Government and Public Relations: Why You Need It

No matter what business you’re in, government policies and regulations affect your business. That is why every company should have a government relations team that works to understand all government structures that may affect them.

Often times, public relations and government relations teams work hand-in-hand: public relations is essential for building a positive relationship with the public, and these professionals work closely with the media and other stakeholders in order to build a company’s public image. One of these stakeholders should be the government. 

However, many public relations strategies fail to take government relations into account even though the government can potentially play a massively important role in a company’s business. 

In fact, when a company has a good government and public relations strategy, it can possibly allow access to new key opinion leaders (KOLs), media coverage, strategic partnerships and business opportunities. When combined, public and government relations strategies can lead to more established and effective outcomes. It is certainly no small feat! 

But, how does a company accomplish this? We’ll tell you how it’s done.

So what is government relations?

A government relations professional is tasked with analysing policies, finding ways for governments and companies to work together, and developing strategies for providing input on public policies. 

Simply put, government relations is all about education and communication. While your company needs to know about legislation, policies and regulations that affect your business, the government, too, should know about what your company does, what your future plans are, and your company’s point of view.

To do this, you need to know how to navigate the local government system and policies – and it isn’t always easy. To be honest, there’s a possibility that when you try to establish this relationship, you’ll be given the run-around by government groups, or even be ignored. 

However, with a dedicated team to help with government relations, companies can get their foot in the door and then begin working toward partnering with governments and governmental groups to further their business goals. 

It’s all about relationships

For those of you with furrowed brows, we promise government relations is not (always) about fancy lunches, business suits and playing golf! Government relations (and also public relations!) is all about relationships and communication. 

Here are a few steps that companies can take to start building government relations:

Map out stakeholders

Your first step is to identify the key stakeholders. You need to know who the players are, what they do and how they can help with your campaign, project or business objective. It could be a Minister, your local MP (member of parliament), or a specific department head. 

Do your research

From there, it’s time to do your homework and deep-dive into the relevant policies and regulations, media reports and all the nitty-gritty details about the relevant people you need to work with. Know your stuff before you get in touch with officials! 

Make contact

Introduce yourself and your company, and state your business proposal. Do keep in mind that government officials are important for your business, and that you should do everything possible both impress and charm them. In addition to sending your business proposal, consider also inviting them to tour your office or taking them out for lunch. 

Follow up

“But what if they ignore me?” you may ask. Government officials are busy people, and they sometimes do not reply to your emails straight away – especially because your email could be buried under a mound of high-priority action items. 

If you don’t immediately hear back from them, it’s okay. Don’t give up. Continue to follow-up with them, or maybe go visit them at their office in person. If that fails, perhaps you can try another approach, like contacting their personal assistant to arrange a meeting, or pivoting to get in touch with another relevant official instead. 

Timing is also very important. Avoid contacting government officials during busy periods, such as ahead of the national Budget tabling, upcoming party elections or by-elections, or during long stretches of public holidays. By considering when may be the best time to reach out and being vigilant in following-up, you’ll eventually get a response.

Begin building a relationship

Your work doesn’t stop after you make contact with government officials. In fact, that’s where the work begins. The next step – and the hard part – is nurturing and sustaining that relationship. Always keep officials informed of your business progress so you remain top of mind. This can be easily done by  adding them to your newsletters or inviting them to attend your business functions.

Monitor news and issues

Keep an eye out for relevant news or issues involving your project or campaign. Always be on the ball! Cabinet reshuffles and internal management changes, for example, are major changes that can affect your business and campaign. You should also be on the lookout for news of Ministers supporting or condemning certain topics or issues. It’s good to know where officials stand in relation to current affairs and topics, and can help to inform how you approach them and build your relationship with them.

Looking for help building your company’s government relations? Contact us at [email protected], and we’ll get you sorted.

3 Ways To Infuse Life Into Your Content

While creating content may seem like a simple task, consistently keeping your audience hooked is a different ball game. Blog posts and articles are often the first thing which come to mind, we talk about content. While this is true, content exists in other forms such as videos, infographics, e-books or audio. Thanks to social media, short-form video content is all the rage – all you need to do is scroll down Instagram, Facebook or YouTube, and check out the staggering number of views that some videos manage to clinch.

Want to keep your content alive, so audiences always keep coming back for more? Here are three tips:

Re-use, re-purpose, re-cycle

Great advice not only for the environment, but also the content you have generated so far. Most of which is probably timeless, so don’t let it go to waste. Posted a blog on your website two years ago? Give it a fresh lease of life, and repurpose it for a different platform. Trending topics tend to be cyclical – a specific topic you wrote about a year ago could be relevant in the present moment.

For instance, events such as the Oscars, the Super Bowl, and the prominent Fashion Weeks never fail to be a yearly occurrence. If you wrote a listicle about the major looks sported at celebrities at the Golden Globes, or penned an insightful op-ed about fashion and sustainability, why not rehash the content by giving it a fresh new twist and sharing it across your socials?

