In 7th grade, my English teacher ran a weekly writing challenge called Show, Don't Tell. The prompt changed every week. The principle never did. Fifteen years into building brand programs, I can tell you: the brands that break through aren't the ones that say the most. They're the ones that show the most. Moira Rose never picked up the spoon. Julia Child never put it down. There's a whole brand strategy lesson in there.
Read MoreA business is a kitchen. HR is the fridge. Operations is the oven. Finance is the plumbing. Sales is the sink. Marketing is the counter - the surface everything moves across. It's not the heaviest appliance in the room. But take it out and suddenly nothing has anywhere to land. You don't realize how much you need the counter until you're trying to prep a meal over the sink.
Read More"In case your dad didn't show you this" is a good hook. It creates instant connection and gets clicks. But the more I watched, the more I found myself thinking — wait. What did my dad actually gatekeep from me? He was deployed. And I suspect some version of that story belongs to a lot more people than that hook accounts for. This is what digital empathy in content strategy actually looks like.
Read MoreI’ve spent the last decade-plus building brand programs, running campaigns, writing copy, directing creative, and thinking constantly about what it means to actually connect with an audience rather than just reach one. To recognize pain points is to acknowledge someone’s actual lived experiences. To build a content strategy around those experiences is to create confidence not just in the brand, but in the individual themselves.
Read MoreI take three actions with his posts: 1) swipe through the pics or watch the watch the video, 2) tap to read all the content, and 3) ‘like’ the post. Three points of fairly consistent engagement and I’m delivered his new posts in a very consistent manner whenever I hop into the app. This is the algorithm working and working well. (And note: no saves, no shares - just watching, reading, and liking. Basically the algorithm thinks we’re friends - and who am I to correct that?)
Read MoreHigh-level daily content themes are basically post prompts to help further branding consistency. They’re not the priority for posting; these are purely content fillers to be used between announcements or whatever other points you wish to share with your community and followers on social media. It’s important to think of daily content themes as ways to further brand awareness, build community, or offer social listening.
Read MoreWhile the immediate blow was hard, it took a willingness to be creatively agile to answer those questions. The willingness to adopt truly made a difference for so many. brands. What else did they do? They reviewed their message to ensure it best fit with their key audience.
Read MoreClient Personas - also known as Marketing, Customer, or Buyer Personas - are descriptions and representations of a brand’s key clients. And they can make people say “This was written for me!" while reading your e-newsletter, Instagram post, or reviewing your brand's resources.
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