2020 has been dominated by the coronavirus pandemic, and rightfully so. Though there is light at the end of the tunnel, there’s still a ways to go until we see the end of this thing, which means your PR and marketing strategies must continue to be informed by what’s happening with COVID-19. Here are a few tips on how to adapt your strategies for these uncertain times.

1. Be Aware. With news about the pandemic in the spotlight, a story about your organization may not get top billing or even any time in the news cycle. Resources may have been reallocated and many media outlets are stretched thin covering health and political-related news so your business’s news might not have the same interest it did pre-pandemic. That doesn’t mean you should hold back, but consider other avenues of getting the word out, such as social media or creating your own content via blog posts on your website.

2. Be Self-Aware. Does your story/news/etc. matter right now? With businesses closing, people dying, and many struggling, be self-aware enough to recognize whether it’s the right moment to be sharing your PR material. And if you’re referencing the pandemic in your marketing strategy, make sure it’s with empathy and not in a way that makes it seem like you’re trying to profit from this public health disaster or turn the focus to your company if it’s managing to survive when so many have not.

3. Change Your Focus. Rather than spending your time and efforts on short-term marketing and PR strategies where you’ll be competing in an overcrowded news cycle, think long-term instead. Now may be a great time to focus on building your company’s brand recognition and reputation, maximizing your social media presence, overhauling your website, and developing other beneficial PR materials that will position your business for success going forward.

Keep these three tips in mind as the coronavirus pandemic continues to affect lives and livelihoods and your PR and marketing strategies will be better off for it. Here’s to a better 2021!

via Unsplash

The coronavirus has wreaked havoc on communities and businesses across the world — and about six months in, many businesses are still suffering. With so much uncertainty and a big decrease in revenue, it’s important for organizations to make their marketing count during this crazy time and change their strategies to better engage with potential consumers. Here are some tips to consider using in your marketing efforts throughout COVID-19.

Be Creative. Don’t be afraid to take risks and throw some of your old marketing go-to’s out the window. Now’s the time to take risks and stand out. The more creative you can be, the better. Think about why customers should buy your product or engage with your site during this trying time. Figure out how to sell your business or frame your items as what can help people get through quarantine or otherwise act as a pick-me-up type of reward during this stressful period.

Be Reassuring. It seems like more businesses announce every day that they are folding or declaring bankruptcy and closing stores. Your business relies on customers and you want to reassure both past and potential consumers that you’re not going anywhere but that their business is needed and appreciated especially now. Give updates on what’s going on, safety precautions you’re taking, etc.

Be Social. More people are online for more hours than ever before and you need to take advantage of that by meeting your customers where they are. Post frequently, be part of the conversation, interact with your followers, offer deals, and special promotions. Social media has established itself as a must-do for any business but especially with the coronavirus keeping more people at home, you need to still engage with your consumer base and ramp up your efforts on social.

Be Aware. There’s a lot going on currently just with the coronavirus alone — but that’s not all that’s going on. You need to make sure your business, its practices, and its employees are all on the up-and-up and that you are sticking to exacting standards of PC-ness and respect. This should be what your company does all the time but with more eyes watching and with people having less to do, the coronavirus has become a bit of a powderkeg when it comes to reckonings, many justly so, and you don’t want your company or products in the news for the wrong reasons.

Keep these four tips in mind as we continue to navigate the coronavirus pandemic so your marketing efforts are beneficial and continue to help your business stay afloat.

Image via Pexels

We’re back to wrap up our two-part series with some helpful tips on what you shouldn’t do when it comes to marketing effectively on YouTube. Let’s dive right in!

1. Don’t think “virally.”

Yes, it’d be great if you have a video or a couple go viral. But don’t let that be the goal that drives your YouTube marketing strategy. Trying to create content whose sole purpose is to rack up views will end up affecting the quality of your videos and you’ll likely lose sight of your overall purpose. Focus on coming up with interesting, engaging, and unique content and let the “going viral” happen naturally because you did good work, not because of any gimmicks or because you stacked the deck.

2. Don’t think about going it alone.

This is two-fold. Firstly, you need a strong team focused on creating effective YouTube content; no one person will be able to run the whole thing themselves unchecked and without people to bounce ideas off of. Beyond that, think about reaching out to other YouTube creators, partners, and influencers to work with on some of your content. This will help boost your credibility and likely help you reach new viewers and users.

