Social Media and Branding

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. Maya Angelou Maya Angelou

What is a brand?

It’s more than just a logo

It’s what makes you stand out

It’s what makes people want to do business with you

It’s how you make them feel

Let’s start to analyze how you make people feel and whether that is what you want for your business.

Your “elevator speech”

just a few words from customer’s point of view call to action leave them wanting more practice

Your “elevator speech” Prism Communications helps small and micro businesses create an online presence to attract and nurture the customers they want. Are you satisfied with your customer base?

Why do you do what you do? Peter Drucker says that “The purpose of business is to create a profit.” Let’s go beyond that.

Why do you do what you do? To make an income To gain control over your career You want to have control over your own work environment To have more flexible working hours You enjoy working for yourself and leading other people To generate an income and jobs for your community To do good

Why do you do what you do? Lots of friends are in need of finding their way around the internet and it’s a function that I enjoy. I’m a journalist and this is the future of media.

What problems do you solve? Find big problems. Solve them. Repeat. --Nirm Shanbhag, Managing Director, Interbrand San Francisco

What problems do you solve?

At Prism Communications, we can get the smallest of businesses on line in a way that makes sense to their budgets and in a way that takes advantage of the latest technologies. What problems to you solve?

What is your value proposition?

In a nutshell, value proposition is a clear statement that: explains how your product (or service) solves customers’ problems or improves their situation (relevancy), delivers specific benefits (quantified value), tells the ideal customer why they should buy from you and not from the competition (unique differentiation).

What is your value proposition? Prism Communications is a small business, so we understand the marketing needs of small businesses, including cost and time effectiveness. We are constantly searching for ways to do the job better, keeping up with the latest trends. We offer a free consultation to new clients to explore their needs.

What do you want your customer to say about you when your business transaction is complete?

Customer testimonials “People influence people. Nothing influences people more than a recommendation from a trusted friend. A trusted referral influences people more than the best broadcast message. A trusted referral is the Holy Grail of advertising.” – Mark Zuckerberg

Customer testimonials “Nothing draws a crowd quite like a crowd.” –P.T. Barnum

Customer testimonials Blog comments Facebook comments Yelp, etc. What you say back is just as important Your followup

Customer testimonials Prism’s goal: You made it so simple. I’m already starting to see results. Would you talk with my friend.

Customer testimonials You’ve got to ask. Deciding who to ask.

Why do people visit you online? To keep up on state-of-the-art To learn about new products, services To learn more about you To be entertained To hunt bargains

Why do people visit you online? Consult your analytics Ask your customers See what gets good rankings Find out what your competition is doing Use your gut instinct

Why do people visit you online? They want a relationship. So do you. They want something exciting to share. So do you. They want a reason to buy something from you. You want that too.

A few words about you Not a tagline Not adjectives Words that people are searching for Not just words, but phrases

A few words about you For Prism Communications: Website development Social media marketing Small business marketing Content creation Search engine optimization

A few words about you #Hashtags now work on Facebook Twitter Instagram Google+ Pinterest

A few words about you Important to SEO Create your blog tags/categories

Your ideal customer Do you have one now that is a pattern? Why is s/he your customer? Describe him/her What would you market to this customer?

Your ideal customer Talk to them Conduct website/blog surveys Use your newletter for surveys Surveys on Facebook You must know the questions to ask

Your ideal customer For Prism Communications: Wants more than just the basics; Wants services I want to provide: content creation, seo, video; Is long term; Shares results so analysis is possible.

Your ideal customer For Prism Communications: Aim marketing at this customer; Design website to entice interest; Focus our own education here.

Current audience Who does website and social media now reach out to? Can you have both: current and ideal? How can you transition? Are their problems different?

Current audience

What does your business play say? Are they your audience by plan or default? Develop a customer profile? Is there an overlap of problems? Is there an overlap of information they need from your website/social media?

Current audience Prism Communication’s current market is small businesses that need website. Shift in audience is simply a matter of working with them to add more services over time.

Why were you selected? Ask your customers Set up an online survey Analyze competition’s customers Use your intuition Analyze your website, social media stats

Why were you selected? Emphasize this in your marketing Transition to more of this type of marketing Use Facebook advertising to reach more of the same kind of customers Ask for testimonials that emphasize this differentiation

Why were you selected? Ask SWOT-type questions: Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats

What is your voice? Gramatically Corporate First-person singular: “I” First-person plural: “We” If a team, using first names. Third-person

What is your voice? Tone Friendly Formal The expert Humorous

What is your voice? For Prism Communications, the voice is friendly, first-person plural, with some humor.

What is your voice? Even if your voice is friendly, first-person, you can still be selling. Always try to have some kind of call to action. “We’d like to hear what you think the solution is. Please leave your comments below.”

What other brand voices do you admire? Keep this top of mind as you’re reading others’ blogs and social media.

Your story People are moved by stories People will listen to stories when they’ll turn off sales pitches Listen to or read the stories of others in your industry. You can use those if you’re short on your own. Ask your customers for their stories. They love to talk about them.

Your story Bisbee Mining & Historical Museum’s great success

Thank you for coming today. Remember our class on Facebook Advertising for Small Businesses, right here on Nov. 13.