Question: I do not know how to craft my messaging so that it lands perfectly as intended

Answer: Every business needs a marketing strategy in order to bring the right kind of attention and the right kind of customers. A great marketing strategy is one that can be boiled down to a very small number of words so that it can be easily remembered. 

                   

Here are 5 tips on creating a solid brand messaging. 

1. Tell a story

Telling a story is an excellent way to get your point across. Stories resonate with people because we all love to be entertained, and a good story can do just that. It also allows your audience to put themselves in your place, allowing them to empathize and feel connected with you.

2. Know your audience

No matter what you’re trying to sell, you need to know who you are speaking to and how they want information delivered. Don’t assume that just because something works for one market segment, it will work for another. This point is obvious but you can always improve on this.

3. Know what makes you different than the competition

If you try and sell the same way everyone else does, no one will see why they should buy from you instead of them. You’ll have just become part of the background noise.

4. Use the power of your words

Use words that evoke positive emotion when describing your product or service. When you have someone’s attention (as you do when they land on your website), use that opportunity to inspire trust and interest in your brand by using language that resonates with them and makes them feel good about doing business with you.

5. Match your words with your image

This one is crucial for crafting genuine messaging. Make sure what you say about yourself (or others) matches who you really are and conveys an authentic impression of who you are as a company or person. What people read on your website or hear in a testimonial should be authentic and trustable. Honestly will separate you from the crowd. 

Before getting to the next question, I would love you to watch one of the leading global minds in business, marketing, and sales, Kara Goldin speaks. Kara has led the sales department for media giants like CNN and Times Magazine. I had the opportunity to talk with her about success secrets in business.

Question: I do not know why the sales and marketing techniques that used to work before March 2020 – do not seem to work anymore. I do not know how to figure this out.

Answer: Sales and Marketing are complex and ever-changing. And the pandemic just evolved the whole process. So if you’re still stuck to the old techniques, it’s not going to work. This post-pandemic era is a different world, with a greater emphasis on trustworthiness. Therefore, you need to be relatable, by creating a bond with your audience and customers. Here are some post-pandemic marketing techniques that you need to adopt. 

1. Get stronger on digital marketing

The post-pandemic era is the best time to create a strong presence within your target audience. Put all your marketing emphasis on building a greater digital presence. Because the pandemic pushed everybody to go online, so if you’re not using social media and growth marketing strategies, then you’d be left out. Try to create a loyal community that supports you as a brand. Be relatable and honest. 

2. Create empathy

Empathy is the emotional bond you create with the people you are trying to persuade. The more empathetic your ads, the more effective they are likely to be. Empathy means identifying with someone else’s feelings (which requires imagination) and taking actions that reassure them that you understand or sympathize with their feelings. Good marketing means making people feel better about themselves. Therefore, this is the best time to show human emotions and empathy in your business values. 

3. Create engaging content –

People who read on the internet use a technique called “skimming.” They don’t try to understand every word of every sentence. Instead, they jump around, looking for places that catch their interest. So for example, if you’re creating a blog, make sure you use easy language and short sentences and make sure the structure is scannable. Another thing you can do is draw attention to the product without directly pitching it. Because content marketing is all about inclusivity and must be a two-way street. Directly sending newsletters to your customers and creating relatable posts should be part of your marketing strategy.

4. Use flywheel marketing 

So the funnel method worked great for getting new leads and customers. But after the pandemic, flywheel marketing should be your focus. The idea of the flywheel is that it builds its own momentum after the initial push. Flywheel marketing is about enhancing customers’ experience. The better experience your visitors have with your products and services, the more conversions you’ll get. Hence, if you make customer satisfaction your standard, you’ll be making more profits. 

Question: I am intimidated by social media and virtual online presence

Answer: I can relate to this question. After the pandemic, our marketing strategies changed. And a huge chunk of that involves social media now. So business owners and entrepreneurs must leverage social media to build the business and create an online presence. Here are some tips that helped me — and I’m confident that you’d also benefit from them. 

1. Define your goals 

The first thing to do is define your goals. Are you trying to increase sales? Are you trying to get people to sign up for your email newsletter? Do you want to get the word out about an event or special promotion? If your goals are clear, then it’s easy to figure out which social media channels will help you achieve those goals. Or how your marketing strategy should be shaped. 

2. Know your audience 

 Before you take advantage of social media, you need to know your audience. You can start by compiling the data of your current customers. You use analytical tools like Google Analytics to understand the behavior of your visitors. And you’ll soon understand who’s interacting and buying from you. 

3. Decide your platforms 

Your target audience decides which social channels you should focus on. For example, if your demographic is baby boomers, then Facebook and Pinterest are great options. 

4. Use trends to your advantage 

Don’t make a post out of every viral meme. The idea here is to act on viral content which resonates with your business and online presence. And then craft your own content piece from the trend which has your branding and messaging. 

5. Choose quality 

Initially, you don’t need to jump on every social media platform you see around. Instead, choose one or two best platforms based on your product and services and start dropping some quality content pieces. 

6. Don’t do everything on your own 

Social media might sound overwhelming at first. But it doesn’t have to be if you follow a system. And by system — I mean using different automation tools and content creation tools. 

Before the next question, listen to Gabriela Cuevas Barron, powerful member of parliament in Mexico. She explains some insights about decision making .

