Building Brand On Social In 2020

Hey, welcome to the OSM team - Thanks For “Tuning In”! 

2020 has come and almost gone already! Although this year was not what we had expected and a large majority of us had to pivot our business, our mindset and possibly even our talents - we have been able to learn so much! 

As a marketing agency in the Quinte region, we have had the absolute privilege of helping small businesses, entrepreneurs and even larger scale business owners come to terms with the many changes that this year has thrown our way. The marketing industry is constantly changing, constantly developing and constantly moving. What we knew for sure last year is not something guaranteed for this year - and that has been proven!

Our team at OSM in Belleville has learned some crucial lessons this year regarding how to market, who to market to and WHY. 

Essential Marketing Tips For 2020

Our most valuable lesson learned though is what has become ESSENTIAL in terms of marketing during 2020. Our answer to that question? 

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING. 

Social media is a valuable tool used to market products and services, build relationships and gain traction in the marketplace. Whether you are a small one-person show or an international, large-scale company with thousands of employees, social media is going to be your best friend. 

The Value Of Social Media:

• Build Relationships 
• Grow Your Community 
• Gain Traction In Your Industry 
• Target Your Ideal Consumer 
• Thrive In Your Niche!

In 2020, people are drawn in by YOU. You become the sales tactic by simply sharing your purpose, your behind-the-scenes moments and the personality you bring to the table! 

A Note From Owner and CEO of OSM:

“We’re definitely in the brand building business. A lot of people get that mixed up with the sales business, which are two separate things. We want to be focusing on building a brand because brand will always outlast sales...let’s make sure you’re around, not just for the short term, but for the long term as well!”

By using social media to market, advertise and ultimately build your brand, you are no longer just investing in your business. You are actually investing in PEOPLE. 

Social media allows you, as a business, to: 

• Reach New People 
• Connect With Your Niche Audience
• Grow An Engaging Community 
• Relate To Your ideal Customer 

So how will you choose to use social media for your business? 

How Much Should I Share?

A question that our social media experts at OSM get asked quite a lot is, “how much should I be sharing on my social media accounts?”

This is a great question for two reasons:

1. Quality content is more important than quantity content
2. Creating healthy boundaries between your off-line and on-line life is crucial

Let’s break this down! 

You Should Be Sharing Quality Content Over Quantity Content

Are you sharing valuable content or are you just sharing lots of content? What’s the difference?

Knowing what to post is a huge stepping stone for businesses in terms of their social media marketing tactics. At OSM in Belleville, our social media strategists recommend two key strategies:

1. Experiment with different content to find what sticks and what doesn’t.

2. Stay authentic to yourself and your brand.

It’s important to know what your ideal customers want to see so that you can provide them with that valuable content, but it’s also important to stay on-brand and true to yourself. As we mentioned before, you are the sales funnel. You, your story and your purpose. So, let that show!

Creating Healthy Boundaries Between Your Off-line And On-line Life Is Crucial

At OSM, we believe in creating healthy boundaries between your off-line and on-line life. It can be so easy to get caught up in posting consistently, being “on” for your audience 24/7 and creating content that documents every moment of your life. We want to provide you with healthy strategies so that you can enforce these healthy boundaries in your own life!

Time Management Tips For Social Media:

1. Spend 30min/day engaging on your social media. Use this time wisely to engage with your followers and to reach out to new accounts!
2. Create a social media content calendar so that you don’t have to come up with new ideas every day.
3. Find a social media scheduling app that works best for you!

What Type of Content Should You Be Sharing?

• Behind-the scenes 
• Your Purpose 
• Your Values 
• Your Products/Services In Action 
• Your Personality 
• Your WHY

Contact OSM For More Social Media Marketing Tips!

Contact OSM online for more digital marketing advice, tips and branding!
You can also call us at 613-969-0626 to speak directly with a member of our marketing team! 

Define Your Digital Strategy in the Post-COVID and Pre-Holiday Marketplace

Whether you are a brick-and-mortar or online-based business, 2020 has become the year where digital business strategy IS business strategy.

Understanding that your company must go digital is one thing, but mobilizing to make it happen is quite another.

This is where our marketing strategy team at OSM in Belleville comes in.

This blog post will give you a quick-start overview of how to define your digital strategy. Be sure to read all the way to the end for next steps!

Digital-Ready Industry Is Set to Reap the Rewards of Lockdown

This may seem like an odd statement to make. In this case, it is odd yet true.

