For decades, “experts” in marketing have touted the idea of hiding your pricing and highly discouraged clearly publishing prices online. The thought behind this— you want to be able to engage with as many potential customers as possible and by getting them to reach out and ask for your pricing, you have more potential leads.

Seems logical, right? Who doesn’t want more calls? But in 2021, we believe there are other more important factors to consider.

The Death of the Phone Call

In short, most people simply don’t want to have to call and ask questions in 2021. We’re sure you’ve seen plenty of memes about how much people hate talking on the phone. This alone can tell you the current climate of our society, which bleeds over into business as well.

According to research conducted in 2017, 88% of consumers will price shop and compare products online before engaging directly with a business or making a purchase. People want to visit a website and get all the information they need in one place to make an informed decision. No one wants to experience the awkwardness of admitting they can’t afford a service after asking for the price over the phone.

The bottom line is, if your website says “Call for Price,” you are immediately losing out on a ton of potential customers who will just hop over to a competitor’s website that offers more information.

Not to mention, today’s consumer has a very short attention span… so even if they are willing to call for price, there’s a high chance that they’ll get distracted by an incoming text or email before they ever get to the actual phone part of their phone. Needless to say, the chances that they’ll remember to call after that are even slimmer.

The “Unaffordability” Assumption

You may be nervous to put your pricing on the website for fear of losing potential leads, but we happen to think you may lose a lot of potential customers by NOT adding it.

Did you know that when you don’t publish your price/range on your website, that will automatically cause many potential customers to believe that you’re out of their budget? Yep. It’s a real thing— fear of the unknown.

When people can’t find the price, they often assume the worst. They often think your services must be targeting wealthier people who don’t consider price as highly in the purchasing process. Hiding your prices may be scaring away more potential buyers than providing it upfront.

Don’t Waste Your Time

A new lead comes in! After going back and forth over several emails, coordinating a time, holding a discovery call, and preparing a proposal… you find out they were never going to be a potential client for you. You were always going to be way out of their budget. Sound familiar?

The truth is, not everyone is in your target market. Some people will want the service cheaper than you offer, while others need something more complex and expensive.

So instead of spending time filtering through incoming “leads” that will never fit in your range of services, spend your time more productively. There’s not a single business owner that doesn’t need more time!

Putting a price (or at least a price range) right on your website saves you the hassle of hours of work that only ends up frustrating you in the long run.

When people see your prices and know they can’t afford your services or products, they will likely never request a meeting or discovery call. You didn’t lose a good lead, you saved yourself a lot of hours and frustration.

Build Trust with Your Audience

Upfront pricing also builds brand trust, so be confident in your pricing! Learn your target market like the back of your hand so you can more easily find them, or better yet, help them find you.

Who are they? What do they do? What’s their budget range? If you’re the cheapest around, the complex high-end client may not be in your target audience. Or if you’re the most expensive, budget shoppers won’t bite. Remember— not everyone is going to be your target audience, and that is okay.

But by giving a price range upfront, you build trust with your target audience because they can self-qualify that they are in your target market before they ever contact you the first time.

How to Handle Custom Services or Products

Sometimes you can’t list your prices, because your services are fully custom and each person gets a customized quote based on what they need from you. We totally get that, because that is how our agency works, too. In this case, we recommend providing a price range or a “Starting at…” on your website.

You don’t have to put all your price customizations, but just give a general range or starting point. You can even include the caveat that the prices are subject to change based on the amount of customizations/work/client allowing yourself room to negotiate a fair price for each service or product.

For example, on our site, we state that our fully custom and SEO optimized websites start at $4500. However, depending on the client’s needs and customizations, it could get much higher than that. That said, if someone is just starting a business and is looking for a $500 Squarespace site or the equivalent, they already know that we would not be a good fit. And that’s okay!

That saves us time and energy to put into the businesses who do want and need what we have to offer.

Final Thoughts

The bottom line is most potential customers want to know your pricing up front, or to at least get a ballpark figure, by visiting your website.

You don’t really want to spend time convincing people on the phone to work with you when they really can’t afford to or don’t see the value in what you offer! Trying to convince anyone to become a client is something you can choose to avoid by being open with our price range on your website.

Here’s our advice— Own your value and add your price or price range to your website. The right clients will come along.

Remember back in 2020 when basically every ad was some big corporation telling you they are here for you or trying to make you cry in the middle of a Tuesday? We definitely do. But if you’re one of those people who have blocked 2020 from your memory, just watch this Amazon ad for reference—

Whew…

But for real, we just all collectively went through a year of extreme uncertainty and fear. And we don’t know about you, but we are more than ready for everything to feel settled again!

In fact, Summer 2021 turned out to reflect a desire for community, fun, and freedom for most people—and well, getting back to some sort of semblance of normalcy. But was that also vibe in the advertising world?

With Summer winding down, we’re looking back on a few brands with advertising campaigns that made us even more excited for “Hot Girl Summer.” ????  You tell us if they passed the Summer 2021 vibe check:

Adidas

Alright kids… long before the age of social media and television ads (when people walked to school uphill barefoot in the snow), there were these things called billboards. In fact, billboards have been used since the 1830’s… And well, Adidas just came along and changed the whole game.

In an effort to announce the debut of their recent inclusive swimwear collection, Adidas installed the world’s first liquid billboard.

That’s right. Adidas installed a swimming pool holding 11,500 gallons of water on a popular beach in Dubai. The purpose of the ad was to reinforce that all women should be able to be confident in their swimwear no matter their appearance, and all the women in the vicinity were invited to take a very public dive into the pool.

