How To Use Twitter For Publicity Purposes

The second most popular social network, behind Facebook, is the micro-blogging website Twitter, according to eBizMBA. For some companies it’s growing in popularity among young people faster than Facebook. As a matter of fact, many believe Facebook has now hit the ceiling in the United States while Twitter still has room to grow. This is why it’s the social network to look for publicity.

#Hashtags 

#Hashtags can be started by literally any #Twitter user, however the ones that gain the most popularity are most often businesses, celebrity and world event related. This is because those garner a large follower base and are able to keep lots of people disseminating the #hashtag. When enough people to do so, the #hashtag usually ends up in the trending topics section visible to all #Twitter users on their home page of the site. 

Sponsored Tweets 

Companies are now able to pay money to have sponsored tweets. These tweets go into the stream of news feeds of a lot of people regardless if they do or do not follow your account. This in turn may lead to more followers for your account, which is sure to put your message in front of more eyes than before. Your publicity just might increase with the paid option. 

Media Reporting 

Some of the best publicity on Twitter comes from the media reporting on the things tweeted throughout the site, especially when something unusual gets tweeted. You can believe the blogs and major media outlets will pick up on it. That’s earned media and that is a win. Hopefully it’s positive and that’s good news for the company.

Contact us for more tips on how to use Twitter for publicity purposes.  

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How To Properly Use Reputation Management

The online world cares about image. It is the sole focus of a lot of what the Internet is all about after all. Those who manage their image and reputation well are most likely to receive repeat business. Those who allow reputation management to get away from them may see a steady decline into irrelevance. 

Using Outsourced Reputation Management 

Many people want to do their own reputation management online when they first hear of the concept. They think there is no reason they should not be able to handle it. After all, it is just their own image they are trying to preserve. However, an article on the subject on Forbes.com, Michael Fertik, owner of Reputation.com stated:

“The best analogy that I can think of is anti-virus software for your computer. There are probably only 25 guys on the planet who can do good anti-virus protection on their own because it requires deep technical expertise. We have dozens of engineers who work on each of our products, which are designed expressly to fix or enhance your digital reputation and profile. That said, there are certain things that you should do on your own, like have a thoughtful, well-curated LinkedIn profile. And you should have a Twitter handle that is your name, not something like “ILovePizza,” unless your job is in pizza.” 

Well said.

Caution But Not Too Much 

Obviously, avoiding mistakes is a major part of reputation management. That being said, it is not a good idea to completely box yourself off from the entire Internet and never really try anything. You need to be marketing and at the same time avoiding major mistakes. It is a careful balance that has to be struck, but it is possible. 

Sell Yourself, Sell Your Product 

If you are able to sell yourself and your reputation to people online then you are probably in good shape to sell whatever product you need to as well. You just want to make sure that the image you are providing is a good one. No one wants to buy from someone they do not trust or have confidence in. 

Contact us today to get information on how you can get started with reputation management. 

Consistent Brand Messaging When Building Your Personal Brand

Building a powerful personal brand starts with you. How you present yourself publicly and online strongly affects how your brand is interpreted by the masses. Because your personal brand is a reflection of who you are personally, you must be aware, the totality of your actions will determine your brand.

Nurturing Your Brand Through Authenticity

Your brand is your legacy. Once you establish what you want your brand message to be, you must own it. How you present yourself to the world will define your brand culture – make it memorable. Your actions, expertise, and emotional connection to your brand will define how it is viewed. Offer something valuable only you can provide to the public; live it, and you will garner true authenticity.

Build Character – Online and Off

In the digital age, your online presence with social media has become your touchstone. This is where you engage those interested in your brand. Make sure the design of your online outlets closely aligns with your character and brand message. Whether you have a design team or one person working on creative, make sure there is an understanding of your brand’s uniqueness, your character is clearly interpreted, and don’t forget, a picture is worth a thousand words and this is your moment to shine. It will aid in your social media marketing campaign.

Consistent Brand Messaging

Current and potential clients want consistency. They want to know you will deliver each time with the same or better results. Your clients want to trust you, they want to count on you to be the answer. Consistency in your communications gives clients something to rely on. If you deliver strong and consistent communications, your clients will become evangelists of your brand. 

For more information on how you can build a powerful personal brand, contact the professionals at TwoGirlsConsulting LLC. We understand your physical and digital image must exude your brand. Enticing and consistent communication of your personal brand relies on a carefully crafted strategy. At 2GC, your image is everything.

 

The Landscape of SMS Marketing

Short-message service (SMS) refers to what is commonly known as text messaging. These messages can be sent cell phone to cell phone, or from Web-based services to cell phones. When it comes to marketing, SMS marketing is a growing trend that is still being explored and understood. Here are some of the highlights of the landscape.

