Seamless, sharp, and sophisticated. That is the vision that Front Porch Marketing has for you and your brand as we share why you should style your Instagram highlights.

With the right color scheme, design, and icons, you can drive more views and engagement with your Instagram bio at little to no cost.

If you are looking for a push to execute this vision and wow your audience the next time, they see your page, this is the blog for you!

The Vision

When you open up your company’s Instagram page, what is the first thing you see? Most likely, your eyes go to the colorful posts or maybe a bold profile picture with a strong branding icon, but acting as an overlooked middleman is a row of highlight icons. Currently, there may be as little as 0 or as many as 100 on your page – the sky is the limit.

Truly, the only limit that is regarded is that only up to 100 pictures can be posted within a story highlight, but highlights – much like a reel – should be seamless, sharp, and sophisticated and not fragmented, sloppy, and cluttered. Most importantly, they should be an extension of your brand’s story.  

The Highlight

Many take a lot of time and effort to create the perfect “story” to post on Instagram. Whether it includes colorful gifs, a unique poll, engaging videos, or a giveaway you are extending a vision to viewers about your brand and its values. What is disheartening about all that time and effort is that it dwindles in significance alongside the 24-hour frame that stories are set on. Plus it requires the utmost strategic thinking.

Now, with story highlight reels you are able to make the stories on your Instagram stay permanently on your profile for viewers to enjoy at any given moment. By adding this extra step to your Instagram branding strategy, you are able to strategically use a prime location on your bio and create an immediate place of engagement with users.

Step 1: Be Seamless

What is great about engagement is that you can cast the vision for what viewers see and find different ways to resonate with them. For example, aesthetics are incredibly favored amongst millennials and are a growing target market for many companies. Thus, considering aesthetics on all social media platforms allows you to connect with this audience and others like it.

To create a seamless experience for users, use highlights to promote content that can showcase your products or services, express your brand, drive traffic and market your business. If your profile has bold colors, seamlessly transition the same color palette to your story highlights while also extending a nod to your brand as a whole. If your posts have a color scheme, extend it to your highlight to establish immediate brand recognition or go with a splash of color to draw in your audience with a double look. No matter what you choose, think about your brand as a whole and embody that within your highlight story covers – the first picture that viewers see on a highlight reel.

Step 2: Be Sharp

When it comes to your story highlight covers, always use high-definition content and think “succinct” when it comes to titles. There is a 10–11 character count rule of thumb when it comes to highlight covers. The more characters you use, the higher the chance that your highlight title will end up with an ellipsis instead of the word you were trying to promote. Whether you use CTA words like “events,” “promotions,” “sales,” or “giveaways,” be consistent and above all, do not be misleading in any way.

Step 3: Be Sophisticated

Last but not least, when it comes to Instagram story highlights create a look of sophistication. By using sites like Canva, Unsplash, and/or Pinterest, there are 100’s of highlight cover designs that are pre-made and ready to go at a moments notice for you and your company. No matter if you choose icons, HD pictures, graphic designs or a color palette, always keep your brand at the forefront.

In Conclusion

First, to bring your Instagram to the next level, revamp the look of your Instagram’s aesthetics with a seamless, sharp, and sophisticated look. Second, when it comes to highlight covers think about what story you want your viewers to plug into. Third, see your platform through the viewers eyes to see which highlights you want them to engage with first.  In summary, bring the middleman to the forefront.

Chances are you have seen a post or two about what days and what times are the best for posting on social media. And in fact, they are all probably right, and probably wrong. You see, the best time and place for YOUR social media is totally dependent upon your followers.

Short Cuts to an Optimal Social Media Time and Place Posting Schedule

What people want is a quick fix to their social media. A set-it-and-forget it system that they can follow that requires the least amount of work. But social media is not a broadcast channel like television, radio, or a print ad. Social media is supposed to be SOCIAL. Your social media channels are the place where you can actually have one-on-one conversations with people who love your brand already. How do you know they love you already? They’ve chosen to follow you, haven’t they? So talk with them when they are sitting there ready to have that conversation.