The goal of this campaign is to encourage women of all shapes and sizes to feel powerful and comfortable in their swimwear. Senior Brand Director at Adidas Amrith Gopinath said, “Our belief is that nobody should be prevented from enjoying the benefits of being in and around the water, hence the recent launch of our diversified product offering for all women and our burkini collection.”

Budweiser

We wouldn’t expect any less from the brand that brought us the culture changing “WASSUP” commercials. In late June, Budweiser released a commercial called “Go Fourth, America” that featured actor Bill Pullman reprising his famous presidential role from “Independence Day” for the first time in 25 years. In his speech, he celebrates how America has rallied together to overcome the challenges of the pandemic and encourages the country to look towards a brighter future. “Go Fourth, America” also highlights a donation from Budweiser to Direct Relief, a humanitarian aid organization focused on enabling vaccine access in the U.S. and globally.

While it’s certainly not super cheeky like the beloved WASSUP frogs of old (AKA: the 90’s), this commercial gave us nostalgia, made us laugh, and almost made us cry. In a time with so much division, Budweiser found a way to connect with so many people with different backgrounds. No matter your political stance, it’s hard to watch this ad and not catch feelings. If you haven’t had a chance to watch it yet, check it out here—

Snickers

This one might just be our favorite because Snickers really said, “I see you and I understand you,” to the working middle class. Snickers’ summer campaign is a series of videos showing people on vacation that just can’t quite relax. The only solution? A Snicker’s ice cream bar.

Picture this. You’re sitting on a beach with your bestie sunbathing and reading a nice book. Just then, a plane flies overhead… and trailing behind it is a message from work that ruins the whole vibe. If you’re triggered, you’re not alone. The plane is definitely a metaphor for how our phones have made us accessible at all times. It’s a call-out to our current culture which doesn’t really allow us to ever truly disconnect.????  Yikes… We’re pretty sure we can all relate to this one.

Oh, and here’s a little bit of insider info—This ad actually utilizes weather-based triggers for ads on Youtube, Facebook, Snapchat, and other mediums whenever the temperature rises past certain points depending on the market. That’s right, Snickers knows when you’re starting to sweat, and they’re using it!

Final Thoughts

These campaigns are all great examples of how much the advertising industry changes depending on current events. And listen, marketers have their work cut out for them, because the average consumer has gotten a lot smarter (looking at you!) and a lot more in tune to when they’re being manipulated or over-advertised to.

With the overload of campaigns and advertisements in our current climate, companies have no other choice but to think of new, creative ways to stand out. We’ve found that the biggest change in the last year is that consumers are more motivated by social justice movements than ever before. Equality is now ranked the number one biggest motivator, and diversity went up more than six places in ranking in one year. For the most part, consumers are basically saying, either get woke or get left behind.

We’ll keep watching to see how long this type of advertising is trending, and we’ll be on the lookout for what’s coming next!

A few weeks ago Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, said, “Instagram is no longer a photo-sharing app, but instead is a general entertainment app” in an Instagram Live that sent the media, business owners, and social media managers into somewhat of a tizzy.

While everyone was freaking out, we were thinking… Cue the shot of Joey and Phoebe in Season 5 of FRIENDS acting like they didn’t already know about Chandler and Monica—

(Side note, this was such a great FRIENDS moment. And Season 5 is arguably the best…)

Anyway, while media outlets really took this and ran with it, the truth is, Mosseri didn’t really tell us anything that we didn’t really already know.

Instagram hasn’t been primarily a photo sharing app for square shaped photos for some time now. Stories, IGTV, Reels, and other forms of video have been extremely important on the app for a while. Mosseri did say that photos aren’t going anywhere. He’s simply saying that they’re not the sole function of the app anymore. So really, not much is changing!

If you’re still primarily sharing photos, that’s awesome! Let’s all take a moment to breathe and let’s get into what he DID say.

What Are the Major Current Areas of Focus for the App?

In the Instagram Live, Mosseri stated that the app will be focussing on four key areas going forward: Video, Shopping, Messaging, and Creators.

“People are looking to Instagram to be entertained, there’s stiff competition and there’s more to do. Then we have to embrace that. And that means change,” Mosseri said.

1. Video—This one’s pretty self explanatory. Videos, specifically Reels, are extremely important in the algorithm and a great way to be seen by a much wider audience. It’s also no surprise that anyone wanting to grow their Instagram today needs to be on Reels.

2. Shopping—During the video, Mosseri mentioned that it was in fact the COVID-19 Pandemic that “accelerated the shift of commerce from offline to online by a number of years, and we’re trying to lean into that trend” through its shopping features.

Instagram debuted the Shopping in Reels feature last December which allows sellers and influencers to tag their products for sale within their Reels (while the ability to tag products in the main feed has been available for some time now).

3. Messaging—Instagram also launched the Rooms feature earlier this year, which allows up to four users to chat live with one another simultaneously.

4. Creators—And finally, last month, Instagram unveiled features to help creators monetize their audience.

What Should You Do Now?

Here’s what you can do:

1. Keep posting your photos! The main feed isnt going to disappear. Photos are still (and will continue to be) a big part of Instagram.

2. Dive into more video. Whether it’s Stories or Reels, we think it’s definitely time you try it out. Start anywhere… just start! And have fun with it.

3. If you’re a creator or product-based business, set up and utilize the shopping features!

4. If your business is service-based, sync up with others in your community or in your field to chat and educate your audiences about your services or industry!

