Karey Mackin

I don’t know about you, but we am absolutely craving interesting content that teaches us something. All of us here at The Found Gen are. Our in-office Slack Channel is a running list of “Have you read this?” and “Are you following her?” It’s pretty great.

You must be trying to find the good stuff, too. We thought we’d share what we’re reading right now, and hope you share your picks right back at us.

Instagram Stories are a perfect diversion from our super political, highly charged Twitter feed. They’re the perfect length in between clients and to reignite our inspiration levels. Here are a few we enjoy.

One of our writers is obsessed with Busy Philipps’ stream of consciousness feed. She takes us with her to a sweaty LA exercise class, gives us music recs, and cries every time she’s at a restaurant. Her success – over a million followers, a book deal, and her very own late-night talk show coming soon – shows us that a lot of people gravitate to authenticity and a particular way of speaking. We take that trend to heart when we write for you.

Our operations manager could watch farm-based stories all day, from @modfarm to @fivemarysfarms. For her, it’s the never-ending workload, strong work ethic, and dedication to growing things even when the growing gets tough. It’s the same with content creation and brand-building, minus the hay.

Another writer aspires to be healthier. You know the deal: matcha, seed cycling, digital detoxing, yoga pants all day. Don’t tell her we told you about the Diet Coke on her desk, the Twizzlers in her top drawer, and the fact that we just heard her cancel her spin class reservation. She can be found watching @leefromamerica and @honestlyfit, reminding us to always include the aspirational element in our work. In order to want to buy from you, your customers should also kind of want to be you.

And then there’s @drawbertson, a creative director at Estee Lauder, bright artist and brilliant Instagrammer. He has five kids and he is as real and as fabulous as they come. One of his most addictive hashtags is kid-related – #buythemnothing – and shows how his five-year old twins find creative ways to navigate the world minus the plastic toys and screen time. Simplify, his stream seems to scream in bold colors. Simplify.

There you have it. Content that makes us better. We’d like to do the same for yours. Give us a call.

Making friends in real life is easy. Tell them they look cute and they smell amazing and whoa that is a great idea you just had, and you’ve got their undying adoration for the rest of your conversation. Trust me. They’ll be back for more.

But online, it’s a bit trickier. You don’t see them at the coffee shop, you can’t run into them at Nordstrom, and you definitely do not show up uninvited to their kid’s fourth birthday party. Not cool. Never cool.

So how do you find your people? How do you build an audience of friends who not only want to hear what you’ve got to say, they also come back for more?

Easy. Here are 5 steps to finding your target audience online:

1. Define your audience. You’re seeking followers who are already interested in your topics and engaged online.
2. Find them. Identify the most popular sites and social media presences in your specific industry and set up Google Alerts to lead you to relevant conversations in real time. You can also set up alerts to learn what your competitors are doing.
3. Learn what subjects are creating conversations. Perhaps even more importantly, identify the areas that aren’t of interest to anyone.
4. Analyze your traffic. Google Analytics shows you where your visitors were before they got to you, and this insider information can show you where to increase your presence. If 25% of your audience is coming from referrals from a certain site, it may be worth it to increase your presence in some way on that site, either by purchasing ad space or contributing to their blog.
5. Don’t forget your real-life customers. They’re right there in front of you. Ask them where they hang out online, the sites they love, and what they’d like to see more of in their searches for information.

And remember: Your social media success is highly dependent on the social aspect of your presence. You wouldn’t expect to make friends at the coffee shop without extending yourself a little, would you? Tell them they look cute. Start a conversation and stick with it to the end. And hopefully, it never ends.

Call us at The Found Gen if you’d like even more ways to find your people. Heck, we’ve got about ten right here in our office.

Lately, I only buy things from people I like. I buy my groceries from the lovely grocer near my house that’s right next to the poké place because it has all the foods my favorite foodie on Instagram buys. Plus, there’s the poké, which another Instagram influencer persuaded me to try and now I’m hooked. I buy undereye concealer from a beauty blogger with no bags, not counting her Louis Vuittons, and my current writing outfit is one I bought because my favorite fashion blogger wore the same one when she was in Paris.

Note: I am not in Paris, but I could be with this outfit.

There’s no denying that Insta-shopping is changing the way we decide to buy things. Yes, people respond to simple, visual-driven content. But is it right for your business?

