Why Messaging Matters (and All That Jazz)
Messaging is a big part of your brand.
When we talk about all the components of brand development, we often hear some version of, "We understand our company so well — why do we need messaging?" Indeed, most people who know their businesses well can write and talk about it — going on and on and on. And that's the problem. They can share everything there is to know about the company in 20 paragraphs or more. But they need to get the most important idea across in 15 words or less.
Let me put it another way. In the 2002 award-winning movie-musical Chicago, there's a scene in which murderess Roxie Hart is preparing for a press conference. She has all kinds of ideas about what she wants to say — but her lawyer, Billy Flynn, keeps telling her to repeatedly tell the reporters, “We both reached for the gun.” The reason? “We can only sell them one idea at a time.”
One idea? But we have so many!
Mr. Flynn gets it partially right. You can sell people multiple related ideas if your audience is primed and ready for them. This simple step is where many marketers, execs, and sales representatives go wrong. They assume their audience already understands the most important thing they should know about their business, product or service. For them, a complex web of ideas is easy to grasp because they live and breathe that content every day. So, they jump in, confidently spouting features and benefits. Then, they wonder why all that information doesn’t sink in.
Then, there’s this situation: You're engaged in a discussion with a customer or prospect who latches onto a peripheral train of thought. If you respond without an intentional effort to bring the conversation back to where you want it, you allow the other party to control your narrative. The focus of the engagement veers away from the main points you wanted to make. And sometimes, you get dragged so far out into the weeds that it's difficult to return to your original line of communication.
You’ve probably seen communications go supremely right, too. Regardless of the situation or audience, everything goes smoothly, and everyone understands, feels, and believes what they should about the company.
Messaging makes the difference.
The people in that last scenario don’t have superpowers. It’s possible that they got lucky. But more likely, they have a strong messaging platform and know how to use it.
A messaging platform starts with the most important thing anyone needs to know about your organization, product or service. And that number one thing has to be simple — ideally, only 10-15 words, uncomplicated by multiple supporting points (those come later). That top-line message doesn't have to be a tagline (although it can be). But it does have to finish the sentence, "If people walk away from any point of engagement with us knowing only one thing, it has to be ________."
If people understand that one thing, chances are they’ll wonder, “How do you do that?” or “What does that look like?” That’s when you can bring in those supporting points, which we refer to as "support pillars." These single words or short phrases identify discrete things that make your organization, product, or service unique and special.
Then, under each of those support pillars, you'll have proof points. These are pieces of essential content and information that reinforce each pillar. They can be as simple as key statistics or as complex as a case study. But each one enables you to demonstrate that you're not just claiming certain qualities — you can back them up with proof.
The advantages of a powerful messaging platform.
Even though a good messaging platform should fit on a single page, it isn’t the kind of thing you publish or share externally. Instead, you should think of the messaging platform as a communications guide and metric. For instance, as a guide, the platform can help you:
- See how and where the key points you communicate reinforce one or more proof points, as well as the top-line message.
- Inform all communications — formal, informal, electronic, on paper, and in-person.
- Address any challenges or concerns while keeping the narrative from veering into the weeds.
Likewise, as a metric, your messaging platform should help you:
- Maintain consistency across multiple communications media and situations.
- Evaluate how well your communications help audiences focus on your top-line message.
- Adjust communications when necessary to ensure alignment with your overall brand.
The development process is exciting – but that’s only the beginning.
The power of a great messaging platform is often apparent before the platform is ever put into use. Indeed, when we develop one for a client, we often conduct internal workshops, external interviews, and an in-depth review of written communications. The result is a compelling and revealing experience that delivers value in and of itself. However, businesses that stop at this point risk turning the platform into shelfware. That is, everyone looks at it, agrees that it captures the essence of the company, and then disappears onto a shelf.
The messaging platform shouldn’t function as a script that changes natural communications into something akin to a repeated recording. Even when the top-line and supporting messages are crisp and concise, you want them to feel natural. After all, different people communicate in different ways. And individuals express themselves differently in person, online, and in print material.
In other words, it takes training and practice to feel comfortable using the platform on a day-to-day basis. But, as the messaging platform becomes a natural support tool for your communications, remarkable results become possible. No matter how or where people engage with your company, they'll find consistency. They'll grasp the most crucial things they need to know about your business. They will be primed and ready to eagerly absorb everything you want to share. And that paves the way for you to improve the solutions you offer, strengthen relationships, drive sales and take your business forward.