Final Thoughts

Instagram hasn’t been primarily a photo sharing app in a while, so anyone panicking is just “manufacturing rage,” as Sharon McMahon (AKA @sharonsaysso on Instagram) would say.

BTW If you’re not following Sharon, you’re going to want to get on that. She’s the best.

And hey, if you’re a little worried that you need to produce more video content for Instagram but don’t know how, we’re always here to help.

In recent years, landing pages have become a marketing staple, and we think it’s definitely for a good reason.

Did you know that according to Marketing Sherpa, approximately 68% of B2B businesses use links to generate leads, but 44% of these clicks are directed toward home pages, not landing pages, which honestly, is good news for those businesses actually using landing pages.

If you’re only sending traffic to your homepage, you may be missing out on a huge opportunity. And after reading this, we hope you’ll go ✨ cRaZy ✨  creating killer landing pages, one for every keyword you can think of. Here’s why:

What is a Landing Page?

A landing page is a single web page that focuses on one specific sales or marketing goal in hopes to get a higher conversion. Simply put, a good landing page is a tool to, well, funnel website visitors down your sales funnel more efficiently… It also creates the opportunity to individually track the success of a certain product, sale, or even set of keywords.

Why Create a Landing Page?

A landing is a great way to drive web traffic, improve SEO, and build your brand. Instead of crossing your fingers and just hoping people find your awesome new product or discount service somewhere on your website homepage or services pages, you can create a landing page dedicated solely to one main CTA— whether it’s to purchase, subscribe, join, or something else creative you’ve come up with!

However, despite their high popularity and the success they can potentially bring, landing pages don’t always perform as well as expected. But why? As with everything, there are good and not-so-good methods for creating a landing page.

What Are the Elements of a High Performing Landing Page?

Let’s take a look at the 6 most important elements of a successful landing page that actually converts:

1. Write A Great Headline

A great headline is what convinces a visitor to stay and learn more about your product or service — or, not… We all know attention spans are shorter than ever. So take the time to think of a headline that will instantly engage your audience.

A great headline:

2. Provide a Super Clear CTA

This is arguably the most important element to a successful landing page. It’s what ultimately converts landing page visitors into customers. Here are our biggest CTA tips (pun intended):

  1. Make it big – When they say “the bigger, the better” they’re talking about CTAs… we think…
  2. Use a button – This isn’t where you want to get creative. Stick with what works. People know exactly what to do when they see a button.
  3. Use a contrasting color – Make the CTA button bold. But not only that, make it a different color than the rest of the page’s design.
  4. Make your copy compelling – The actual CTA copy is the most significant copy on your entire landing page. Don’t just say, “Learn More” or “Purchase.” We beg you!

3. Use Eye-Catching Visuals

Don’t fall into the trap of grabbing a quick and easy stock image thinking that will work for your landing page. If you really want the page to convert customers, take the time to find visuals that will leave a lasting impression on your page visitors.

Pro tip: Choose an image that complements the headline & further explains the product or service.

4. Focus Your Content Message

Before you create your landing page, take some time to research what keywords people type in when they’re searching for solutions to the problem that your sale, product, or newsletter can solve.

After that, determine your goals. Are you looking to grow your email list? Promote a new product? Promote a discount on a service?

Once you have your key words and goals set, think about what your message will be. How can what you’re offering solve someone’s problem?

Keep in mind: your landing page should have one clear focus, one clear message, and one clear pathway to conversion. Don’t get over-zealous and share other products/services, or anything more than what is needed to meet your initial goal on your landing page.

5. Tailor It For Individual Audiences

If you have the resources to do so, we highly recommend customizing landing pages for different audiences. If you have a great offer and have been promoting it well, you will most likely get traffic from different sources, and your visitors will have varying levels of a) interest and b) knowledge of your product or service.

For example, a user that clicks on your landing page from a social media ad would definitely not be as familiar with your brand as someone who clicked a link from your monthly newsletter, and they would more than likely not be as motivated to buy as someone who specifically searched for what you offer and found you on Google.

6. Utilize Analytics & Tracking

We highly recommend adding UTM codes to links to your landing page, or even other types of conversion tracking, so that efficiency can be monitored.

A UTM code is text added to the end of a URL that allows you to track visits to that specific URL. They’re a great way to track how many clicks came from social media posts, emails, or pay-per-click campaigns and to figure out what avenues work best for driving traffic to your landing page.

Final Thoughts

A high-converting landing page is a great marketing tool that can significantly increase conversions and ultimately scale your business.

Putting in the extra time and effort it takes to make an outstanding landing page can bring a huge ROI. After all, a landing page is a place specifically created for customers to click & buy (or sign-up for) what you want them to!

So this is a big deal! Don’t take it lightly.

We’d love to help build your next successful landing page! Let’s chat.

In case you missed it—the CDC recently announced that all fully vaccinated citizens are now allowed to be mask-free indoors and outdoors. It’s truly starting to feel like the “new-normal” we’ve waited so long for has finally arrived. If you’re anything like us, you’re ready to get out of the house and experience the world around you again.

One thing that’s abundantly clear is—life will never be the way it was pre-Covid again. And the same is true with small business! Both consumers and employees have a new set of motivators and expectations.

If your small business isn’t preparing for change and making adjustments to your business model now, you could be left behind. It’s time to learn from the lockdown.

