Let’s start with a look at a June 2014 Inc. article about Lolly Wolly Doodle (LWD), a children’s clothing company. In 2010, CEO Brandi Temple tested new children’s wear designs on the LWD Facebook page and gauged fans response. If the sample tested well they would manufacture the clothing designs to meet those orders and ship to their customers. In the brand’s early days, the CEO interacted with her customers via Facebook and responded to customer wishes for colors and style variations. She grew the company slowly and her audience helped by also posting images of their children in the cute outfits from LWD. It all grew word of mouth by moms posting on Facebook. Now the company has over $10 million in sales and 946,462 likes on their Facebook page. Lolly Wolly Doodle has no brick and mortar store or online presence other than the Facebook page and the website.

This is a good story for the first suggestion:

1. Make sure you have a social presence. Expand your brand conversation online via Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and other social platforms to connect your brand with your audience and listen and learn from their feedback. This takes time. Post some test messages targeted at one or more of your audience groups, learn from the response and adjust your posts. Also, use industry data to your advantage. For instance, we know that over 93% of the millennial generation have purchased a product after hearing about it from a family member or friend. And over 41% then talk about it online. So listen carefully to what is being said online – you want to have a conversation and be a resource for your customers. And make it easy for customers to do business with you by offering free shipping. Currently, 47% of online transactions use free-shipping to keep those customers coming back. ¹

2. Participate in the mobile conversation. Studies show having a strong social relationship with your customers online is important but it’s also important that you keep in mind that your target audience may be viewing their social and internet pages via a mobile device rather than their desktop. According to a speech given by Mary Meeker of KPCB at the recent Internet Trends 2014 Code Conference, 19% of internet page views in North America (global web usage is at 25%) are initiated by a mobile device. It is also predicted that 50% of all online sales will come from social and mobile by 2015.²

3. Build a website that is mobile friendly. Now that you have engaged with your customers online and understood that each day, more users will be looking at your site via a tablet or Smartphone your company should have a mobile or responsive website. If a website is difficult to navigate, those viewers will go elsewhere. That adds up to lost opportunity and lost revenue. A good user experience – via any device – is key to expanding your brand, retaining users on your website and ultimately, converting those users into customers.

20% of mobile users are viewing with a screen resolution as small as 320 x 480 pixels. A responsive or mobile web site is needed for these smaller screen sizes and allows the user to have a better experience when navigating with their finger instead of their mouse.

So remember….

Be social – Present your brand as contemporary and current. Study your social pages and respond to your customers online. If they are reaching out with questions or comments, build on that relationship.

Be mobile – Make adjustments to increase user interaction and keep them coming back to your site as a resource.

Be responsive -Analyze how users interact with your website. Review analytics to determine what types of devices are used to access your site and the pages they visit. If your audience is on-the-go and needs information quickly then it makes sense to make the move to a responsive or mobile site.

By staying on top of trends and listening to your customer your bottom line will respond.

1. Adweek, August 11, 2014 issue

2. Inc. June 2014 issue

The post Mobilize Your Brand, It Pays Off appeared first on Portent.

Don’t.

Remember the real reason you’re creating a blog is to connect with your customers readers. You may think it’s to educate customers about your brand and to get them to buy your stuff—that’s true (to a certain extent) but none of that happens without a connection. The best way to do that is to…

Be human

You want readers to trust you. That means you have to let them know that you share their values and beliefs and that they know what to expect from you and your brand. Potential customers need to know that you are in it for them. Then, when they are ready to buy, they will come back to you—that friend they made on the Internet that one time.

Don’t sell products, tell stories

People relate to people, not to companies. The more your writers can tell specific stories about real people, the easier it will be for the customer to empathize with the stories and thus the brand. Kate Spade uses their blog to introduce readers to the people behind the brand.

Be a resource

Sometimes a consumer doesn’t even know the solution you offer exists. Be the friend they need. For example, MomAgenda, a company that provides organizing solutions for busy families recently wrote a post about how to create family time. Notice that the post doesn’t mention their products at all. Friends give before they ask.

What about the blog voice?

Companies often worry about how much the blog should reflect the established company voice and how much should reflect the employees’. My vote is for the employees (and not just because I’m a writer). Remember, relationships are all about the personal connection. Introduce your employees, use bylines, and establish Google Authorship for your writers. You hired good people who believe in your company. They might need a few editorial guidelines (see below), but let them surprise you (plus, this is a great way to not sound just like your competitors).

