DAVIES DESIGNS - Branding l Marketing l Strategy l Solutions

Friday, April 22, 2016

Is Your Online Business Presence Missing This One Key Ingredient?

When you’re working hard to ensure your online content is engaging, that you’re utilizing the appropriate social media platforms in your online presence, and even paying to reach the right audience; this added ingredient can make a world of difference in boosting the success of your posts. It’s also something most startups miss out on and desperately need to gain a following.

So What is That Secret Ingredient?

It’s hashtags and this article will outline ways they can benefit the online presence of your brand, business, and even upcoming events.

Yes - it feels like they’ve been around forever and they are, surprisingly, something companies still miss when promoting themselves online. It could be because they’ve donned a reputation for being used for “fun” or entertainment purposes, but entertainment isn’t their only use.

When promoting your company online, hashtag usage can help your brand in a professional way by:

Distinguishing you from your competitors or similarly named businesses – If I Google my business name, Davies Designs, I get information and images mostly about knitting patterns by a similarly named business in the U.K. If I scroll long enough, I might see my own stuff - not so cool....BUT if I Google #DaviesDesigns, I get the entire online presence of my business immediately because I use it consistently within my social media posts, website, and additional online content. Creating a hashtag that includes your business name is a simple process and essential to establishing a robust social media presence. It's use doesn't need to be limited to online content, you can include it in printed materials as well to help promote brand awareness.
Allowing you to create an online history for recurring public company events, campaigns, and fundraisers – By creating additional custom hashtags for each recurring company event, campaign, or fundraiser that can be reused going forward (i.e., don’t include a year in the hashtag) helps to promote the success of your events. It will also generate and reinforce trust in your brand for those hearing about your company or company events for the first time. If they see the online history (via images, posts, and news articles) going back several years, they will be more willing to make a donation, attend the event, volunteer, etc. Remember, everyone researches everything nowadays, so this added layer of brand trust is essential in boosting any company campaign.
Helping you launch a new book for publication - Creating a custom hashtag for promotion of a new book is a great way to engage readers. Encouraging your audience to use your hashtag is also beneficial as this provides added awareness via social sharing (e.g., I just finished reading #TheTallTale, a must read!) and ultimately leads to an increase in sales.
Connecting you with like-minded individuals (e.g., #writersofinstagram, #writersofig) – Just like you are using hashtags for business promotion, individuals are searching those same hashtags for items that interest them. Adding additional hashtags onto your posts that relate back to a topic of interest, or an audience you want to engage with, increases your reach and thereby your following.

Googling "Davies Designs" vs. Googling "#DaviesDesigns" produces very different results in the screen shots below. Using a business hashtag makes it easier for your audience to find you, so why not make it easy?

Busting the Myth

Hashtags aren't just for Twitter anymore. Hashtags can and should be used consistently across all social media platforms to reinforce your brand. On Instagram for example, as you begin typing a hashtag, a listing of popular hashtags comes up in a pop-up window. Each item in the list will have a number of times it has been used, insinuating that these are also the “hot” topics that people are searching under (e.g., #marketing, #fashiongram, #fashionpost from the screenshots below). Why would you want to miss out on this added opportunity for visibility? Adding appropriate hashtags to categorize your posts on Instagram, for example, can mean the difference between zero ‘likes’ and hundreds; not including those who may choose to follow you as well as a result.

Choose wisely when adding relevant hashtags to your posts. In Instagram, when the list begins to populate (as shown above), you will want to choose the hashtag showing the highest number of uses. Knowing that you want to limit the amount of hashtags so as not to appear as 'spamming,' it's a no-brainer that you would want to choose the ones in the millions versus ones that may show uses of thousands, hundreds, or lower yet. The exception here is the hashtag you'll use for your business, that will be new and may not appear and that's okay. Remember every hashtag has the potential to reach a new audience and, as tempting as it may be, adding irrelevant ones to your post to gain followers can have a negative impact on your brand. This leads us to our next topic of etiquette...

