I’m a mother to three kids firmly in the grip of teenage angst, so I frequently find myself talking to them about the importance of authenticity. Recently my youngest child said, “You keep using that word. But what does it mean EXACTLY?”

And that got me thinking. Authenticity IS a buzzy word, used frequently in many different contexts, which makes it easy for the concept to feel trendy and hazy. So since I’m a word girl, I consulted my dictionary to give me the word’s purest form:

authentic

adjective

not false or copied; genuine; real

Not false or copied. Genuine. Real. That’s pure gold, isn’t it? Authenticity is a buzzword for good reason.

We talk to clients all the time about authenticity in their branding and marketing. As the Chief Rocker would say, “It all begins with the brand.” And she is SO right! If the brand doesn’t feel real and natural, your audience won’t:

1. Know you.
2. Like you.
3. Trust you.

Authenticity is the new brand standard. The most authentic brands in the world are also the top brands, period.

So how do you build an authentic brand? Answer these questions:

Does your brand have conviction?

Your brand must stand for a specific promise, and everyone within your organization must believe that it’s important.

Does your brand have consistency?

Your brand must deliver on its promise at every touch point, every time. Your outreach efforts should be undertaken regularly and on schedule.

Does your brand have connection?

Your brand must be relevant and persuasive to your target audience, or your message is falling on deaf ears. Establishing an emotional connection with your people is key.

If the answer to these three questions isn’t a resounding YES, give us a call. We can show you how to rock your brand authentically!

Over the weekend, a friend sent me some screenshots from the Instagram account of an event we are both familiar with. “HAVE YOU SEEN THESE???” she said. The series of posts featured a scantily clad woman and her friends promoting the event. Slightly confounded by the choice, I took a quick visit to her Instagram page. She had a gaggle of followers, but no real connection to the audience or the event itself, and unfortunately, it didn’t play well.

The idea of using a social media influencer was not a bad one. Influencer marketing is on the rise – Google alone saw a 325% increase in “influencer marketing” searches last year. It’s based on the practice of using influencers in your niche to create and distribute relevant content and share it in an authentic way. It can be a fantastic way to find and reach your people.

However, influencer marketing is a wasted exercise (and investment!) if you aren’t using the right influencers. And while it’s tempting to use metrics like number of followers as a measure of influence, it’s important to take a closer, more comprehensive look at a potential ambassador before you ask them to promote your brand.

Fit

How relevant is the influencer to what you do? How aligned is their content with your messaging? The best partnerships are natural fits – their audience must believe that the endorsement is genuine and your audience must be able to relate to them.

Engagement

Is the influencer engaging with their followers in a meaningful way? Or are their pages just a collection of selfies? If people aren’t commenting and interacting with the person, keep looking. Your audience will get bored with someone who is just skin deep.

Reach

Reach is certainly a valid consideration, so take a look at traffic and followers. But ask yourself who they are reaching. Is it your target audience? Reach is irrelevant if the influencer isn’t reaching the right people.

Authenticity

Influencers must be viewed as authentic and genuine. Is this person partnered with too many sponsors? If so, they will not appear trustworthy.

When chosen thoughtfully, an Influencer partnership is one of the best ways to build your brand online and raise awareness among your target audience. Need some help choosing the right influencer? We can help!

This time of year, the stakes are high in the charitable giving arena, making nonprofit marketing more important than ever. Roughly 30% of all nonprofit giving happens during the last month of the year, from #GivingTuesday (the Tuesday after Thanksgiving) through December 31.

Donors are feeling generous, so the time is now to launch a compelling marketing campaign to support your annual appeal. The competition for donation dollars is real, so keep these things top of mind to ensure you don’t get lost in the noise:

Keep Your Messaging on Point

Messaging should be compelling and concise. What will inspire donors to give to your nonprofit over another? Your messaging should be clear and speak to your audience in a resonant, emotional way in a voice that supports your mission and is undeniably yours.

Make Sure Your Website is Ready for Prime Time

This is likely your biggest campaign of the year – your website should be ready to receive visitors. Make sure your website is compelling, current and eye-catching, and that your campaign is highlighted on your homepage with a clear call to action. Your donation page should be front and center – make it easy for people to give!

The Time is Now for Email Marketing

An optimized website only works if you’re driving traffic to it, so create some well written emails that will resonate with donors and drive people to your site. Consider using storytelling in your campaign – it’s a powerful way to arouse emotion and inspire action. A good narrative brings people together, evokes emotion, and creates empathy. Fundraising is a very human-centered enterprise, and when our emotions are tapped, we are much more likely to act.

