Organic content is not just 'top of the funnel,', it's also 'customer retention.'
And who came up with a 'marketing funnel' anyway?
Why do you work so hard to convert a customer and then simply let them out at the bottom?
Build a Better Wheel, Not A Funnel
The Marketing Funnel is as old as.... well to be honest I have no idea how old that concept is. As I transitioned from my broadcast and digital media storytelling roles to marketing roles, the concept of the Funnel was introduced and delivered as the gospel of Marketing 101. "Develop a good marketing funnel and you will be successful!"
A wheel, built around support and customer retention in your brand keeps customers in your ecosystem. Keeping them in your ecosystem allows those customers to become your evangelicals on the ground, spreading your message outward and carrying your marketing dollars further.
Using Unexpected Storytelling To Expand Your Brand Audience
Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is never going to build your brand. One effective way to build your brand and brand audience is to show up in unexpected ways and unexpected places.
LinkedIn Branding. It Takes Time and Consistency
"LinkedIn? Oh yeah, we tried that. It didn't work."
Did you really? Did you really try or give up because it's not easy?
Breaking the Short Video MYTH
It's time to break the Short Video Myth. Audiences ARE watching branded videos and stories that are longer than 60 seconds.
During the workday, 30 to 60-second videos rule. When relaxing and especially in the evenings, audiences use their mobile devices and connected TVs to engage in 30, 60, 90-minute video programming. Not just the big streamers, but YouTube, Vimeo and more.
Branded Storytelling: Stories And Content Should Have A Purpose
All stories, all content should have a purpose. You should never create content just for the sake of creating something. "Content, Content, Content! Everyone else is doing it, they say we should be doing it. Let's get some content created!" If you're just creating content because 'that's what everyone says we should be doing,' then how are you going to measure your return on your efforts?
Create More Authentic Branded Storytelling With A GoPro
One of the big aspects of branding, especially in social media today is "Authenticity." There's no better way to get authentic with anyone, than with a GoPro Vlogging rig. It's unthreatening and creates awesome opportunities to create and capture content on the fly.
Grow Fanatics, Not Followers
Growing your 'followers' by 1 can be incredibly powerful once you understand why.
If your entire focus, your entire strategy is predicated on followers, then you're chasing popularity, or as its better known 'vanity metrics.'
Building a Brand Narrative: One Project, Many Storylines for Maximum Content
Delivering maximum quality content is all about planning and efficiency.
If all you do is plan your entire project, your entire process around one deliverable, you're missing out on many content opportunities that allow you to work smarter, not harder.
Branded Storytelling: Hiring Your First Creative Team
Branding today is all about storytelling. And there's no better way to tell your story than through video.
With social media, you want to be putting out content every single day. Especially if you're a consumer product. But if you've never built a Creative Team or an Internal Creative Agency and you're thinking about starting one, well where do you begin? You start with Two.
Music Licensing and You.
My response to the Peloton Interactive lawsuit by the music industry has garnered a lot of interest with some of the responses mirroring what I've seen from creative clients. Basically "I understand going after the big companies, but why would they care about the little guys and small companies? What is that going to hurt?"
It could hurt the music industry dearly.
I'm not a lawyer and it would take pages and pages to explain all of the legalities, but here's a basic primer on what you need to know and understand about music licensing.
Building Your Brand Narrative: Just Start Writing
Building your brand narrative is not a ‘one size fits all’ type of deal. This article can’t tell you exactly what you need to do. What I CAN do is give you food for thought allowing you to find your own path to that brand narrative. “What’s your swim lane?” That’s a great question from Joe Mullings, CEO of The Mullings Group. In other words, what topic or topics can you offer value to your audience? What can you write about or speak on intelligently? What topics and areas are you comfortable engaging in discussion with others? That’s your swim lane. That’s your comfort zone where you can share quality knowledge and have an educated discussion with those who engage with you.