Sure, there are general guidelines for posting on social media channels, many of which have to do with putting yourself in someone else’s shoes for a moment. When are people most likely scrolling thru Instagram? What are people doing on their lunch break besides eating? (hint: scrolling thru Instagram) What’s the last thing that people do before they go to sleep at night, while they’re laying in bed? (another hint: scrolling thru Instagram) You get the picture. So how do you determine what social media channels and times are the best for your brand? When can you maximize a conversation with your followers going forward? The short answer is “the past”.

The Right Channel for Your Social Media

Each social media platform has a specific and different purpose. By offering a little bit different perspective and content on each channel of social media (instead of using the channels to broadcast like a tv or radio station) a company can show their many sides and offer a more nuanced look at their company, much like you would develop a friendship with a real person and grow to appreciate the many facets of their personality. So after you’ve given your social media channels a spring cleaning, start looking at your analytics.

Social Media Analytics

Every platform you post on for your brand has some form of analytics. You can see a surprising amount of information about your followers in the insights part of your dashboard, whatever the platform. One of the most valuable pieces of information in there is when your followers are on the platform. Start there. Your followers might be the breakfast crowd, in which case 6:15 – 8:30am is a good time for you. Maybe your followers are night owls in which case, program your posts (or manually post them) after 9:00pm.

With 63% of American users checking Instagram at least once a day, and 74% of American users checking Facebook once a day – according to Hootsuite – , you’re sure to find at least one and probably more than one heavy use time in your follower insights.

Scheduling platforms like Hootsuite, Buffer and Planoly make it even easier – they look at the analytics of your followers and tell you the best times to post without the research. Taking advantage of these low-cost automation platforms can save you valuable time, so you can concentrate your efforts on content creation.

Past Performance

Look at your social media feed on any channel as an indicator of what to post in the future. Which posts did well? What type of content got the most likes or comments? Do more of that. Look to your past performance to guide your future endeavors.

What are your competitors doing?

Competitive research is not just for branding and creative. Take a look at what your competitors are posting – what, when and where – when you’re setting up your optimal schedule. Look for patterns in not just your own feed, but in the similar feeds of your competitors and do more of what they are doing the best.

Post, Rinse, Repeat

Testing your content in different forms and at different times will also provide key insights when scheduling the best times and places for your social media as part of your content marketing plan. There is no one-size-fits-all best time solution that will fit every grand, as your brand’s best time and best platform are just as unique as your branding.

With a little effort upfront, you can glean insights into your audience that will not only increase your engagement, but actually help your followers even more. They have questions they want answered and you have the answer – so use the information that is readily available and answer that question sooner.

The Clean Up 

Spring cleaning comes in many forms but have you extended it to your social media? Although this sounds like an odd notion, tidying up your social media ensures that your online platforms are building up daily engagement and generating leads. 

When you don’t pay attention to your social pages, your platforms become dated – something that should always be a priority to avoid. 

By focusing on these five points in your social media, you can make sure to revamp your social presence, renew your look, and refocus your brand strategy.

The Logo

When it comes to spring cleaning, start out with the basics. Your logo! Are your colors dated? Should you go brighter? Bolder? Is your logo still considered modern? These are all questions you should ask yourself to make sure that your company is putting their best foot forward and aligning with today’s day and age. 

The Header 

The header is one of the first things that your viewers will see when they come to Facebook and LinkedIn! When you look at it, ask yourself if the picture is…

1. High quality? 
2. Modern or dated? 
3. Reflecting the season your company is in? 
4. Updated with the awards and certificates your company has gotten throughout the year? 
5. Used across all platforms? 

Once these questions are answered, your social media strategy is that much closer to being polished.

The Bio

The bio for your company may be short and sweet or long and informative but is it as updated as possible? Are there new hashtags you want to include that are easily found? Are there any typos you may have missed the first time you wrote it? 

No matter how fantastic your bio may be, the smallest writing error can cast doubt about your capabilities to be detail-oriented. This is a mistake you never want to have reflected in your platforms.

The Feed

When it comes to your feed you want to make sure that it is an extension of your latest brand strategy. If your brand is bold then extend that message through bold colors, sharp photos, and succinct captions. If your brand is playful then extend your brand through bright colors, whimsical photos, and emojis. 

Now that you know what you want your feed to look like, look at it from a grander scale.

Do the last posts reflect a past brand strategy? Do you want that to be the first thing that viewers note? Or do you have a new brand strategy that you want to promote and want that to be the focal point? 