That said, we’ve compiled a few tips for a smooth transition into this new way of life:

1. Working Remotely is Here to Stay

Before COVID, most people were fully content and accustomed to working exclusively in-office. However, the last year changed perspectives in a big way. At the beginning, working from home seemed daunting and even lonely, but a year later, we’ve all seen the benefits of working remotely. According to a survey by the Pew Research Center, more than half of employees said that, given the option, they would want to keep working from home even after the Coronavirus crisis subsides. As a small business, it’s important to set up a work-from-home process that clearly defines daily work goals and guidelines to ensure productivity. Giving your employees the option to continue working remotely will not only increase morale, but you’ll also save a ton of money on workplace expenses.

2. It’s Time for a New Social Media Strategy

Old-school marketing channels have become less effective, while connecting with potential customers via LinkedIn and other social media networks is more of a priority than ever in 2021. As the mood and behavior of your audience has changed over the last year, your social media strategy needs to buckle up and do the same.

The biggest mistake we’ve seen is an unwillingness to change the overall tone of social media posts. Currently, the more in-your-face, aggressive sales pitches on social media are doing more harm than good in this post-pandemic world. During this stressful time, people are looking online for connection, fun, and uplifting content. It’s become less important to sell your product on social media and more important to sell yourself and the community you’ve built.

The technical term for this is “Inbound Marketing,” a method that appeals to customers because it doesn’t make people feel like they’re being sold to. The content provided by inbound marketing is both educational and entertaining. It adds value to your audience. And when done correctly, inbound marketing can result in dramatically better results than traditional marketing because it provides consumers with an open invitation to engage and learn.

When consumers find your company this way, they are more likely to have a positive attitude toward your business, which increases the likelihood they will become future customers. The best part? Inbound marketing consists of entirely organic leads, so it relies on brains rather than budget. Once you’ve given people something they feel deserves their support and trust, the revenue will follow suit. (Pro tip: it doesn’t happen overnight, but keep at it. Eventually, you’ll start to see a snowball in conversions.) Brands often jump on trends late or miss the point all together. We get it. It takes a great deal of social awareness to hit the mark and not end up looking like this guy…

3. Video Marketing is More Profitable than Ever Before

Since 2020, video has been the content format most likely to get more views and sales. This doesn’t mean you should start posting commercial-style sales pitch videos every day. (Please don’t do that.) Instead, for the absolute best engagement on social media right now, we suggest providing content with added value that educates and informs, while still being entertaining. Sounds easy, right? No?

It’s always been true, but now more than ever, quality content is what brings people together. If you provide good quality content, your audience will share and talk about it, and it’ll lead to huge increases in community trust around your business. You can’t force genuine communities to form around your brand and products, but there’s so much that can be done to help increase your chances.

Other forms of video marketing such as virtual events, webinars, and live streams will bring audiences together to learn about your products or services. These forms of digital marketing allow you to talk directly to your customers and answer questions on the spot, all while putting your unique brand voice and personality on display. This method also allows you to get your employees involved. Giving them a chance to advocate for your product or service will not only create personal connections with your target audience, but also motivate your employees by giving them a voice. By addressing any customer concerns and questions on the spot, you create a network of people who will trust and be loyal to you. Win-win-win.

4. Your Website Probbbbbably Needs an Update

If you’re still using a basic website that only has pictures, an address, and a description of your company…it’s definitely time to level up. (Alexa, play Ciara.) More than ever before, people are looking for the convenience of being able to order their lunch, clothes, car services, and just about everything else online.

For example, when Covid initially hit, brides-to-be were still desperate to find the perfect dress for their small COVID-friendly ceremonies or elopements, but due to restrictions, in-person fittings were no longer an option. A local bridal shop in Greenville quickly adjusted by offering virtual fittings and because of that, they were able to cater to so many people that they wouldn’t have otherwise been able to.

Even when it’s not so black and white, like a clothing store beginning to offer online ordering and shipping, there’s pretty much always a way to improve how you’re doing business online. Take a look at your services and ask yourself: Is there a creative way to allow more people to patronize your business without having to be in-person? If your business is a restaurant, this could mean offering deconstructed meal kits to cook from home or virtual wine tastings where the sommelier mails out all the wines that will be tasted ahead of time. If your business sells any products that could be ordered and shipped online, it’s time to transition from a traditional website to an e-commerce website (and we can help with that ????).

5. Cleanliness

We can all agree that we’re seeing cleanliness in a new light after living in a pandemic for over a year. It really doesn’t matter the type of business, people are just more aware of cleanliness and we think (hope) this will be a permanent effect! We think it’s necessary for every business to create and enforce new processes for staff cleaning with specific daily expectations and sign-offs in 2021. Even better, if hiring a cleaning staff is feasible for your business, we highly suggest it. Sanitation can have a massive impact on your Google My Business ratings and will directly affect how often and high up you’ll show up in searches, which in turn affects patronage and revenue (and so on and so forth).

Final Thoughts

Like it or not, the COVID-19 pandemic has made lasting changes to our world and the way we do business. Marketing is just one of the many things that will never be the same after the Coronavirus, and denying it may do you a lot more harm than good. So why not embrace the change head on?

With so much of the world shifting even more time and attention toward social media, small businesses have to do the same. It can’t just be moving old strategies to new platforms, it’s about rebuilding campaigns from the ground up to utilize and make the most of all the new social media features.

It’s time to apply your emotional intelligence to create compelling social posts and to nurture communities based on value and trust. And if something’s not working, use data-driven analytics to tell you when to change your path. It’s a challenge, but by following these strategies, we believe you can reach new levels of success in this post-Covid world we’re all navigating together!

