Outsourcing vs. In-House Digital Marketing

Small businesses often face a tough choice: try to do all of their digital marketing in house or find a suitable external resource to outsource work to. While digital marketing service providers have exploded over the last few years, it can be hard to find a company or a freelancer that is the right fit for your brand. Not just financially, but understanding of customers, industry knowledge, services/product familiarity, etc.

On the other hand, doing things in-house seems to be more cost effective, but if you do not have the right technical or marketing knowledge, you risk of doing more harm than good in the long-run. Plus time used on building your brand is time that would have been allocated elsewhere.

So, how do you know which route is best?

Like many areas of running a small business, it depends. I have previously put together an infographic covering the differences of hiring an employee vs. a freelancer. Further to that infographic; below are key factors you should consider before making a decision.

Cost 

Most often the first concern of any small business owner: how much will it cost me?

Outsource Option

Depending on the amount of work required, costs can vary. Generally digital marketing consultants and freelancers charge anywhere from $50-$200/hour depending on experience levels, technicality, etc. Projects can also be agreed upon for a one-time fee, or a regular monthly fee. These two options vary greatly depending on how demanding the work is.

Example: if you're looking to build a responsive website with common contact forms, email sign ups, graphics and such the cost may range from $2,000-$6,000. Price will go up with the amount of copy-writing and design necessary to finalize the website. However, a more complex website that includes a CMS (content management system), e-commerce functionalities or databases can cost anywhere from $6,000-$25,000 depending on the features.

In-house Option

Fortunately for the do-it-yourself small businesses, there are numerous website builder services that can help create entire websites from scratch. Popular service providers like Wix offer free (basic feature) website builders and premium services ranging from $12-$25/month (US dollars) on an annual subscription, or $23-$40 US dollars on a monthly plan. While they provide pre-set templates that can be customized, there are hidden costs with these services: your employees time spent on customizing the template, ongoing maintenance, creating updates, imagery and copy creation, training materials/courses, etc.

For someone who may not be familiar with web or graphic design these tasks can be quite time consuming and take away focus from other functions. Unless your small business has a designated web and/or marketing role, it may be beneficial to outsource work. The above example covers only web design, similar cost comparisons can be made for social media management, graphic design, etc.

Skills & Experience

Scheduling social media posts is easy, we do it on our personal profiles. But utilizing social media as a branding or lead generating tool takes someone with a trained skill set in social media marketing.

Looking at the cost numbers mentioned above, most small businesses would opt to do in-house work as the initial numbers favour the do it yourself approach. While this may be true for certain things, other may better left be outsourced. Why?

Certain aspects of digital marketing require proper training or knowledge in order to yield results. One such marketing function, which is constantly evolving, is search engine optimization. SEO requires ongoing training and knowledge in order to properly climb the ranking ladder AND not to get penalized by major search engines. Google regularly penalizes websites which purposely use unfavourable tactics to raise their rankings.

Services such as SEO, graphic design, any complex coding which are usually crucial elements of marketing efforts, should not be left up to chance. Having an already trained employee in these efforts is hard to find, usually employees narrow their focus to their strengths: visual designers, coders, etc.

As an example: if you're looking to initiate an email marketing program but do not have an in-house colleague who is familiar with CASL (Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation) or best practices, it could result in tarnished relationships with customers and potential legal troubles. You do not want to leave your company's brand perception in the hands of inexperience because it could be detrimental in the long run. If costs seem high initially, nothing could be more costly than a dwindling customer base and lack of business!

Timeliness & Knowledge

This is where, in my opinion, the in-house approach may have an advantage over outsourcing. No one is familiar with the products and services as the people who are working with them each day. Certain industries don't require specialized knowledge but if your small business provides software solutions or high-tech products, a freelancer or external agency may have to take the time to get familiar with you and your industry before being able to produce content on your behalf.

Secondly, depending on the type of freelancer, consultant or company you're working with - timeliness may not be their strong suit. Freelancers often work with multiple clients and have simultaneous projects happening which can sometimes lead to prolonged of response times and small projects not receiving the attention they need.