Create a style guide

About those guidelines… think of a style guide not as a rigid set of rules that confine your writers to a corporate voice. View it instead as a strong platform that makes sure your writers are all playing on the same field. Once everyone knows the rules, set them free to find new levels of excellence.

You’re going to want to include nitty-gritty grammar quirks and also some fun stuff.

Grammar choices to make

If you aren’t a copy editor, this bulleted list might read like gibberish. Trust me, it’s not. Many people who do know what all of these are care less about which camp you choose than that you are consistent.

• To Oxford comma or not to Oxford comma?
• En dashes or em dashes?
• Smart quotes or straight quotes?
• One or two spaces after a period?
• How do you spell industry-specific jargon (e.g. e-book, ebook, or eBook?)

Find a good copy editor and let them help write your style guide. Your blog will achieve a level of consistency and organization that 99% of readers will only appreciate subliminally, but it’s worth it.

Lexicons and other fun topics

I’m not kidding. Building a lexicon (a list of words you will commonly use) is really fun and can be a great tool to get your writers to stick to a consistent tone. Consider the difference between a blog that refers to weddings as the “big day” “celebrating you and your beloved” and one that uses phrases like “ball and chain.”

What else do you need to consider?

• Pick three things your blog is about and insist that every blog post include one of them. In the above wedding example, I’d suggest wedding etiquette, fashion advice, and planning tips. David’s Bridal covered planning tips by adding their voice to the “do wedding websites make for generic weddings?” fray.
• Create a persona for your ideal audience member(s). For weddings, write for the bride, bridesmaids, and ideally, the groom too. Not all posts will speak to all people, but make sure your content targets the right people. A “How to Do a Bachelorette Party Right” post appeals to a very different readership than one providing event set-up tips for caterers.
• What can’t be said? Some writers respond best to knowing exactly how far they can push things. Will your bridal blog acknowledge shotgun weddings? How about gay weddings? The idea isn’t to make a list of every prohibition. Instead, you are providing parameters for success.

You’ll be amazed at what a good writer can do with these little tidbits of information.

The bottom line

Because you’re a business, it ultimately comes down to money. Here’s how that works. You use the blog to connect with your customers (readers) as human beings. Once they learn to trust you, your name is top-of-mind when they need the services you offer.

Don’t believe me? Use Google Analytics to see how many people convert after visiting your blog once, twice, or many times. Which posts keep people coming back? Write more of those.

What are your favorite blogs written by humans? Tell us about them and dish about corporate blog fails in the comments.

The post How to Blog: Humanizing Your Brand appeared first on Portent.

As a business, you probably want to appeal to your core audience or prospects.
After all, that’s where the revenue comes from. Unfortunately it is likely that
most of your prospects will never publish content about your company or link to
your web site. This is why you must strike a balance. Create content for both your
core community and for web-writers in and around your industry who publish and link
out.

Here is a popular formula often used for link-worthy and vote-worthy content
in a top ten format.

1. Article title
2.  Brief introductory paragraph to the article
3.  For each of the ten
   1.  Sub-headline
   2.  What it is, a very brief description
   3. A clever thumbnail or graphic that represents the discussion point
   4.  Why this is important, a more detailed explination

It’s useful to remember that you are not writing a white paper. Your article
should be both informative and entertaining, targeted toward a more casual business
audience. If you can strike a balance, people will want to read more of your articles.

It can be a good idea to expand beyond your company’s core product or mission
when writing articles for links and social media. If you create telemarketing software,
for example, you can write about:

• Selecting telemarketing software (core)
• Managing a phone room (broad)
• Training callers (broad)
• Writing telemarketing scripts (broad)
• Compensation strategies (broad)
• What to look for when hiring a telemarketing manager or supervisor (broad)
• Designing a new phone room (broad)
• Rules and regulations telemarketers must follow (broad)

Obviously there is a lot more to telemarketing than the software. Is the same
true for your industry or your customers?

If you commit to this type of strategy you business will grow from a one-shot
company and transform into an industry resource. It will take time and persistence,
then, when this happens your brand and reputation will grow too. Later, when businesses
need your product or service, chances will be much higher that your company will
find itself on the short-list.

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