Social media — we all love to hate it. But in all reality, it’s one of the most convenient, not to mention (mostly) free ways to distribute content, reach new people, and engage potential clients or customers.

While Google boasts in being responsible for over 50% of total visits to websites, according to a recent study, social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter combined were not far behind, driving 30%.

This means there is a huge opportunity to increase your website traffic and ultimately your conversions through social media if you do it the right way!

Each social channel has unique tools and reaches a different demographic, so each should have a different strategy. For the best ROI, you’ll want to ensure you’re using the platforms where your target audience is hanging out and that while you’re there, you’re using that platform to its fullest potential.

With what seems like a constantly changing digital landscape, creating unique, targeted posts for each social platform may seem like a challenge, but trust us, it’s well-worth it. So we’re here to guide you through the process of creating a successful social media strategy tailored to each specific platform.

Facebook

Facebook has recently made it a bit more tricky for businesses to be seen without paid promotion, which is pretty frustrating to say the least, but growing your business on Facebook isn’t impossible.

You can definitely choose to boost posts and do paid advertising, but there are also a few free ways to get your business out there on Facebook!

We highly recommend joining local Facebook groups for networking purposes. This is one of the most important strategies on Facebook to increase visibility and referrals without paid advertising.

Getting website traffic from Facebook through sharing useful blogs and articles is another strategy we highly recommend. When sharing articles from your site, some additional tips for creating captivating and engaging Facebook posts include:

1. Create a click-worthy title
2. Add an eye-catching quote from your content
3. Use a list to break out some of your key points

Instagram

Instagram is obviously a more visual platform, and from main grid video & photo posts, Stories, Reels, and IGTV, you have a lot of options.

A new rising trend on Instagram is to utilize longer captions as a micro-blog post in order to share valuable content with followers.

Here are a few different ways you can make the most of Instagram:

1. Behind-the-Scenes: Is your team working on a fun project? Doing a team-building exercise? Watering your office plants? These are all fun things to share in short BTS videos.
2. Educational Tips & Tricks: With attention spans shorter than ever, if you want to keep your audience engaged, you should definitely be adding value to their lives. Give them a bit (but not too much ????) of your extensive knowledge of your industry. Get your audience wanting more! We’ve actually found the more you share, the more some people value your expertise enough to contact you and become a client.
3. User-Generated Content: You can encourage your audience to post about you on their own pages (AKA: User Generated Content) by sharing tagged posts on your own feed. Some studies show that user-generated content can grow an Instagram account by over 500 percent in a year.

LinkedIn

First let’s talk demographics: LinkedIn’s users are slightly more likely to be men than women, and most of their active users are over the age of 30. LinkedIn is a great place to share job openings, company news, and professional content. It’s also a great place to network!

Pro tip: If you want to drive engagement on LinkedIn, attach an image, a video, or a link to your website. In fact, according to LinkedIn, “images generally result in a 98% higher comment rate” and “links and videos that automatically play in the feed usually result in a 75% higher share rate.”

Final Thoughts

We know this list is by no means exhaustive, but we wanted to provide you with some nuggets of advice as you curate different strategies for the different social media platforms you use to grow your business.

And as you may have noticed, we didn’t mention Twitter, Pinterest, or TikTok. We know every small business is different, but right now, we currently do not recommend for small businesses who are trying to reach local audiences to spend too much time on those platforms, unless it is for a very specific reason.

Speaking of, we’re happy to chat more about that if you’d like to set up a free 20 minute social media strategy session.

From Jensen Karp’s large Twitter following, to his high profile connections, to his last name being Karp, to his famous wife’s last name being Fishel (we could go on…), the Cinnamon Crunch Shrimp fiasco was poised with potential to be the perfect storm.

The Back Story

If you need the full run-down on this situation, you can find that here.

But basically, Jensen Karp took to Twitter in March claiming that he found shrimp tails and what *looked* like mouse droppings in his Family-Pack of Cinnamon Toast Crunch from a local Costco. ????

Quick note to brands before we get into the nitty gritty: Of course, every customer is important. But… well… famous customers with large Twitter followings may warrant an extra bit of thought and planning. After all, every brand longs for celebrities to tweet about them and for the chance to “go viral” on social media, but not like this!

When any customer—but especially a celebrity—shares a shockingly negative experience online, there’s potential for a PR nightmare. Perhaps the most shocking part of this story, though, is that a brand as large as General Mills didn’t have a PR crisis team prepared.

In 2021, people expect prompt responses to their messages and questions. And we get it— the last thing a brand should do is respond too quickly to a negative review, with risk of emotions flaring. But there’s a fine line between taking the time to think of a professional response and well… taking so long that people become angry.

In this case, it’s not that the brand didn’t respond quickly, because they did. However, the replies were sent by lower-level employees who clearly didn’t have the tools necessary to properly handle the delicate situation. Higher-ups, on the other hand, seemed disconnected and unconcerned for far too long, allowing the whole issue to spiral out of control.

Let’s look at a few lessons from this event.

What Exactly Went Wrong?

It was obvious by the messages that this whole situation was initially (and poorly) handled by social media managers. So for many people, it was too little too late, when General Mills CEO Jeff Harmening finally appeared on CNBC later and said, ‘Based on the information we have right now, it is highly unlikely this occurred at a General Mills facility… So right now, we’re in the process of working with that consumer to try to figure out, kind of, what happened between when it left our docks and when he opened it.”

Here are the biggest mistakes:

1. The Brand Voice & Tone

Tone is a very big deal. This is true across the board in life but especially on social media. And the tone of all the replies to Karp was just… not right for the situation.