If you have ideas or projects that require time-sensitive work, you should do some research before working with an external organization or individual. Try to get in touch with current or past clients, talk to them about deadlines, etc.

---

While there are more factors to consider, I find these to be the most common and crucial ones. If you've come across something yourself feel free to share in the comment section!

Read More

Unknown Wednesday, March 16, 2016  

What is Your Small Business Story? Learn How to Establish Brand Personality

---

Brand Personality, What Is It?

We often hear the phrase "Brand Personality" thrown around by marketing gurus - but what really is it? Is it meant for big brands using agencies? How can small business create one? All great questions.

Simply put, brand personality is how your business and the associated products or services, are perceived, consumed and engaged with by the general public. Notice that I did not just say "customers"? Because your brand personality spans beyond customers and becomes a reality of all audience members aware of it, whether they use it or not.

The way you build your brand personality can influence the type of customers your small business attracts. With the advancement of technology for business purposes, brand personalities have shifted more towards emotional connections, personal interactions and deep engagement between the brand (business) and user (customer).

Remember the PC vs. Mac personality commercials?

According to one of the biggest "rockstars" of branding in our day and age, Seth Godin, every brand is a story. It cues emotions, expectations, social situations and induces our own inner memories with the brand/product in question. Below is a great two sentence summary which illustrates brand personality:

More than ever, we express ourselves with what we buy and how we use what we buy. Extensions of our personality, totems of our selves, reminders of who we are or would like to be. - Seth Godin

 

Our Own Brand Personality Prelude

I will share with you a brief background story on NR Digital Branding itself - somewhat of an intro (not meant to be self boasting) into this blog post. If you've browsed around our social media profiles and links you may have noticed the term "nemki" come up quite a bit. As a matter of fact my Twitter handle is @nemki, one of my more recognizable nicknames to those that do know me (interestingly, nemki also refers to a mythological thunder-bird creature in the Anishinaabe native language). It was the first ever email I used for gaming, forums, chat services, Yahoo GeoCities website builder (first ever web design dabbling!), and it marks the spark of my "digital" life from the late 90s/early 2000s.

But why is it being used for business purposes?
Well I believe this to be the start of my digital passion and everything that has happened since, including the inception of NR Digital Branding. It is the personality that has developed over years that led to this career path and personal/professional involvement in the digital landscape. Additionally the story associates the level of commitment NRDB has to always providing the best digital experience for all customers, local audience and online community due to that passion. The same way that many Canadian small business have a story of their own; stories of passion, dedication and branding. What makes your business unique and how that uniqueness weaves into the service and/or product you provide as well as the customers that make it all worth-while.

Brand personality is a way for the customer to resonate with your business, to make a full emotional connection.

 

Why Tell Your Story?

Canada (more-so than other countries) is strongly established by small businesses. Imagine that within your local area you have a pizza store, down the street from the store is another local pizzeria store. Both of you sell gourmet pizzas, wings, bread-sticks, dipping sauces, provide a delivery service, etc.

Well, which one should a newcomer chose? Why would a customer come back?

Sure special promotions, deals and holiday specials can help you meet short-term goals, but they can do the same for the pizza shop down the road. What about the loyal customer who wants to keep coming back?

This is where your story or small business uniqueness (the personality) can play a crucial role.

What makes a pizzeria gourmet? Usually some sort of "secret" or "home-made" sauce. Maybe your pizzeria bakes using a stone oven, or uses an old family recipe from Italy. Perhaps it has an unmatched dinning experience in the pizzeria itself which draws a regular nightly crowd. It is something that differentiates you from ALL other pizzerias (regardless of location). While they too can have a specialty sauce or unique toppings, it does not taste quite the same as yours. The same would apply to their loyal customers: they would prefer that sauce over yours and that is what allows your business to differentiate itself.

