How COVID Changed Marketing

Blogging and Vlogging – Just Do It!

 

As I speak with potential clients from around the world, it is amazing how similar we all are in the desires that we have to grow our businesses. One of the biggest challenges we see our entrepreneurs struggle with is deciding on the content that is appropriate for them to share. Generally speaking, there is always great content around you as it relates to your business. You simply have to bring that in to a format that others can consume as well.

Easy for us to say, right? We eat, breathe, and sleep content.

I think that you can acquire this skill in some part too. Create an avatar that is the ideal client for your business. Define everything that you can….age, life style, income, likes and dislikes. And then speak directly to this avatar. Think about how you bring this person value. How what your share could help them get past a pain point in their business or personal endeavors.

Then, start blogging and vlogging. Yes, blogging and vlogging. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be consistent.

Here are some interesting stats:

  1. 47% of buyers viewed 3-5 pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep.
  2. The average word count of top-ranking content (in Google) is between 1,140-1,285 words.
  3. Marketers who prioritize blogging are 13x more likely to achieve a positive ROI on their efforts.

We are living in an era where your customers want to see you. They do not want to see your logo or your pushy, salesy content all of the time. You have to earn the right to sell to your customers in today’s marketplace. Blogging and vlogging will help in so many ways. Not only does it help you to keep current information out in the universe, but it also allows you to get seen as an expert by media.  If you continue to prove that you know what you are talking about, then you will start to see the fruits of your labor.

It is a marathon not a sprint! Start today and take a look at the results that come in month over month.

 

 

 

Has Ryan Lochte Damaged His Brand for Good?

The Ryan Lochte story has received a great deal of press.  Unfortunately, this is not the first time that we have see an athlete completely, publicly tarnish their image.

In case you missed it, Lochte stated that there were guns drawn at the heads of he and his teammates while they were in Rio for the Olympics. The video surveillance footage now shows a very different story and everyone from the US Olympics committee to the brands that he was associated with are now second guessing their relationship with Lochte.

According to US Weekly, Lochte has lost all of his sponsorship’s and is now scheduled to appear on the TV show Dancing With The Stars. We find this quite interesting.  This is obviously a PR stunt to improve the damage that has been done to his image.  His PR team probably wants him to come across immature, but still someone that can be adored.

This story has brought about a lot of emotion. Check out this exchange between Al Rocker and Billy Bush on the Today Show:

From a PR standpoint:

If you find yourself on the PR team of Ryan Lochte, how do you fix this situation?

Step 1: He has to own it! Live streaming would actually be his best friend right now.  He needs to authentically come out and consistently apologize. Live streaming would force him to answer some very tough questions from the public, but this will allow people to get their frustrations out and move on.

Step 2: He needs to go back to Rio and apologize face to face to the security guard and to the officials that may have been involved.

Step 3: He also needs to personally visit and apologize to his teammates. This scandal stayed in the media circuit and has really taken away from what the Olympics should have been.

Step 4: He should do some PSAs directed towards kids on why lying is bad and look at the consequences that he had to suffer.

Remember, when a brand looks to bring on a spokesperson, they do not only look at their past…but they think 3 to 4 years in advance on how the consumer may view this individual.  They put their brand image on the line when partnering with any type of influencer. When this person tarnishes their public perception, it has been proven best for the brand to cut ties (at least for a couple of years).

The lesson for us as entrepreneurs, public figures, and brand managers is that we must ALWAYS protect our brand.  It is the legacy to which your consumers will stay loyal to you.

What suggestions do you have for the PR team of Ryan Lochte? Leave your feedback in the comments below.

The Business of Beyoncé

It seems as though Beyoncé is on top of the world at the moment. She has managed to take a very private situation between her and her husband all the way to the bank. As the saying goes…she has turned lemons into lemonade.

Let me start by stating that I am a HUGE Beyoncé fan. My bias tends to swing in her favor (admittedly).