Whatever the case, you will want the most current brand strategy to be noticeable at first glance. Take the time to see your company from the eyes of your viewers.

The Website

When your customers look for your website, are they able to find it easily? If not, you may need to revamp and renew the list of keywords that is used for your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) on each page.

By using the most up-to-date keywords, you’re able to make sure that your site is found in an easy manner. Decreasing the level of friction for customers to be able to locate your website and find the information they are looking for is important because it can be the difference of gaining or losing a lead. 

You’ll also want to make sure that all the tweaks that you make on your social media platforms are extended to your site. If you made the colors brighter on your logo, extend that color palette to your site. If you modernized your feed, make sure that your photos and messaging on your site reflect that change. For every action there will always be a reaction.

The Conclusion

No matter how big or small your spring cleaning is, always keep your brand at the forefront. Taking the time to be detail-oriented, using these focal points, and putting your brand first is sure to create a springtime glow for you and your company.

What is Content Marketing, and how do you win at doing it? How do you know what steps you need to take? Last month, we talked about doubling down on your brand – envisioning what your brand stands for, evolving your brand to meet your company’s needs today and emerging stronger in 2021.

This month, we’ll give you some pointers on taking your shiny new branding out into the world – with Content Marketing – for the win. What are the places that consumers will see your brand and interact with it? You’ll want to read thru to the end, because we’re going to tell you exactly what steps to take in this month’s extension of our Marketing 101.

Once your company has been thru a branding exercise, you’ll leave with your game plan and you’ll know what to do next. You’ll have your target nailed down, your brand’s personality defined and know exactly what category of business you can excel within. The first step once you’ve done this important branding work is your visual identity.

Ready, Set, Marketing – Your Brand’s New Logo

Commission an easy-to-use logo that works in many places. Your logo will be on your website, your social channels, your advertising and even on print work like business cards and brochures. Your logo should be simple, look good large or small. It should be easily used in black, white, and any brand colors you designate.

We’ve designed half a dozen new logo systems this past year, and while they are all quite unique to the company they’re designed for, they all have one thing in common – flexibility.

Your Brand’s New Website

If your company has a website, is it responsive, meaning does it work first and best on mobile but also on tablet and desktop devices? Modern websites need to be built with functionality for users top-of-mind.

This is called User Experience, or UX. How your customer goes thru their journey on your website should be carefully considered to make their experience as simple and rewarding as possible.

Next, your website should incorporate other important factors like Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which helps search engines like Google find your website easily. Google can then present it as a choice when consumers are searching for a business like yours. Using keywords and key phrases can help search engines determine how helpful your site is answering their questions.

Location is also a very highly weighted factor for search engines as well. If you are, for instance, a local restaurant trying to attract customers in the surrounding area, then this type of information should be of utmost importance when designing your new site.

Your Brand’s New Blog – the Starting Line of Your Content Marketing

Once you’ve built your website, keep your site content fresh. One of the most important parts of a new website is the blog. This is the place where the Content Marketing race starts. Regularly updating your blog means Google will keep revisiting your site to catalog the new helpful information you are sharing to “index” it for customers to find in search.

Blog posts are like a regular newspaper column for readers. They can subscribe to receive your news. They can make comments on your article at the end of the article. We write blog posts on topics relevant to our customers’ businesses for their website. This helps them to both build relationships with current customers as well as attract new potential customers.

Help solve people’s problems. Make this key in your blog content. Also, posting on a regular basis is equally important.

Your Brand’s Content Marketing Outreach

Think of your new site as your business’ virtual storefront. It’s your home base. Your social channels – like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn – and other tactics like email marketing, Text Message Marketing are in essence, not just your advertising, but your chance to talk to your customers 1-on-1. An opportunity to develop a relationship with them. Each of these tactics has a specific use for a small business – every channel is not appropriate for every small business.

Winning in Email Marketing

Content marketing’s main ingredient is email. First, email marketing shares insider information with your best customers. After all, they opted in to receive this email newsletter from you. For instance, retail stores could offer special discounts, special not-on-the-website items, and special gifts-with-purchase to their favorite customers – which in the digital world would be their email subscribers.