Some things to consider before you dive in:

• Do you have a business account?If you want to sell on Instagram, you’ve got to start here. According to current rules, you must sell physical goods that comply with Instagram’s merchant agreement and commerce policies. And your business profile must be connected to a Facebook catalog, which can be created on Business Manager, directly on your business’s Page on Facebook or through Shopify or another ecommerce platform.
• Are you selling a product or a service?You can certainly do both, but it’s good practice to determine what your followers want from you. In our experience here at The Found Gen, the best accounts cando both. They use the platform to sell their actual services, from interior design to health and wellness workshops, and also link to products they use and love while earning commissions.
• Decide on your Call to Action.It’s different for everyone. Some want sponsorship deals, but some just crave exposure and another means to capture their customer’s attention. If you post at the right time and use the right hashtags, then your organic reach can grow quickly. That means more viewers, more potential buyers, and more potential income. We work with our clients to decide on micro-goals for their Instagram presence, from building an image to promoting a business and selling services.

More than anything, whether you decide to open up an Insta-shop or not, we can still hone your identity and increase engagement between you and all your potential customers. It’s worth it. Because engagement indicates you’re solving problems for people around you and changing their lives, even if only a bit. That’s the whole point of social media.

I mean, just look at me. I’m totally dressed and ready for Paris. Next step? A ticket to Paris.

Let’s talk more about this, shall we? I’ll meet you at the mall…errrr…on Instagram.

“Newsletters are boring. My mom is the only one who reads them.”

Well, you have a point. Kind of. See, old-school newsletters with line after line of squeezed-together text telling you everything and anything that seems important but truly isn’t, in the same exact font and with the same exact artwork as last month’s…well, you have a point. Kind of.

Here at The Found Gen, we’re not interested in making your mom’s newsletter. (Unless she’s super current and wants to be inspired at a rapid-fire clip. That’s our kind of mom.)

Here’s what an email newsletter should do:

• Our newsletters grab you by your shoulders and shake you a little bit and persuade you to try a new thing we’ve just made – just a taste, you’re going to love it!
• Our ultimate goal is to have people see our clients’ newsletters in their inbox and clap their hands. Too much? Okay, then. A smile and an immediate open will do.
• Send your reader somewhere else. No, literally send them somewhere else. A link to an article you’re sure your audience will find useful, an exciting event you’re hosting, an update on your latest (and greatest) project to date, or straight to your booking site.
• Prompt your customers to action. We want them to think, “I’ve got to do this,” and “I want in on this,” and “Sign me up.”

“But what about an email blast?” you may be thinking. “Should I send one of those instead? They sound quite exciting”

If an email newsletter is a four-course meal that’s satisfying in every flavor, an email blast is simply an amuse bouche. By definition, this petite delicacy is served to both prepare the guest for the meal and to offer a glimpse into the chef’s approach. It’s a mouth amuser. And so, an email blast is exactly that: an amuser, a morsel, and just enough to give your customers a taste of what’s possible.

Here’s the trick: An email blast’s job is the same as a newsletter’s intent. It should inspire, entertain, send your reader somewhere else, and prompt your customers to action. Just a little faster and a lot shorter in format. Hence, the blast part of its name.

At The Found Gen, we know when to send a newsletter and when to send a blast. More importantly, we know what to include in both to elicit the response you want: business, business, and more business.

Call us to schedule a consultation. You can bring your mom, if you’d like. She’d love us.

Think of it like this: Your blog is the front door of your brand. Is it covered in cobwebs, in need of a few swipes of paint, a broken key in the lock, and months of unanswered mail piling up in front of it? Or does it look like #thatpinkdoor? (Go ahead. Search it up on Instagram. We’ll wait for you.)

One door scares everyone away, except maybe serial killers or robots who don’t care about aesthetics. And the other? Well, there are almost 8k posts on Instagram devoted to pictures taken by as many people of #thatpinkdoor.

That’s what content does. It either invites people in or sends them away. It’s defined as compelling information that informs, engages, or amuses, and adds a benefit to the person who consumes it. Make it so readable, they want to read it twice. No, make it so interesting, they want to bookmark it.

How’s your content doing? Here are three easy ways to make it better:

1. Pay attention to SEO keywords, but not too much attention. I know a lot of writers who jam-pack their blog posts with keywords and backlinks in order to increase visibility in search results, but sorely neglect their content. If it’s not compelling content, only bots will be interested.
2. Audit frequently. One expert compared auditing your content to flossing: if you only do it once a year, you’re going to be in trouble at your next dentist appointment. Regularly check up on your links, get rid of outdated content, evaluate your SEO effectiveness, and make sure you’re staying true to your well-planned editorial calendar.
3. Remember the long-game. Patience in a content strategy is essential, so stick with it. At The Found Gen, we always remind our clients that Rome wasn’t built in three months, but we weren’t managing that particular content.

There’s definitely a balance to consider between your on-site content – is it making healthy conversions to sales? – and off-site content, like creating link networks and building your brand’s reputation.

If you ever want to talk about this in-depth and specific to your own content, give us a call. We love this stuff.