Reel them in with an irresistible headline

Putting time and effort into creating your content is great, but it’s the headline that will compel people to click on whatever you have put out. Writing a good headline involves balancing the right amount of information to let people know what to expect, yet being mysterious enough to pique their interest. Clickbait is annoying, and will only turn your readers away – be genuine with your headlines, and you will earn the clicks you deserve.

Make it personal

Customers nowadays are all about authenticity. Thanks to the Internet and social media at large, people want to see the “real” you. They want to know your story so they can be invested in it, and hopefully get to know you and talk to you (just like dating).

Give people what they want. Share stories about the team working behind the scenes to help your brand or product come to life. Hop onto Instagram or Facebook Live, or record a “Storytime” video for your YouTube audience. Social media allows for two-way communications, where your customers and fans will tell you what they think of you and your product in real-time.

Let your customers in, so they can see you for who you really are. Tell your brand story with flair, and make it human. Instead of turning it into a hackneyed old sales pitch, show people what you and your brand can do. Your content strategy should leave people hungry for more.

Want to give your content a fresh lease of life? Drop us a message at [email protected]

Here’s How To Get Your Singles Day 2020 Strategy Right

Taylor Swift’s recent mini-concert in Shanghai was nothing short of dazzling. Bedecked in a stunning geometric ensemble and thigh-high boots, the singer crooned her latest singles “Me!”, “You Need to Calm Down”and “Lover”. Some viewed this spectacle live at the Mercedes-Benz Arena, while others watched from the comfort of their television screens.

None of this was a promotional effort to publicise her latest album, nor was Shanghai a stop one of her world tours. No, all of this was to commemorate 11.11 Global Shopping Festival, a gargantuan shopping event that has grown rapidly to become a full-scale cultural proceeding, complete with its own set of rituals and practises employed by zealous shoppers wanting to get their hands on irresistible deals and discounts.

What started as a mega-sale day for Chinese youth who wanted a way to celebrate their lack of romantic companionship has ballooned into a global celebration of consumerism, freedom of choice, and, of course, capitalism. Spearheading this retail revolution is Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba, which earned an eye-watering $30 billion in salesfor this year’s Singles’ Day. Singles’ Day has grown to be so staggeringly massive, that major shopping holidays popular in the Western world, such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday, pale in comparison.

The event isn’t limited to China: Southeast Asia seems to have caught the shopping bug known as Singles’ Day. Regional ecommerce retailers such as Lazada received a record-worthy 3 million orders within the first hour of 11th November, 2019. Fuelling this consumerist frenzy is the region’s robust Internet economy, which is projected to be worth $300 billion by 2025, and which is led by shopping via mobile channels. After all, APAC is home to more than half the world’s mobile subscribers.

While major Internet-driven sales are generally lucrative for brands, Singles’ Day is the most scrumptious pie – which means retailers both local and international are fighting tooth-and-nail to get a share of. If you want in, here’s what you must understand:

Young people are your friends:

Yes, it is Millennials and Gen-Z kids who are quick to flock to ecommerce sites hoping to get their hands on massively discounted goods that otherwise might have been out of reach for them. Ignoring these groups because you think they do not have adequate disposable income will be the beginning of the end for your brand.

After all, it is the people who grew up on the Internet who can expertly navigate even the most cluttered ecommerce interface and emerge triumphant with a big shopping basket. Remember why Singles’ Day exists in the first place – for youth people to celebrate their independence.

Mobile is everything:

If all customers can do is access and browse a smaller version of your brand’s website on mobile, you need to rethink your mobile strategy. Simply offering a mobile-optimised website is not enough in this age of technology, when bigger players are devising novel ways to enhance the consumer experience.From immersive multimedia journeys to virtual reality, interactive games and live-streaming, companies are pulling out all the stops to ensure consumers lose themselves in the story that the brand experience is trying to convey. Several Chinese brands have found success in live-streaming, with a beauty brand earning 100 million yuan in a matter of six minutes. In fact, to get a jump on the excitement for 11.11, beauty brand Estée Lauder used live-streaming campaigns to entice people to buy its products as early as October.

In 2018, more than 90%of Singles’ Day sales were made via a smartphone. And given that Southeast Asia’s penchant for handheld devices is well-documented, it would be wise for you to start perfecting your brand’s mobile experience.

Strong brand image:

Keep in mind that during Singles’ Day, most people are usually searching for the best deals. This means that their loyalty can go out the window and their purchases will go to the brands that can give them the most bang for their buck.However, if you can tie brand loyalty to great deals, you’ll find yourself on the winning side of the shopping event.

Instead of trying to please everyone with grand marketing efforts and deep discounts, use data and insights to help you focus on satisfying niche consumer segments that have patronised your business from day one. Work to boost greater brand loyalty amongst people who would naturally gravitate towards your brand, and make sure they are incentivised to find the right products at the right prices at the right time.