For a restaurant, email marketing can announce a dining event, or a big menu change. Or a business service could announce open jobs, industry news that would affect their customers or tips and tricks to get the most out of their service.

Winning in Social Media

Social media, as a content marketing winning tactic, promotes blog posts, events, promotions, products or simply build conversation and relationships with different customers.

Our restaurant example, for instance, would want to rely heavily on Facebook, as that is the place to grow a local community – interacting with actual people who rely on their business, garnering reviews from customers, and posting events that their businesses is hosting.

But, an interior designer however, would focus on Instagram, as their clients might be all over the country, and consumers on Instagram are interested in all things beautiful. Hashtags #likethisone at the end of an Instagram post help customers find your business, much like the old card catalog at the library could help you find books on a specific topic.

Use Twitter for getting and sharing news with industry peers to establish your voice of authority. Are you an expert real estate broker? Then, share industry news in your category and give your take on any particular article. Follow reporters who work on your segment of business and interact with them when appropriate to demonstrate your expertise, making you a viable option for quotes in articles in the future.

Further, on LinkedIn, a non-profit foundation could share their quarterly goals, fundraising efforts and events, and results to a business audience of potential donors and board members.

Your Brand’s Content Marketing Win

Start with your brand. Establish a strategy for your content marketing for the win. Implement your tactics. Understand that marketing, and especially digital marketing, is a marathon with no finish line. How you run that marathon matters. Keep at it, perfecting the steps you take a little at a time. But start by taking that first step in content marketing for the win.

Most business leaders know successful marketers when they meet them. These marketers are focused on the same things they are. Building enterprise and customer or client value.

Marketers must mobilize all the people inside and outside the organization. They are focused on return. Do less, more consistently and effectively.

Therefore, hate to tell you, just because your bestie is on Instagram, doesn’t mean she is a marketer. Newsflash. Sorry to disappoint.

Moreover, our team is filled with seasoned marketers. We have fabulous, cream of the crop interns. They keep up with multiple clients, projects, deadlines, industries and trends. These folks are skilled enough to have conversations with CEOs. Front Porch Marketing is not a teaching hospital. For instance, we are triage surgeons on most days.

Technology and consumer attitudes have and will continue to change drastically. Marketing professionals must stay flexible. Know a bit of everything that is going on in the company. Some days are filled with customer service and distribution. Meanwhile, other are sales management and internal communication.

However, despite the varying roles, these qualities are at these professionals’ core. Super powers they have in common.

The Super Powers of Successful Marketers

1. Adaptable. In other words, with all technology changing at light speed, know how to evolve with it.
2. Analytical. Marketing is data driven. Some don’t know what to do with all the data being generated. Therefore, if you can sort through it, and find the relevant. You will be indispensable part of any organization.
3. Collaboration. Must be an extraordinary team player. Seek input. Solve issues. Foster cooperation. Similarly, often the CMO is the company’s glue. The entire team rallies around the company’s vision because of this person. Illustrate how collaboration creates more value.
4. Excellent communicators. Words have power. The right words break down barriers and rally the troops. Inside and outside the organization.
5. Creative. Marketers value innovation. Take risks to facilitate it. They vigorously seek solutions. Explore new approaches. In conclusion, continuously.
6. Inquisitive. The best marketers are a cross between a detective and a scientist. Therefore, they ask the questions.
7. Strategic. Start with why. Strategy is the key to successful businesses. Obsessed is a strategic thinker. Constant eye on the market. Diligently studying consumer behavior. In addition, watch the competitors’ every move.

In conclusion, marketing is a marathon not a sprint. Have the right people on your team. Boulders move up the hill with smart people pushing them. Above all, right now, everyone could use a few less boulders. Therefore, pick the marketers that demonstrate super powers.

Have an internal marketing team? Outsourced function? Freelance consultant?

It doesn’t matter what your marketing team looks like. Or what the project looks like. If you’re B2B or B2C. Ask the questions.

It is the last week of the first month of a new year. Therefore, one third the way through first quarter.

Our world looks different than it did even a month ago. With the constant changes, it is critical to focus on the “why.” Make sure the entire organization is aligned. After that, measure initiatives and report results and data.