Think of grandma's home-made pie; you can buy a pre-cooked one and bake it until its ready but it just doesn't have the same aroma, taste and goodness to it. Why can't your home-made gourmet pizzeria live up to that name? Especially if it has a special secret sauce that makes it delicious! Maybe even elicit a similar response to the one in the image below (we do not recommend you try this at home!):

I reference a pizzeria as an example but this applies to all industries and types of small business organizations. If your small business has a great story to tell and can make the customer a part of that story, it will create a foundation for long-term relationship between brand, perception and customer.

How To Tell Your Story

There was an article published on Forbes a couple of years ago, right at the "rise" of content marketing that brought a point which is very important to this practice to this day:

Brand stories are not marketing materials. They are not ads, and they are not sales pitches. Brand stories should be told with the brand persona and the writer’s personality at center stage. Boring stories won’t attract and retain readers, but stories brimming with personality can. - Susan Gunelius, Forbes

The first thing that comes to mind of storytelling is the traditional list of sequential milestones. For example:

• established in 1977
• incorporated 1980
• introduced new menu 1989

Not that there is anything wrong with a historical timeline of the company but there has to be a little more oomph to it than that. Here are a couple of things you should keep in mind:

1. Make it Customer-Centric

Stories always involve characters, and what better way to resonate with your customers than to make them the main character of your story? While this sounds hard, it is not impossible. Think about some of the most recent "big brand" campaigns that were centered around the customer:

• Lays chips flavour challenge where users submit flavour ideas and the company sells the most popular selections for a limited time
• Coca-Cola putting names on soda cans/bottles to make coke buying about the person, not necessarily the drink itself

Does your business have to go as far as that? Of course not, it would be great if it did or could but there are plenty of other ways to incorporate customers into the brand. Do you have customer testimonials framed all over the store space? Challenges that result in publicly celebrated certificates or rewards for customers if they accomplish such feats (who can handle the pizzeria's legendary slice challenge)? Is part of the menu a result of customer suggestions? How did it solve a problem for the customer (solving plan-less dinner nights for a long, long time)? Is the topping selection fully based on customer input? Etc.

2. Participate Locally

Majority of small businesses are tied to a location (or more than one). Whether you have a storefront or work from an office (or from home), all businesses have somewhere they belong. It is imperative to be involved in your community to some extent.

Having collaborated with dozens of small business thus far, it is evident that majority of them are involved in their community. From local hockey team sponsorships, food drives to having a group of team members run a charity marathon. In all instances the organization and it's employees were doing this to help those in need or support their community.

However, few had actually mentioned their involvement anywhere. This type of local engagement can have a huge part in building up your brand's DNA both internally (employees) and externally (customers). You do not need to have fancy press releases or news stories written in the local newspaper (although it wouldn't hurt) each and every time. You simply need to snap a photo, share it with others, include it in your messaging and get your employees to participate in the share culture. You will be amazed at how engaged your brand will become.

Interestingly, according to a blog published on American Express small business blog the more local small business prosper the more they give back:

It’s not just about the economy: Research shows that vibrant local business communities lead to more charitable giving in a community and more walkable neighborhoods with unique character, according to Michael H. Shuman, an economist and author who specializes in community economics. - Kelly Spors

3. Be Genuine

"Corporate speak" as I refer to it is better left off the web and anything facing the customer really. In order to establish any sort of personality your brand has to establish a voice of it's own. Some brands have experimented with using slang terminology to resonate with their community, others simply tell it as is. Other use fun, interactive storyboards to guide the reader on a journey. Remember us mentioning the corporate timeline above? We'll take a look at Moz's timeline and how they made it fun, interactive and personal (use of their mascot and employee photos - see screenshot below).

One of my personal favourites is a local brewery here in Ontario: Steam Whistle Brewing. They cover everything about the brand: from the founder's original dreams long before the brewery became what it is today to the reason they chose that specific name, check it out here. Nothing fancy, but it gives meaning to the beer for all lovers of local brews.

---

So, now that we've covered the basics of brand storytelling do you know what is your business' brand personality? If you're not sure, are you going to work on one?

