UPDATED. Social media can be a valuable marketing tool for a brand, but only if you have a strong social media strategy in place. Read on for the social media guidelines we recommend to all of our clients.
Team insight180’s Summer Book Round-Up
In honor of National Book Lover’s Day, we created a summer reading roundup of the books that are keeping us sane and happy this summer. Read on for our suggestions of great beach reads this summer and enjoy a little mental health vacation (even if you can only squeeze it in after a long day at the office).
How to Unplug to Recharge: Tips from Team insight180
The practice of "unplugging" may seem like checking out, but the truth it can be the best way to make yourself more productive. Learn the benefits of unplugging and tips on how to do it in this blog post from team insight180.
5 Keys to an Effective Social Media Strategy That’s True to Your Brand
Social media can be a valuable marketing tool for a brand, but only if you have a strong social media strategy in place. Read on for the social media guidelines we recommend to all of our clients.
8 Email Marketing Stats Small Businesses Need to Know for 2021
It seems that we get more and more emails every day. Still, email remains a crucial channel for engaging with clients and an effective tool for driving sales. We pulled together some of the top marketing statistics from Constant Contact, MyEmma, and MailChimp group email service providers. Here are eight tips to help you get the most from your small business email marketing program.
Content block? 5 ideas to help you to create social posts when you’re feeling stuck
As a business-to-business (B2B) company, it can be challenging to create fresh, purposeful social media content when selling a product. It can be even more difficult when your organization is “selling the invisible” (services, training, consulting, project management, fundraising, membership, and more). At insight180, we create, plan, post, and engage on social media for ourselves and our clients. Over 12 months, with three-plus posts to a variety of platforms each week and multiple companies to plan for each day, keeping content fresh and consistent requires discipline, creativity, and strategy. We know from experience that content block can happen to even the most seasoned social media content creators.
7 TIPS TO HELP CLARIFY YOUR BRAND (AND WHY IT MATTERS)
As a business owner, you already know that to serve your clients best, you must first understand them. Chances are, you do. You’ve crunched the numbers, analyzed the data, and modified your products or services time and time again to get them exactly where you need them to be. Or, rather, you’ve refined your services to specifically meet the needs of your clients.
Spring Cleaning Your Marketing
The last 12 months have made many of us masters of remote working. Our marketing materials should reflect mastery, as well. Most of us are relying a bit more on PowerPoints and electronic presentations. How do yours stack up? With the promise of spring (and vaccinations well underway), now is the perfect time to make a fresh start. To do a little spring cleaning on your marketing or your website look and feel, perhaps? Here are four areas that you might want to clean up or refresh now, so you’re ready to roll when we’re all meeting in person again.
How to Avoid Buyer’s Remorse with Your Brand Refresh
Years ago, I bought a new-to-me car. When we arrived at the dealer to pick it up, they were ready. The car was spotless. Workers gave balloons to our young sons and shook hands with my husband and me. A few days later, we received a “Welcome to the Family” card in the mail, congratulating us on our auto selection and inviting us to join the fan club – complete with a tin of cookies! Surely, there could be no doubt that we made a smart purchasing decision.
First Impressions: Is Your Company Looking its Best?
A stylish dress. A classy suit. A trendy pair of shoes. What you wear and how you look carries a lot of weight when it comes to what others think about you. We all do it. Within a few seconds of meeting someone, we’ve already formed opinions that have nothing to do with the facts we know about a person. Most of us, for example, believe that attractive people are smarter and friendlier than less attractive folk. Or that people who are skilled in one area are naturally capable in others. It’s human nature. And first impressions matter.
How to Navigate the World of Color for Your Brand
Some of the biggest brands in the world are immediately identifiable by color association alone. Think Starbucks green, Target red, UPS brown. These brands have made color a critical element of their process, a key consideration in their outreach efforts, and consistency across platforms, materials and devices is critical. Even for small and mid-size B2B companies, consistent color can work to your advantage. So how do you make sure you’re getting color right?
Beyonce. The Woman. The Legend. The Brand.
In today’s post, in honor of the Super Bowl, we stray a bit from our normal branding for advisory services realm. But just a bit. . . because sometimes a charismatic leader can “be the brand.” Today’s post is written by our newest staff member, Tara Urso. Welcome, Tara!
When you think Beyonce a few key words come to mind: talented, beautiful, sexy, powerful, classy, tastemaker, just to name a few. What about BRAND? The Beyonce brand is strong, tells a story and reaches its audience emotionally –– three qualities of any successful brand.
How did Beyonce’s brand become so strong? Through serving her audience quality goods and services and gaining their trust through consistency. When it comes to Beyonce her audience has a high expectancy and she definitely delivers through a great performance.
The Beyonce brand is strong. Strong enough to withstand small controvercies like that of the lipsyncing at the inauguration. Had it been another singer, it could have been devastating. However, the public recognizes how talented Beyonce is and was not swayed by the small mishap (not to mention last night’s Super Bowl halftime show where she showed off her stunning vocals and surely silenced any naysayers).
The Beyonce brand is recognized as strong by multi-billion dollar companies like Pepsi who trust Beyonce to be their brand ambassador. The songstress recently signed a $50 million dollar deal with Pepsi which includes collaborating with the company on creative projects, social media and live events, including an upcoming world tour. The company trusts that her brand is strong enough to make their brand stronger. It looks like it’s already paying off judging by the Twitterverse:
In addition to its strength, Beyonce’s brand is constantly telling her story. Fans know everything from her home life to her current career moves and they can’t get enough. They follow her on social media channels and stay tuned in. Although a very private person, she allows some insight into her private life and becomes relatable to her audience as a mother and a wife. Beyonce’s audience believes in the Beyonce brand and trusts that they will receive consistent, quality content.
The same should be said for businesses to their audiences. Some notes companies can take away from analyzing a brand like Beyonce:
– Serve your audience quality goods and services. This almost goes without saying, because quality is just the entry point for doing business; however, advisory firms need to keep this in mind when providing content. In addition:
– Build your brand through storytelling and transparency.
– Engage your audience. Be part of the conversation.
– Reach your audience on an emotional level.
So should celebrities be named “Brand Ambassador”? Ad Age weighs in on the subject here.
––Tara Urso, Social Media and Content Strategist