A variety of industries are using SMS marketing in their strategies. This includes leisure (venue based), recruitment, retailers, software, marketing, financial services, beauty and hair salons, fast food, education, estate agencies, legal and dental and health offices, and travel agents. The industries at the top of this list use SMS marketing more frequently than those at the end, but you can see the wide variety of applications for SMS marketing.

The popularity of SMS marketing is built on the popularity of mobile devices, which grow in numbers every year. Recent statistics show that nearly 90 percent of the world’s population has a mobile device, which means around 6 billion people can be reached through SMS. Mobile marketing budgets are increasing to meet this area of opportunity. In the United States, mobile ad revenue is expected to exceed $20 billion annually by the year 2015. More than 60 percent of businesses are considering mobile marketing more than traditional methods.

SMS marketing helps reach mobile device users who do not use their device to connect to the internet — or about 76 percent of all mobile users. The number of SMS messages sent in 2013 approached 10 trillion, and more than 45 percent of mobile device users report being aware of mobile advertising. Application to Person (A2P) messaging is whenever businesses contact customers, and A2P messaging is predicted to surpass person-to-person messaging by 2016. 

For more about these statistics and the landscape of SMS marketing, click here for a graphic from socialmediadd.com. SMS offers a great window into the lives of customers, regardless of their online activity, and the future shows potential for increased growth in SMS marketing. For more information about how to use SMS marketing for your business, contact us today!

How to Communicate Your Vision Strategy

When two parties come together there are occasionally creative differences that must be resolved to move forward. It is important to be able to explain your vision to your client while also listening to their ideas for the vision and end results. 

Any good conversation, work-related or not, includes healthy amounts of listening, asking questions, and seeking to understand the other perspective. There may be times your client’s vision is the right one for the job. But there may be times you need to tactfully steer your client in another direction.

When there are differences of opinion, it is good to focus on something you can both agree on — namely, the mission, vision, and goals of your client. Ideally, both you and your client will be pursuing their business success, whether that is selling products, running events, or connecting with consumers. Once this ground is reestablished, it is up to you to clearly communicate the vision based on your experience in the field, creative genius, etc. 

 It helps to remember to stay professional and offer your client  reasons why your design ideas are strong and likely successful. You have the experience they need, and when you can clearly communicate your ideas you give your clients every reason to trust you with their hopes and dreams. Remember, business is not personal and a client simply might not like your designs for no clear reason. 

As Steve Jobs once said, “[they] don’t know what they want until you show them.” So your job is to show your clients what they want in a professional and tactful way.

Contact us for more tips about corporate communication or other questions.

The Core Concepts of Effective Reputation Management

“Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow.  The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.” Abraham Lincoln.

Do you have the good reputation that you deserve? Bad publicity has always been a challenge, even to the good guys. In these days of social media that can instantly harm you there is a need for a sophisticated response strategy. Make sure people are aware of your character, and not looking at someone else’s shadow.

Reputation management can have many forms, and can require several different roles. In a large organization, the role would be filled by a full-time strategic communication advisor; but even then, the key employee may need consultation depending on the situation.

Perhaps the defining characteristic of effective reputation management is good judgment. Maintaining a good reputation involves planning your organizational structure so that you have a smooth flow of information as well as confronting specific issues as they appear in the business environment and in the media.

Any confusion caused by incorrect reporting must be addressed with authority in a timely manner.  Any roadblocks to communication within your organization must be located and eliminated.

Whether it is for a hospital board, an African nation, the U.S. Department of Defense, a corporate public relations department, or a small business operating a marketing strategy, a reputation management strategist coordinates clarifying your position. This important advisor will also assist in the formation and adjustment of policy.   

The higher your authority, and the broader the scope of your endeavors, the more important it is that you are in position to be able to manage the public perception of your efforts. An effective reputation management strategy is much more than “spin.” The creation and implementation of good policy needs dedicated attention and support in the unpredictable climate of popular opinion.

The Possible Roles involved in reputation advisement:

• As an educator, the advisor communicates with employees and associates to make them better conduits for a policy that has been decided upon.  In order to avoid inconsistency of services or product, all people involved in implementing your service should be schooled in the philosophy of your business or social mission. This involves coordination with human resources and training of department heads as well as direct presentation to large groups.

• As a publicist, the advisor has editing, writing and speaking skills to distribute information through appropriate networks, whether through existing corporate newsletters and email systems, or media outlets. The publicist is familiar with social media and monitors interaction on strategic sites. The publicist can produce content, as well as inform others on proper responses to online forums.  The publicist has a close relationship with any formal spokesperson or media relations department for a large organization, acting as a liaison between management, media, and policy formation.