It seemed the Cinnamon Toast Crunch employees used the same exact tone and response to someone finding shrimp parts in their breakfast cereal as they would to someone upset that there wasn’t enough cinnamon for their taste. The response was definitely too light-hearted and the resolution they provided (another free box of cereal) was definitely not appropriate here either.

2. They Minimized Karp’s Complaint

At many points the employee(s) seemed to minimize Karp’s concerns, even telling him that they decided it was not shrimp. Do we even have to elaborate on how this was a mistake? ???? Probably not–and the result was exactly what you would expect. Karp was so upset that he continued to further investigate the box, and that’s when he found the alleged rat droppings. If they would have handled his complaint with care, he may not have kept digging (and posting). As a small business, how can you apply that? Always take complaints seriously even if you suspect they aren’t valid.

3. Social Media Managers Were Made to Act as Crisis Managers

One of the biggest lessons here is that social media managers should not be required to handle high-level complaints. And one of the biggest mistakes in this case was the amount of communication that happened before the situation was properly escalated. It’s important to train and empower your social media managers to quickly escalate cases that are clearly out of the ordinary or more serious, and then create a clear pathway and line of communication for them to do that. It seems like even Jensen Karp intuitively knew this:

How to Get it Right

1. Have Brand Voice Guidelines & Protocols for Different Situations

The last thing you want when you just ate rat poop is someone to seem super aloof or light-hearted in their response. The same is true for all sorts of situations your customers could be messaging your company about via email or social media. So, set guidelines for how your customer service or social media teams should respond to certain concerns. Or, have a plan in place to quickly handle more complicated situations from a higher level. Which brings us to…

2. Have a Plan to Quickly Escalate Emergency Situations

We recommend establishing a detailed crisis plan that is well-known to anyone who works on your company’s social media platforms. There needs to be a quick and clear pathway for employees to take when needing to alert the right people higher up in the organization who are poised to handle more potentially serious PR problems.

3. Have a PR Expert On Staff or On Call

PR can be expensive, but so is a PR nightmare. We think it’s a good idea to do your research and create a relationship with a good PR person/team, so you can utilize them quickly on an as-needed basis. Even if you don’t regularly need PR, have someone on call for times of crisis, and be ready to listen to and implement their expertise. Team Tangible loves that all of our ongoing clients feel comfortable to message us the minute they have a concern, so we can provide professional PR guidance on a small business level.

Brands Who Got it Right

To end on a positive note, we’re sharing our favorite potential PR fiasco that we think was handled quickly and immaculately: Enter CrockPot.

We don’t know if CrockPot had the PR team of the century on-hand or if they just had someone on staff who was smart enough to act as quickly as possible, but when (spoiler alert) what looked like a Crock Pot caught on fire and ultimately led to the death of one of television’s most beloved fathers on This is Us, the brand acted quickly on Twitter.

While this situation had the potential to crack even well-resourced brands, and most companies when faced with something like this could have been tempted to take a defensive stand (much like Cinnamon Toast Crunch), Crock Pot created a #CrockPotIsInnocent hashtag campaign that was handled extremely well. It was serious, but also fun. The brand also shared real statistics and safety information about their products, assuring their audience that:

  1. That no CrockPot has ever caught fire in the history of the company
  2. They perform extensive safety testing to ensure that they will not catch on fire
  3. That they will continue to test to make sure that it never does happen

They got their loyal CrockPot fans (and we all know some CrockPot enthusiasts…) to fight on their behalf using the hashtag. It was extremely well done and just fun enough, because after all, it’s television, and as a brand you don’t want to come across as TOO serious or TOO out of touch.

In fact, we did some research and it turns out that the Shorty Awards agree with us and even awarded them with first place for “Best Hashtag, Real Time Response.”

Final Thoughts

Every company needs a PR plan, even if you don’t have a PR team. And if you have the money, hire a good PR team. Otherwise, employees may be left winging it in a crisis and well, we’ve seen how that turns out.

In the age of the internet, even if something like this is a hoax, it still has the potential to ruin a brand depending on their response to it. When brands fail to be calm or empathetic, they can violate the trust of their followers and the price they pay can be big. This goes for both large and small businesses.

Your business may not be as large-scaled as General Mills, so maybe you think you don’t have to worry about something going viral… until a local influencer or a well-connected mom has something negative to say. Trust us. And make a plan!

If you need help, we’ve got you covered.

Press release pet peeves, press release pet peeves, press release pet peeves… try saying that out loud 3 times fast. For most people, writing a successful and poignant press release can be… well, even harder than saying “press release pet peeves” 3 times fast.

But that’s why we’re here! We’re going to tell you some concrete and easy (although we may be using that word lightly here…) ways to make your press release more effective.

If you’ve been stumped trying to get your big event, grand opening, or new product noticed by your local press, a lot of people can relate. It’s kind of a whole thing.

Thankfully over the years, we’ve learned (the hard way a few times) how to write a killer press release that gets your business noticed and, well, doesn’t peeve the people you’re sending it to.

So, here are the top five biggest press release mistakes (according to us) and what to do instead to catch that journalist’s eye:

1. Not Prioritizing the Title of Your Press Release

It’s easy to discount the importance of a title when you feel the press release speaks for itself, but journalists sift through hundreds of press releases every single day. So it’s SUPER important to grab their attention as soon as possible to avoid being tossed in the “not-newsworthy” pile. Basically, you want to click-bait them, without the click-baity-ness. (Is that a word????? )

The goal of your title should be to make it immediately obvious what audience you’re wanting to reach and why they need this information. PRO TIP: it can be extremely beneficial to update your title depending on the news outlet or audience you’re reaching out to. Your information might be useful to people of all ages, but the title needs to cater to the type of outlet that you’re hoping will share your story.