Come Together: Collaborative Creativity Advice from The Beatles
When people talk about the most successful creative collaborations of all time, The Beatles almost always make the list. With 10 Grammys, 11 number one albums, and innovations that revolutionized rock music, it's no wonder musicians, historians, and fans alike have been seeking insights from Peter Jackson's multi-part documentary series, Get Back. In The New York Times, The City editor Jere Hester wrote about creativity lessons gleaned from the Fab Four. But, I couldn’t help but take away a master class in collaborative creativity – featuring these essential takeaways:
At the start of a creative project, it’s easy to limit your ideas with constraints surrounding budget, biases, and worst of all, "the way it's always been done." When Paul McCartney cheerfully insisted that the group could write 14 new songs in two weeks to record them for a television show, George Harrison found the idea so impossible that he (temporarily) quit. Don’t be like George. With creative work, it’s always easier to start big and pare back than to start small and build up. And when you come up with the ideas that tickle your brain and make you think, “Oh… we can’t get away with THAT, can we?” pay attention.
When creative people work together, conflicts can happen. Even when you agree on great ideas, it’s easy to clash over how to bring them to life. And, when you’ve got multiple creative minds at odds with each other, frustrations can run high. At one point, the Beatles could hardly speak to one another, let alone be in the same room together. But in the documentary, we see them realize that they can still riff off each other’s ideas, playing and singing together. Remember that you’re a team of individuals with the same overall objectives. Even when you get frustrated with each other's style, personality, or other quirks, you can – and should – rely on each other’s talents to make the work better.
Picture Yourself in a Boat on a River…
Of course, the real world doesn’t have marmalade skies or girls with kaleidoscope eyes. But John Lennon and Paul McCartney made the dreamlike world of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” easy for the band to bring to life – and easy for any listener to envision. If you can sell fresh ideas to each other, you can bring them to life for external audiences, too.
It's happened to all of us: You work together for so long that your ideas start to feel similar or stale. Don’t be afraid to mix things up with a new voice or two. When keyboardist Billy Preston joined The Beatles to record the rooftop sessions that ultimately became hits on the album, Let It Be, he revitalized the fraying dynamic between the bandmates. Yoko Ono added impromptu vocals. Ringo Starr stepped away from his drum set to write “Octopus’ Garden.” Maybe, it’s a new hire who isn’t even part of the official creative team. Or, you could bring in a “guest creative participant” for initial brainstorming. Either way, sometimes, a fresh perspective may be all you need to invigorate a tired process.
In both times of joyful play and, later, frustrating conflict, The Beatles were always disciplined about the work. In Get Back, we see them honing lyrics and rethinking arrangements until they get them right. And this was intentional. Paul McCartney had two words for a lack of focus and work ethic: “Un-swinging. Unhip.” He’s right. When success feels distant, persistence and a shared commitment to your creative process can pull a struggling collaborative process forward.
Even as a group remains committed to the business at hand, conversations and attention spans can wander and brainstorms can take unexpected turns. Let them. Sometimes, the most exciting ideas come when the pressure of a specific task is broken by an offhand comment, an unusual connection, or even just something that makes everyone laugh. Other times, you can return to thoughts that didn't resonate the first time but whose merits you can’t ignore. It's great when a brilliant bolt of inspiration emerges, fully formed. But when it doesn't, you have to be willing to find brilliance in unexpected places.
Who’s Your Favorite Beatle?
A quick poll of our Relish team revealed a complete diversity of opinion. Pam Willoughby said that in her teen years, she liked John, but now she’s more interested in the underplayed but talented George, who is also the favorite of Michael Palermo and Leigh Flemister. Paul Marquardt recalls that as a kid, he gravitated toward Paul because their names were similar (“I thought of myself as Paul Marquardtney – maybe we were related somewhere!"). Noah Chen admitted to being a "Post-Beatles" listener but says he admires the solo work of John Lennon. Mia Johnson told us she didn’t have a favorite – that the band’s value was in what its members accomplished together. And me? As a serious kid, I was fascinated by George. But I've increasingly embraced the lighter side of things, which brought me back to Paul, and lately, the fun-loving Ringo.
In short, we’re as diverse as the Fab Four, which works with the lessons above to fuel our success together. How about you? We’d love to hear your thoughts, experiences, concerns, and questions about collaborative creativity – or even just your favorite Beatle or song. I’ve Got a Feeling we can Come Together with you to create Something spectacular.
Five Things Authentic Communicators Have in Common
Everyone wants to come across as an authentic communicator. Authenticity generates trust and welcomes engagement. It encourages loyalty. And, it guides people along the sales journey, often improving sales. At the same time, authentic communications are harder than ever to create. In a world of Facebook groups, message boards, and public servers, consumers have so many ways to become immersed in the things that interest them – which means they are more savvy and aware than ever. They can spot insincerity, vagueness, and stretched truths in an instant.