Business leaders and their marketing team share the responsibility for growth. In other words, work together to achieve collective outcomes to improve enterprise value. Reframe conversations. Arrive at common language. In conclusion, ask and answer the questions.

Marketing Team: Ask These Questions

1. Do we remember why we are here? The first step to create alignment, excitement and positive team energy cross-functionally.
2. Have our business goals, objectives and strategies changed? Similarly, need to be tweaked?
3. Who are our customers / clients? Are the same as last year? How have our existing clients’ mindsets, decision drivers, perceptions changed in the last month?
4. Are we doing enough to add value and fully leverage our relationship with them?
5. Where are we falling down? A positive discussion with constructive criticism and actable outputs.
6. What could limit or impact our strategy, direction or execution?
7. What has been our biggest marketing success this month?
8. Are there new key relationships and milestones or events coming up we should be aware of?

Marketing contributes more than 50% of firm value when brand, customer and digital assets are properly valued. And, the impact of marketing performance, collaboration and perceptions are measured. Marketing is an asset, rather than a cost center or risk mitigator.

We are grateful to work as a marketing team for our clients. Front Porch Marketing asks the questions. We can work as fractional CMOs and outsourced marketing department. In addition, we help write marketing plans and execute marketing initiatives on a retainer or project basis.

Your Brand in 2021: Front Porch Marketing has seen an interesting client trend this past year, especially in the second half. Many entrepreneurial brand companies have decided that 2020 – and indeed 2021 – is a good time to double down their brand. They want to really dig in, define their brand and differentiate themselves from their competition. Even big corporate companies, like Burger King, have rebranded, seeking to better define their mission and vision going forward.

If you step back and take a look at your brand with the fresh eyes of 2021, does it look like the company you envisioned when you started? Likely, your brand has evolved and so have you. Does your current branding reflect where you want to be in 5 years with your company or even where you are now, or is it trapped in the past? Maybe it’s time to graduate your branding.

Your Brand in 2021: Envision, Evolve, Emerge

Are you adequately featuring your new products or services? Are you communicating your most compelling benefit? Does your brand look legit, grown-up, like a serious brand that does serious business? Don’t get the veto vote from a customer or a partner business because your brand is not getting taken seriously. You know you can do the job…make sure your branding speaks that truth this year.

Branding – and the digital marketing that embodies branding – has become more important than ever. Your customers and clients are getting bombarded with texts and emails from business service providers to retailers. Ask yourself “why should they read mine?”

What do you stand for?

Do you know what your company’s biggest benefit to your customer is? Do you know how each of your products or services add value to their lives, make their lives easier or answer their questions? Does the tone of voice you use resonate with your customer, and instill loyalty to your brand?

If you don’t know the answers to some of these questions, 2021 might be the year you think about doubling down on your brand. What DO you stand for? What is your mission? As part of your Marketing for 2021, branding can help you answer all of these questions and more, leaving you with a clear map of where to take your business next and how to get there. Branding gives you the platform and parameters to deliver tangible solutions to your customer. We’ve seen the excitement and commitment of more than half a dozen of our own clients rebranding for the future, in just the past six months.

Don’t just work IN your business, work ON your business.

Branding is not just about looks though, it is also about strategy and tactics. What are you going to say, and where are you going to say it are key. You need to be cohesive and coherent in your messaging, as well as look professional. Small businesses often fall down thinking they can “do it themselves” with marketing but without a marketing background – from logo design to social media to PR. Often, they are holding themselves back because they are too busy working IN their business and to work ON their business.

So double down on your brand this year – strengthen your commitment to your particular strategy or course of action. Become more tenacious and resolute in your bringing your brand vision into 2021 and beyond.

2021 is your chance to start fresh in marketing your business – so here’s your Marketing 101 for 2021

In the sea of marketing possibilities: programs, platforms, practices, what is the best course of action? It can be overwhelming. And with the promising new year of 2021 approaching, how do you decide what to focus or re-focus on? Marketing 101. Back to basics.

We are finding that many of our clients are spending this quarter reflecting and refocusing. They are homing in on what makes their business better, and then doing more of that for their Marketing 101. They are taking this opportunity – when much of the world is operating under an umbrella of The Great Unknown – to really get to know themselves, and know themselves well. And then take the necessary steps to take their company to the next level.