What I do want to share in this post is the business take-a-ways that we can all learn from and apply to our businesses immediately.

TOP QUALITY PRODUCT 

Before you take anything to market, you have to make sure your ducks are in order. Meaning, you have researched, tested, and reviewed each and every aspect about what you are about to share with the world. You may notice that Beyoncé releases her albums when and how she wants to. This creative control makes it easier for her to live with the success or failure of what she puts out.

Now, I want to relate this to our organizations.

There are times that I have seen entrepreneurs put out their product or service still needing work on the back end. For example, you have your product images, but you do not have a way for people to place their order. Or, you do not have any good images at all and you are simply hoping for someone to support you. It’s not about perfection, but it should be as close to perfect as you can get it.

UNDERSTAND YOUR AUDIENCE

One thing that Beyoncé knows is her audience. She understands what her audience will and will not withstand from her brand. This is the reason that she can now release a song or an album in the middle of the night and it still break records. This is also why she can put her work exclusively on Tidal for a period of time and still eventually break records. Lemonade was released on February 6, 2016 with a limited release strategy. In true genius fashion, Beyoncé used her Super Bowl time to not only make a statement, but she also announced her tour dates.

The BeyHive (as Beyoncé’s community is affectionately called) has become true brand ambassadors for Beyoncé and anything that she puts out. This is the true benefit of developing a community. Now, we are not all Beyoncé. We can not sparsely attend to our communities and think that they are going to gain any sense of loyalty to us.

Pay attention to what your community wants from you and what you want from your community. Add value to your community and it will add value right back to you.

EXECUTION

Many of us have a variety of ideas for how we would like to follow our passion and make a living. The problem is that we do not take the time necessary to bring thes ideas to life. The difference between success and remaining average is in the details of the execution.

Set goals and build a strategy of execution towards those goals. When you set measurable goals, it is much easier to line up what you need to do to get to your desired outcome.

If Beyoncé has time in her day to execute a new album, the videos, a clothing line, and a global tour, we should also be willing to put in the work necessary to bring our ideas to fruition. Beyoncé does have a team that many of us are not fortunate enough to have at the moment. But, from her interviews over the years, it’s easy to see that she has a specific routine for buckling down when it’s time to focus. The lesson here is to have laser focus when it comes to executing your ideas.

The best results come from when you are able to tune out the clutter. If you are spending hours on Facebook when you need to be focusing on your business, then it may be time to make some changes in your daily schedule. This all depends on the level of growth you desire. Focus in on what it will take to reach your goals, develop a strategy, and implement flawlessly.

THE NUMBERS 

Ivy Park – Launched on April 14, 2016 and will be sold in North America in Top Shop, Nordstrom, and Hudson Bay. With items ranging from $50.00 to $265.00, Mashable reports that this is the most popular fashion brand on Instagram in terms of engagement before it even launched. The video used to launch the brand ask the question, ‘Where is your park?’

Lemonade – Beyoncé’s latest work sold approximately 200K on the first day. When it is all said and done, the album priced higher then most at 17.99, is expected to sale upwards of 600K albums. 

The Formation World Tour – The tour kicked off on April 27, 2016 in Miami. Originally slated for 41 shows, Beyoncé was set to make close to 50 million dollars. Now, with the add on of the additional shows the estimated amount that Beyoncé will bring home from the concert alone could reach 75 million.


MIAMI, FLORIDA – APRIL 27: In this handout photo provided by Parkwood Entertainment, Beyonce performs during the opening night of the Formation World Tour at Marlins Park on April 27, 2016 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Frank Micelotta/Parkwood Entertainment via Getty Images)

WTRMLN WTR – 10 days after Lemonade, Beyoncé announced that she was an equity partner in a 3 year old startup that makes cold-pressed watermelon water. The water was featured in the Ivy Park launch video and is also sold at the venues that Formation performances are taking place in. So, Beyoncé is not only making money from the concert, she is making money from product sales. Can you say “cha-ching?”