Singles’ Day 2020 will likely be an even grander, more extravagant affair than 2019 saw, with brands and businesses going head-to-head in order to grab precious consumer dollars. Bump up your digital strategy, know your consumers, and success will be yourself.

Start planning ahead NOW – write to us at [email protected] for a kickass Singles Day 2020 strategy. 

Honey, How Does My Make-Up Look?

Rebranding is merely about getting a new logo and a new website. Or is it?

Let’s say you’re starting a new business. Your new business needs a face and identity – a basic kit of deliverables that define what your business looks like. These usually consist of a logo, business cards, letterhead, a website. But where do you find them?

Others who have pondered this question and taken to the internet to find answers have  likely bought their “branding kit” off a stock image site, or hired a freelance graphic designer. Much to the horror of designers, some have resorted to the infamous Microsoft Paint, or worse, Comic Sans!

Lo and behold, branding problems: solved! Time to focus on the real business.

Or so you thought.

It’s not uncommon for companies to “rebrand”, even if they have gotten their branding right from the very start.

Here’s the truth: changing your logo or using a different colour for your website is merely makeup – it doesn’t do much for your brand on a deeper level. Branding involves more than just switching up your aesthetics: it includes how you interact with your audiences. Before you consider any course of action, here’s an important question you need to ask yourself : what, exactly, is branding?

To understand branding, we must understand what exactly a brand is. Here is a quote from branding expert, Marty Neumeier:

“A brand is a person’s gut feeling about a product, service or company…In other words, a brand is not what YOU say it is. It’s what THEY say it is.”

Branding is the marriage of business strategy and creativity, a process which transcends the superficial. When you know what your company stands for, its core values, and what it has to offer, you have on your hand, a strong brand. Zero in upon this before externalising them as logos, websites, or other materials.

Many companies often look to agencies for their expertise in creating or revamping a brand. A good agency will do a full, thorough audit of your company before making any suggestions, aesthetic or otherwise. Established, charismatic brands do not do makeovers unless their business changes dramatically. After all, branding should be iconic enough to stand the test of time.

Answer these three fundamental questions before deciding to build your brand, or do a complete rebrand:

  1. Who are my customers?

Like a regular health check up, this foundational question is worth revisiting every once in a while. Discover more about who your customers really are – their hopes, dreams, and motivations. Learn more about them, and you will learn much about your brand in the process

  1. Who should be my customers?

“Everyone”is not the right answer. Your brand and products cannot please everyone – frankly, trying to do so is futile and nothing but a waste of your precious time and resources. Zero in on a primary target audience, and work hard to attract and retain them into being long-term customers. Who is your dream client and what do they look like? If you can find out more about their interests, motivations and propensity to purchase, you will be able to reach them faster.

  1. What makes me unique?

Distinguishing yourself from your competitiors could either be as easy as examining what’s already working for your brand, or as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack. Branding experts will deconstruct your brand, stripping it down to its bare essentials until nothing remains but the truth about itself. From there, your agency will work with you to create a brand that sets you apart from the competition and appeals to your target audience.

Rebranding can be a challenging process, but when done right it will align what you have to offer with your customers’ desires.

Aesthetically-pleasing design is a valuable tool, but can only do so much to enhance your brand, which must be built upon a solid strategy. Despite being a challenging experience, rebranding will help align your company’s offerings to your customers desires.

Ready to win over new customers?  Write to us at at [email protected]!

Content Localisation, aka How To Be Relevant To Different Audiences

You’ve heard it before: what speaks to me might not speak to you. This is the overarching idea behind content localisation,  a buzzword in content marketing, which is – just like content marketing – often misunderstood. Officially defined as “the process of making something local in character or restricting it to a particular place”, localisation is often only talked about in the context of different markets or languages. This isn’t wrong, but it does ignore a full scope of what the term means.

So what does content localisation mean, then?

Localisation isn’t just about translating text into another language, exchanging images to make the people them look like ‘local’ people or changing certain keywords to make your content more searchable in different countries. (Although that part of localisation is important, too).

Localisation means relevancy. The basic question brands need to ask themselves is this: how is my business / offering / content relevant to a particular audience?

Content localisation doesn’t just apply when moving across borders, but  when appealing to different audiences in the same market. A brand’s product or offering may be of interest l to both young millennials and baby boomers, but not in the same way.

For example, the reason why Gucci has recently risen in popularity among millennials and teens is not the same reason why celebrities and more affluent older generations love wearing the fashion brand. They like it for different reasons. The brand is relevant to them in a different way. As a result, Gucci markets, or localises, its brand differently to these two audiences. 

Fashion labels in particular are a great example of how a brand can be perceived differently across borders. The American brand Coach, for example, is considered a premium designer label in Southeast Asia, but has a somewhat more ordinary positioning in the U.S. 

