How to Market: PR and Social Media

Old-school ‘marketing’ involves paying through the nose for [mostly] unimaginative campaigns that plaster the nation’s billboards, and get minimum chatter for your buck. Correct? We think so. 

Years of research, marketing psychology and higher levels of consumer perception have all contributed to ‘the rule of 7’.

The Rule of 7

All this research has taught companies that consumers need to ‘hear’ a company’s message 7 times before taking action. Apparently this ‘rule to live by’ was coined in the 30s in Hollywood when studio bosses realised quite how much advertising was needed for a movie to become a hit.

Today, with attention spans being shorter than ever, and really having to earn someone’s time, companies’ odds of reaching that ultimate ‘7 time’s a charm’ mark are slim. Hence why Social Media and PR are really where time and attention needs to be spent, as these are the easiest ways [many would say] into a consumer [or group of consumers]’s brain. 

Social Media allows businesses to engage a consumer whenever and wherever they like: on the tube, on their walk to work, between meetings, or (and we know you’re guilty of this too!) even in the bathroom. This content becomes meaningful when you connect on a personal level with a consumer, and offer them something they want, something they didn’t already know, or something they think is beautiful. If you can tell the consumer a story about your business, why it’s different, and something personal about yourself, your employees or the journey you’ve been on to get where you are, you’re on the first stepping stone to making those meaningful connections, and sticking in their mind.

Another of the key elements of Social Media, that many companies overlook, is the ability for consumers to tell others about the positive experiences they’ve had with a/your brand. If these are genuine and positive reviews, you’ll start to see that they become contagious, and your army of advocates will start to grow.

If you’re interested in The Brand Whisperer’s Social Media or PR offerings, and the difference they could make to your brand’s interaction with your target market, please do send us an email or follow us on Instagram. 

siena@thebrandwhisperer.co.uk

Why linktree Is No Good For Your Website – And What To Do About It

We’ve seen the linktree pages in their hoards on Instagram and Blogs, and often found the odd useful element – but are they actually good for a website? Here are The Brand Whisperer’s reasons why not:

·      Security

If you’re running your own website, it’s obviously important to keep security as a high priority. Running pages through other websites, be they established, or smaller, is always a risk.

·      Branding

Why spend time making a website or a blog look great, and then transfer it onto another platform? Your first impression of a brand may be social media, a website, or a well placed ad, but do you really want potential customer’s first impressions of your brand identity to be through linktree? It’s clunky, old fashioned format may well drive them away

·      SEO

Using linktree removes your own URL from the equation, thus affecting your SEO. In other words.. each time someone clicks that link it’s boosting linktree’s SEO and viewing figures, not your own. When a blog has a large audience incoming through their social channels this has the potential to really do damage, or cause confusion.

·      Visibility

If this hasn’t occurred to you already then please check your outgoing mail etc. as linktree links are often banned, or removed from emails or platforms when posted. This is obviously a huge obstacle to overcome – but simply not using linktree, and creating your own hidden page solves that without any issue!

So what now?

Creating a ‘hidden’ page within your website, with images, news and information that you’d normally input into a linktree page, is by far the best option (and it’s free!) - have a look at ours here [also available via our Instagram bio link]. This uses your own URL, supporting your SEO, carries your own branding and can be tracked from the back end of your website, so can be a great way of providing new business leads.

Why waste time – get on it now, and tag us in your new and improved pages @the.brand.whisperer #thebrandwhisperer