#AwesomeStorytelling – Stories That Highlight Experience in Your Industry



If you want your viewers to connect with your brand, you’ll need to give them some common ground. One of the most effective ways to do so is by telling some awesome stories that highlight your experience in your industry. Here are some tips that will help you create compelling stories:

Speak truthfully.
Integrity is the cornerstone of brand trust. Don’t try to tell stories in which you are the savior. Instead, show your stories through their eyes. Show their struggles (and yours) to create a successful outcome. Audiences find hope and connection when your stories overcome adversity. It’s the way you tell the story that connects them.

Be Authentic to Yourself.
You need to explain why you do what you do and the purpose behind your actions. The key to success, is that emotional connection, remember? You need to explain how your involvement in this story is special and unique to your industry. Your “why” is just as important as the outcome.

Infuse Personalities into Stories.
Dry, factual statements and arguments will actually create barriers to trust. It is natural to be critical and skeptical of a person’s claims. It will cause a person to click away from an ad, post, or page, almost as quickly as a pushy, “Buy me because I said so” social media push. When those facts are wrapped in the power of a story, however, there is a chance to get them emotionally invested in the outcome. This emotionally connection allows them to follow through to the end, willing to suspend disbelief, and root for an outcome that aligns with your needs.

Know Your Audience.
Knowing your audience means you have to give them stories and characters that they will root for. Simplify your message and make sure you cut out unnecessary details. Anything that doesn’t further the story or the emotional impact has to go.

Include a Beginning, Middle, and End (Story Structure is King!)
There is nothing worse than a rambling story that has no purpose. Make sure that your stories follow a proven story structure for maximum engagement. You’ll want exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and a resolution. Each of these pieces connect your readers with your story in an emotional way.

Here are some ways you can get readers engaged with your #AwesomeStorytelling:

  • Use your ads in a sequential story form. Refinery29, actually did a Facebook ad test regarding this, and found a 56% conversion life, and an 87% rise in view-throughs.
  • Use visual storytelling. It’s imperative that you use the five senses in your storytelling so that your story can come to life. Visual aids like images, graphs, videos, and infographics can make your story far more compelling. Keep your social media platform in mind, as well, when you consider these options. Instagram Stories are highlighted at the top of everyone’s Insta feed. Facebook Day in the Life is highlighted at the top of the messenger app. We all know that Facebook videos are currently pushed more than regular content. You can tell the same stories in a thousand different ways. Don’t let yourself be limited.

There are so many more ways to use stories in your business. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Take time to create compelling stories, and you’ll see a huge difference in your social media responses.

Start your first story today!


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Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+,YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and the tools to manage them.

#AwesomeConsistency – How Consistency Makes Your Brand Stand Out

In our last post, we talked about why consistency is essential to your social media strategy. The focus was mostly on what your audience expects in terms of presence. However, there are many reasons why posting consistently is a game changer for your social and one of them is brand impact. Not only are you vying every day for your target audience’s attention, you are competing against other brands to earn influence and credibility as well.
With our shortened attention spans and the flood of content being directed at us daily, standing out as a brand on social media is no walk in the park. Without consistency, it is difficult to adequately get your vision across to your viewers.  If you haven’t managed to deliver this in social, you can bet someone offering something similar has cracked the code. 
The businesses that are doing this will be instantly recognized – at a glance. You don’t have to read an ad to know if it’s coming from Nike or Apple or Disney. Your peripheral vision, and this instant recognition of their brand, is enough for an audience to immediately pinpoint whose marketing it is. 
How can you switch up your social postings to make them more consistent – and instantly recognizable? 
Schedule
The first step is putting together a solid editorial calendar. Having a set schedule for your posts will help you when creating content but also helps your audience know what to expect from you. Brands can also post above and beyond what their calendar entails as long as they stick to the consistent schedule. 
Style Guide
Having an overall idea of what your brand will look like online is a good idea but having it all put together into a branding style guide is even better. If you are investing any amount of time into developing your brand, then a style guide is necessary for maintaining consistency. Here are some examples of what a style guide looks like to give you an idea of what you will need to pull together.
Tone/Voice
Writers (and copywriters) fully understand how essential developing the right tone for copy can be. Having a brand “voice” will remind you how to remain consistent. Are you sassy? Professional? Informative? If you could describe your brand in three words – what would they be? 
First you have to define your voice and then you have to ensure that you are using the same tone in all your branding. Here is an article to help you get started.
Graphics/Images
Last, but certainly not least, is developing visual content for your online presence, marketing, and social media. 
“Visual content has become so prevalent that it’s no longer just a piece of the marketing industry, but its core.”
Kimberlee Morrison
To get attention today, you have to invest in visual content. Videos, graphics, memes, infographics, slide shows – all of these are visuals. Our attention spans are ridiculously short and a brand needs high-quality, stunning, eye-catching graphics in order to grab attention and get noticed. Consistency comes into play when developing these because you want your audience to instantly recognize you, and your brand, when they glance at content you’ve created. 