So here comes the next question: is it great content localisation if a low-quality beer from Germany is sold in Southeast Asia as a top-shelf premium import brew? I would say: yes (although slightly misleading in this case). 

After all, the positioning of a brand changes with different audiences and markets depending on what else there is. (Reader: Are you saying Southeast Asia offers such bad beer that it makes other low-quality beer seem premium? Me: I would never say that.)

Let’s remember that localisation isn’t just changing imagery and translating social media copy – it’s about branding and positioning, finding a new audience, discovering a different value product. For Gucci, it was finding a way to appeal to a younger audience. For the German beer, it’s insinuating that a beverage imported from a country renowned for beer is a more informed, more high-quality choice than what is available locally.

What can content localisation look like?

  • Adapting your visuals to resemble your target audience (regardless of the market)
  • Using the right tone of voice and language complexity that will speak to and resonate with a particular audience
  • Be aware of cultural and political sensitivities across customer segments, generations and markets

Create a flexible content strategy, instead of following a yes-or-no, black-or-white, brand strategy. Remember what is true for your brand in one market, or with a certain customer segment, may not be universally true. Rolling out a localised version of a global brand campaign is not an oxymoron. 

What’s the ‘local’ channel?

The localisation of your content extends to considering which channel it will be published on. While Facebook and Instagram enjoy great popularity in Southeast Asia and across different demographics, other markets may also have other more popular channels. 

For example, if you are planning to venture into South Korea, you’ll want to be on KakaoTalk, on WeChat in China, or on Line in Japan. Crossing borders doesn’t just require translations – brands also need to adapt their content to each new channel.

The same applies for different target audiences. While young millennials and Gen Zs may scroll through the TikTok and post on SnapChat, older millennials and Gen X tend to dig through Reddit to consume content.

Finding the right channel for your message is important. So do your homework and find out where your audience plays online.

Here is your content localisation checklist:

  • Market Research: Find out as much as you about your new market and audiences. Is there a need for your brand? What are consumers looking for?
  • Brand Research: Who are your competitors? What’s their positioning? How does your brand fit in the market?
  • Cultural Considerations: What sensitive topics should you avoid? What major events and trends can you leverage?
  • Content: Revise your text, images, videos, reports and more. Translate, transcreate, adapt and curate new content.
  • Audiences: Find new audiences that you may have not considered previously. Test and learn about who you are talking to.
  • Measure: That’s the only way to find out what actually works. Make sure you measure your activities and campaign.

Get lost in translation? Don’t worry, it even happens to Bill Murray – and he’s great. If you want to talk about how to upgrade your content to cross borders or find new audiences (or chat about Bill Murray over some Suntory), send us a message to [email protected].

 

What Is a Content Strategy and Why Do I Need One?

It’s likely you’ve heard the term ‘content strategy’ thrown around lately, but unless you work in the world of content marketing, you probably are thinking, ‘What exactly is a content strategy?’. We’re here to help.

Depending on the brand you work for, the definition of content strategy may vary slightly, but broadly it is the creation and distribution of content that drives profitable customer action.

It’s easy to task marketing or PR departments with this type of work, but, really, content strategy leverages skills and knowledge from several different departments: the aforementioned marketing and PR, but also corporate communications, social media and even business development.

By leveraging knowledge from all of these spaces, a content strategy can help propel your company toward its goals and drive real business results. There are myriad benefits to a robust content strategy, but these are three of the biggest:

BRAND CONSISTENCY

Keeping your brand’s voice and style consistent across all types of content (think press releases, marketing collateral, social media posts, the corporate website, and beyond) while also effectively communicating your brand’s message can be a surprisingly big challenge, especially if there are multiple staff members writing and posting content.

By creating brand guidelines – from preferred grammar style to design instructions regarding corporate logos, fonts and colours to social media instructions – everyone on your team will have access to an editorial starter kit that will help them craft content that aligns with your business’s established voice.

SEAMLESS, STRESS-FREE COMMUNICATIONS ROLL-OUT

Launching a new campaign, unveiling a corporate rebrand or announcing an exciting business development, though thrilling, comes with its fair share of stress. Making sure that the announcement goes live across all channels simultaneously can be a shockingly large headache, and even with brand guidelines available, it can still be difficult to ensure consistency across all channels – especially if social media is involved, and even more so if you’re responding to your audience or media in real time.

But with a concrete content strategy surrounding whatever your big news may be – from the initial communication to community management – you can rest easy knowing that the development won’t be overshadowed by frustrated members of your audience complaining about not having all the information on every social media channel or by a content misstep that goes viral.

MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES

Even if becoming a thought leader isn’t on your list of career goals, it’s undeniable that media exposure can be beneficial for both your business and your personal brand. An influential aspect of a truly 360-degree content strategy – and one that may not be a typical suggestion from an in-house department – is positioning senior team members as industry experts through thought leadership pieces, op-eds and broadcast or radio interviews.