Read More

Unknown Monday, January 04, 2016  

Small Business Email Marketing Checklist [PDF]

Email marketing for small business is awesome, really really awesome! Done right it can lead to many positives in business growth, customer retention and lead generation.

In order to efficiently tap into all of these benefits, it is necessary to properly build each and every email marketing campaign to meet email spam regulations, focus on set goals and measure results. If you've ever had trouble keeping tracking of all of these things; fret no more! Below is a downloadable (and interactive) PDF checklist to ensure you cover all of the important details of every email campaign:

What does this PDF cover?

• CASL (Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation) requirements
• Technical email features
• Design guidelines for optimal performance
• Landing page features that lead to more leads

Read More

Unknown Thursday, July 02, 2015  

How the Internet of Things (IoT) Will Affect Small Business

Internet of Things, or as the new IoT abbreviation is starting to take precedence, is sweeping the business world. It is all around us - from CES technology shows to business columns, but what is IoT? And more importantly how will the Internet of Things affect small business? Before I get into the influences, it would be beneficial to outline the definition of IoT, and according to Wikipedia this is what defines IoT:

the interconnection of uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices within the existing Internet infrastructure. Typically, IoT is expected to offer advanced connectivity of devices, systems, and services that goes beyond machine-to-machine communications (M2M) and covers a variety of protocols, domains, and applications. The interconnection of these embedded devices (including smart objects), is expected to usher in automation in nearly all fields, while also enabling advanced applications like a Smart Grid.

In other words, it will allow us to automate a number of manual tasks by using the already existing internet infrastructure. Instead of counting your own fitness exercise gains a smart bracelet will do it for you, or without looking in the refrigerator our smart-fridge will give us a list of groceries we need to purchase. But how does this relate to business?

In a number of ways, product and service providers of all sorts will be able to tap into this IoT potential to not only provide services to the customer but directly personalize messages on an individual level. Organizations will now be closer to people more than ever.

Here is our take on the influences IoT will have:

Improved and Catered Services

Early adapters of IoT will set customer expectations; if you cannot provide real-time solutions to those customers who seek it your business will need to catch-up, fast. While this sounds like a competitive issue, it could actually be a healthy competitive feature. Competitors pushing each other to provide the best possible service will result in improvements and advancements that customers will surely enjoy.

Similarly, catering to each and every individual will be a big part of small business operations. The emergence of big data and IoT will ensure that each business has access to a plethora of information to create custom interactions with potential and current customers.

Increased Need for Data Security

The recent Sony hack and data breach fiasco was all over the news. Why? Because a group of hackers were able to penetrate the security of what we thought was an unpenetrable organization while publicly releasing confidential information. This is just one of many everyday breaches which occur on the world wide web.

Small businesses offering wireless services or communication will need to ensure that their data is highly secure. With consumers relying heavily on personal mobile devices (often unprotected), the responsibility of security will fall to the service provider.

H2H Personalization

Although the idea behind IoT is a more immersed technological infrastructure, the communication in the end will be between individuals. People will require to provide a high level of personal information which organizations will be able to allocate for personal communication. As opposed to "mass emailing" or "Dear Sir" messages, the interactions will include actual names and facts. Won't be long until a personal bracelet will be sending us voice SMS messages informing us that we need to burn 200 more calories to meet our daily exercise goal.

Much like it won't be long before a partnership between the developers of the fitness bracelet and a nutritional supplements provider is formed to directly serve messages of matching supplements needed after each work out including where to get them, for how much and the amount needed based on exercise intensity.

Contextual Communication

Take the earlier example of a smart-fride telling the home owner that it is time to replenish some of the supplies in the fridge. Now imagine that a grocery store chain developed an app or service which allows them to read this information, combine it with that families buying habits (loyalty member data perhaps) and deliver specials or promotions right when they are needed. Ideal isn't it? While we are not fully at this stage yet, IoT will allow organizations to tap into the principle of "perfect timing" and allow messaging which is in tune with real-time customer needs.