As marketers and brand strategists, we’ve got to take the hint. When it comes to communicating about everything from our products and services to our value propositions and work environments, authenticity is essential. So, our Relish team set out to discover what differentiates authentic communicators from everyone else. And our findings identified five qualities of our clients whose communications consistently radiate authenticity.
- PASSION
If you’re bringing products or services to consumers, you better believe in their ability to improve the lives of others. If you don’t, your communications will feel fake, especially to consumers who may genuinely care about your product. The more knowledgeable and passionate they are about your industry or where it touches their business, the more they will want to see the same kind of passion in your communications.
For instance, when Mueller & Associates commissioned us to create a series of videos highlighting their services and culture, company President and Founder Brian Mueller was adamant about expressing an authentically passionate tone. Specifically, the videos would have to project the same confident, high-end experience that his successful, entrepreneurial clients enjoy when working with the firm.
- ENGAGEMENT
An informed audience can tell when you're faking it, talking at them instead of with them. That's why authentic communicators put themselves in the position of their customers and prospects.
"Mueller & Associates was built by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs," declares Brian Mueller at the start of one of his company's videos. It's a simple statement that immediately establishes a sense of connection and engagement. It also encourages clients to trust that Mueller will do the best possible work because they're all similar leaders engaged in similar efforts.
- LISTENING
When most people talk about communicating a brand, they think about how a company displays itself to its customers. However, anyone who’s ever had a partner can tell you that communication is a two-way street. And, in marketing as in life, getting to know your audience is just as valuable as getting them to know you.
Authentic communicators are as concerned about what their audiences have to say as they are about being heard. For example, marketers at the Lenbrook senior living community in Atlanta frequently talk to residents about what they like best about living there and where they see opportunities for improvement. These conversations generate insights that enable us to craft genuine, engaging marketing material for them.
- TRUE STORIES
If you want to stand out in 2022, find ways to show the human side of your organization. After all, as your customers interact more with your product and brand, it’s only natural that they want to know more about the people behind it.
Financial requests run the risk of seeming cold or cloying. However, when Relish worked with Columbia Theological Seminary to promote annual giving opportunities, we avoided those pitfalls by focusing on real-world stories. Throughout the copy, anecdotes showed how Columbia has impacted the lives of its students, graduates, and donors, conveying the myriad ways in which this vibrant, humanistic organization has made a tangible difference to many. The result was a meaningful connection between donor contributions and their lasting impact.
- CONCISE CLARITY
When you’re passionate about something, you can talk about it in great detail and with a high degree of accuracy. But, the most authentic communicators know how to draw audiences in with a clear, simple language that anyone can understand. Too many communicators make the mistake of sharing big chunks of knowledge all at once. This is the marketing equivalent of over-sharing in a personal conversation. The most authentic communicators communicate expertise while also leaving room for audiences to want more and engage further with the brand.
The days of casting a wide net are waning, if not already over. The key to flourishing in this new age is the ability to connect with passionate, knowledgeable, primarily digital communities whose members want more than sales pitches. Pursue that kind of connection, and you open the door to fresh, creative communication that rings true and pays off in the form of better customer relationships, loyalty, and sales.
If you want to catapult your company into the era of authentic communicators, give us a call. We would love to help your brand find its authentic voice.
The Employee Attraction/Retention Crisis:
Lessons Learned from Senior Living Successes
“Do people just not want to work?”
It’s a question high on the minds of many business leaders – particularly those in the healthcare, hospitality, and retail sectors, where public-facing jobs are more challenging than ever to fill and keep filled. People need to work. Jobs are available. So, what's the problem with employee attraction and retention? Is it an employer branding issue? Or something else entirely?
The initial challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic drove creative responses to workforce challenges – many of which addressed the untapped potential of virtual media. But, organizations whose business require in-person engagement with customers and co-workers can’t take advantage of Cloud-based capabilities. Combine that with everything from vaccine and mask-resistance to the additional challenges of compensating for an understaffed workforce, and it's easy to see: These businesses will need to identify and implement new workforce attraction and retention solutions.
The Senior Living Sector Shows How it's Done.
Fortunately, our research has identified trends led by innovative senior living and senior serving organizations changing how they’ve “always done things” to drive employee retention and attraction. Some of these changes are borderline revolutionary, while others are pretty simple:
- Raise and equalize wages. Raising minimum wages to $15/hour is a good starting point to demonstrate good faith. And, as workers take on additional responsibilities to compensate for understaffed organizations, they should also earn extra compensation and bonuses for their loyalty.
- Prioritize and improve benefits. Beyond basic healthcare, senior communities are gaining traction by expanding benefits such as adding vision and dental coverage, matching 401K contributions, and assuming a larger share of benefits expenses. Periodic rewards in the form of gift cards for groceries and other necessities are also highly appreciated by staff members.