3. Don’t forget to share.

Assuming once you have the content up on YouTube that people will just find it organically is naive thinking. Of course, many likely will, but you can’t just release your content into the internet ether and let nature take its course. You need to be sharing your content to drive traffic and views. Share on your company’s social media accounts and consider adding video content to your website as well to grow your presence.

Hopefully, this two-part series covering the do’s and don’ts of YouTube marketing left you with some good tips to think about as you plan your YouTube marketing strategies. Good luck!

Image via Pixabay

While some of the other social media sites out there may be at the forefront of your mind when it comes to marketing, an often overlooked site you should be using for marketing purposes is YouTube. In this two-part series, covering the do’s and don’ts, we’ll cover some tips to ensure your YouTube marketing efforts are effective and helping your company.

1. Think about your video titles.

What is the title of your video? Is it grabbing potential consumers’ attention and prompting them to click and watch? If your content has a boring title, you’ll see fewer views and less engagement. Think about action words or buzz words that would are good keywords people may search for so your content will rank well and invite people to watch. You also don’t want your video title to be too long so really think about how to most concisely and clearly relay what the video is about.

2. Think about length.

How long is your video? If it’s over five minutes, it’s definitely too long and you’re going to lose viewers or end up driving away potential viewers who decide they don’t have the time to invest in watching it. Make your videos interesting and have value by creating quality content that’s unique and to the point.

3. Think about the purpose.

Are you trying to grow your brand’s awareness? Drive traffic to your site? Something else? Whatever your goal, make sure you have a clear idea of what it is before diving into YouTube. You’ll definitely want to include Call to Actions (CTAs) like “Like” and “Subscribe” prompts at the end of your video but you need to also consider what else you want to accomplish using visual content.

Start thinking about how these tips can be implemented when coming up with your YouTube content and stay tuned for next month’s blog where we’ll wrap up this two-part series with some final advice on what not to do when it comes to YouTube marketing!

Image via Pexels

We’ve covered some helpful Twitter marketing tips in our previous two posts, but now it’s time to wrap up our Twitter Talk series with a few last good-to-know pieces of advice.

7. Interact with Followers/Other Brands. A great way to drive interaction with your followers is to conduct polls. Not only will a poll spur users to connect with your company on some level, it’s also a great way to get some real feedback and research done without a lot of effort on your part. Beyond polls, if your company is tagged in a tweet or a company-related hashtag is used, respond! You want your Twitter account to be known to really engage with followers and in general, be active. You can also interact with other brands as well, whether your company officially works with them, is co-owned by them, or simply uses them — or not. Remember to keep your posts positive — and if a user writes something negative, you’ll still want to publicly and appropriately respond, but consider moving the conversation into your DMs.

8. Utilize Influencers. Using Influencers can be a great way to increase brand awareness and shine a spotlight on your company. It’s easier than ever before to approach an Influencer and pitch them. The first step is identifying an Influencer that is appropriate for your business and making sure their goals align with yours. Next, you’ll want to contact them to gauge their interest in a possible partnership. Make sure to do your research in order to pick an Influencer that truly has an impressive influence on the demographic you’re hoping to reach and that they are someone your company wants to be in association with.

9. Practice Social Media Cohesion. Your Twitter account is not an island and its strategy shouldn’t be approached as such. Your company should have and be active on multiple other social media sites, including Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, and you want to remember to work towards a cohesive feel to your social media profiles for optimal branding and messaging purposes. Colors, language, activity, etc., should all be similar so your followers and consumers get the best sense possible of your business and can expect the same quality across the social media board.

And thus concludes our Twitter Talk series! Hopefully, once implemented, these nine tips will help you better your Twitter marketing practices and further your company’s brand! Happy tweeting!

Image via Pixabay

It’s time to dive back into Twitter Talk! Now that we’ve got some of the initial Twitter marketing tips covered, let’s go a little deeper into useful methods and advice to keep in mind when posting on the social media site.

4. Use Images or Video. Posts with images or video are way more engaging and likely to be looked at than posts that are just text. Images are better than plain words, but videos are even better than images. Both images and videos should be good quality and pertinent to your post. Beyond just regular videos, you can also try out the Live Video feature, which will allow your video to be watched even after the live feed ends. Try to find a happy balance of both in order to increase your shares and clicks.