A group of 800 key European decision-makers recently weighed in about the short-term and long-term economic impact of the global shutdown.

Nearly three-quarters of company owners observed that while short-term economic impact has been largely negative, the global lockdown is serving to separate out major players with staying power from all the rest.

Translation?

Companies willing to get creative and find the means to digitize their workforce, workplace and e-commerce marketplace will be the same companies to reap the long-term profits yet to come.

In other words, if you are not already hard at work defining your company's digital strategy, the time to pivot is fast drawing to a close. It is time to decide - digitize for future profitability and business success or get left behind forever.

Contact our digital marketing experts at OSM in Belleville to learn more about the digital opportunities in store for your business! 

Digital Life Is Here to Stay - Are You In?

In an analogy that may feel particularly apropos for the long, harsh winter season still to come, business owners that have mobilized for a rapid digital evolution are even now starting to pick up speed - like a snowball that gets bigger and faster as it approaches the finish line.

In contrast, those company owners who feel paralyzed, confused or simply exhausted from their efforts to stick to "business as usual" are slowing down. Some are even grinding to a hard stop.

Not every company will ring loud and clear in the 2021 New Year with open doors and big smiles.

If you are reading this though, this grim prognosis likely does NOT apply to you. You are aware that the impact of the lockdown is not going to be a temporary impact and that you have to learn to pivot and grow with the changes in the market place.

You understand that it is time to recalibrate your business model to flow with the new digitalization of darned near everything we do - from how we live, to how we work, to how we shop.

Speaking of how we shop, have you thought about adding e-commerce options on your website so that your customers can shop online throughout the holidays? Contact our e-commerce experts at OSM for more information on setting this feature up on your own website!

Get Speedy - Have FUN!

Fun, you say? How exactly can having to make a fast profitability pivot in an uncertain economy possibly be FUN?

We love the positivity from a recent McKinsey & CO. survey.

Business owners stated that now is the time to get creative - to innovate, to improvise and leap over their competitors to make progress.

If that doesn't sound like fun, we don't know what does!

After years or perhaps decades of struggling through all the usual rounds of red tape and traditional brick-and-mortar rules, regulations and hurdles, the national and global economy is starting to relax. Important barriers are falling away to make room for a digitized market space! 

Everyone, everywhere is beginning to embrace a survival-of-the-fittest mentality, which means if it works, it sticks and it stays.

So, if you have a crazy idea, something that absolutely would not have worked even a short year ago, this is the year to try it.

In fact, there are businesses of all shapes and sizes in all industries that are not just surviving, but doing better than they have ever done before. All because their leaders have embraced the current climate of innovate-to-survive, only to discover they were really innovating to THRIVE.

We believe that you can absolutely do the same with your business! 

3 Steps for a Speedy Digital Strategy Pivot

So, here is where you jump in. It is time to pivot, but you don't want to linger If you hesitate, you will start to stress and second-guess.

This is the time to pivot from your gut, not from your head.

These are the three steps you need right now to start that process. If you have any questions regarding these pivoting strategies, contact our marketing team at OSM today! 

1. For every brick-and-mortar process, find the digital version.

While we recognize that it is not possible to repair a furnace or change a tire online, there are many steps leading up to that purchase decision that can be digitized.

In some cases, the entire sales funnel may have a digital equivalent.

2. For maximum innovation, involve your employees at every level.

While remote work is here to stay, it isn't the ideal for every employee. Many employees actually report working harder while feeling increasingly disconnected from customers, peers and superiors.

It's time to reconnect. Invite your employees at every level to the table to talk shop. What your youngest employees lack in historical expertise, they may more than make up for with digital know-how.

When you gather in the full skillset of every employee, you find your best chances for a speedy, successful pivot.

3. Don't tinker - TRANSFORM 

Anyone who has ever gazed at a gadget and longed to take it apart to see how it works will love this step.

You don't want to just tweak or tinker with your current business model. You want to take it apart, lay all the pieces out, extract the parts that are no longer relevant and then build something new and great from the pieces you choose to keep.

THIS is the approach that will potentially turn 2021 into your most profitable year yet.

Are you ready to take the digital leap?

Reach Out to Quinte's Digital Strategy Experts

COVID-19 happened this year, but not every business is struggling because of it. We have helped many Quinte and surrounding small businesses digitize in order to streamline overhead and boost profits this year.

We can help you do the same! Contact our digital strategy experts at OSM in Belleville today to get started!