Question: I do not understand how to use psychology to understand what people want and change my offering accordingly

Answer: I’ve been using applied psychology to understand consumer behavior for the past 25 years. And I’ve come to a conclusion that although everybody’s different, in certain instances our brains are prone to react in a similar manner. Therefore, If you can understand these subtleties in the human mind, you’ll not only understand what people want. But you’ll be able to optimize your business and sell more. Here are some of my most powerful tips. 

1. Put yourself in their shoes 

It’s important to put yourself in the shoes of your customers, and think about how you would respond to a certain situation. Then ask yourself how your customer would respond. Trying this will help you to improve your business because if you’re able to put yourself in the shoes of your customer, you will be able to meet their needs and fulfill their expectations.

2. Focus on one thing 

When conducting quantitative research, focus on one thing. Doing too many things at once will dilute the results. Conducting research in such a manner allows you to get a clear picture of your target group and create marketing strategies that will appeal to them. 

3. Ask open-ended questions

 Open-ended questions should be used in qualitative research as they provide a more accurate representation of what your customers are thinking. Trying to get the desired information from your customers can be difficult if you use only closed-ended questions, as they will tend to only provide yes/no answers or short answers. Open-ended questions will provide your business with the opportunity to learn about the feelings and emotions behind their response and why they feel that way.

4. Use A/B testing 

A/B testing is a good way to test different options for a banner or an ad campaign. Trying out different ads and banners on the same page will allow you to determine which ads are bringing in the most revenue. Once you have determined which banner or ad is getting the most results, keep that up. If you find that one type of banner or ad is not working as well as another, then switch them out.

5. Create a persona 

Create a persona for each segment of your audience, this will enable you to create messages tailored to them. Because every business is different, and so are the people in the audience you want to reach. The more you can understand your audience, the better you can communicate with them.

Question: Hiring talent from other countries will compromise my credibility

Answer: The truth is, you might want to hire people from different countries. Many of the best talents are in different countries. Thing is, you’re worried about what your clients might think. They probably don’t even know where these places are. And you don’t know how they react — risking your credibility. 

Therefore, I’m here to tell you that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with hiring someone from a different country. In fact, I have got people working from Brazil, Nigeria, India, North America and so on. In this way, I got the best talent all over the world. So you can say that we are experts in team building. Here are a few tips that will also help you. 

1. Perform a diversity hiring process

Examine the diversity of your current hiring process and look for bottlenecks and discrepancies. Is it a top-of-the-funnel problem? Is it more of a leaking pipeline problem? To move further, you need to analyze the diversity hiring data to get a crystal clear picture. As these questions: 

• What challenges am I facing in diversity hiring? 
• What is the strength of my diversity hiring? 

2. Communicate clearly with all parties involved 

Make sure you clearly set expectations with your prospective employees beforehand. If they’re not clear about the details of their working conditions, they may end up feeling uncomfortable with their new jobs. Likewise, try to stay in touch with them as much as possible before and after onboarding them. 

3. Look for a recommended candidate 

This way, you can be completely sure that the person will be a great fit. It would be best if an existing member of staff could recommend someone else who might be suited to the position. This will save a lot of resources and you’ll be more confident with your decision. 

4. Hiring global talent won’t compromise your credibility 

For the past 35 years, I hired talents and worked with people from different parts of the world. I created a solid team that helped me face so many challenges. In fact, when my clients fail to get their problems solved, I’m quick with the hiring and team building and finally solving their problems. 

Question: I would rather hire people to do the work I dislike doing but understand that it needs to be done. I want to be sure the work will be done as per my standards

Answer: A lot of the time, there are some tasks that simply need to be done. We may dislike doing it but what is the solution right? Wrong. You don’t have to. In fact, there is so much other important work that needs your attention. They are crucial for the company and it’s worth your time. But there’s a problem — trusting other people. So how do you hire people who can take care of these tasks as per your standards? Well, here’s how I deal with it and hire capable people who are trustable. 

1. Identify and pick what’s really important 

A great employee should have a good mix of professional skills, motivation, attitude, and learning ability. The first is much easier to measure than the others, but that doesn’t make it the most important. You do want a talented person. However, sometimes a candidate with slightly less but more enthusiasm and eagerness to learn is a better choice. Because you want someone who is ready to adapt and is reliable. 

2. Ask specific questions 

The question: “so, tell me about yourself,” doesn’t help a lot. Instead, be more specific and open-ended. Ask them about the previous projects they have worked on, and what are their strong skill sets. Also, ask them about the kind of environment they have worked and expect to work in. All these will help you understand if the person has the potential you’re looking for. 

3. Setting goals 

Once you hire people, you need to set ambitious goals. Setting goals is one of the most important elements of effective team building. You need goals so the team knows what they are trying to achieve. Goals make the vision for the team more tangible and achievable. It is important that everyone on the team has a voice when it comes to deciding on the goals they will work towards achieving as a group. If a team doesn’t set goals, it can result in aimlessness and lack of productivity.

4. Setting team up 

The second element of effective team building is getting members together. You must ensure that all members are present for meetings and that no one feels left out or isolated from the rest of the team. Having all members present ensures that everyone has a chance to participate in discussions about tasks, roles and responsibilities, leadership, and general matters. 

5. Effective communication 

Now that you have a team who can take care of things you might not want to do — you need to communicate. It is vital for you and your team to communicate with each other and share ideas. Effective communication between members of a team helps to communicate what needs to be done, how it needs to be done, and why it needs to be done. Effective communication also helps keep morale high. When there is effective communication between members of a team they trust each other more, work together better, and have a higher level of productivity.

Continue Reading PART 2