Scary? A little. Convenient? Absolutely. After all who doesn't hate pouring a bowl of cereal only to find out that there is no milk in the fridge.

Bigger Digital Budgets

Implementing such services for a small business will surely require a bigger allocation of the budget to go towards digital communications or IoT technology/servers/services. It is safe to assume that over time the costs for these offerings will decrease but those organizations looking to be the early adapters will have to invest a higher amount in order to establish an effective service.

Complex Privacy Legislation

While our individual digital privacy has been a hot legal debate topic lately, the introduction of IoT devices and interactions will set forth an even more complex discussion of privacy laws for both consumers and organizations. People willing to integrate into a SmartGrid will have to sacrifice some privacy to enjoy the benefits. However, privacy legislation will be very particular as to what data small business organizations are eligible to tap into - making it complicated to offer the best services possible while simultaneously respecting privacy boundaries.

As much as the IoT can offer to make lives better, we are all still entitled to a certain level of privacy and no amount of convenience will trump that...at least for some individuals.

---

Is your business planning for the utilization of IoT?

Read More

Unknown Friday, January 16, 2015  

Why Online Small Business Branding Is Like a Rock Concert

I am a big fan of metal (if you have not yet heard of Mastodon, you need to check them out!) and rock, sometimes heavy - sometimes mellow, depending on my mood. Over the past two years I really got into concerts and music festivals (nothing like a muddy, outdoor heavy metal festival on a sunny & rainy summer day at Heavy TO in 2012).

Recently, I have been invited to go to a small venue for a local Hamilton, Ontario band called Monster Truck - I had my doubts. I heard a couple of their songs on the radio but that is about it, the venue was small - but I gave it a shot.

They did not only stump all of my assumptions, but rocked out in the best way possible. The amazing energy, sound - crowd involvement and best of all: a great musical experience. I went from leaning back on the bar to jumping, headbanging (its just not the same without long hair) and video recording most of the songs.

So how does this tie into small business branding online? Well just like me; a not-so-familiar concert goer of a local band, some of your audience members probably do not know too much about your local business. Once they enter your social media sphere, your brand has to bring the energy, content and genuine interaction in order for them to have a memorable experience, and hopefully become fans going forward.

Let's breakdown the connection even further:

---

The Band

The band = your team. The band is made up of 5 members: the singer, guitarist, bassist, drummer and band manager. Without each teammate the band would not be able to function, much like a great small business or marketing team. The world wide web, social media networks and ebalsts (virtually anything digital) is your concert hall.

Once you step onto that stage you have to constantly be focused, bring your a-game and have a set list ready to play in order to engage your audience. All eyes are on you, and everyone has paid for their ticket - eagerly waiting to hear what content you put together for the show.

The digital brand strategy is your band's tour plan, while your individual concert set lists is the content you plan to deliver on a nightly basis.

Now that you have the plan laid out, and the tour has been finalized - let's look at each team member's role in this rock tour.

Singer

The front-man of the group; always bringing the emotion, energy and directly engaging with the crowd. Finds creative ways to get the group involved and makes sure that everyone is having a blast. This would be the SEO/social media specialist of your team. 

Directly interacting with your brand's audience members and coordinating all content efforts - as a front-facing role, this person has to be ready to engage the audience, provide timely customer interactions and find creative ways to keep the community rocking out.

Guitarist

Shredding epic riffs, and providing the main sound for each song - the guitarist takes each song to the next level. Once the vocals die down, the drums slow down - the guitar solo brings on sounds that make the entire concert hall go crazy. Having epic riffs and sounds is crucial; just like having a digital strategist to plan out epic content. 

Your digital branding strategist comes up with content, the schedule, ideas, execution and everything that makes a good blog post, social media update, infographic, video, or any piece of content look great.

Each and every week (or concert) there is a planned set of solos of content that will engage your audience. While the singer delivers it to the audience, the guitarist makes them headbang!