5. Timing is Everything. Posting on Twitter is a waste if you’re not doing it at the right times of day. You want to drive engagement and increase visibility by being active on Twitter when other users are also active. The weekends are typically a time when lots of users are on the site for a longer period of time, which means posting then is good practice. Posting in the afternoons throughout the week is also usually a popular time to engage users. Identifying what days and times do best for your company may take a bit of testing and practice, but you’ll want to figure that out so you can make Twitter really work for you. And using tools like Buffer or Hootsuite will allow your business to schedule content in advance which is convenient — and even more so if your “peak” window is at a time outside of business hours.

6. Don’t Go #HashtagCrazy. Using more than two hashtags per tweet may cause your engagement to drop — so don’t go hashtag-crazy! With the being said, you also want to make sure you’re using the right hashtags, and you can see which of your hashtags performed well by using Twitter analytics to inform future hashtag decisions. Another good way to pick a hashtag is to see what’s trending on the side of Twitter and choose a tag that’s relevant to your company to use while tweeting.

Check back next month for our final post in the Twitter marketing series where we’ll give you a few more tips on how to best use Twitter in your marketing efforts!

Image via Pixabay

Twitter has become increasingly popular over the last several years and is an integral social media tool to be using when marketing. It’s a great way to reach millennials and if you use Twitter correctly, you may even keep that fickle demographic as loyal consumers. Let’s dive into some Twitter talk where we’ll cover some Twitter marketing tips in this three-part series.

1. Choosing a good username and photos. Whatever Twitter handle you pick has to be short, catchy, and easily recognizable. You want users who search for your company to quickly find your page. If your brand’s name is long or has some sort of special character in it that you can’t use in your handle, opt for the next closest thing or an abbreviated version of your business’s name and be consistent in using the same handle across all social media channels. Your profile photo should be your company’s logo unless it’s not simple and legible on all screens. Your header photo is also a good place to put your logo or otherwise showcase your brand.

2. Write a great bio. Your Twitter bio is limited to 160 characters which means you need to pack a punch in a small word count. Your bio should accurately reflect who your company is or what they do while also being unique so you’ll want to be precise, show some personality, and make sure your overall bio fits with your brand’s messaging and audience. Additionally, your bio is a great place to include relevant hashtags or other tags that users should use or that your company will use when posting.

3. Be Creative. Whether it’s inviting users to check out your website or announcing a new product, replying to a follower who tagged you or something else altogether, you don’t want your Twitter account to be boring. Creativity is key. Be funny, be original, and be interesting. It’ll attract more followers and do wonders for your brand recognition and sales. That being said, you may want to create branding guidelines as far as language your company uses and doesn’t use and how it responds to certain types of posts. While you don’t want your content or replies to be uniform, a general sense of consistency is a good idea.

Stay tuned for next month’s blog post where we’ll continue our Twitter marketing series with Part 2! And in the meantime, take a look at your company’s Twitter account and make sure you’re implementing the above tips.

Image via Pexels

By now, you’ve likely started implementing some of our tips into your Instagram marketing methods and hopefully have seen some results! We’re going to finish off this series with a few more tips on how you can ensure Insta-success.

Partner with Influencers. On Instagram, users who have established credibility and an audience, typically in a specific industry, are known as “influencers.” Posts by influencers are often seen by more users and considered trustworthy, which often leads to more awareness or profitability for whatever product they may be showcasing or being sponsored by. Pairing up with an influencer is worth considering, especially if you’re in the early days of trying to grow your brand and attract followers. That being said, partnering with an influencer can carry a hefty price tag so be sure you have an appropriate budget and that it will pay off for your organization. You can also consider instead of engaging with a big-level influencer, looking at your company’s followers and seeing who has a good number of followers of their own as a potential influencer for your business.

Update Your Bio Link. On Instagram, you can only have one URL and that’s in your bio. When posting a photo, you can write a URL in the description underneath, but it won’t be clickable — users will instead have to copy and paste it into a web browser. Because of that, you want to be sure to update your bio link, rather than just keeping it as a generic direct to your company’s website homepage. You can also use Bitlink in your bio to track how many clicks your Instagram page is driving to your business’s content or website.

