Speaking the language of your audience

Finding an authentic voice that your audience can relate to can be hard. Here are four questions to ask yourself before you put pen to paper - or rather finger tips to keyboard. :-)

1. What are the basic demographics of your audience? Knowing the basics of who they are can answer a lot of questions and make things clearer.
2. Does your audience have a persona and what is it? Now that you have an idea of who they basically are, take it a step further and think about what their personalities are like.
3. How does your audience consume information? Consider which social media platforms, which devices and what other kinds of off-line platforms your audience may be using. 
4. How does your audience talk? Thinking about how to sound like they do means they can relate to your brand better. 
5. Why does your audience care? Give them a reason to care about your brand and make it interesting to them.
6. What connects them? It could be that they share info with one another or enjoy emotionally inspiring content. 

Original article

Humanizing your tweets

Last month I talked about how we can humanize our email marketing to sound less like a robot and more like you. It's just as important to do the same on Twitter and all other online platforms. Sounding too automated gives the impression that there isn't a real person behind your Twitter profile and could seem spammy. Letting your personal voice shine through helps you develop trust with your audience, connect easier with their experiences and allows you to be approachable. Being human with your brand's marketing keeps the social media conversation going and that's what we want!

To get more out of your tweets, try to:

1) Get to know your audience and their needs. What are their concerns and objectives? How do they talk and what kind of terminology do they use? Become a thought leader by addressing their needs with  specific links to your website which provide solutions.

2) Tweet relevant content. It's not just about you on social media. You have to tweet about what's relevant to your industry. This kind of content is more likely to increase reach, influence and lead generation. Choose content that is high-quality and that won't overload your audience by being too technical.

3) Listen. Listen. Listen. Avoid using Twitter as a loud one-way conversation about yourself. Take time to hear what others saying about your brand, your industry and what questions they are asking. Using social media monitoring tools can be very helpful for knowing what people are talking about and what hashtags they are using.

4) Host a Twitter party. The place: Twitter. The time: you name it and let your audience know you'll be immediately available to answer questions and take suggestions during a certain timeframe. What a great way to make new connections, find new info and increase your brand awareness.

5) Remember, be yourself! There's only one your and there's only one of your brand, so don't be afraid to standout and be unique.



Source: Social Media Today

Email market like a human, not a robot

Robots and computers do a lot of great stuff for us, but one thing they don't do very well is sound like a real human. Emotionless or prefabricated wording can make marketing messages sound boring and uninspiring. Get more from your audience my showing your brands personality through online marketing like social media and email marketing. Here are a few tips to get you started.

1. Use your name when sending emails. Although you are emailing on behalf of your company, including your name before your company name can make mass emailing like newsletters more recognizable. Something like "Jim, Dunder Mifflin" works perfectly. 
2. Smile for the camera and add a picture of yourself to your newsletters. Yes, your brand's logo does matter, but a face behind the logo matters even more when trying to relate to your customers.
3. State your mind. Robots don't have opinions, but you do! When sending email marketing, share an insight, opinion or experience to give more depth to the topic.
4. When I was a lad... Share the story of you and your brand. The passion you have for what you do creates a history and lets your audience know you are serious about your profession.
5. Remember your manners when someone signs up for your newsletter. The confirmation page should have personality to it, thank them for signing up and give a great first impression of the news they will soon be receiving regularly. 

The good news is we are all human, so following these steps should just be part of our human nature. Should you discover that you haven't yet found your voice, let me know and we can schedule a strategy meeting.