By sharing your perspective and business insights in a clear, precise manner, you can not only make a splash in the business community, but may become an expert that journalists look to when they need a quote, which in turn can make your business top-of-mind for people of all stripes.

These benefits are just a few of the ways a dynamic content strategy can impact your business. If you are looking to invest in this type of communications plan or want a bit more information, feel free to reach out to us – we’re always happy to chat about crafting content!

Need help crafting an effective content strategy? Drop us a line at [email protected].

How Brands Can Stand Out With Content Personalisation

With attention becoming one the most valued commodities in digital marketing, content personalisation is key to making heads turn. While the term ‘personalisation’ has become a buzzword among marketers, there is research that shows users love it. According to a report by Adobe, the demand for personalised content is higher than ever before – 67% of respondents said they think it’s important to view content that is automatically adjusted to match their preferences – and a study by Demand Metrics found that personalised content is actually 80% more effective than ‘un-personalised’ content.

But what is content personalisation, really?

Generally speaking, it’s a content marketing strategy that leverages data insights and aims to deliver relevant content based on the preferences and interests of readers and viewers. It’s essentially compelling storytelling that is targeted to its audience.

How does content personalisation work?

This personalised approach isn’t entirely new. In fact, the roots of personalisation don’t stem from data, but rather from the re-emergence of the ‘bespoke experience’. Like an old-fashioned tailor who only created custom clothing for clients, offering a bespoke experience makes a user feel as if they have something special, rare, and made specifically for them. In fact, according to recent Epsilon research, 80% of consumers are more likely to purchase from a business that offers a personalised experience.

In this digital age, personalised content is often a merger between creative idea and data analysis. But adding a personal touch for readers is more than just a newsletter that knows your name, and it ranges from Amazon and YouTube suggesting relevant products and videos to breweries offering personalised craft beer.

With emerging technologies transforming digital marketing, both AI (artificial intelligence) and VR (virtual reality) are leading to new ways of creating and viewing content. There are plenty of opportunities for personalised and gamified content, such as for learning services. With the immersing ability to transport people into another reality, VR will continue to impact the way brands tell stories. However, understanding the audience’s content consumption habits will remain crucial to make personalisation a success.

How to incorporate content personalisation

However, surely not every brand has the possibility to leverage VR technology to create personalised stories and products. While understanding the needs of consumers and collecting the right signals (aka data) is crucial to crafting a personalised approach, a brilliant creative idea can do wonders. One such example is Trouble Brewing in Singapore, a newly launched brand that crafts unique experiences for businesses and events.

While personalisation sounds like a straightforward approach to making customers happy, there are challenges, including not having enough data to customise content or not gaining any insights. Here is a set of questions that will help you to get started with launching personalisation:

  • Are you collecting any data?
  • Are you able to gain insights about user habits?
  • What do you know about your audience?
  • What are they interested in?
  • What do you want to achieve with personalised content?
  • How does your approach support your business goals?
  • What do you want to personalise? (Products, services, stories, marketing, etc.)
  • Is your personalisation scalable?

A prominent example of how to successfully and creatively personalise a product that generates content is Coca Cola’s Share a Coke campaign, which originated in Australia in 2011. For instance, to increase consumption and get Australians talking about Coke again, the soft drink brand printed 150 of the country’s most popular names on its cans and bottles. By doing this, they increased sales by 7% among young adults and hit over 18 million media impressions; additionally, they also generated a huge wave of brand enthusiasm. Due to the campaign’s success, Coca Cola has adopted it across other markets.

Another, more sophisticated example is Spotify’s ‘Discover Weekly’ playlists are based entirely on data collection, analytics and automation. Similar to Amazon’s product recommendations, the Swedish streaming service aimed to increase content consumption, turning the volume up for its users. Based on individual listening habits, an algorithm curates a series of personalised playlists each week. The result is a mix of songs that will match a person’s taste profile with previously unplayed songs. By offering this, Spotify managed to not only increase the time spent on the platform, but the personalised playlists are also a value-add service, even for non-premium Spotify members.

content personalisation

Here are some more ideas for personalised content:

  • Recommending products based on browsing behaviour
  • Personalising search results
  • Geo-location targeting (personalised directions)
  • Personalising emails based on interest
  • Suggesting complimentary services and products
  • Upselling related, relevant product or service of purchase
  • Reminding (retargeting) potential customers about viewed products or abandoned carts
  • Offering personalised style guides (for ecommerce)
  • Personalising offers for returning visitors based on their interests

To deliver personalised messages to individuals at scale, brands need to combine relevant data insights with a creative approach – it’s their synergies that can enable brands to generate a strong performance. While data helps to identify the right audience and their behaviour across devices and channels, a creative idea can lead to a personalised experience that’s enforced with every brand interaction over time. It’s this approach that will help marketers tailor the brand experience and speak directly to its customers.