• As an analyst, the advisor suggests what information should be given to a particular group, be it employees, associates, or volunteers. The analyst assists in the timing and proper media for press releases. The analyst provides support and assembles research opportunities when adjustment of policy is necessary.

• As a researcher, the advisor is aware of trends in the social fabric regarding your endeavors. The researcher is aware of meaningful published work, and, if necessary, attends relevant summits and discussions by experts in the field. The researcher evaluates new ideas and innovations, making recommendations to you for discussion and review of policy.

• As a coordinator, the advisor makes certain that internal and external policy is consistent with your goals, and develops measuring techniques to monitor progress in accurately portraying your efforts to the public. The coordinator will be aware of budget compliance, and will be able to provide recommendations for necessary adjustments, whether in policy or implementation of existing policy.  

Give us a call, and clarify your position.

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4 Important Email Marketing Strategies

Email newsletters are an important part of any marketing campaign, particularly as people spend increasing amounts of time online. E-newsletters go directly to customers’ inbox, giving them an advantage over other forms of social media. Like other digital media, e-newsletters are inexpensive to produce and send to customers. And fortunately, there are some simple tips for writing an email-newsletter that customers will be likely to read!

1) Start with a captivating subject line. Many readers use an email subject line to determine whether they will open the email, and it is crucial that your e-newsletter stand out among the many other emails a customer receives. Including the word ‘you’ gives the email a personal touch. Make your subject line timely and short, to catch the reader’s eye. 

2) Use visual means to convey your message. Video sites, like YouTube, and applications, like Vine, are rapidly rising in popularity. Often, readers are more likely to watch a short video than they are to read lines of text. Capitalize on this tendency by creating video (or even photo) content for your readers, whether your intent is to engage the customer, sell products, or tell a story.

3) Entice customers with a special offer. Including a special offer in your e-newsletter is one of the best ways to retain customers and keep them interested in future promotions. You will strengthen brand loyalty when you help customers feel as if they are important to your business. (They are!)

4) Utilize other forms of social media. Include social media links (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) in your e-newsletter, as these digital marketing tools go hand in hand. A great way to involve customers and increase your market exposure is by rewarding customers when they share your e-newsletter (or other content) on social media. 

With these tips, you can improve your email newsletters to make the most of the opportunity you have to communicate with your customers. For the best ways to include email in your marketing strategy, contact us today!

Would Your Business Benefit From New Corporate Communication Strategies?

All executives have in common a need, if not a duty, to achieve a degree of administrative skill. This includes public and internal communication, and while it is unlikely a typical executive is “un-skilled” at public speaking and other forms of information processing, the skill level varies widely between individuals. Throw in the many challenges of social and other electronic media, and a fresh strategy could give your organization a decisive edge in the current electronic climate.

The decision to implement new media tactics should not be approached as a sure-fire recipe for success, but hiring the right firm for a communication update could be a meaningful step in development. For an organization that routinely addresses the public or a large employee base, the correct consultant could tailor a development process to uniquely address the needs of your niche.

On the web site, Public Speaking Tips, the article lists several objectives to use to choose the correct regimen to develop confidence in using modern media. Even though our processes go beyond just speaking, using this list may help you visualize your development program. 

A few goals listed on Public Speaking Tips are:

• Master how to tell your personal stories
• Improve your voice and vocal production
• Learn to work with technology
• Be interviewed on TV
• Present before an international audience
• Persuade the audience to specific critical action.

There are many other useful objectives listed. A scenario to stay away from is a robotic approach that concentrates only on the visual, verbal, or audio aspects of communication. What else is there, you ask?

While visuals such as posture and hand gestures are just as important in electronic media as they are in person, they are only indicators of confidence and knowledge, and self-conscious application of symptomatic gestures will not replace your real expertise and experience in business and social culture. Electronic media has its own distance, and it is important to know how to relax within this new world and convey your validity when you are one more step removed from your audience.

Precise use of the “King’s English” coupled with perfect grammar will trigger a predictable response in a presentation, nevertheless, depending on the subject and the audience, it may not be a relevant response. And if this mode of speech and manner seems to contradict the personality or the goals of the speaker, than the response may be directly opposite to the desired one. You need to be confident you can convey yourself through new channels before any strategy will be effective.

A communication strategist, like a good athletic coach, will address the issues of preparation, projecting character and content as well as posture, gestures, animation, or wardrobe.