How did we get here? Pandemic. Panic. And from both of these we are seeing a renewed sense of Purpose. How has that manifested itself? We have all gotten more digitally focused, learning new platforms that keep work working when we can’t be together. We have all learned how to be more efficient with our precious time – doing more with less because we have to. We’ve all become experts at continuing to reach our customers with fewer resources. We have all learned how to focus on what’s important in our daily lives. So we propose Marketing 101: focusing on doing fewer important things for your business in 2021 – and doing them better.

Be the brand of your dreams.

Your brand is the foundation of your business and everything else builds up and out from there. So this is where we recommend starting. Right now is the best time to step back and reflect. Do you know what your mission is? Do you know exactly what kind of people find value in your company’s product or service? Is your brand working as hard as it could for you? Your branding should really represent and reflect your business as it stands now – because like it or not mostly everyone’s business has pivoted to an extent in the past three quarters.

We’ve rebranded a good number of our clients in the past 6 months – helping them really understand who they are, what they stand for, who their core audience is, and how they want to do business going forward. With a detailed Brand Elaborative in hand, business owners can easily discern where to focus their efforts and how to effectively market to their audience. It’s a map that leads them in the right direction for marketing in 2021.

Visual Marketing 101: Refresh your logo to reflect your brand’s mission.

A logo refresh is honestly a great place to start the new year as a Marketing 101 first step. New Year’s resolutions shouldn’t just be limited to a new diet, exercise routine or haircut. Your business can experience the same shot-in-the-arm – with a new logo – that a new haircut gives you. Armed with a strong visual presence, a lively color palette and versatile modern typefaces your brand now has new tools and a new voice to build community with your customers.

When you update your logo, you’ve created a reason to talk about your business, just as you would personally with a new haircut or new exercise routine. Keep your customers excited about the future. People want to hear good news, and celebrate success – since it seems in short supply recently – and with your new look and confident voice you can connect with them and bring them along to share in the journey.

If your brand was a person, would people want to hang out with them?

With your new branding and logo in hand, extend your voice and visuals to your social media and your website with a powerful Content Marketing plan. Make your customers feel like a community. Make them feel valued and a sense of belonging by helping them, educating them, solving their problems and being there when they need you. Your brand can have a definite personality and power. And your brand can use those powers for good. That’s a brand that people want to hang around with – the one that makes them feel important and smart.

Got limited resources? Marketing 101 says use what you have.

We hear you. One super efficient thing that brands can do is repurpose their existing content across channels. One way we maximize our client’s effectiveness is to take a look at what they have already done well and double down.

A great company brochure can be turned into 20 Facebook social media posts and most likely a blog post or two, with relevant bits of information and helpful graphics. Every company’s website is a treasure trove of social media content that’s already been written, just waiting to be broken into little pieces and shared as social media. Sometimes just having a fresh outside eye look at your company’s assets can help you see that you have more than you thought you did!

Be the best version of yourself for 2021.

Overall, when we’re looking at what to recommend to our small and medium-sized businesses for 2021, we keep coming back to these important things. Remind yourself of who you are and why you do what you do (branding), show your audience you mean it (logo) and bring them into your brand’s community (website, social, content marketing).  A brand is a promise, and 2021 can be the year your brand makes a promise to be the best version of themselves.

Using Text Messaging Marketing in your Marketing Plan

Is your brand using text messaging to connect with customers? Consumer preference to shop and connect with brands continues to increase steadily. Because of the pandemic, the mobile ecommerce growth that was expected to occur over the next 2 to 3 years, happened in mere months in 2020.

In addition to email marketing and social media marketing, text message marketing is an opportunity to speak with your customers in real-time. As a result, you can have real conversations with them throughout their customer journey. And, build brand loyalty. Use the space where they spend the most time – on their phone – to reach them.

Start with your business goals.

First, define your business goals before you incorporate a new marketing strategy. Next, select key performance indicators (KPIs) that will support those goals. These can be simple quantifiable measurements like subscriber growth or they can be revenue driven. Then with a clear plan for your text marketing program, you can set your company up for success.

Brands who text message can engage customers, increase loyalty and even drive revenue. Now more than ever, as consumers and brands are both feeling the effects of COVID-19, it’s important to be able to connect with your customer directly.