Bassist

Usually overlooked, but nonetheless important part of the band. Hangs out in the back - provides depth to the sound and gives each song that completing sound. Bassists usually do their research and are very knowledgeable on music, giving feedback and direction to the band. This would be your analytics and analysis person, responsible for measuring the success of all online efforts.

Good analytics professionals have a keen ability to take data and turn it into meaningful analysis. Continuously monitoring and improving all strategies is key to adapting to an ever changing digital landscape. 

Having someone that can help shine light on huge amounts of data, find trends - connect variables to performance, is a huge benefit for your band's long term success.

Drummer

Usually taking the back-seat to the rest of the team, the drummer provides the sound that connects the entire song. Follows the tune of each song, makes sure it sounds good and ads the connecting drums beats without which none of this would be possible. This of course is your technical developer role. 

If your organization is involved with anything online, you need to have a dedicated IT/web developer teammate that knows the how-to of all the efforts; social metadata, web development, social apps, database integration, API, etc.

 At some point in time you will run into technical difficulties or challenges, and having someone who understands the language will ensure you can utilize all of the necessary tools to make your concerts (or online interactions) go smoothly.

Band Manager

The person that makes it all happen, believes in the band and goes out of their way to make sure it succeeds. This of course is the small business owner, or marketing manager.

The manager constantly learns new ways to stay relevant, gives motivation to his team and ensures that they have the necessary tools to be successful. They usually go out of their way to make things happen and give regular feedback (both positive and negative) to the team based on performance.

What separates a good band manager from the bad? They allow autonomy, encourage development, provide direction and give the band confidence to truly create an epic sound (or brand personality).

Alright now that we've covered the band, lets see what the audience is made-up of!

---

Audience

The real reason any band or brand exists in the first place - the people who listen to the tunes, buy stuff or in any way interact with the b(r)and. The audience members for each concert are made up of three different types of fans: crowd surfers, casual listeners and new to the scene.

Image courtesy of ponsuwan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Each of these audience members experiences the concert differently, and depending on how your concert goes - they could move from one category to the other.

Crowd Surfers

The loyal fans that try to make it out to every show they can - they buy all the records, they actively talk about the band in forums, social media and eagerly wait for new music to be released. This would be your brand loyalists - people who love the brand and regularly consume it.

This is your bread and butter, the people who re-tweet, share and like most of your social media updates. They can't wait to see what is going on with your brand and willingly encourage others to become brandlievers (terrible pun, I know).

However, if they attend your concert (or join your social media network) and you fail to perform with epic content, or bring energy like they are use to your brand bringing, they may slowly lose their interest and move into the casual listener section.

Casual Listeners

This group of fans listens to the music occasionally - depending on their mood they may or may not go to your concert. If it's convenient for them to attend, they will - but will not go out of their way to see a live performance. These are people who sometimes engage your brand and use your services/products, but do not actively seek it.

The best way to reach this segment is to have a contextual approach - when they need something you offer, make sure that you are available and relevant at the time of need.

Think of it as having a concert in their home town, on a night they feel like heading out with their friends and listening to some great tunes, by no means an easy thing to do. Depending on their long-term experience with your brand they could either become crowd surfers or remain casual listeners.

New to The Scene

Image courtesy of phanlop88 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Last but not least - these are people who have not yet heard of your band (or have to a limited extent) and got convinced by their friends to come along for the experience. These are your potential customers.

These will be new followers on social media, new visitors to a website or first-time consumers of your brand. The first experience you create is a memorable one - if you cannot deliver the first time around, the potential will not be realized.

This audience group is the most interesting as it has the potential to become a brand loyalist, casual buyer or completley opposed to the brand. It all varies by their first experience at the show.

---

That is the connection between rock and digital branding. Of course some team members may take on shared or less responsibilities than what is mentioned here. Sometimes a band has two guitarist, or the singer plays guitar and sings - just like many online professionals are both the social media strategist and analytics professionals.

Each band is made up differently, as is their sound - it all has to be relevant to their unique audience so that both sides can rock out to the same tune.

Read More

Unknown Wednesday, February 12, 2014