Business and government executives are motivated differently than dramatic actors, even though those motivations may (or may not) be similar in moral quality and purpose. Public speaking is different than acting.  The public might enjoy a confident actor on TV, but they want the real thing when they face their very real challenges. 

Not all communications are fired with emotion and critical strategy. But if it is appropriate for you to gather a group of people to present an idea to them, then developing technical skills that are right for forums such as TV, MP3, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, texting, Outlook and YouTube are essential, even for minor announcements.

After all, you want everyone in your organization to “get the memo.” Assimilation of minor details over a time can be critical to the success of a project.

A new communication strategy can put all the tools of modern media at your service, and give you important insight on how to use them to deliver your concepts, big and small, to your audience.

Have an important event coming up? Or do you want to design a new communication system for your business?

Let us know.  We can increase your effectiveness with modern tools.

Contact us

Executive Media Training – Eliminating the Fear, and More

It’s fairly common knowledge that public speaking is at or near the top of most people’s list of fears. Some even say they fear it more than death itself. Interestingly enough, many people who fear public speaking are high-level corporate executives. For these individuals, some form of public speaking is a critical element of what they do.

How do you suppose they handle that?

Well, a quote I heard some years ago (I don’t recall who or where) answers the question perfectly; “Feel the fear and take action anyway.” That’s all well and good, but wouldn’t it be better, and a lot more comfortable, to go into public speaking situations without the fear? Of course it would. And that’s what executive media training can do.

Here are three ways executive media training can help you and your company:

Build Confidence

A big part of what causes people to be fearful of public speaking is they don’t feel confident. This phenomenon can be found at all levels of a company, including executives.

Someone might know the company and its products backward, forward, inside and out, but when they get in front of a prospective customer, or a group, they freeze. It’s akin to a computer freezing-up. The information is in there – it just won’t come out. A big reason for this is inadequate experience in public speaking. Executive media training provides some non-threatening ways to gain this experience and develop confidence.

Improved Relationships

Human relationships are at the center of every business. Notice that I didn’t limit that statement to just successful businesses. That’s because relationships are at the center of all businesses. If business is bad, it’s undoubtedly due, in part at least, to poor relationships. If business is good, it can be largely attributed to good relationships.

If people in the company are comfortable being themselves as they talk about the company and its products, they’ll be better able to create and maintain lasting business relationships. Executive media training will help them do that.

Speak Extemporaneously

A vital part of public speaking of any kind is the ability to effectively extemporize. It’s one thing to just babble on about something and hope your listener knows little enough about the subject that what you’re saying sounds plausible. But that’s a gamble you shouldn’t be willing to take. The ability to speak off the cuff and have your presentation actually make sense is clearly more desirable. Executive media training helps develop this skill.

Some business owners and executives balk at the idea of making this kind of indirect expenditure. However, communications training in general, and executive media training in particular are more appropriately viewed as wise investments that will pay dividends for years to come.

If you’d like results-oriented help with your marketing and communications strategies, contact us online, or call 702-434-0173.

PR Effectiveness in a Virtual World

June is Effective Communication Month—as if we could ignore effectively communicating the other eleven months of the year! However, it is an excellent opportunity to get back to the communications basics and discuss how some of the time-tested tools and strategies for PR effectiveness  might be applied to successfully communicate in the virtual world of the Internet.

According to Clifford N. Lazarus, PhD, there are a number of tools used in establishing and maintaining effective communication.

• Make Sure You Have the Other Person’s Attention. On the Internet, getting a visitor to read, or at least browse, your web page or email message is the objective. Unfortunately as early as 2007, the average person visited over 130 web pages per day, and in 2011 (according to the Nielsen Norman Group), “the average stay on those pages was just 10-20 seconds,” which means visitors are usually reading less than one-quarter of the text on any particular page.
  
• Maintain Eye Contact. In the world of the Internet, this means keeping the visitor on your page long enough to make them a potential customer. Once you have crossed that 10-20 second threshold they are more likely to stay longer and explore your site.
  
• Be Direct and Honest. Remember you have a small amount of time to capture and hold a visitor’s attention.
  
• Good Communication Involves Clear And Concise Messaging. Content and design should complement each other. People are as easily turned off by dissimilar messages. And the sheer volume of options available on the Internet, will make sure visitors move on if they do not feel comfortable on your website.
  
• Ask For Feedback and Listen To Ensure The Intended Message Was Received. There needs to be an electronic equivalent to the phrase “are you following me?” Comment opportunities on web pages and visitor/customer feedback options, will provide ways for your company to receive crucial responses and amend or clarify your content and tone.

Is your company having a hard time crafting an effective content strategy? We can help. Contact 2GC today.