Support Your Campaign with Social Media

Nonprofits are all competing for dollars, and social media will be abuzz. You can’t afford not to be telling your story there. Every platform has a different voice and demographic, so tailor your messaging to each channel. Establish a monthly social media calendar to ensure all your touchpoints are covered, and encourage sharing by your stakeholders and friends.

Don’t Forget to Say Thank You

Recognize your donors and their gifts quickly. Leave them with something that makes them feel undeniably good about supporting your organization.

It’s go time for Nonprofit Marketing! Are you ready to rumble? If not, come see us!

When marketing, sales and ops work together, whether in fundraising or in the corporate world, usually there is a tale of witches, goblins, vampires and more. This year’s HOCO Mums sales at one local high school were a ghost of a different color. When marketing, sales and ops worked together, it became a success worthy of a marketing case study.

Homecoming Mums are a long-standing Texas tradition. If you are not familiar, read more here on the fall tradition and why Texans do it.

Recently one mom said that at her high school this year, mum sales were down. Not the case at this local high school. Insert the mummy marketing case study.

Historically mum sales were flat, and in fact, declined in 2016. In 2017, the Chair of the Homecoming Mum initiative was determined to buck the trend. She instituted digital operational systems for tracking inventory and orders that had never been done before. In addition, her incoming Chair, one that has a working role two years before the Chair-ship, developed a project and communications timeline. Sales that year increased by 15%.

The 2018 Mum sales are tracking at an increase of 14% over previous year and still growing.

What happened differently to make this a marketing case history?

Mummy Marketing Case Study

The implemented plan integrated a sales plan, an operational plan and marketing plan.

The operations developed over the previous year were enhanced even further. There was now at least one year’s history in which to reference. Inventory could be managed tighter which lowered cost and waste.

A sales strategy developed the previous year due to unforeseen circumstances was replicated. We could tell you what it was, but then we would have to send the headless horseman after you.

The marketing strategy, plan and execution was further enhance and defined and included:

• Signage – At the front of carpool every morning for three mornings before the sales deadline was highly visible at the school.
• Social media – A targeted campaign was executed with professionally designed messages and graphics. Content was posted on a consistent basis with relevant messaging.
• School communication – Blurbs in the weekly parent email communication vehicle were increased.

We are proud of this marketing case study that resulted in more dollars raised for the school’s athletic program. Want to learn more? We would love to help your non-profit organization. We are passionate about increasing fundraising efforts. Call us.

You are a small business owner or a business leader who knows their business inside and out – no one will know your business like you do. And in terms of marketing to your ideal customer, that is the problem.

When you are trying to sell to your target customer, it’s tempting to imagine their wants and needs. But, there are limits to what you can imagine your customer wants, and what their lived experience is. Remember: you are not your customer.

Unless you are …

A middle-aged dad with two volleyball playing daughters and a penchant for craft beer … you are not Greg.

An entrepreneur with a Division 6A football playing son and a daughter who is ready to take over the world at the age of five … you are not me.

A thirty-something woman with a deep and unabiding love for bulldogs who has never lived in one place for more than four years … you are not Maria.

What does any of this have to do with marketing to your target customer? I have no idea, but unless you take a hard look at customer research and insights, you might miss something important that has a bearing on whether your customer chooses you over a competitor.

Marketing is not one size fits all

Each customer is unique and has different needs.

Does your customer value convenience over cost or vice versa? Do they care about how their product is made and its impact on local communities? Are they early adopters of new technology? Do they want a Swiss Army knife or one product that does a few things well? Do they like to try new things spontaneously or are their purchasing decisions based on thorough research? How do they find out about new products and services – social media, word-of-mouth, content creators and influencers? All these factors affect how you market to your customer.

Let’s look at a product that many of us on the Porch are about to take on soon – college. It’s easy to think that with this digital generation, all that matters are engaging with them on an online, social media level. But you would be wrong. Students have a ton of options – what makes one school stand out over another? If you look at the experience of our summer interns, their answers might surprise you. Go here and here to find out.

Reaching different customer audiences can seem overwhelming. The solution? Your friends from the Porch. We love a good marketing challenge and we want to help businesses reach their customers through the channels that make sense for that target market.

We are a company comprised of people with very different skillsets, backgrounds and experiences. We are moms, dads, fur parents, former corporate folks, nonprofit fans, football lovers and football nubes, big thinkers and specialized experts.