- Support and encourage growth. Communities that make it easy for team members to add new certifications and earn college degrees by providing tuition assistance are seeing improvements in employee retention. Additionally, short-term “microlearning” opportunities significantly improve staff confidence. And, programs geared toward improving relationships between employees, contractors, administrators, residents, and their families also help improve morale.
- Help overcome biases. Programs and facilitated discussions with both staff and residents designed to acknowledge and address biases about age and race improve attitudes and engagement.
- Welcome employee talents. While staff members must provide a consistent experience, job enthusiasm rises when management offers opportunities for staff to suggest and implement fresh ideas (e.g., making music videos with residents) or bring artistry to their work (e.g., making desserts that are as beautiful as they are tasty).
- Communicate, communicate, communicate. Whatever innovations you offer to your staff members, the keys to enthusiastic acceptance are framing your offerings in the context of their value. Communicate them clearly to build awareness, encourage adoption, and celebrate successes. Full disclosure: We at Relish Marketing can be a big help in this area – from strategic direction to creative ideas and implementation support.
Can it Work In Other Public-Facing Sectors? (Short answer: Yes)
Ultimately, these employee attraction and retention changes all come down to taking meaningful steps that demonstrate genuine understanding and appreciation. These steps all can be adapted and applied to many healthcare, hospitality, and retail organizations. Of course, everyone hopes that we are moving closer and closer to putting the pandemic behind us. However, the issues driving worker dissatisfaction and frustration in public-facing sectors offer an excellent opportunity for leaders to make changes that will improve talent attraction and retention for many years to come.
How Did They DO That? Medal-worthy Marketing at the Tokyo Olympics
One of the best things about summer (at least every four years) is the Olympic Games. Watching top athletes is part of it, of course. But the Olympics also provide a forum for strategic marketing communications that can be just as thrilling.
This year in Tokyo, some powerful athletic moments and compelling advertising came together in a commercial aired early in the games by Comcast. The ad, titled The Sportsmanship Effect, paid homage to how seeing elite athletes treat each other with kindness and respect motivates kids to do the same. The implication is that we’re inspiring a new generation to play to win without making enemies of their opponents. It’s so full of feel-good vibes that viewers might almost miss something else that makes this advertisement such an exceptional bit of storytelling. Almost.
Like many of the media giant’s Olympic commercials this year, the ad interspersed its imagery of kids with moments of powerful sportsmanship that viewers will have just seen – in some cases, only moments earlier. According to Comcast Senior Vice President of Brand Marketing Todd Arata, the goal is to make people wonder, "How did that happen? I literally just watched that!’”
Since Comcast owns NBCUniversal, which owns the Games' broadcast rights, the company has unprecedented logistical opportunities. Even so, this ad represents the kind of strategic and creative fusion that we're all about at Relish Marketing.
Virtual Meetings are Here to Stay: 8 Tips to Make Yours Stronger.
Phone call overload. Zoom fatigue. Isolation exhaustion. It feels relentless – but fortunately, at some point, it will be safe to meet in-person again. That said, working through a pandemic has taught us a lot. Some of those virtual meetings really could have been emails. And, when you add up the costs of in-person meetings and conferences – from air travel and lodging to conference venues, food and drink, entertainment, swag and more – it's a lot of money. Some of those large conferences in the past didn’t deliver enough ROI to make them worthwhile. So, even when it’s safe to reconvene together, it’s also safe to assume that businesses will choose to be more judicious about what conferences they host and attend in person. Some events will remain as virtual conferences. Others may blend a live format with videoconferencing and online meeting capabilities to broaden their audience.
In short: virtual conferences and online meetings are here to stay. But does that mean you’re doomed to a future of never-ending, mind-numbing videoconferences? Absolutely not.
The trick is to raise your online meetings (or the online components of hybrid meetings) to a higher standard that can improve your reach, fight inertia, reduce distraction and increase engagement. It’s a tall order, but we’ve pulled together eight fundamental ways to do it.
Know When to Go Big and When to Go Small. Both Have Advantages.
We all know that it’s easier to engage a small audience than a giant one. But we also know that if you restrict access to your virtual meeting, fewer people can attend. Think about what makes the most sense for any given online event – or session within an event. If you want to increase engagement among a curated cohort, keep sessions small while providing networking, collaboration and conversation opportunities. To get more people connected with your content, consider raising your attendance caps – either for the entire meeting or just for, say, the daily keynote sessions.
Define the Capabilities You’ll Need in Advance.
Match your online platform and conferencing technology to the needs of your meeting or conference, not the other way around. For instance, do you need your platform to:
- Sync invitations and registration confirmations with online calendars? It can save time and keep people from accidentally scheduling over your event.
