The Found Gen

Marketing That Works.

Robyn Saunders

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Consumers’ Message to Brands: Just Be Yourself

Most savvy business owners find themselves, at some point in their company’s life span, worrying whether their brand identity is connecting with target customers. And if those customers include people under the age of 30, the worry isn’t just about their marketing message—it’s about speaking what seems like a whole other language.

The good news is: They can now relax. Marketing studies have (yet again) revealed that consumers of all ages respond better to messaging that is authentic to the brand and focuses on what’s important—how will your product or service make my life better?—versus what’s cool or trendy.

A recent Digiday article predicted that major brands that had forayed into the lingo of millennials, particularly through their social media channels, in 2015 would correct course for 2016 and go back to focusing on their unique selling propositions. Studies found that companies had very limited success with incorporating language or cultural trends into consumer marketing.

According to social media analytics firm Brandwatch, more than 168 brands, including McDonald’s, Olive Garden, and Sprint, contributed to more than 660 mentions of the trendy youth terms “bae” and “on fleek” between January and November of last year.

As Digiday wisely observed, “When a thing becomes cool enough for you to have heard of it, Olive Garden, it’s probably lost its cool cachet. And when everyone’s doing it, it completely loses any semblance of authenticity.”

The Takeaways

When it comes to marketing with your brand identity, remember these three things.

  1. Know your audience. This includes understanding the communication style that will best resonate with them.
  2. Don’t get in the conversation purely to get in the conversation. Remember that your business is on social media for the pure purpose of providing content that promotes your product or service or helps consumers better appreciate your product or service.
  3. Just be yourself. Mom had it right: Be true to your brand’s core identity. Put your interactions with your customers to good use by figuring out ways you can make their lives better, easier, tastier, smarter. Now that’s really cool.

 

 

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How to Best Handle a Negative Review

How to best handle a negative review

Those of us with small businesses understand the trials and tribulations of building a reputation and a strong client-base that we can rely on and will help our business grow and flourish. The Internet has leveled the playing field for all of us to a large degree, enabling small businesses to reach prospective clients through advertising, social media and other web-based promotion.

Still, despite our best efforts to promote ourselves, it is the age-old customer referral and review that packs the greatest punch—both to boost a reputation and to knock it down.  Luckily, “catching more flies with honey” likewise remains true and sincere perseverance and devotion to solid customer service usually garners positive feedback and high public marks.

That said, you can’t always please everyone, and a grumpy customer can and absolutely will write a negative review. The key, then, is to be prepared for them and handle them with graceful professionalism. Your current and prospective customers will be paying attention and people are surprisingly sympathetic to negative customer reviews in favor of a company that responds appropriately and politely.

So, when dealing with the inevitable negative review, here are some tips to make sure you are turning lemons into lemonade.

Stay quick on your feet

To avoid losing your customers’ trust after a bad review is posted, it’s important to respond as soon as you can. Not only does it show that you are serious about your customer experience, it also shows that you have nothing to hide.

Make sure to proofread and vet your response before publishing. This is a direct representation of your business so it should be thoughtful, polite and accurate. You definitely want to quell rather than fuel any existing fires.

Acknowledge and apologize

Most grumpy customers only want acknowledgment for their dissatisfaction, so a simple and sincere apology is often enough to turn the situation around. Also, be sure not to engage in a public dialogue with the unhappy customer and invite them to contact you or your company directly to resolve any greater issues.

Remember that people reading the reviews won’t know the details or the back-story. If the complaint is legitimate, it’s important to step up and take the blame. When businesses argue or try to pan the blame off on someone else, customers often respond negatively. However, on the other hand, as we mentioned above, people are much more likely to forgive and forget if the owner apologizes sincerely and tries to make amends.

Also, don’t feel like you must respond to each and every negative review. Online comments can often be crude or inappropriate, especially anonymous ones. Don’t engage with any comment that is a personal attack or particularly vague. Unfortunately, engaging with such comments can come off as petty or overly defensive.

Remember why you’re here

Remember that you are directly representing your business whenever you are engaging in a public format or feed. Your objective is always the success and future of your business, so keep a cool head when dealing with negative reviews and feedback. An emotional or defensive response to an online comment could sabotage your best efforts at customer service by turning current and prospective customers off.