Especially in today’s ever-shifting marketing landscape, efficient and effective marketing strategies are crucial. Considering that personalisation, such as product recommendations, can generate 68% more revenue for ecommerce platforms, this type of targeted content will continue to be a strategic pillar in the content marketing strategies of leading brands and offer growth opportunities for smaller companies.

Want to create personalised experiences and stories for your audience? Reach out to [email protected].

How to get your brand heard in a new market

Venturing into new markets with your brand may be a daunting task. If it’s done wrongly, you could sink vast amounts of financial capital. Succeeding with a market entry, your brand could acquire new revenue streams and new customers at the same time.  

So, what are the things you need to keep in mind when preparing to enter a new market?

Understand your market
  • Do your research. Never assume that you know what your target audience wants. You need to have the facts and research to back it up. Take a close look at the market and find out what the most pressing needs, issues and desires of your target audience are. It will help you to position yourself as the answer they’re looking for.
  • Where do they get their information from? There’s a plethora of platforms for content consumption – both online and offline. But how will you actually reach them – through blogs, newsletter subscriptions, newspapers or social media? Focusing your efforts on the appropriate channels will ensure that you get the most mileage out of your resources.  
  • Tailor your content. Something that works in China may not necessarily see the same success in Singapore – or vice versa. Localising content helps to shape your messages in a way that your customers can relate to.
Know your competition
  • Make a competitive analysis. Walking into a new market it’s important to identify the factors contributing to the success and failure of existing brands. What has the market leader done so well that elevates them to their current position? Why can’t other brands find their footing? Learn about the methods your competitors use and find out which they are not using.
  • Differentiate your brand. At the same time, there is also great value in making sure your brand stands out. But what are you offering the market that differentiates you from others? Moving into a new market and immediately trying to compete with everyone else in the industry is not a task to be taken lightly. Carve out your own niche and communicate it to your target audience. Operating in a specific niche will reduce the number of direct competitors your brand has to manage.
Have an eye on the market
  • Spot trends. Depending on what industry you are in, markets tend to move fast today. Trends are insightful and a powerful source of information. Keeping up-to-date with the latest trends allows you to understand the current interests and wants of consumers, which will help you to capture the attention of broader audiences.
  • Network the industry. Smart business leaders know to always be on the lookout for emerging trends and be prepared for what comes next, so they won’t be left behind. However, not all trends start online. Get a feel for the industry by attending networking events in your field.
Look for media opportunities
  • Owned media. Build a communication strategy for your brand. Make sure you are consistent in what you say and how you describe your brand. Using your own media channels, such as your company blog, social media or thought-leadership pieces on LinkedIn, are an easy way to spread the word. Just make sure that you are on brand.
  • Earned media. Earned media is often the aim of a brand’s PR and social media efforts, including media coverage, social media posts, reviews, and blog mentions. As the average consumer is bombarded with countless advertisements daily, earned media is one way to stand out from the masses.

The following questions will help you when looking for brand-appropriate earned media opportunities:

  1. Is there something unique about your organisation that might interest local, national, or trade-related news outlets?
  2. Do you have existing customers who are possible brand advocates?
  3. Are they willing to tell the world why they’ve had a fantastic experience with your brand?

Why is earned media so effective? It’s simple – customers trust the opinions and experiences of other customers more than any other source available. The road to success may be a bumpy one, but take these tips into account to smoothen your journey as much as possible.

Trying to break into a new market? Drop a message to [email protected]

 

How to determine marketing priorities as a tech startup

As a tech startup owner, you’re faced with a multitude of challenges and anxieties as you think of ways to grow your business. Budgeting, resourcing, manpower, business development are all high up on the list, but so is marketing, which often doesn’t get the due it deserves. That’s because startups don’t know where to begin and have trouble identifying key priorities. And we get it — with so many options and so much jargon thrown around, it can be a confusing.

Take a step back, breathe and focus on one thing at a time. Here’s a few tips to help you determine your marketing priorities:

Audience group

Get the ball rolling by identifying your target audience. What are you trying to sell and who is it for? Do you have a brand voice in place? If not, focus on concurrently establishing your brand voice.

Whatever your end product or service is, defining your audience group allows you to identify the best marketing and media channels allowing for a more streamlined marketing strategy. For example, if you’re in the business of developing a payroll system, consider channeling your funds towards platforms such as LinkedIn and Twitter for your digital marketing, instead of consumer-facing platforms such as Instagram and Facebook.

Budget

Here comes the word that no startup owner wants to hear – budget. As a startup running on a lean budget, every dollar counts, but that doesn’t mean compromising on marketing. Expensive marketing doesn’t necessarily equate to good marketing and vice-versa.  Relying solely on your product attributes sounds idyllic, but more often than not, it isn’t enough.

We’re living in a digital age and this means you should take advantage of online channels and social media – after all, it’s free to use and easy to set up. Also, explore other avenues such as user-generated content, blogs and white-papers instead of spending money on advertising.