- Record meetings and offer transcripts? These options can provide opportunities for "Encore Playbacks" and "Highlight Reels," which can deepen engagement with attendees and enable connection with people who couldn't make it.
- Offer real-time chat? This is critical for networking and other forms of audience participation.
- Customize meeting rooms? People may be more inclined to go to a place called "The Collaboration Station" than "Meeting Room #27."
- Brand the conference with names and logos? That may be essential if you want people to remember the conference and its host more than its platform.
- Include a mobile app? Especially if they include secure admission credentials, scheduling capabilities and possibly even quizzes and games, apps can reinforce how connected attendees feel to your event.
- Provide on-screen collaboration capabilities for participants? Tools like real-time document editing and annotation can help you achieve meaningful, productive connections between session participants.
- Support multiple session styles (e.g., webinars, collaborative workrooms, entertainment and breaks?) Even highly engaging content will become monotonous if every session has the same structure.
Whatever capabilities your online conferencing platform provides, you must do more than simply enable them. Encourage your speakers to design their sessions with cues for audience interaction. For instance, if you can do real-time polling during a presentation, your presenters should use that capability, telling attendees how to respond to questions and providing aggregate results before the session is over. Likewise, if you're offering a panel discussion, look for ways to also provide an easily organized, live Q&A with the audience.
Encourage Audience Participation Beyond Technology.
While it’s important to leverage technology to make your presentations look and sound better, no amount of conferencing technology will overcome a dull, uninspired lecture. Help your presenters raise their presentation game. Encourage them to lean into the elements of a great story to immerse audiences in their presentations, using music and graphics to set – and change – the mood. Consider the possibilities of “choose your own adventure” style choices so that participants feel like they’re helping to drive that story. Seed Q&A sessions with questions that staff members can ask so that no participant needs to risk being the first to raise a hand with an inquiry. Finally, consider bringing in industry greats or celebrities to act as M.C.s for key sessions or to pop in as "surprise guest-stars." Whatever you do, your aim should be to keep people from sliding into feelings of sameness from one moment to the next, which can drive distraction.
Think Collaboration over Presentation.
Even the most powerful speech is unlikely to give audiences a transformative experience. Let those powerful, TED Talk-style presentations tee up opportunities for audience members to discuss, interact and collaborate on related ideas. Keep breakout groups small enough to facilitate real conversation. And while random groupings of people can yield unexpected connections, you may be able to generate more compelling results with deliberate groups organized around specific breakout tasks. Above all, provide collaborative groups with opportunities to present what they come up with and build on the engagement they forge in these sessions.
Don’t Wait for the Event to Build Engagement.
Remember that your participants’ enthusiasm for your event should start long before the conference or meeting begins. Map the critical digital experience touchpoints in your attendees’ journey from registration or ticket purchase through the event itself to post-conference follow-up and feedback. Then, make sure that those milestones enable positive and even unexpectedly delightful interactions. These interactions can entertain – for instance, by providing a quick, animated celebration of inclusion with ticket purchase confirmation. They can also be functional – say, by accompanying registration confirmation with a secure, easy-to-access place where attendees can return for session entry codes and passwords. Consider sending people the same swag that they might pick up at an in-person meeting. Likewise, if a live meeting would have included a free lunch, send people an Uber Eats or Doordash gift card. Don’t let up when the conference is over, either. Encourage continued engagement via follow-up content or rewards for participation and attendance.
Reinforce In-meeting Processes.
Not everyone will be as familiar with how you want people to behave and interact in your virtual environment. So be sure to publish and reinforce your expectations for:
- General online etiquette (such as when to mute mics and turn cameras on or off)
- When and how people should ask questions. Will you have a moderator? Is there a way to virtually raise a hand?
- How people can make appointments to meet key leaders – or each other
- Which sessions are pre-recorded and which will allow for live interaction
- When and how you will provide time and space for informal conversations, entertainment, facilitated networking, breaks, etc.
- When and how people should follow up after the meeting
Then, couple this information with technical support staff on hand to help people with these processes and procedures. That way, attendees can focus on the conference, not their technology.
Encourage Networking.
Part of why people attend events is to connect with others they’ve seen online or with whom they share perspectives and experiences. Consider ways to support this form of engagement beyond opening an online “networking lounge.” Place yourself, your staff (and even any event sponsors) in the role of “business matchmaker.” Issue a questionnaire in advance so that you can plan to introduce people with shared interests and backgrounds who might otherwise not ever work with each other. Ideally, every online event participant should get to enjoy one of these introduction opportunities.
Allow for Some Fun!