Drive Traffic to Website. Driving traffic to your website is directly to your bio link. If you’re announcing a new product, rolling out a giveaway, etc., tell users that there’s a “link in bio” and make sure that you have updated the link there to drive traffic to the appropriate page on your website. You want to make it easy for your followers and potential customers to follow your call-to-action and actually take action, rather than deciding it’s not worth the effort or trouble. Ultimately, Insta users may engage with your brand and learn more about it on the platform, but until they are redirected away from your Instagram post and prompted to do something (such as buy your product), you won’t see a spike in profitability.

Hopefully, the tips from this three-part series have given you some new ideas on how to better use and leverage company’s Instagram account. See you on the ‘Gram!

via Pexels

As we stated in last month’s post, Instagram’s user numbers are growing — so you need to capitalize on this prime social media platform when it comes to marketing. Let’s continue our three-part series with this second post that will introduce some other tips you should implement when using the ‘Gram in your marketing efforts.

Show Off Your Office Atmosphere. Transparency is big with consumers today, as is a more personal touch. Rather than just coming across as a faceless corporation, highlight your office culture on your Instagram. Post photos or short videos of your office, meetings, project kickoffs, or employees and include a quote or bit of information underneath the posting that allows users to get to know your company on a deeper level. Instagram users will appreciate getting a more intimate look into where and your organization operates and the people that work at your business

Get Into the #Hashtag Game. Hashtags are a big key to success when it comes to Insta and marketing on the platform. Utilize commonly used hashtags with your posts to grow your company’s reach and users’ awareness of your brand. Anywhere from 5-10 hashtags per post will help you start to expand your presence on the site. You can look up what common words or phrases are being used as hashtags and how many posts have already used that specific hashtag in order to increase your engagement and gain more followers. Make sure your hashtags are relevant to what you’re sharing and consider creating a hashtag of your own to use in your posts and for users to include in their posts when they are using your product. Mix up the hashtags you use by including some very popular ones as well as some more specific and perhaps less popular ones as those will allow your post to remain near the top of the tag’s results for a longer period.

Engage Consistently. It’s not enough to just post daily or a few times a week — though you should be consistent in how much your company is posting on Instagram. Be sure you are also commenting and liking other images and videos, following new people, and otherwise showing you are an active user. If you feel your business is lacking for content, go the User-Generated Content route (covered in Part 1 of this series!)

That’s all for part two of this series. Join us next month as we finish this series with a few more helpful tips and keep the above advice in mind or put it into action in the meantime!

via Pexels

Instagram has become an increasingly popular tool for marketing professionals and companies to use over the last few years. With more than 1 billion monthly users, the photo-sharing platform is a prime way to connect with potential and current customers. Even if you and your business have a presence on Instagram, you may not be using the platform to its fullest potential. With that in mind, we’re going to dive into some tips on how to have more success on Instagram in this new three-part series.

Utilize User-Generated Content (UGC). Brand awareness is key to growing your consumer base. That’s where user-generated content comes into play. With UGC, you’ll curate and share content that others have created that are pertinent to your brand or showcase your product. Not only will UGC promote your company by way of word-of-mouth, but it’ll also mandate you interact frequently with others on the platform as you get permission to repost photos, like posts that include your brand or product, etc. To make it easier for you to curate, inform users that if they want to be reposted by you, they need to use a specific hashtag.

Highlight New Products, Exciting Updates. Besides just posting relevant photos, you can also announce new products, share exciting updates, hiring news, and more, all through your images, videos, and Instagram Stories. By keeping your Instagram current and updated with your company’s news, it’ll become an extension of your business and marketing campaigns and further your branding efforts. If you have an event happening, consider posting on your Instagram Story about it or go Live on Instagram during the event.

Offer Deals/Giveaways. Many giveaways and deals on Instagram are driven by users. You can offer prizes to those who take the best photo of themselves using your product, share coupon codes with your followers to reward them for their business and loyalty, and offer other deals to those who engage with you on Instagram. Make sure that you include a call-to-action that users can easily follow or do in relation to your deal or giveaway. And be certain that for whatever deal or giveaway you offer, the parameters are clear and you follow through on whatever is promised — otherwise, you’ll end up hurting your reputation and possibly losing followers on Insta.

Consider starting to use some of these tips in your Instagram marketing efforts and come back next month to read the second part of this series!

via Pexels