Last holiday season, 61% of all ecommerce sales were made on a smartphone. That represents a 27% increase from 2018. Mobile ecommerce will continue to hold a top spot as a customer preferred method of shopping. Capitalize on this shopping trend with text messaging.

Simple reasons to think about using text messaging.

Texting could be a helpful addition to your marketing mix depending on your type of business. With texting you can build the type of relationships with customers that they crave. There are many different ways to use SMS. So, here are a few ideas to get you started.

Welcome new customers

• Create a welcome offer to new subscribers. Then, build a drip campaign (a series of texts) for these new subscribers. This welcomes them to the brand and give them a reason to stick around.

• Offer your text message subscribers extra perks for being a subscriber. Make offers ones that aren’t given in your other digital venues. Share early access to shop new items, access to a member’s only special sale or VIP access to products.

Share new products or sales

• Excite your customers about a new service. Send them a text with a link to your website. Then they can easily sign up for your company’s newest yoga class or hot stone massage.

• Encourage quick action. Share limited-time deals in your shop, best-selling items running out of stock and Buy One Get One Free offers. Texting helps you highlight the time-sensitive nature of an offer.

Alert and remind

• Keep your customers up-to-date about steps in a service process. Don’t make them guess or wait or have to track you down. Text them when their tax return is ready. Show them pictures of their new kitchen being built. Keep them aware of when your serviceman is coming to repair their refrigerator.

• Remind your subscribers about their abandoned shopping carts with a link directly to their cart to finish their shopping journey. As a result, it’s easy for them to finish checking out. Thank them for their purchase. Reward them with a bounceback offer after the completion of their purchase.

• Share important or timely information to your text message subscribers. If you’re a restaurant, share news like COVID-19 safety precautions, new menu items or dining options.

Your customers rely heavily on their smartphones to connect to the outside world right now. Reach out to them using text messaging. Having real-time conversation with your customers lets them know that you hear them, you understand their needs and you are ready to add value to their lives.

How is your 2020 marketing plan holding up?

If you’re like a lot of businesses this year, you threw out your 2020 marketing plan and have been in triage mode for six months. Q4 is the perfect time to re-evaluate your company’s marketing plan to include a good marketing planning outline and process, messaging, strategies and brand.

This year’s best laid marketing plans were most likely laid to waste in the second quarter. It’s now Q4 of a very weird year – speaking from, well, every point of view – and everyone is working under the guise of not knowing what is coming next or when. Some businesses are continuing to just execute 2020 marketing strategies with messaging that is not currently relevant to growing their top line or their bottom line. Stop reacting and get proactive with your brand.

Typically, clients reflect and plan ahead this time of year, and this Q4 should be no exception.

In fact, we recommend doubling down on the planning. This year though, planning may look a lot like pivoting for most businesses. There is very little business-as-usual going on, and your company’s business plan should reflect that fact.

We are working with clients that are facing different year end results – from more than 75% decline in sales, to flat, to having the best year ever. We have clients who’s marketing plan has them pivoting completely and launching new brands, born of the new normal or a long-held dream. But the one thing all of our clients have in common right now is that they are planning in order to be able to continue to pivot if need be. They are ensuring that their future strategies will be on-brand even if the content has to change.

Now is the perfect time to step back from your business plan and take an objective perspective on your company’s state of affairs.

Is your brand’s marketing plan going in the right direction? Do you need a more focused or broader message? Are your communication strategies getting you in front of the right customers on the right social media channel? Is your brand voice in tune with the state of the world? Know who you are, what you stand for and how to communicate that mission to your customers. What is your highest and best use? When you have a plan, this is how you can frame all of your future content – even if it keeps changing.

Plan ahead to pivot.

Planning a marketing infrastructure to put in place now and building on it through Q1 and Q2 of next year can help pivot your brand toward a new goal, refine your mission and elevate your relevancy. Have a plan in place to be able to address the unknown needs of your customers as they arise in 2021. You don’t necessarily need the answers now, but you need to have a plan to be able to answer the questions your customers will have. Your marketing plan for next year should include key messages, strategies, a budget, timeline and content calendar through Q2 of 2021 to carry your company into Q3. Spend your marketing time wisely this quarter to build the brand you’ve always wanted to become next quarter and beyond.