We all know the adage about all work and no play. So, don’t pretend that your attendees are work machines – especially if they’re all attending remotely. Consider a short session when people can introduce their pets. Or maybe you could include a session where people can follow along with a chef to make a fun snack together. Host a virtual background contest with prizes for the most creative, most on-brand, most effective, and so on. These fun additions can help people let down their guard and bring their most authentic selves to the meeting.
Even when you are finally able to hold in-person events, our current times have opened the door to many advantages that you can gain from providing rich, meaningful online experiences. Work some virtual meeting expertise into your meeting planning and execution toolbox, and you'll benefit from the best of both worlds.
Got Employer Branding Social Goals? Monitor These Metrics.
If your employer brand communications mix includes social media, you already know that metrics matter. But tempting as it may be to obsess over all the available social media metrics, smart marketers and HR professionals understand the importance of focusing on the right social metrics for specific employer branding goals. For instance:
HR GOAL: Increase reach/Attract talent
SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS: Followers and Follower Growth
Conventional wisdom says that your number of followers isn't as important as how engaged they are. But it would be a mistake to think that it doesn't matter how many followers you have. Especially if you're marketing across multiple social channels to attract talent, here’s why you should pay attention to the number of followers you have on each channel. Let's say that after six months of building a social presence on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter, your Instagram profile has far more followers than your other sites. That indicates an opportunity to create more Instagram stories, where the greatest number of people will see them. Likewise, if your YouTube channel doesn’t have as many followers as your Instagram – but your follower count has been rising steadily each month – that indicates a different kind of opportunity. Look at which videos are getting the most attention. Then, do more of what's clearly working.
HR GOAL: Improve employer brand awareness
SOCIAL MEDIA METRIC: Social media mentions
Track how often others talk about your company by name on social media – as well as how often your employer branding language is restated – and you will demonstrate brand awareness. Track when those mentions happen most often, and you'll get a sense of the best days and times for you to post. And, if you expand your tracking efforts to include mentions of your competitors, that can reveal opportunities to improve your performance and strengthen your market share.
HR GOAL: Strengthen employer brand perceptions
SOCAIL MEDIA METRICS: Tone and influencer support
Monitoring mentions isn't just a numbers game. You'll want to pay attention to tone – is it positive, negative, or neutral? Obviously, we all want to feel like our consumer brands are beloved and employer brands are attractive, as reinforced by positive mentions. But don't be afraid of negative ones. They will tell you when you might have a problem you need to address. And they can open the door to turning that negative impression around through positive engagement. Respond to negative mentions in a way that shows you're not just going through the motions or sharing a scripted answer like, "We appreciate your feedback." Similarly, when you get positive mentions, show those people some love, thanking them for their enthusiasm, encouraging them to keep spreading the word.
You should also pay attention to who is mentioning you – and how influential they are. When top influencers talk about you, their thousands or even hundreds of thousands of fans pay attention. It may be the most highly targeted advertising you can get. Often, these comments don't cost you a thing. Sometimes, they can happen with nothing more than a free sample. Regardless, it may be worthwhile to invest in deepening your engagement with top influencers. Talk to them about how you can support each other. If you do it right, the results can pay off in a big way.
HR GOALS: Employer brand engagement and conversions
SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS: Website referrals, activity, and applications
Of course, you want to see which social media channels are driving click-throughs to your careers website. Beyond that, pay attention to what those users do once they get there. Compare your social referrals with the average time users spend on any given page or job listing. Look specifically for users who spend at least 60 seconds on your website, which typically correlates with a higher likelihood of joining a company’s talent community or applying for a specific position. And look at which referrals generate that activity. For instance, you may find that Twitter generates more referrals than your other social channels but the people who spend the most time on your site and create talent profiles come from Reddit and Quora. That suggests that you should pay more attention to your activity and mentions on those two sites.
HR GOAL: Increase bottom line value
SOCIAL MEDIA METRIC: Conversion points and employee/alumni engagement
Human Resources and Marketing aren’t often the departments people think of as generating bottom line value. But, with the right social metrics, they can be. Google Analytics allows you to assign goals and dollar values to each conversion. If you’re tracking where those conversions come from, you can calculate the dollar value generated by individual social channels. If you know how much a filled position is worth to the company and track customer journeys from their initial conversions off social media, you can calculate each one's value.
Additionally, keep in mind that your current and former employees’ positive engagement with key social channels can also deliver significant bottom line value. Consistently positive comments by people who work or have worked for your company can significantly boost your attractiveness to employment candidates. And, of course, happy current employees cost the company far less than full scale talent attraction efforts.