2. Including the Wrong Amount or Wrong Type of Links

Alright, this is where it gets tricky. You don’t want too many links… or not enough links… or links that don’t further your narrative. (How many times can we say, “links”?) Links are where a lot of people seem to either take it too far or just not put any at all. We’re here to save you from this blunder!

In 2021, press releases should no longer be written as though they’re going to be read off a sheet of printed paper. They’re going to be read digitally, so make them interactive! A great press release will be an interactive experience where the reader can move between reliable links embedded in the document, along with photos and videos that help in educating them.

We suggest using 2-4 links depending on the length and subject matter of your press release. Any more than that, and your hard work begins to look like spam, and your readers no longer take the time to follow any of the links. ????????‍♀️ It’s also important to be intentional when choosing your links. Before adding any link, make sure it’s relevant to your topic and your target audience, and that it adds value to your story.

When used correctly, links will boost audience engagement AND push more people to your website. (Yay!)

3. Only Using a Distribution Service

There’s definitely value in distribution services. Basically, distribution services work to distribute your press release for you. They allow your press release to end up in the inbox of hundreds of journalists and can lead to tons of backlinks for your website.

BUT

Distribution services are becoming less beneficial for small brands because they can get buried in a sea of PR from huge companies.

Instead, try to build relationships with journalists! Send personalized messages to offer product samples, interview quotes, and attached photos with your press release. Journalists love when you give them a story and all the elements they’d need to run with it right away. Try to make their job as easy as possible, and we promise it’ll pay off.

4. Lack of Focus

People often feel rushed when working on a press release, because as we all know, “time is money.” But in reality, a rushed, unfocused press release can be a huge waste of your time because it’s unlikely to ever gain any traction.

Many business owners can struggle to be direct and stay focused on the main goal of the press release. We get it. You’re not a writer, you’re a business owner! That’s ok. Here’s what we suggest: start with an outline that creates a story. The business, product, or event you’re promoting should be secondary to the main goal of creating something that people want to read. You need to have one subject, one idea, and one goal that you’re striving for with every sentence.

If there are multiple aspects that you need to promote, we suggest writing different press releases for optimal results.

5. Not Making it Topical

Is it NEWSWORTHY? Ask yourself this question at every stage of the writing process, because that is the question every journalist is trying to answer before they invest their time. The goal is to step back and look at it from the readers’ eyes. If you weren’t involved in the project or company, what would make you want to read about this topic? What do you think will get people really talking? Your press release must be valuable beyond just your own interests, because if it’s not, you risk damaging your reputation and even blacklisting yourself to journalists. (???? ) This might sound harsh, but they may not ever spend their time reading any of your future press releases as well once you’ve let them down.

So, our best advice is to spend some time reading topical news and try to find a new angle that people aren’t talking about yet. This automatically puts you a few steps ahead of the other 100 press releases in the journalist’s inbox. If you aren’t able to do this, show how a popular industry trend is related (even in a small way) to what you’re doing. There are lots of ways to make something mundane become newsworthy—celebrity endorsement, human interest, novelty/rarity, proximity, and more.

For example, the event at your business might not be newsworthy, so why not give a percentage of proceeds to an organization to a local organization with a great cause? Voilà! NOW people want to learn more about what you’re doing. Plus, you get to help people in the process.

Pro tip: Make sure to give to an organization you genuinely care about and want to support.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, our BIGGEST pet peeve is a press release that goes out before it’s ready. A good press release takes tons of time and energy, but when done correctly, they’re more than worth it!

And hey, if this is way over your head or if you need to stay focused on big picture business decisions, we can always help with PR for your next big adventure.

When it comes to owning a small business, you have to be good at wearing multiple hats and juggling multiple job titles. And oftentimes in a small business, your employees also get thrown into the exciting world of owning multiple roles. It’s great to have people on your team who can jump in wherever it’s needed, especially when it comes to marketing and social media! But, there are also challenges that come with having employees step into multiple roles.

If more than one person is writing your social media captions, blogs, and email marketing content, it’s important to establish content guidelines to make sure all of your content has a cohesive voice.

Why is a Cohesive Brand Voice Important?

If your content lacks a cohesive voice, you may be creating brand confusion or unintentionally coming across as inauthentic to readers. People want to connect to a brand in a personal way, so if your content feels disjointed or fragmented, your audience may not be able to figure out how to really connect to the “face behind the screen” and fully get on board.

Enter: Content Marketing Guidelines

A great brand feels like a friend you can connect with, and every brand wants to connect with their audience in a meaningful way! So if the person writing your brand content is inconsistent, don’t worry; this can be easily fixed with content guidelines!

Content marketing guidelines may be extensive for certain brands, while for others, it could simply be a one-page reference sheet. The depth of your brand content guidelines will depend on your content and your brand goals.

