by Miriam Hara | Nov 5, 2013 | Latest, Social Media
There’s much ado about content management these days. In fact, it’s the new buzz word in the social media and marketing landscape. With so many business and brand managers just grappling with the ever-changing dynamics of the worldwide internet and what it means for their business and brand portfolios, content management is yet another aspect of this evolving channel that they need to understand. Content Management is the umbrella of the social media marketing landscape, where content creation strategy plays a significant role under that umbrella.
Like all initiatives in marketing, and more specifically, advertising, achieving critical mass is extremely important in social media. By now, I believe many businesses have come to terms with the fact that social media takes a lot of time and effort. In business terms, that means it’s not free, but nor is it inexpensive. In order for social media initiatives to work, clear goals need to be defined and closely tied into clear and precise strategy. This is what we, at 3H, refer to as Content Creation Strategy. In the social media arena, being without a plan that outlines specific strategy means that businesses are essentially just shooting at random.
Here’s a quick overview of a Content Creation Strategy.
Define your audience: As with marketing, a clear and concise statement of who your target is, is essential. Without it, you are just pushing out content without intent. The beauty of social media is that you can aim… very specifically. Hallelujah! Niche marketing is where it’s at, especially in social media. Why not take advantage of it? Mine the internet and find other like-minded and complementary sites that also speak to your target audience. Define your target: not only by where they go, but by what they do and what they like.
Create a plan: Content creation, like advertising, needs to have a plan. What are the relevant topics for your brand or business? Are there key cycles that you need to build up to and are important? In traditional advertising, if February was Heart Health month, then all the major brands with something to “sell” in heart health would be advertising in February. In the social media environment, there’s no need for that. Slow builds to peak event activity garners greater rewards. At 3H, we establish social media calendars, months in advance. This doesn’t mean that it is set in stone, but the ability to be nimble and flexible on a moment’s notice is key.
Mix it up: Content creation doesn’t only speak to words, blog posts, posts on Facebook, or discussion comments on LinkedIn. Make sure that you blend in a mix of visual(photos) and if possible, video as well. Once you engage in the social media platform, you’ll be surprised how many consumers you have that are your advocates already; sending photos, testimonials and videos and allowing you to share them on your social media properties.
Know where to be: Part of any solid strategy is knowing where to be seen. Assessing the true value of each social media property is essential as well as understanding the must-have versus the nice-to-have. There are so many properties… yet, so little budget. Assess the need to be on every social media property versus the key properties; building towards achieving a broader range and greater reach. That’s what strategy is all about.
If you haven’t established a content creation strategy for your brand or business, then stop what you’re doing… and do it now. Marketing is all about efficiencies, and a content creation strategy plays right into that. Content creation does reap rewards and does provide ROI, but only if, there’s clear objectives and strategy behind the content.
by Lyndsey Loiacono | Nov 4, 2013 | Design, Latest
Designing Restaurants: It’s the outside that counts.
If there is one thing you should know about me, its that I have a huge obsession with food. Cooking, eating, watching food network, I love it all. Growing up in an Italian family and spending hours sitting around a table might have something to do with it. So when thinking of a good topic to share, I thought it would be best to combine my love with food and my love for designing.
I spent 2 of my best years living in Toronto where there are restaurants every where you turn. What makes Toronto a world class city is the diversity in restaurants, but how do they stand out from one another? It seems now more than ever a restaurants brand is as important, if not more important than the food they serve you. It’s your first impression from the outside that brings people inside. Designing a restaurant logo is only one factor in designing a strong and unique restaurant identity.
Here are some great examples of restaurants that got designing appetite appeal right…. from the outside in!
Weslodge, weslodge.com
This new on-the-scene restaurant in the popular king west area, has been branded as a “modern saloon”, with its impossible to miss canary yellow doors jumping right out at you. The interior is dark and feels like you have walked into a twisted pioneer hunting lodge with taxidermy filling the walls. Its logo has a modern back-woods feel to it and that canary yellow is shown very subtlety through menu design. What I love the most about this restaurant is how it celebrates it’s identity by the use of lights on the logo which separates this place from everything else on King west.