In 2015, Bey brought home 54.5 million and in 2014 she sat on Forbes Celebrity Top 100 at 115 million.
 

 

 

 

Top 14 Industries that Can Benefit from Live-streaming

Friends making selfie. Two beautiful young women making selfie

Live-streaming is all the rage now in social media. In our opinion, it is a true game changer.  Live-streaming give you the ability to have your own television station in the palm of your hands. Right now, there are two live-streaming apps that are garnering a lot of attention – Periscope and Meerkat. Each of the apps have great features. Currently, our preference is Periscope and we will write about that in another post.

Today, we want to share with you 14 industries that could really move the needle on anything from raising brand awareness to increasing sales by using one of the live-streaming apps regularly. Here is our list in no particular order:

14. Consultants

13. Musicians

12. Retail store owners

11. Restaurant owners and chefs

10. Travel

9. Realtors

8. Health and wellness

7. Photographers

6. Fashion & beauty stylist

5. Authors

4. Journalist

3. Actors

2. Event planners

1. Educators

What industries would you add or delete? Leave us a comment below to share your top industries that could benefit from live-streaming. We will be diving a little deeper in to this topic on our upcoming scopes this week. Follow us on Periscope and Meerkat at @Selsi_Ent .

Enlight Can Boost Your Visual Storytelling Tremendously

Enlight-Announcement-FBDuring the month of May, we are reviewing apps that can assist in business productivity.  Enlight is one of the first apps that we decided to dive in to because visual storytelling is so important to incorporate in to your communication strategy. Visual content in social media is even more important now than it was even a few years back.  Millions of dollars are still spent on billboards, commercials, and print ads that no one is paying attention to anymore. People skip ads, tune out billboards, and do not pick up the newspaper as much as they used to.

Nothing like Enlight exists on the market. In addition to upgraded versions of existing tools, Enlight offers new features that, until now, were only seen on desktop editing software, if at all.”  said Zeev Farbman, CEO and Co-Founder of Lightricks.

As a small business owner or the director of a corporate communication department for a Fortune 500 company, it is vital to get your message in front of your target audience at the right time in their preferred method of communication. Developing ways to make your messaging visual can set you apart from your competition and help you actually catch the attention of individuals that need to hear your message, know that your brand exist, or be informed about what is going on within the organization.

Enlight can help even the novice take their images to the next level.  The tools are explained very well in the tour that they have set up within the app. We do think that you have to have some knowledge surrounding photo editing tool terms in order to hit the ground running with the app.  This should not deter the person that is not familiar with the terms. This individual should just

Here are the highlights of our review:

  • Enlight is available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Photo & Video category for $3.99.
  • This is perfect for the novice interested in improving the quality of their images.
  • The user interface is very easy on the eyes and makes the experience enjoyable.
  • We did not experience a lot of crashing with this app.

Send Messages on Pinterest Now

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This week, Pinterest opened up a new feature. You can now send messages to your pinners within the platform. This is something that has been in the works for a while and it is now live.

As a marketer, this is another great way to communicate with your audience. Think through the possibilities for your brand. Here are a few ideas that we thought about:

1. You can plan or announce an event using Pinterest.
2. Logo design options can be discussed.
3. Product features and benefits can be directly discussed with your audience.

Let us know what ideas you have about ways to use this new feature in Pinterest.

The Business of Being ‘On The Run’

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For those that are Beyonce and JayZ fans, the ‘On the Run’ tour has been epic. The marketing, the build up, and the actual show could not have been planned any better.

Let’s start with the trailer that introduced the concert.

Originally, this was never intended to be turned in to a real movie. But, it was done so well that fans have actually ‘demanded’ that the duo create a full movie out of the idea that was created in the trailer. Don’t you wish your random ideas would turn into something profitable where you never intended to earn a profit. Currently, this video has received almost 8.9 million views on YouTube.