Before responding to a negative review, take a few deep breaths and remind yourself of “the big picture” and how your response can help, rather than hurt, your business goals.  Stay cool and never respond out of anger or emotion, or argue over details. Whenever possible, take the conversation offline, which is the best way to respond to negativity and help resolve any issues.

Look at negative feedback as a way to constantly improve and hone your customer service skills and strengthen the foundations of your business.

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5 Content Resolutions for The New Year

Tips to breathe fresh air into your content marketing

It might not be breaking news that content marketing is one of the most effective ways to attract and engage clients and prospective customers. But knowing that top notch content is key to success is one thing. Creating a constant flow of original, quality content is entirely another. Everyone from Shakespeare to Kim Kardashian has complained about writer’s block. So when we’re stuck hemming and hawing at the keyboard, the trick we like to keep in our back pockets is a list of ways to tackle content creation in a way that stays fresh and interesting to our clients.

A Few Content Ideas For You to Try

  1. Question and Answer

Roll up your sleeves, get into the trenches, and talk to your customers. There’s no better way to understand what they really want to know. In a pinch, you can fall back on surveys, but one-on-one conversations are what truly turn the idea light bulb on. Engaging customers in a conversational way will often reveal topics and lead to insights that cut and dry surveys just can’t access.

After you’ve accessed your customers’ perspective, make a list of questions that they have and do your best to answer every single one of them in detail. And low and behold! There you have a handy-dandy blog post (or even several). Take those answers and arrange them into an attractive visual that simplifies a complex issue and boom: you’ve got a totally shareable infographic.

  1. Study and Teach

So you’ve listened to your customers, heard their questions and now you can ask yourself: what do your clients or customers really need? Even if their needs don’t appear to be directly related to your products or services, find some way to meet that need and tie it back in. For example, this could be healthy snacks to keep by your desk for small business people, a financial firm creating an infographic on simple ways to save money, or an sporting goods store could put out a map of local places to hike. Better yet, respond to your customers’ needs even more directly with eCourses, eBooks, tutorial videos, or even just inspirational collections.

  1. Observe and Absorb

Social media, YouTube, pod casts, other blogs—the realm of user-generated internet content is a veritable treasure trove of relevant ideas! Instead of telling the world why your company is special, try turning the table and letting your customers tell you. How are they using your advice or what are they doing with your products? Take inspiration from social media to fuel a content piece that will resonate deeply with your clients since it originated from them.

Along the same lines, try poking around YouTube for ideas. Watch videos related to your company or clientele until something sparks an idea and take a minute to read the comments on the videos you watch for more inspiration. We also recommend reading at least 3 or 4 posts on major blogs in your industry every day.

  1. Stockpile and Have Fun

We like to keep a running list of ideas for different topics and content marketing projects and constantly update it whenever we come across a new idea or inspiration. Include plenty of links to what inspired you so if you come back to it a few weeks later you’re not scratching your head blankly in front of a vague title. And when all else fails (or you are desperate to procrastinate) check out Portent’s Content Idea Generator. But let us warn you, any site that comes up with titles like “What The World Would Be Like if Ugly Sweat Pants Didn’t Exist,” “Homer Simpson’s Guide to Star Wars,” and “How Holiday Weight Gain Made Me a Better Person,” might lead you down a temporary rabbit hole of delightful guffaws.

  1. Be Nosey and Collaborate

Nosing around the competition’s website and marketing content is never a bad idea. Access their webinars, download their eBooks, and sign up for their newsletters. It’s a great way to stay on your toes and ahead of the curve when it comes to content creation.

On the flip side, with the “good will spirit” of the New Year, consider joining forces rather than trying to fight competitors. Seek out partnerships in your industry. Share the load of gathering resources and research to develop an eBook, report, or other large content project. If you have a blog, give it a fresh feel and broader audiences by inviting guest posts from other well-known bloggers and companies.

Want some more customized content ideas just for you? Drop us a line; we’re more than happy to help out.

 

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Hey, what “About Us”?

5 key elements to maximize the potential of your “About Us” page

When it comes to website content, we tend to focus on the obvious—blog posts, social engagement, calls to action. But, you might be surprised to hear that it’s actually the “About Us” page that is one of the most visited pages on any given site (another reason it’s so important to regularly go over your website’s metrics).