Define outcomes

Every marketing campaign has to have clearly defined outcomes and objectives. To do that, you need to identify where your company sits in the growth cycle.  If it’s still early days, brand awareness and data generation should be part of your KPIs. The data you acquire from these efforts will help define future campaigns too.

However, if you’re startup has taken off beyond the brand awareness stage, you should focus on ramping up sales and building a lead gen pipeline, meaning it’s time to reassess your marketing priorities and make necessary shifts.   
For B2B brands this means focusing on content marketing, while consumer-facing startups may consider giveaways and social media flash deals to excite their consumers. User-generated content is a great way to create buzz around your brand — not only is it free, it also considerably improves brand engagement.

Suggested reads:

If you need help getting started with your marketing priorities, drop us a note at [email protected] 

How young brands can create content

Is your company still at its beginning? Nobody really knows who you are? A content marketing campaign is the way forward. The question, however, is where and what kind of content you should create. Your options include thought leadership articles, industry reports, creative infographics, white papers, press releases, consumer guides and a growing stream of publishing platforms. With an increasing amount of content choices, it’s hard to pick the right one.

If no one has ever heard of you, it’s important to make a good first impression. Creating content for your brand is the best way to trigger and control the impact you want to make. Here are a few questions you need to consider when creating content for your still young and unknown brand:

1. What platform to use?

Social media has seemingly made it easy for brands to reach far and wide, but the truth is that it’s increasingly hard to break through the noise, especially if you don’t have a sufficient following yet. As there are a large variety of platforms to explore, you can’t be everywhere simultaneously. Not even the most established companies are present on all social platforms. The trick is to concentrate your efforts. But where?

If you know your business and customers, you probably have a good idea where you might find the right audience. If you are an e-commerce business trying to reach consumers, you want to be on Facebook and Instagram. But if you are a B2B company, you will have better chances of promoting yourself on LinkedIn and Twitter. When you have decided on a platform, you should explore its various features. Don’t get distracted by toying around on other platforms. Although it’s recommended to have profiles on multiple platforms and repost content there, your primary content creation efforts need to be concentrated on one platform only – at least in the beginning. After conquering one platform, you can attempt to dip your feet elsewhere.

2. What kind of content to create?

Choosing the right platform for your business is just the first step.  Next, you need to think about the type of content you want to produce. No matter the industry, it is ideal to use a variety of content types. That said, content works differently across industries. While no one will pay attention to your white paper if you are in the e-commerce space, everybody will take notice if you are a data analytics company.

Here are a few questions to get you started on finding a content match for your company:

  • What are other companies in your industry doing?
  • What can you do better?
  • What is your expertise that differentiates you?
  • What value is your content adding to users and consumers?
  • What highlights your business best?
3. Where to begin?

Content marketing has become hugely popular, but often brands don’t think through their strategies enough. Before blogging and posting like there is no tomorrow, you need to define what you want to achieve. Most companies want to increase awareness, generate leads, drive conversions, collect emails or achieve similar goals. All of which are reasonable goals, but you need to define a goal that is aligned with your business objectives.

Before creating your very first post, you need to ensure that your website is up-to-date, mobile-optimised, offers a simple way to contact you and depicts your company in the best way possible. Why is this important? Imagine your content goes viral and plenty of traffic and leads come to your website, but your contact form doesn’t work or your website appears clunky on mobile – all of your content efforts go straight out of the window. Therefore, before creating any content, make sure you are ready to receive the traffic and leads it will generate.

4. Can you do it yourself?

One blog post per month is not an effective content marketing strategy. If this is all you have time for, you might as well not do it. You must remember that you are not the only one fighting for consumers’ attention. Once you have assessed your content needs, you need to be dedicated to executing it.  

While some brands begin their content journey with freelancers or in-house, others work with content agencies right from the get-go. It’s not a one size fits all approach. Think about what is most effective for your company. If you are a B2B company, you might want to ask an agency to create content, but handle the direct engagement on Twitter yourself. Take on what you are confident with. If your company and an e-commerce and consumer-facing, content is even more crucial for your traffic, brand awareness, and campaigns. Depending on the size of your business, you might want to consider an in-house content team. If that isn’t possible for you yet, you can hire a content strategist, who can orchestrate the creation of content with agencies or freelancers.

Need help with content creation for your brand? Drop us a note at [email protected]

You can’t do everything

This feature is part of a regular series”Getting frank with Joe” giving you a brutally frank, yet realistic look at the business world.

When you run your own business, it’s easy to fall into the trap of believing no one has the same passion and drive that you have. You’ll think other people’s way of doing everything isn’t how you would do it, the quality and attention to detail isn’t at the level you have, and the drive and passion behind it simply isn’t there.

The ironic thing is that you are correct. Your business is your baby and you cannot expect people to have the same investment in it without the emotional and financial input you have had.