Next, the apparel….

Photo Credit CNN  The ski mask worn in the trailer are now carried out as a theme throughout the show. As a marketer, the consistency of the look that they have developed throughout the entire show is the key to branding.  People have a tendency to want to veer from the brand look and feel, but when you stick to that which you have created the results can be epic.

The dollars and cents…

Mr. & Mrs. Carter have not only generated a lot of money for themselves, but they have also created a lot of cash flow for the cities that they have paid a visit too. In Atlanta, there were 50K+ people in attendance.  That means many of the people went out to dinner, purchased new outfits, and bought other items that they may not have normally purchased if a concert of this size was not coming to town.  Also, because the concert was not going to all major cities, you had a lot of people in hotels.  There was money spent by concert goers inside and outside of the city limits.

The rumors….

Many say that the Cater’s marriage is one the rocks.  Who knows if this is true or not, but it sales a lot of magazines and causes people to tune in to news segments that theymay not normally tune in to.  I have to admit that I am guilty of paying attention to what is being said about the Carter’s. All in all, they had some flirty moments during the concert and I am hoping that it means that none of the rumors are true.  But, Beyonce did have a lot of passion when she was singing the song below.

The marketing nuggets…

There are always some take a ways that you can apply to business.  From this, I would suggest the following:

1. Market your own way – The trailer to the concert was such a huge hit that it is now set to become a movie.  How cool is that!?!?

2. Consistency in your brand – From beginning to end, you know when you are seeing something from the OTR tour.  Mimic that approach in your own business.

3. Strive for reaching new levels – It was decided early on (against the suggestions of many naysayers) that this tour would be a stadium tour only.  They stepped their game up from arenas and moved in to stadiums.  Take your business to stadium status this year! Don’t waist anymore time being mediocre.

The Future of Marketing

Businesswoman standing on a ladder looking through binocularsWhen you sit and think about the direction that marketing is going in, you can’t leave out social and mobile. I think that we all can agree that it is not a passing fad. A marketing/pr strategic plan that does not include these two elements is doomed for mediocracy.

The future winners will be those that can develop super creative content that can break through all of the clutter. Right now agencies are losing talented, out of the box thinking people to the Facebook’s and Google’s of the world. I think the future will be such that many big brands move away from the BIG agencies. The creative genius can now be found in freelancers, smaller agencies, and proper development of internal staff.

Here is a great article about Keith Weed’s, chief marketing for the Unilever brand, view on the future of marketing.

What do you see about the future of marketing/pr? Are BIG agencies going to remain the staple for BIG brands? Can brands train their own people do that they can save a chunk of their budget?

Define Your Brands Personality

Do you have the personality that will get out there and dance like no one is watching?

Do you have the personality that will get out there and dance like no one is watching?

Is it easy for you to define your brand’s personality?  Some brands are so clear about their direction and messaging and others still have some work to do.  Well, I think that we are guilty at Selsi Enterprises of having some work to do ourselves.  From what I hear, many of my PR colleagues are in the same boat because we spend so much time on our clients and not enough time on our own brands.  Our PR firms should have the coolest personalities around, but it seems that many lack that IT factor.  Why is this important? Because customer retention and the ability to gain new customer depend on your brand having IT.

Here are a few tips to see if your brand has that IT factor it needs to gain and retain customers:

  1. Are other individuals talking about your brand in social media or are you the only one talking about your brand?
  2. Have you created a level of traction that can sustain your business?
  3. Does your visual presentation have a recognizable style?
  4. Does the personality of your brand currently fit the audience that you target?
  5. Are you willing to make the necessary changes within your brand to grow and attract the right customes?

Spend some time answering these questions.  Once answered take a look at how your are living out what you desire your brand personality to be. Tweak where necessary and watch the results you get from making those tweaks. And by all means, have fun with it!!