Caplansky’s Delicatessen, caplanskys.com
Oh so retro! Zane Caplansky is his brand as seen on the home page of his website dressed as a 60’s breakfast line cook, and good quality kosher food is his game. But before you go inside this eatery, it’s the outside that catches your attention. The retro throw back look is evident in the logo to the paint and design of the actual building. You feel like your looking back in time when your gazing at this place and in many ways you are. It’s simple yet forceful, establishing the Caplansky brand on the the corner of College and Brunswick for the past several years. To top it off, the Caplanksy food truck is a moving brand machine. Going to private events to food truck cook-offs, the proven look of the restaurant is arguably more powerful as a driving diner along the streets of the GTA.
Canteen, oliverbonacini.com
Location, location, location! Ok so were not here to talk about the importance of location, were talking branding. But there is no denying that a superb location is only going to help any company, especially a restaurant, by solidifying it’s brand to the public. Canteen, located in the TIFF building on King street is front and centre in terms of a restaurant establishing it’s identity in the heart of Toronto. The logo itself is what you might call simple. Clean and cut, it makes you think of what a space station eatery might look like but than it’s location in the TIFF building reminds you that this is no ordinary place to eat. The brand is established really by it’s location more than anything. Hollywood meets Toronto for the perfect place to buy an over priced pizza while looking good doing it.
by Maria Mcquire | Nov 4, 2013 | Business Success, Latest, Marketing
No matter what kind of business you have, you need to promote it to profit from it. This rule does not change for automotive business. In order to do this, you can either promote your automotive business with traditional media that are often more costly and time-consuming or you can promote it with the help of online tools. In case you do not know how to promote your automotive business online, here are few tips for you.
Build a website for your automotive business: Today everyone prefers to get information about the product and its pricing along with other relevant details, that’s why it is suggested that you should have a website with updated information about everything that you offer. Also, this website should be convincing. It should be able to attract new customer.
Use Search engines: Most of us in business know how to utilize search engines to our benefit. If you want to promote your online business, then you should use search engine tools as much as possible. In order to do this, you can do search engine optimization evaluation of your website. Promote your automotive website along other related content.
Use Social media: To promote your automotive business you could use a variety of social media websites including Facebook,Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and many other similar social media properties. The biggest benefit of this utilizing this approach is that you will not only get access to your existing customer, but you will be able to reach to potential customers as well. More importantly, you can communicate with your customer as well and that will increase your credibility in front of your customer.
Use local directories: There are many online local business directories available on the internet and you can list your business in those online directories. Due to this, people will be able to search your website or your business in automotive section and it can also help you to get more customers for your business and as a result of this you can get more profit for your automotive business.
Write blogs: Experts say that content is the king and you can get a lot of content using blogs. Developing content is a great way to do search engine optimization and you can also stay connected with your customers too! With the help of your blogs you can post ideas, tips, and information and similar other things about the automotive business and this can attract potential customers to your website and your automotive business.
In addition to these tips there are so many other ways that you can use to promote your online business. Make a call to dvla telephone number as well and you can ask help from the driving licensing department to advertise your product or services with a small advertising fee.
by Miriam Hara | Oct 31, 2013 | Latest, Social Media
In today’s competitive market, businesses must get found. Once found they must be perceived as keeping up with the ever-changing business environment. Business content marketing enables businesses to have the right first impression.
Striving for top of mind business and brand awareness is critical within an increasingly fragmented media space. Social Media has allowed everyone to become a publisher of content. So to keep pace within this competitive environment, businesses must publish content.
However, it’s difficult for most businesses that offer services to feel “comfortable” creating content that provides a valuable ROI. Business content marketing is no easy task. More often than not, it requires skill sets that some businesses don’t typically use.