We are different. Just like your customer.

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Any good marketing plan wouldn’t be complete without the inclusion of some event marketing as part of the mix. Hosting an event allows you to reach people personally, build a relationship, and increase brand loyalty.

I love a good analogy, and I liken running an event to conducting a symphony. A symphony needs a strong conductor to unify performers, set the tempo, and control the pacing of the music. It needs a strong and diverse instrumental ensemble to provide a beautiful, multi-layered performance. And it needs a captivating musical score that sets the tone and crescendos in spectacular fashion.

Planning and executing a successful event lies in these details:

Crystallize Your Vision

Start by “scoring” your event. Identify your audience, define your message, and determine the experience you want to provide. Having a clear vision is important, because all the smaller event details and decisions will flow from it.

Logistics Follow

Your “score” will inform your logistical decisions. Choose a venue, food, music, entertainment, format and feel in keeping with your vision. Stay true to the experience you want to provide and these decisions will flow easily.

Choose Your Partners Wisely

Ensure the professional  partners you choose to assist you are on board with your vision. Your caterer, photographer, videographer, etc. should be well versed in what your plans and expectations are for the event.

Plan and Train

Plan everything, down to the minute. Have a schedule and a timetable. Ensure that your “orchestra” understands their roles from beginning to end. Identify your transition times, your presentation times, time spent ramping up and time spent winding down. It’s all important. Extremely important.

We love planning and executing events for our clients. Most recently, it has been our privilege to partner with Practice Ministries in order to “Set the Table” for the future success. We look forward to delivering an exceptional experience to their attendees bright and early on Thursday morning!

Do you need some help planning an event? Come see us on the Porch!

Everything is bigger in Texas! This includes the opportunities for small business owners and entrepreneurs to network and learn from each other. One of these opportunities – the Governor’s Small Business Women’s Forum – was recently held locally in partnership with the National Association of Women Business Owners, Arlington Chamber of Commerce and Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County.

There, as part of a digital marketing panel alongside other local business owners (including Kalyn Asher, president of our fabulous client Asher Media, Inc.), I had the honor of presenting tips from the Porch on integrating your digital marketing with your brand strategy. Now, I get to share them with you rockin’ readers, too!

Brand Identity

1. First, build a strong brand identity. The foundation of your brand strategy is your brand architecture.

Brand architecture is built on the following pillars:

• Vision – Determine who you are and who/what you aspire to be as a company.
• Personality – The human personality traits that describe how you want to be known.
• Positioning – The place your brand occupies in the mind of your target audience.
• Affiliation – What you want other people to think of and associate with your company.

Strong brands have three main attributes. We like to call them “The Three C’s”:

• Connection – Brands that cultivate loyalty connect with their target audiences. Consumers care about what your brand stands for.
• Conviction – Everyone in the company needs to believe that the brand is important.  They need to know that the company brand stands for a specific and important promise. Company leaders need to understand the brand, articulate it clearly and champion it internally.
• Consistency – Brand consistency equals earning consistency. Be consistent with your look and message. Deliver on your brand promise at every touch point.

Content is Key

2. Create quality, engaging digital content. The foundation of your digital marketing strategy is having content you can utilize consistently as part of your overall brand strategy.

Another key thing to remember are the three “C’s” of content. Your digital marketing content should be:

• Customized. According to The Content Council, 61% of consumers say they feel better about a company that delivers custom online content.  Also, they are more likely to buy from companies that deliver customized content. Nielsen’s 2018 Total Audience Report shows American adults spend nearly half of their day online looking at content. Most consumers liked custom content for brand engagement. Know your audience. Use the power of personalization to your advantage.
• Creative. Create customized content. Keep your content consistent in your brand guidelines but try to push the boundaries of your brand and voice.
• Cohesive. The customized content you create should be repurposed across platforms and networks.  But remember, repurposed does not mean identical.  Your content should not look the same or say the same thing across different channels.

Don’t Forget Email Marketing

3. Finally, do not underestimate the power of email marketing. It is cost-effective and allows you to easily create different journeys for different groups content-wise.

Customize your email content so that it is personal.  This goes beyond simply including users’ names.

Make your marketing emails skim-friendly. Emails should have a clear call to action and purpose. The less effort and time required for interaction, the better.

In conclusion, if you want to rock a bigger, better brand, start with a strong foundation. Integrate your customized, creative and cohesive digital marketing to connect with your audience.  Remember: Consistency is key.

I love telling a story.