If you follow these guidelines, you will find that you are already ahead of the curve when compared to much of your competition. Creating your social media strategy, so you can #BeAwesome at what you do, should involve a plan ensuring your branding is consistent across all channels. 

Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!
Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and the tools to manage them.

#AuthenticallyAwesome – Authentic Education in Your Branding



Marketing has changed drastically in the past decade. The days of telemarketing, direct mail, and traditional advertising are long gone. People are choosing how they consume media – including how they are being sold products and services. We fast forward through commercials, toss our junk mail, have spam folders, and avoid answering calls or doorbells from people we don’t know. Permission-based marketing is really the only way to connect with a target audience anymore. That is why content marketing and influencer marketing have had so much traction. Today consumers have complete control over who gets to market to them. This is why consistent, quality content is the way to attract potential leads and clients. We have to give our audience something they wantto read, engage or interact with.
Permission marketing is the privilege (not the right) of delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to people who actually want to get them.
Seth Godin
Today’s strategies for reach revolve around creating informational and educational content that the right audience will want to consume.  Our rates of media consumption are off the charts right now, especially on our mobile devices. Never in the history of humankind have we been so connected or driven to consume data, media and content. The online noise is LOUD. How does a small business owner make an impact and be found?
The answer is: they provide content that people find valuable.
Enter stage left – influencer marketing. Influencer marketing has a two-fold effect. Many marketers focus on the benefit of the reach that can be found in connecting with the audiences of popular influencers. However, the other huge perk of interacting with, and then becoming, an influencer is that you are building credibility and establishing yourself as an expert in your field.
How do you establish yourself as a trusted expert and advisor? You offer education to your audience. This educational offering can take many forms…blogs, white papers, videos, webinars, or podcasts. Select the medium you feel most comfortable with and that you feel confident your audience will consume. You are a business owner for a reason – you have a skillset that others find valuable.  You provide value. Don’t convince yourself that you have to nothing to say or share. There are people eager to pay attention to what you have to say.
How do you make your educational offerings authentic? Don’t spend time attempting to copy or emulate someone else’s content. This is an easy way to get started but you have to give your followers something unique to you. They are following you because they appreciate what you have to say and how you express it. If you haven’t developed a “voice” for you and your brand – it’s time to do so. Authenticity is creating a voice and tone for your content that not only represents your branding but is also an accurate and honest depiction of who you are. That sort of content is what resonates with people.  It’s the way to create brand advocates – passionate followers who share your message wide and far….for free…just because your content impacts them in a positive way.
Incorporating education into your branding takes time and effort and doesn’t always have a measurable ROI. Finding a way to share this type of content in an authentic way is going to take some brainstorming and effort. However, the end result of this is a wider reach and a more dedicated following. What business doesn’t want that with their online presence?

Now go out there and create something AWESOME! I can’t wait to see you spread your message with the world.

Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!
Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+,YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and the tools to manage them.

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