Branded Storytelling: Sell Without Selling
The power of digital media is that it opens up a direct pipeline between you, the brand and… well pretty much the entire world. If you’ve built your destination correctly as described in the previous three chapters and have begun thinking about edutainment as the driving model for your content, now it’s time to think about what does that content actually look like? How does edutainment apply to my brand?
Branded Storytelling: Inform, Educate and Entertain.
Can you tell me how to get, how to get to… I don’t even have to finish that sentence. Most of you already know how that sentence goes. I’m betting at this moment you’re thinking back to some of your favorite Sesame Street moments.
Branded Storytelling: Build Your Destination
Now that you’ve got their attention and they’ve stopped the car, the last thing you want to do is set up a tourist trap. Lots of color and flash, but no substance. Cheap, chintzy trinkets are fun for a few minutes and maybe some selfies to post to your friends, but not someplace you want to visit again. That’s going for the quick buck, not long-term audience engagement. You’ll need to continually lure a new audience to make the tourist trap work. To do that you need a connection.
Branded Storytelling: Social Media Is Like A Billboard.
“Selling” today and for the foreseeable future is about building a story. Actually many stories. Stories that entertain, stories that inform, stories that educate, stories that connect with the audience you are trying to reach.
Experimenting with Vertical Video and IGTV
I began experimenting pretty much immediately after IGTV was launched and it's turning out to be quite a lot of fun, and challenging. As I mentioned in my first post, one of the biggest challenges is the lack of horizontal space for graphics and to showcase elements in the scene.
Georgia-Pacific Storytelling Episode 2 - "We Are: Palatka, Florida"
Building on the first episode, "We Are: Brewton, Alabama," we've now launched the second episode coming from Palatka, Florida. This 'move the needle' campaign is traveling the country to showcase the employees who make up the GP Brand, one small town at a time. You'll notice we've done a little tweaking on the title graphics. We're liking this new, large direction. The main show was edited by Kim O'Neill then I tweaked it a bit and the show was finished by Editor Scott Franklin.
In this episode, we travel south to Palatka, Florida. Palatka was the largest town in Florida through the early 1900’s though it’s hard to believe it today as you drive through this beautiful small town. Home of the St. Johns River and it’s world-class fishing, Palatka is also the home of the Dallas Family. Beginning with Mom back in the 1960’s, the entire family has over 150 combined years working at the Georgia-Pacific mill. You’ll meet “The Inventor,” Wade Dallas who has three patents and is always tinkering with new ideas, along with his older sister Karen who is celebrating 42 years at the mill. Come along as we meet this amazing family, try out Florida’s oldest diner, relive high school football memories and enjoy the Florida Azalea Festival. We might also discover what’s in Wade’s “Super Chest.”
About the series: Georgia-Pacific is more than just a brand. We’re proud to be over 30,000 great people, making great products in communities all across this great land. Join us on “We Are” as we travel the highways and byways to introduce you some of these amazing people and their hometowns.
Quick Turnaround Project Completed: MLK50th. A Difficult Conversation
Well we finished one of the most difficult projects I have ever produced and we did it from concept to completion in just two weeks.
The task was to present a message that ‘it’s ok to have difficult discussions’ on race and social inequality framed around the 50th Anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This was an almost terrifying assignment because not only did we have to honor the legacy and man who was Dr. King, I was going to be wading into difficult territory having people speak openly, on-camera, about race and social inequality in America. This coming only a month after a Super Bowl commercial turned into a PR fiasco when Dr. King's words and image were used to sell a product.
Filming completed for "We Are: Muskogee, Oklahoma." Episode 3 for GP.
Ringing cow bells for chili at the Chili Cookoff.
We're getting on a roll with these the "We Are" campaign having just come back from 3 days of filming in and around Muskogee, Oklahoma. "We Are:" is a 'moving the needle' campaign I designed for Georgia-Pacific. GP has amazing individuals all across this great land and "We Are:" aims to introduce them and the places they live, one small town at a time. Muskogee is the largest town we've visited so far with a population over 39,000 people.