Last week, my son asked a girl to Homecoming. Naturally, I posted the obligatory photo on Facebook, but the way he asked needed explaining, because it involved a three year old conversation, a completely nonsensical batch of verbiage, and a pint of guacamole. So I told the story. It was heartwarming, it was funny, and it illustrated the completely unique bond between my oldest children.

The post received more likes and responses than usual. Why? Because I told a story, and that story resonated with people, who felt compelled to engage with me about it.

This is no surprise to us on the Porch. We have long known that effective, evocative storytelling is the cornerstone of marketing. Finding the right words and ways to tell our clients’ stories is what marketing them is all about. On social media. On their websites. In their email newsletters.

It’s no wonder, then, that the marketing world is proclaiming that storytelling is the Future of Content Marketing in 2018.

It’s no longer enough to give consumers some evocative imagery and slick typography. The visuals are important, of course. It’s what catches their eye and piques their interest. But you have to give them something to connect to emotionally, something that engages them and keeps them coming back for more.

“After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.” – writer Phillip Pullman

Your marketing should tell your story. It should tell the story of your business – what sets you apart and makes you unique. It should take information that is fairly practical – company capabilities, project descriptions, etc. – and give them life, context, and meaning.

It’s what I love most about my job. Meeting our clients. Listening to them and watching them and figuring out who they are and what makes them special. And then choosing the words that paint their picture. It’s the best.

Are you effectively painting your picture? Does your website show people exactly who you are? Do your social media accounts give people a glimpse into why you do what you do? If they don’t, then come see us. We can help you tell your story.

Voice-search is increasingly becoming a way people find information online:

• Forty-one percent of adults use a voice- activated personal assistant at least once a day.
• Fifty percent of all searches will be voice searches by 2020.
• One-third of smartphone owners use their voice-activated personal assistants regularly.
• More than 35 million Americans use a smart speaker at least once a month.
• Moreover, the global market for smart speakers is expected to grow to $2 billion by 2020.

Voice-Search at Work

And before you assume that consumers do all of their voice search in private, consider that in a recent study, 50 percent of respondents said that they use voice search in the office. That must make for great cubicle relations.

Interestingly, voice searches indicate a greater intent to buy. This could be a good time to review the SEO strategies you have implemented on your website.

Be Natural & Direct

Here’s how you can optimize your web copy for voice-search:

• What problems does your company help consumers solve? Write content that answers these questions.
• Once you’ve figured out the best terms and questions, look these up in Google.
• Pay attention to the answers that Google spotlights in the answer box at the top of the page.
• Can you answer these questions in a more direct way? The answers that show up in the Google Answer Box are the answers that get read out loud, increasing your odds of customer action.
• Be Natural. When people use a virtual assistant to search for something, they’ll usually use words like “who,” “what,” “when,” “were” etc. Are you answering these questions on your website?  If not, you might need to take another look at your copy.

Throwing another search factor into the marketing mix can seem daunting. But, by taking some small steps, you can incorporate some thoughtful strategies and optimize your website for voice-search.

Fall is a season full of new engagement and reconnection. There are new coworkers in our offices. Our children are reconnecting with friends at school. Also, its a good time to look at tactics and strategies to increase your marketing ROI. After all, it is the last quarter of 2018. Enter the power of email marketing.

Certainly, social media is important.  (We love connecting on Instagram and Facebook!) Yes, influencer marketing campaigns are on the rise. But, email marketing is still known for higher ROI percentages for new and repeat consumer engagement.

Why?  Email allows for a more “conversational tone.” As a result, email communication can create a genuine feel for the consumer. Remember, “a small list that wants exactly what you’re offering is better than a bigger list that isn’t committed.”

Email marketing has higher ROI percentages for new and repeat consumer engagement.

Here are some tips for successful email marketing communications:

Make it personal: Know your audience. Personalization goes beyond including users’ names. This is an expected practice and off-putting if not done.

Email marketing allows you to “create different journeys for different groups,” says Forbes contributor Seamas Egan in his article, Netflix Is Winning At Email Marketing. Use the power of personalization to your advantage.

Make it interactive. Egan suggests using GIFs to animate emails. This is a great way to create relevant and interactive content. Check out this collection of animated marketing emails for inspiration.

Make it quick and easy. The less effort and time required for interaction, the better. Make emails skim-friendly. As a result, readers can quickly find the call to action and the main purpose of the email.

Sometimes a single email triggers a response that reconnects us. But, sometimes a single email is all it takes to land new business.