Stop and think about it and it makes sense.

The About Us Page

The “About Us” page is where your potential customer comes to learn about your company and the people behind the scenes. They look here before deciding whether or not to take your business seriously. You don’t want to miss this opportunity to present engaging and creative content in a setting that seems the most relaxed and organic. Basically, this is your chance to make a killer first impression.

Ok, so you get it: the “About Us” page is a big deal. Now what?

As with all good content marketing, you must be sure the information on the page tells a compelling story in an accessible way. An effective “About Us” page, then, should include these five fundamental aspects.

The Five Keys to a Great About Page

  1. Your company’s mission and purpose

Here’s your chance to set your company apart from the rest. Show off what makes you unique and why people should choose your company over the competition. A strong “About Us” page gives a personality and voice to your company’s vision.

Tell people why and how the company got started in the first place. What inspired you to create your business just might inspire others to do business with you. But even so, don’t go overboard: remember best practice and try to stay concise and targeted. You want to captivate not hold captive.

  1. Company history or timeline

Social media has made the timeline concept a familiar format that people respond to. Take visitors on a trip through your company’s history. Tell them when you started, how far you’ve come and show them what your company has accomplished along the way.

Be sure to include milestones and details about the growth of your business in a way that is visually engaging. Timelines are a great way to present a large amount of information in a format other than just boring, old paragraphs. (Hmmm, rethinking the format of this blog post suddenly.)

  1. Profiles or bios of team members

Now’s the time to let the passion driving your company’s vision shine. It’s real, living, breathing people who make up your company, after all. “Meeting the team” helps visitors connect on a more personal level, which enhances their relationship with your company as a potential customer.

And, despite the professional purpose of your site, this content doesn’t have to sound formal in order to achieve credibility. In fact, most people find it easier to connect with real human beings, so go ahead and let your employees express their personalities. You could even include Social Media profiles to make your business look approachable and engaging.

  1. Graphics or visuals of your business concept

Never underestimate the appeal of the infographic. Well-designed graphics will always pack a stronger punch than long-winded explanations of your business concept. Something that is easier to immediately understand will leave a lasting impression. After all, if people can’t figure out what you do, how will they know if they need your product or service?

  1. Multimedia content

There’s no way around it—internet attention spans mean people are much more likely to click on a play button than read down the length of a page. So, why not make a video that tells your story and allow it to speak for itself?

These days the integration of video and multimedia elements on websites is second nature, so it’s really up to you to open up this excellent avenue of communication with your customers.

Plus, uploading a video to YouTube or a sound clip to SoundCloud also offers an additional platform for promotion and exposure. You’ll increase the chances of people connecting with it, sharing it and coming back to your fantastic website and that killer “About Us” page.

Want even more inspiration? We found some great ideas here: bestaboutpages.com

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Writing 101: Readability Tools

Bottom line; reading has changed.  We skim.  We speed read.  We skip altogether.  Sure, when you are ready to devour the next chapter of your favorite novel like a piece of chocolate cake and are excitedly looking forward to curling up somewhere comfortable and take your time reading each page.  But the business blogs you follow?  The eNewsletters you receive?  The social media you scan periodically?  Less like cake, and more like a 5 Hour Energy; a little hit, then move on.

Readability tools ensure that if all they do is glance at your blog post (because you’re writing blogs all the time now, right?), they’ll be able to easily draw out, and remember, the most important points.

The following readability tools are basic, but extremely important.  They could be difference between readers digesting your content, or skipping the meal altogether.

Key Readability Tips

  • Use bold type sparingly and only to help key ideas jump out to the reader.  Reiterating key ideas and quotes is often done in magazine articles and is just as effective in online content.
  • Bullet points are a great way to paraphrase information and draw the reader’s eye to the most important points by pulling them out of the body of your text.
  • Enumerations, or listing items by number, is more formal than using bullet points, but is best for ordering ideas or data.
  • Italics, like bold type, help to draw the reader’s eye to important ideas.  However, they are most effective when used to highlight negative words like not, no, and but which can often be read incorrectly if the content is only being scanned.

Simple tools? Yes.

Essential tools? Heck yes.

Looking for even more writing tips? Or just plain impressed with the readability of this blog post? Come back and read some more.