Hashtag Usage Etiquette

Following some simple rules for hashtag etiquette will help ensure the success of the posts you choose to add them to. There are many, but the most important ones include:

Not using another company's hashtag, especially if it is registered, unless the post directly pertains to them or you have been granted appropriate permission
Not using more than 5 hashtags for social media, unless it is on Instagram or at the end of a blog where you can typically get away with more. Even then, Instagram has a limit of 30, but I wouldn’t use more than 8-10, ensuring that additional hashtags (outside of the chosen one for your business name) are related to your post. Note: If you are a startup just getting established on Instagram, you get a free pass to use more hashtags. Just know that once your audience is established, you'll want to cut back so as not to annoy followers into unfollowing you.
Don’t #hashtag #every #word in a #paragraph, it #gets #annoying for the #audience #reading it
Do a spell check to ensure your hashtag is spelled correctly

Curious about what hashtag misuse looks like, click here for some entertaining examples.

FAQs for Hashtag Usage

How do I get started using a hashtag for my business name? The first step is simple, just do a search for it. If you then find that it’s already heavily in use, then try another similar hashtag name. Once you find one that doesn’t appear to be in use, you can choose to register it. I chose TWUBS for my hashtag registration.
How many hashtags should I use in my posts? For businesses, I would choose one or two to use at all times (e.g., - #DaviesDesigns & #Marketing for my business with 'Davies Designs' being the business name and the added hashtag of ‘marketing’ indicating the services we provide). You can typically get away with more hashtags on Instagram, but I would limit hashtag use to five or less on Twitter or Facebook.
Do I really need to use hashtags? I would Google your business or past events to find out how your results come back, especially if you’re not using paid advertising. If you come up on page two of a search, then you may want to start using hashtags to see how it can improve those results. Don’t forget to see how you appear when looking at an image search as well, especially for events, campaigns, and fundraisers where photos, flyers, and logos would appear. Note: It may be beneficial to go back and edit past posts to include the new hashtag you plan to use going forward to help with creating an online history.
How will people know to search for our business hashtag? You’ll have to promote it! Let them know you’re using a new hashtag via social media, encourage them to use it as well when mentioning your business or event, and remember that using it consistently across posts also reminds your audience you’re using a hashtag. Note: It will take time once you begin using hashtags for search results to appear, so be patient and don't give up on them before they have a chance to work. Typically results should show in 30-60 days.
Where can I find resources to help me with hashtag usage on social media? There’s a ton of information out there, but some great articles can be found in these links for Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to get you started, complete with visuals and online tools to help you track hashtag usage. Of course, we're always available to help as well.

In Summary….

If you’re posting online, there are only benefits for your brand by using a hashtag or two, as long as they’re used wisely and consistently. Remember...

Aim to use your business name hashtag in every piece of online content and possibly offline content as well
Create additional hashtags for every event, campaign, fundraiser, soon to be/newly published book; to encourage social sharing, stimulate conversations, increase participation, and boost sales
Topic related hashtags can help you reach a specific audience or connect with like-minded individuals
Hashtags should be used consistently across social media platforms - they aren't just for Twitter anymore
Obey hashtag etiquette to maximize success

In little to no time at all (and at little to no expense), you can be casting your net farther than before and getting a deeper reach into those key audiences. So give them a shot!

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Of course, we're here to help! If you need an opinion on what hashtags to use, have a general question, or if we can help in some other way, you can reach us via the links below or by email.

Crystal Davies is a strategic marketing consultant specializing in branding and brand identity, marketing strategy, and business solutions. Her passion is seeing how pieces of the marketing strategy puzzle come together to turn her clients dreams of business success into reality.

www.daviesdesigns.net

crystal@daviesdesigns.net

Monday, April 4, 2016

5 Reasons to Refresh Your Company Branding

It happens to every growing company and, in truth, it’s not a bad problem to have. At some point your company will need to refresh its branding and, knowing that rebranding is an investment; how can you know when the time is right?

“Branding: The marketing practice of creating a name, symbol, or design that identifies and differentiates a product or business from other products or businesses.” – entrepreneur.com

5 Reasons to Consider a Branding Refresh

1) You’ve Been Receiving Feedback That Your Company Branding Is Stale Or Out-Of-Date

You’ve been in business for a while now and although things are going great, you’ve started to receive feedback from clients or customers that, although they love your services, an element of your branding is lacking…something. First off, take this as a compliment. Even if it comes in the form of a snarky comment from a competitor, take this as a compliment. You’ve accomplished a stellar reputation and people know your services are to be trusted even if your brand appearance is in need of an update. If you find yourself in this position, don’t panic; every growing company will encounter this at some point, even several times. All it identifies is that your business is growing and you’re probably in need of a branding refresh to continue that growth. In a time when businesses are facing as many challenges as they are, you’re doing things right!

