PPB August 2018

| AUGUST 2018 | 13 INNOVATE losing who we are and still capturing our target audience—not an easy task. SARA WEBB Chief Executive Officer InTandem Promotions PPAI 626348 My advice is to check out some of your competitors and retail brands on every social platform, including Instagram. Take note of what you enjoy seeing: Is it informative? Pleasing to the eye? Entertaining? Remember, you are interrupting someone’s day with your content—make it worth their while. And, if you wouldn’t want to see what you are posting, then why the heck would someone else? The goal with social media isn’t to sell. It’s to build relationships and establish credibility and familiarity so people know what you do. Because you stay top-of-mind with consistent posts, they will remember you when they need you. And because you work with brands they know, and social media allows other people to make comments about you, they will learn they can trust you. Social media is less about what you post and more about what you learn from others who are posting. When you post, use hashtags that are relevant to your clients or prospects. If you want to see what suppliers are doing, check out #promoproducts and #promotionalproducts. When you post, however, don’t use those tags—use tags that speak to your audience. To figure out what those are, learn about your clients’ industries and their competitors so you can position yourself as an expert. Also, use social media to connect with clients and prospects so you can see what events they’re attending, what their likes and dislikes are and how you can make their lives easier. Did you see a prospect at a trade show with lame swag? Grab their logo, create a presentation loaded with virtuals of products that are better suited to their goals and post it to their page with a clever message that will entice them to connect with you. And finally, engage. Social media is about being social—don’t just post and be done. Comment on posts from others with sincerity. Be helpful when people need help. Create content with the intention of building relationships and creating a community. Begin and end your strategy with strengthening relationships in mind, and regardless of whether or not you make a sale, you’ll win every time. CHARITY GIBSON Account Coordinator Peerless Umbrella Co. PPAI 112666 We use Facebook groups to find networking connections. A lot of these groups have members that are looking for services that we provide and gladly offer to them. ED HAMNER Owner Howling Print & Promo PPAI 593535 I personally believe that social media as a method to reach new customers is a waste of money. It’s best to go B2B. Knock on the door of 20 high- quality prospects every day. See them in person. If you can’t get face to face, send a postcard, a letter, or a planned promotional item. I think that social media is like tossing spaghetti on the wall with hopes that something might stick. It works, but it’s hit-or-miss with a low achievement rate. Control your market with a planned outreach campaign and stay with it. BOB JIRKOVSKY Owner Del Norte Promotions PPAI 194205 As a strategic branding and marketing agency, we have a multi-pronged approach that leads people back to our website. We utilize Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube to communicate with our audiences what we do, how we do it, and why we are valuable to them. Our approach is to be content driven, and a major focus is sending out information via a weekly webcast, YourLIVINGBrand.live, through email and social media. This show allows us to interview people on what makes them valuable to their audience, and in turn, they share it on their websites and social media pages with links that drive people back to our website. The show is done both in podcast and webcast format and is available on our website, SoundCloud and iTunes. Twitter is used as both a listening post and engagement vehicle for quick information. We listen to questions that people have on branding and send them content that will demonstrate our expertise and help them solve their problems. YouTube is a repository for YourLIVINGBrand.live shows and gives us the ability to house video links that are distributed through our workshops, LinkedIn and Facebook channels. LinkedIn is our professional face and where we spend most of our time. We utilize this channel to demonstrate our expertise, answer questions and build our tribe. Because not everyone