But it also doesn’t matter. Seriously, stop complaining and be a solutions person.

Having worked with dozens of startups, this is one factor I regularly see that impacts the long term viability of a company – no matter its market potential.

Focus on growing your business

In a small business it’s easy to oversee all activity and influence everything. That’s cool if you want to stay a small business, but I’m guessing you don’t. If you are spending all your time overseeing everything, you need to ask yourself how effective you can be actually growing your business.

You know what you are good at, so why not focus on that? Get other people to do the other work to free you up.

Different doesn’t mean worse

When you hire someone else to do a job, I guarantee that 95% of the time they won’t do it exactly how you would. You need to get over that. I don’t mean throw quality to the wind, I mean get used to people doing things differently.

It’s better to get something happening, than to kill time and slow your growth doing everything yourself.

If quality drops when you step away, or your staff aren’t performing, then invest your time into training rather than instantly taking over every function. If things don’t improve, fire them, and hire someone better.

Interns are not a growth solution

I’ve seen this a lot and I think it’s worth slotting in here as a standalone point. If you are trying to resource your company by stacking it full of interns, you are going down a dangerous path. Yes they are cheap and enthusiastic, but they are also inexperienced and short-term.

By all means, have your interns to help lighten the load, but don’t treat them as a replacement to hiring experienced, capable professionals.  

Experience is sometimes worth the spend

When you hire for any specialist role, make sure you’re getting someone who knows what they are doing and are experienced in the field. It’s worth the extra money.

If you are tight on finances the argument is the same. It’s better to have someone who is experienced and great working for three days a week, rather than paying the same for a full-time junior who needs constant support and checking.   

Specialists are specialists for a reason

If you are using an agency or have a senior hire, listen to what they say. This doesn’t mean you can’t have input – it means that you don’t ignore their warnings without an extremely good reason.

I’ve seen so many CEOs of all-sized businesses decide they know better and interfere in a process they, quite frankly, have no business getting involved in.

You might have read the newspaper every day for your entire adult life or even been interviewed a couple of times, but it doesn’t mean you know more about the media than the trained specialists you are paying, who have dedicated their working lives to getting results for clients.

I know all of this is easier said than done, but if you invest your time and resources towards making sure the people around you are capable and awesome, the payoff is massive.

Have a question? Why not drop us a note at [email protected].

 

Your brand sucks: Part 2

If you’ve just joined us, this feature is part of a regular series giving you a brutally frank yet realistic look at the startup world. In ‘Your brand sucks: Part 1” I talked about realising that effective brand communication is key to success. This second part will continue with some more honest truths.

  • You are not Steve Jobs

You just aren’t.

Don’t make subtle comments in meetings about what Steve Jobs’ approach to marketing was. Don’t make sly comments about Steve Jobs’ attention detail when you are ripping apart plans or copy. You just aren’t him!

But don’t worry. You are you, and that’s awesome. You can have your own vision for your brand. Use that to justify your decision making processes instead of having input simply for the sake of having input.

You are building your own empire, and that means there are a whole new set of rules that you decide, and which marketing students in 30 years’ time can marvel at. If you don’t know what the vision is, then that’s also ok. Plenty of amazing leaders have built billion dollar companies by knowing their strengths and collecting the right people around them, who can help them to articulate, communicate or even develop a vision and brand.

  • Don’t go cheap

This makes me want to cry. I see it most often from the types who transition from a bigger corporation into startups. They are used to these things simply happening in the background without understanding it. They usually react to the discovery of cheap offshore outsourcing like they’ve discovered a life hack no one else has ever stumbled across before.

They’ll proudly pull out their branding decks at a first meeting and exclaim how they got it done in Thailand for a few hundred dollars (often followed by a series cocky statements reminding us that our prices need to be dirt cheap, or they’ll simply get that done offshore as well.)  

Firstly, I take this as an insult to me, my colleagues and the craft we’ve spent our working careers learning and developing in. It’s not a great start to any partnership to insult the other person. If you talk to me like this at the beginning, I will simply tell you to go elsewhere. Why would I pour my energy into your brand if I think you’re an arse?

Secondly, the “great deal” you were offered probably sucks. Nine times out of 10 you’ve gotten something I would slap a high school student for submitting. This is particularly true if you’ve just asked them to come up with something without a brief or concept.  

If you fail to see the problem and refuse any input, I’d write you off as a lost cause. No one’s got time for that, and I’d prefer not to associate my agency’s brand associated with you. As a startup you are already up against the odds. Throwing in an amateur, cheap-looking brand and poor strategy just makes your own life so much harder.

Like any rules there are exceptions, and people love to cry out in outrage pointing out the inaccuracies of it all because they can point at a handful of companies it doesn’t apply to.

And to be honest I don’t care. Ignore it and make your business journey 10X harder than it needs to be.

It’s not about spending money, it’s about using your brain.

Need help? Drop me an email at [email protected].