The 8 Elements Of Great Content Guidelines

1. Audience— The first and most important step when creating content guidelines is establishing who your target audience/market is. What do they like? How do they speak? How do they want to be spoken to?
2. Tone— Do you want your content written in first or third person? Would you like your blog posts, captions, and articles more fun and playful, authoritative, professional, or conversational?
3. Style— Do you follow AP or MLA style? List all of your grammatical preferences. (Oxford comma, anyone?)
4. Keywords— Create a list of main brand keywords and/or ideas that should be included or pulled from for content inspiration and overall brand voice.
5. Headlines— Make sure your content writers know the end result you desire and the action steps you want readers to take so they can include it within their blog titles or email headlines.
6. Copy Organization— Your readers are busy and have short attention spans, so it’s important to teach your writers how to create multiple section headlines in the copy for your audience to keep interested. Set guidelines for section titles, bullets, numbered lists, emojis, and paragraph headers that will keep re-engaging the reader on each platform.
7. Calls to Action— Make a list of go-to CTAs that can be dropped at the end of blogs, emails, or captions to inform your readers of next steps.
8. Internal Approval Process— Detail deadlines, timelines, how writers should submit their content, and what the process is for editing and approval.

Final Thoughts

It’s important to remember that nothing you create is set in stone— and it shouldn’t be! If things aren’t working, or you aren’t getting any engagement on what you keep putting out, switch it up. Just like any good brand, your content marketing guidelines will (and should) evolve over time.

And as always, we’re here to help! If you want help with creating your brand content guidelines, consulting with your writers, or even managing your content creation, we’d love to talk!

It seems crazy that it’s been an entire year since the pandemic started. Just think, a year ago we were all either binge-watching Tiger King in quarantine, learning a TikTok dance, baking bread, or becoming first-time plant parents. ????

Does anyone else miss in-person networking or big conferences? ✋????

Over the past year, virtual events have increased significantly, for obvious reasons. According to a survey by wirke.com, only 42% of organizations were holding virtual events before the pandemic, but now that number has doubled to 84%.

Those statistics are pretty hard to ignore. So what’s the big deal about virtual events and will they stick around post-pandemic? We happen to think they will, so we’re going to share a few insider tips & tricks to help you host a great one…

What Is A Virtual Event?

A virtual event is simply an event that’s hosted online through either pre-recorded videos or live streaming. Social media platforms have all upped their live streaming abilities in recent years, projecting the importance of virtual connection well before the pandemic. (Wait….. No let’s not go there.) TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook are all great places to go LIVE for a virtual event, and each platform has its own pros & cons as well as its own target audience.

Why Host A Virtual Event?

Even though the pandemic has put virtual events in the spotlight (mostly because no other type of events were allowed ???? ), virtual events have always had benefits independent of social distancing, and they will continue to in the future. Hosting a virtual event can benefit your business because it can reach an audience that normally wouldn’t be able to attend an in-person event due to busy schedules, financial restraints, or physical disabilities.

As a small business, virtual events are a great way to talk to your audience without breaking the bank. They’re much more cost effective than in-person events because there’s not a physical space to rent out and well, wine and charcuterie are expensive… ????????‍♀️

Virtual events are often used for:

So, Now That You Know What A Virtual Event Is, How Do You Plan One?

Step 1: Create A Detailed Game Plan

Even if your event is in-person, it still takes planning! Having a schedule for the event will keep your team organized and ready to perform. (Pro-tip: If segments become too long, audience members may hop off the Live Event. Keep the event interesting by having a list of commonly asked questions to answer during a demo.)

It’s important to give your team specific roles for the event. The amount of people working an event will vary, but here are some examples:

1. A Camera Person – They should understand what angles are best for the event and to make sure the Live is running smoothly.
2. A Comment Monitor – It’s important to have eyes on the comment section so the audience can ask the questions and feel like they are participating.
3. A Director – This is one of the most critical positions during a Live because they make sure everything stays on schedule, they can give (silent) direction to keep things moving, and they can signal to the MC or host to give more energy.
4. An MC – This is your star! Whoever is the most comfortable giving energy, but also knowledgeable enough to answer questions about your business should be your go-to MC. (Pro Tip: Virtual Events require even more energy than in-person events. If you feel ridiculous, you’re probably giving enough energy for a virtual event.)

Step 2: Pick The Right Day And Time For The Event

Analytics and insights are your best friend. If most of your audience is working during the day and time you choose, the event won’t do as well! So checking your social media analytics will help you choose the best time for your specific target audience.

Step 3: Promote, Promote, PROMOTE!

Alright, this is the fun part. Promoting the event at least 2-3 weeks before is generally the best practice for a virtual event. If you promote too early, your audience may forget, but if you promote it last minute, they may not be able to make time to attend.

There are a lot of great ways to promote virtual events— Social media posts, email marketing campaigns, posting in local groups, and using interactive Stories are all great ways to promote for free! We happen to think promotion of virtual events should be done holistically, meaning use every channel you have to reach the most people.

Step 4: Make It Fun, Engaging, And Inclusive!

Since your audience isn’t in-person, it’s even more important to remember to include viewers in the conversation! Encouraging your audience to ask questions and holding small giveaways throughout the event will keep your them interested and most importantly, will keep them from X-ing out of the event to get back to scrolling their feed. Who doesn’t love free stuff? ????

Final Thoughts

One of the most critical pieces of advice we can give you is: have a practice run-through. During the run-through, you can get an idea of what needs to be changed before the event. Remember tripods for the cameras, make sure all batteries are charged, print out the schedules, secure a laptop & a phone to monitor how the event is going, and grab lots of coffee to excite your speakers. (Caffeine is a good idea, always. ☕️)

Problems are bound to happen, but you’ve got this!

We encourage you to consider adding virtual events to your marketing strategy to increase your brand awareness on a lower budget, reach new target markets, and overall to freshen up your marketing game.

Does this help? Let us know!