quickly that I had to go back to the basics of digital and social sharing and building of a brand (the person) and get people reading. I had to dust off those old tools in my toolbox. The most important word in this title is, “People.” How to get people reading from a person that they did not know, and in today’s culture using only, “organic” sharing. Anyone who has ever navigated the organic process of advertising and marketing know the hours spent daily to get eyeballs, and eyeballs belong to people, and people are who we want reading.
I come from the earlier years of advertising and marketing. I also come from a deep level of experience in strategically working and bringing the story, the key elements, and the brand melting into a pot of advertising and marketing. However in this case I had become so savvy with all the tools for advertising and the bumps of analytics with paid advertising. It has been years since I sat at a desktop, daily to push the message and story of a client. Yet here I was faced with the challenge.
There were no weeks of trial and error and breaking down designated demographics, votes, voter information and running all the systems we now use to analyze the best possible strategy. This was a no name, never on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram for this individual.
Are people reading? I learned three things in this six week challenge.
1.Well written content that captures the heart and emotions of the people will get people reading. Stay on point. Keep people coming back with YOUR story.
We marketers use brand new memes daily. We share other brands that we think our potential customers, voters, clients will be interested in. When in fact, each time we share someone else’s content and information, we are asking that person to read elsewhere. We are asking that person to go to THEIR story. Before social and digital marketing, in what world would we stand around and hand out business cards for other companies? In a referral manner with companies we did business with, yes. In the online world, in my humble opinion, no. Why send the people elsewhere? Why send someone who has landed on your page to another person’s page? Your brand should be telling YOUR story. Are people reading?
2. Find an important element of your brand, product and service. Then share that story. Believe me that if your are sharing well written content people will start reading and then coming back to read more of your story.
The more personal information I shared about my client, the more readers, followers, likes and engagement (organically) was built. I think Ronald McDonald decided that no matter what kind of medium is out there, the clown story is still important to kids. My client was not a person who grew up and around the daily deluge of selfies. When faced with a strategy that required exposing his personal life and story he had to trust the process. We had to tell his story. And guess what people were reading.
3. Tell and re-tell the most important parts of the brand’s message.
You really can take one message and rewrite it 40 different ways. If you want your readers to have your information imprinted on their frontal lobes then you better be telling/sharing that message over and over with the same graphics, designs and messaging. I am really beginning to wonder if we have been directed down the wrong path of advertising with so much in social media. Sharing has become so busy with trying to share so much of many different aspects of a campaign. Losing your audience and focus.
Working on this last campaign drove analytics in a very strong direction using what seemed to be tools that were dusty, outdated and old. Only to be reminded that well written content will capture the heart and emotions of your readers. Once you have narrowed in on the important elements of your brand, product, or service people start reading and keep coming back to hear the rest of your story. That is why it is important to tell and re-tell your story. Your Brand Should Be Telling Your Story!!
If you are reading this and realizing that you are in need of a Brand & Marketing Strategist I would love to come alongside and help you, your brand or your business.
Please contact me here: https://elizabethharrisartgallery.com/contact-me/
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