Here’s a 5 step process that will help you maximize your efforts for business content marketing:
- Think about your business.
Yes, this sounds simple. But the actual process of writing down the services you offer and why clients should choose your business will help provide you with a business platform. This platform will be the basis for all your business content creation.
- Think about your sales process.
What are the concerns and questions that your potential clients and customers ask? What are the major roadblocks that your sales process currently faces? Often, the day-to-day sales operations offer a wealth of relevant subject material. When broken down, it can provide content creation ideas. It has been my experience that just one question can garner two or three different content references on the same subject.
- Find the key phrases and keywords.
Within the questions that potential clients ask, there are a substantial number of keywords that you can access for search engine efficiency. Armed with these keywords or key phrases, assess them with Google Keyword Planner or other keyword search tools. Google Keyword Planner, or Market Samurai (which is the one 3H uses), provide information on monthly keyword searches as well as other related, relevant keywords on the subject. Choose a maximum of five words to be included in each article written.
- Hire a writer to create content.
It is essential to have a well written article to place your business above that of your competition. It’s about all about establishing credibility and expertise. Remember to enrich business content creation with keywords to increase the efficiency of your efforts. Not only will you be providing good content, but you’ll be adding strength to your SEO initiatives. In order to create relevant business content that also promotes SEO, hire a professional.
- Double up on your efforts.
Make sure that the article written aims to establish a rapport with those reading your business content. Lastly, be sure to include a call to action at the end of each article. This will aid in lead generation and creating an integrated sales approach.
So here’s my call to action: I would like to invite you to download some of my “quick read” ebooks: Branding Understood, Social Media Understood or Marketing Understood. I look forward to hearing what you think!
by Lisa Wedmann | Oct 31, 2013 | Advertising, Latest
Advertising frequency is a huge component in the success of any campaign. Think about it: How many times do you need to hear a phone number in order to remember? Don’t answer… it’s a trick question. I have most of my numbers stored in my phone. Not sure about you but I don’t need to repeat phone numbers in order to remember. When I lose my phone or lose my contacts I am in big trouble.
In terms of new advertising and increasing awareness, most people need to repeat or hear an ad or communication three times before it registers. You can test it yourself. Take a name for example. A name that is not a person you know. Like Ryan Clarke. Repeat that name out loud three times. Chances are you will remember…at least in the short term.
Next week rolls around and you might not remember the name. But, if you see Ryan Clarke’s name repeated on Facebook, or an email comes around with this name on it , you might remember the name. Then you might forget … then again you might remember. That’s how building brand awareness works.
Effective Advertising Frequency
In marketing and in advertising, the number of times information is repeated before action is taken is called effective frequency.
There are many theories on what is the proper or correct advertising frequency you should aim for. The number of times you should repeat your information to your target audience is an important factor in the success of any advertising campaign.
There are many marketing theories on how and what strategies should be employed. Get to marketers in a room and each will think that their opinion is the best approach. But where they all agree is that advertising frequency is a must, the information or communications message must be repeated.
It’s not enough to run your ad up the flagpole and assume that your target market will drop everything and salute. Your ad isn’t on a flagpole and really, ads aren’t akin to patriotism. Repeat, repeat, repeat and your message will stick.
The first part of the above statement is obvious. Your message must be heard numerous times before your customer takes action. Marketing of any brand to build awareness must be an ongoing continuous effort in order to be successful.
The second part of the statement is not so obvious, unless you are a seasoned marketing professional. The matter of your messaging sticking is about creative approach, brand persona, media placement and creative strategy.
Approach your customer from different angles. Repeat the same message but repeat it on different channels. Think print, packaging, TV, radio, social media, events, pr and…
I can’t repeat that too many times.
Repeat uniquely, repeat creatively, repeat strategically. Then, your message will stick and your brand awareness rise to the top of the flagpole.