If you agree that these numbers sound exciting, we want to hear from you! We love talking metrics with business owners, executives, and marketers. There’s so much to track, measure, scrutinize, and follow, which is part of why we’re here. We’ve built our success on creating the right combination of strategy and creative – including identifying HR goals and analyzing the right metrics – to get our clients results that drive their success.
Silver Linings: Six Benefits of Virtual Working that may Last Beyond the COVIDtimes
As marketing consultants specializing in everything from digital experiences and SEO to advertising and strategy, we’re trained to see challenges as opportunities. It's impossible to ignore the human and business costs of the year 2020, but the truth is that as we’ve helped our clients adapt, pivot and grow through these times, we've learned a lot about process efficiency, work productivity and performance. And at least six of those lessons can continue to serve businesses well beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
Making our own schedules can make us more productive. Working remotely, often amidst the competing needs of spouses, children, pets, and other "home" components, complicates the work-life juggling act. But it also forces us to be more flexible about how we meet deadlines and get things done. Whether we’re finding new quiet times of the day to work, taking more walks outside or just watching our children play, our flexible schedules are lending new flexibility and productivity to the way we think and work.
Less driving gives us more time. Maybe you only live five minutes from your office – and anywhere else you drove to before the pandemic. But especially in Atlanta, many of us used to lose as many as two or even three hours a day to commuting. That's a lot of time to regain. And - bonus - if people continue to work remotely, traffic won't be as bad even when we do choose to drive somewhere. Which also means more time back in our schedules.
It’s easy to learn new technologies when they’re necessary. Before the pandemic, implementing a new technology might have meant extensive time, testing and training. These days, there's little time for that. We pick up techniques and apps that we might never have used before by using them (think videoconferencing and project management). We help each other out. We make mistakes and learn from them. It's the equivalent of learning to swim by all jumping in the water together. And we're better at it than we may have imagined.
We need fewer meetings – and the ones we have can be more efficient. Have you noticed that since our meetings take place via phone and videoconference, we have fewer of them? Or that the meetings we have are shorter and more focused? As it turns out, many of those long, drawn out meetings of the past really CAN just be emails.
We may not need business travel and office space as much as we thought. Put all of the above together, and one thing is clear: Distributed workforces, technologies and meetings are probably here to stay. And sure – when we finally arrive in the times we'll call "after," we'll want to meet in person again. But we'll probably be more discerning about which meetings would be just as effective over the phone or via videoconference.
We benefit from touching base beyond basic conference calls. Our Relish Marketing team has taken to having Friday afternoon happy hours together. Sometimes we talk about work. Sometimes we don't. But just seeing each other and talking the way we did while taking a break at the office has value. It makes us laugh and remember how much we enjoy each other's company.
Of course, no one can predict the future. But we can rest assured that the flexibility, technologies, skills and perspectives we’re learning now will serve us long after the pandemic is over.
Nine Ways to Look and Sound Better on Videoconferences
Remember face to face meetings? Yeah, we do, too. But now that they’re all happening on Zoom, Teams, GoToMeeting, Webex, Skype, Hangouts and other online apps, it’s time to up your game. Which is why we’ve put together these tips to help you look and sound better on videoconferences.
Raise Your Camera. Generally speaking, you should be close enough to your webcam to be heard, but not so close that you look distorted. Set the camera angle so that you’re looking up slightly. In most cases, that draws attention to the eyes, minimizes the appearance of double chins and keeps people from staring up your nose. You can get a dedicated stand for your phone, laptop or tablet – or you can just stack a few books underneath it.
Upgrade your tech. If you deliver lots of presentations and don't want to replace your older phone or laptop, you may want to get a higher-end webcam and mic. They'll filter out noise (both video and audio) and make you look and sound better.
Cast yourself in a better light. "Shady" isn't an adjective that you want attached to your appearance. When half your face is in shadow, people have to work harder to see you. So, make sure that there is light pointing toward your face (no backlighting).
Look at the camera. In real life, you want to look people in the eyes when you're talking to them. If you try to look directly at anyone else's eyes in a video conference, it will seem like you are focused elsewhere. Look directly at the camera when you're talking, or when you want to appear attentive so that your gaze appears to be aimed directly at the other people on your call.
Simplify your surroundings. Too much clutter will detract from your appearance. People might pay more attention to the crumpled paper and junk mail around you than to the meeting. The good news is that you don't have to redecorate – just get your stuff out of camera range. Alternatively, you can use an appropriate virtual background (see the "Relish Your Brand" tip below).
Minimize ambient sound. It goes without saying if you're not talking, your device should be on mute. Beyond that, nobody can keep their dog from barking when the mail truck arrives. But you can set yourself up in a small room and close the door if your house tends to be on the noisier side. Likewise, make sure to silence anything electronic that can make noise (i.e., a smart speaker or phone ringer).