Note: The key here is to identify consistent and constructive feedback as other kinds are best taken with a grain of salt. Likewise, you can pick up cues from facial expressions and reactions during meetings, conferences, when giving your business card out, etc. (e.g., Your audience didn’t seem as impressed with a PowerPoint slide until after you’d spent time speaking to the content. In other words, your PowerPoint branding didn’t grab their attention, but luckily your carefully constructed content made up for it.)

“It’s not just about being ‘pretty;’ it’s about appeal, professionalism, and appearing organized. If your company branding appears disheveled, that’s the impression you’re communicating to potential clients…”

2) Your Competitor’s Branding Is Impressive

Competition keeps branding fresh because it forces companies to get an edge. One of the most powerful ways to get an edge is to refine, fine tune, or refresh company branding. Impressive branding will win new customers and increase sales. One the flip side, existing customers expect you to keep up with the times, but how long they wait for you to catch up is anyone’s guess. Always remember that a brand that appears impressive can also be misconstrued asbeing impressive, so if you’re seeing your competition win more customers as of late with mediocre service offerings, it might just be time to refresh your branding. You’ll need to be prepared when their consumers catch on it was all just smoke and mirrors.

Note: To put it simply, for new customers: Pretty Branding = Brand Trust. It’s up to you to follow through with stellar services once you’ve grabbed their attention with the “pretty” branding. The illustration below provides a little more insight. You can also learn more here.

“Increased Branding Effort + Consistency +Attractiveness = Increased Consumer Trust, Followers, & New Business Opportunities”

3) Your Visual Brand Identity Doesn’t Appear To Match Your Brand Reputation

Your company reputation is part of your overall brand – what you live and breathe as a company – and if you already have an amazing brand reputation, it’s not hard to sync up your visual brand identity, but it does take time and careful planning. But why should you worry about it – you’re business is doing fine, right? The answer is simple – it’s what your customers expect. With all of the information sharing and competition, your existing customers are used to seeing companies in a state of constant competition (whether they realize it or not). The companies that “keep up” with the trends, with their brand image, and who work to spread their message in new and innovative ways, are the ones that will continue to win the business.

If you find yourself in a situation where your company reputation has overtaken your visual brand identity (i.e., your reputation is amazing but your branding is stale), the trick is to not let these components of your brand stay out of sync for too long. When you have the benefit of a stellar reputation, it can mean that you may not immediately feel the effects of what happens when your visual brand is lacking. Staying in tune with your competition and revisiting your branding periodically should allow you to create an action plan before your business feels any impact.

“Your customer’s expect you to keep up with the times. In a way, it confirms that your business is still relevant and up to the challenge of new demands.”

4) You’re Expanding Your Horizons

Congratulations! You’re a growing and expanding business! Whether you’re expanding by opening a new location, offering new services, or adding employees; you’re likely in need of a brand refresh. Why? Because any time a business expands, it means that new information is generated that needs to be shared with customers, clients, business partners, etc. The fastest way to share new information is through your branding. Your website, printed materials, promotional emails, capabilities presentations, business cards, logo, etc. are all likely in need of an update with any business expansion. If you’re already making updates, it’s worth spending the time to decide whether your overall branding is still working for you or against you. If sales have dropped or you’re noticing unusual trends emerging with no obvious direct contributors, then it may be due to outdated branding. Take this opportunity to make the maximum impact with a branding refresh that boosts your business in the biggest way possible.

5) You’re Beginning To Lose Business

Last, but not least, you’re beginning to lose business. This is the hardest to come back from as it starts a process that can become expensive to circle back from; but it is possible. If you find yourself here, it may take more time to recover than it would have in the above mentioned indicators. A branding refresh may be needed, or you may want to rebrand entirely. At this point, it may be best to consult with a professional on whether branding is a factor and, if so, for a strategic marketing plan for moving forward. Be sure to share all of your pain points with your consultant, even if the downturn was due to internal issues, there is always a way to minimize the damage. It just takes open and honest communication with a consultant you can trust.

In summary….