Look like the pro you are. Dress for a video call the way you’d dress for an in-person meeting. Sure, certain groups are likely to be more casual – and you wouldn’t want to look overly formal. But you don’t want to show up in pajamas or workout clothes either. We’ve heard that some people come to video conferences well-dressed only from the waist up. But what if you suddenly have to get up? Don’t take chances.
Get a preview. Log onto the videoconferencing system – but don't click "join the call" – about five to fifteen minutes before the meeting time. Check your camera position, lighting, look and virtual background (if you're using one). Make sure you know where the "share your screen" and mute buttons are. That way, when you do join the call, you won't give yourself or anyone else any surprises.
Relish your brand! We’ve said it many times before – your brand is more than just your logo and tagline. It’s everything that contributes to the visceral, emotional feeling people have about your business at every point of contact. That means that the look and feel of everyone representing your company should also reflect your brand. One easy way to do that on a videoconference is with a set of backgrounds that reinforce your brand. That way, everyone from your team can have their own virtual environment – but together, they communicate a unified look and feel.
Especially since video meetings are probably here to stay, now is a great time to make a few small changes and raise your presence to a higher level.
2020 Digital Marketing Trends – 3 to Follow Right Now.
As you look at whether your 2020 marketing needs a mid-year pivot, don’t forget about your digital marketing. As always, digital experiences – including your website, mobile user experience, social presence, blog and other digital content must be a critical component of your overall marketing strategy. And especially now, there are some compelling reasons to reexamine your marketing presence – and follow the 2020 digital marketing trends that will make a difference going forward.
We recently had a terrific discussion with our longtime partner, Jason Sirotin, co-founder and CMO at Brain Bytes Creative. In it, we tackled a lot of big ideas, including three 2020 digital marketing trends that smart businesses will want to follow:
- Digital Trend 1: Audio. "Hey Siri." "Okay Google." "Alexa." If you’ve uttered these phrases (or heard anyone else say them), you know: audio search is becoming more deeply embedded in the way people live and work. So, it stands to reason that audio content is going to matter. Right now, you get answers in the digital assistant's voice, based on text-based content. That's not going to change, especially with requests for quick facts. But increasingly, we can expect to hear answers directly from the experts. Which means that now is the time to start creating podcasts and other audio elements for your pages. That way, when people ask the right questions, you and your brand representatives will give them the answers.
- Digital Trend 2: Proximity and Location. You know that old real estate saying that the three most important things for any business are "Location, location, location?" Well, with everyone largely carrying their search devices around with them, search engines will favor results that are nearby. That doesn’t mean that you should pepper every other sentence of your online presence with your location(s) – Google will rightly see this as inauthentic. But you should make sure that search engines can easily recognize where your products and services are.
- Digital Trend 3: Your Most Important Location – Online. There’s another old saying, newer than the one about location: “If you’re not online, you don’t exist.” That’s never been truer – especially with brick and mortar businesses struggling in the wake of COVID-19. Increasingly, many of those businesses will reopen. But until consistent behaviors, treatments and a vaccine reduce the risks associated with face-to-face interaction, the ability to do business online is more critical than ever. Be sure that you give clients and customers the ability to do business with you without having to enter a building or engage face-to-face with staff. And make that experience as rich, full-featured and above all easy as possible.
Beyond those trends, two other important messages for marketers emerged repeatedly. First, as Jason says, “The work is never “done” (nor should it be).” Remember that digital marketing, like all marketing, is a marathon, not a sprint. So, yes, look at what has worked in the past, but focus on what will be necessary for the future. As Jason explained, “Google and the other search engines are continually learning and evolving. Your digital presence needs to do the same.” Google has been focusing on Expertise, Authority and Trustworthiness (EAT) since 2018. However, their most recent core update includes adjustments for relevance because what was authoritative and trustworthy last year may no longer be so today. Your content must come together as a continually updated, interconnected web of relevant information, reinforcing your authority and connections to others who trust you.
Second, do it right or don’t do it at all. A successful digital presence requires ongoing research to make sure your content matches the way people are searching. Jason recommends using tools like Google Keyword Planner, Serpfox and SEMRush. It’s also important to couple those tools with regular Google, Twitter and Instagram searches for terms, as well as searches of competitive and complementary sites (i.e., similar businesses in different industries). A clear-eyed interpretation of the data is essential to eliminate the problems of inherent bias. And while conducting this research isn't difficult, it is time-consuming.
In other words, effective digital marketing is something that your team probably can do, but there are good reasons to partner with experts – for advice and direction, if not for the continual work of content development. Either way, as 2020 shapes up to be a watershed year for many businesses and industries, now is a critical time to capitalize on the trends that will make a difference going forward.