Category: a slice of STRATEGY

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5 Tips To End Social Media Overwhelm For Your Business

Posted on by Maria Ross
tips to end social media overwhelm (Blog)

It’s a Tuesday afternoon. I have to leave, like, NOW to pick up my toddler from preschool. My old black lab has just laid his face in my lap and given me the “Shouldn’t we be walking right now?” eyes.

But I’m stalling because for the last hour, I’ve been staring at Twitter, trying to come up with clever tweets. I pull up Facebook and immediately feel less-than. I click over to LinkedIn and then close it again.

Sound familiar?

Social media overwhelm is an absolute epidemic with my clients. And I used to struggle with it, too!

So much of our social media overwhelm comes from
a) not really understanding where we should put our energy and marketing dollars
b) “spraying and praying” across every social media platform

Of course we’re overwhelmed. We’re spreading ourselves thin, spending hours and dollars on things that don’t work, and getting demoralized by fewer likes and shares.

I get it because I’ve been there. After lots of trial and error, I’ve kicked my social media overwhelm to the curb and I’m going to show you how to do the same!

How to beat social media overwhelm in 5 relatively easy steps

  1. Figure out where your people are
    If your people aren’t on Instagram – what luck! – you don’t need an Instagram account. If your ideal customer spends hours pinning recipes and inspirational quotes, then you can direct your time and energy towards crafting the perfect Pinterest strategy.

    Of course, there are overlaps between platforms. Moms who care about fitness use Pinterest     and Instagram. Creative entrepreneurs use Facebook and Twitter. But if you can narrow down your focus to two social media platforms you’re more likely to reach your people and see results. As my friend Sarah says, “It’s better to be good at two things than bad at seven.”

    Here’s a great, up-to-date report on     which demographics favor which social media platforms.
  2. Figure out where your traffic is coming from
    If you’re reading this, I imagine you already have a few social media profiles. And maybe when you started using Twitter four years ago it was sending you a lot of traffic! Is that still true today?

    Social media changes a lot from year to year. Remember Periscope?! What was working in 2015 might not be working now. I’d hate for you to pour time and energy into a platform that isn’t bringing you traffic or clients.

    Here’s how to figure out where your social media traffic is coming from:
    1. Install Google analytics
    2. After it has gathered data for a few weeks, go in and see which social media platform sends you the most traffic
    3. You find that info under Acquisition > Social > Overview
tips to end social media overwhelm

It is worth noting that social media traffic can be a bit chicken-and-the-egg-y. If you put a lot of effort into Facebook, it’ll probably send you traffic. If you don’t have a Pinterest account, it’s unlikely you’re getting much Pinterest traffic. But if you use two or more social media platforms, it’s good to know which one is most effective so you can direct your efforts accordingly.

3. Figure out what type of social media you actually enjoy using
Let’s say you’ve discovered that your ideal client uses Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest in equal measure.

Now, let’s say you hate using Instagram. You’re constantly disappointed by your photos and you have no idea what’s going on with hashtags.

Meanwhile, you genuinely enjoy using Pinterest and you’re all over Facebook. You understand retargeting ads and clone audiences. You can do that stuff in your sleep!

You don’t need my permission, but here it is: you are absolutely allowed to put your time and effort into social media platforms you actually enjoy using. It’s going to be hard to connect with clients on a platform you hate using.

4. Figure out which types of posts are the most effective
There are different ways to connect with your people on any given platform.

On Facebook, I can

And when I look at the analytics within Facebook, it’s pretty easy to see which of these is the most popular!

Not sure how to mix things up on your social media platform of choice? 

After you’ve experimented a bit, you’ll have a better idea of what works for your platforms and your readers. You can do less of what doesn’t work and more of what does. Overwhelm? What overwhelm?

5. Now that you know what works, schedule updates for the next 2-3 weeks!
So you’ve figured out where your people are, where your traffic comes from, and how you feel about each social media platforms. You know which types of posts perform the best.

Pour yourself a glass of something delicious and after you finish it, do something with that information! Schedule a bunch of social media posts to your platform of choice so you can “set it and forget it.”

I like Buffer for Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Tailwind is great for Pinterest and Later or Planoly is good for Instagram.

Social media is not only a great marketing platform – it plays a crucial part in the sales process, especially when it comes to social selling. See the social media platforms throughout the years and how social selling has evolved, in this post by Zopto.

Learn how to grow your social media following in this great article by the good folks at Don’t Panic.

I want to know what’s working for you! Are you overwhelmed by social media? If you’re one of the few business owners who isn’t overwhelmed by social media – share your tips with us over on Instagram or Tweet me!

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

How to Set Boundaries…and Break Them.

Posted on by Maria Ross

We’re always talking about boundaries.

How to set them.

How to think outside of them.

How to break them.

So which is it? Set them or smash them?

It’s both.

Setting boundaries is key to getting more done. When you know who you are, and what needs doing, you can focus. And that means saying no to the wrong opportunities, clients, relationships that don’t serve your purpose.

Setting boundaries enables you to go after the life you want.

But….we also can’t let boundaries box us in!

Setting a boundary that cars can’t cross the double yellow lines in traffic saves lives.

But, setting a boundary that you can’t go talk to that VP you really admire because that’s just not the way we do things around here helps no one.

To make change, invent, or ignite, we have to question certain boundaries. We have to cross them and see what’s on the other side. It could be better. If boundaries exist around people, or your work, or heck, your dreams – you owe it to yourself to step through. 

How do we reconcile setting boundaries with smashing them?

We must ask: Is it a healthy boundary? If I set my schedule to get offline at 4 pm so I can pick up my son from school and spend time with him, that serves me. That is something that energizes me, gives me quality family time, and enables me to come back stronger and recharhed for my clients the next day.

But if I put up a boundary around becoming friends with my clients, who does that serve? I want to work with people I enjoy, and people I enjoy often become friends. You can dance the line between work and personal if you’re just open and honest. This also is true for corporate types. Some say, “Keep your personal life out of your work.” Which is true, to some extent, but it doesn’t  mean we have to keep your humanity out of your work! You don’t park it at the door.

Get to know your work colleagues. Understand their lives. Check in. Then, when it comes time to collaborate, innovate, or invent, there is trust there. There is mutual understanding of each other’s lives outside of work. You can understand where someone is coming from, and build from there. It doesn’t serve you to set this boundary because it stops you from collaborating and  effectively with and trusting each other. 

When I was in corporate, I did my best work with a team of people I was close to. People I would work with all day and then go out for drinks with at night. We trusted each other. We could brainstorm crazy ideas without fear and create amazing marketing campaigns. We could adapt quickly when things went wrong during a global roadshow and trust each other to get someone to the airport on a moment’s notice. We had each other’s backs. We got each other through and delivered amazing work.

When you are pulled into creating a boundary, be sure it’s one that serves you. (Tweet This!)

That makes you and your work better, not worse.

Photo Credit: Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Say No…But Try it This Way

Posted on by Maria Ross
No Trespassing Signs

As a business owner, or even just a busy executive or changemaker, the best skill you can master is prioritization. Since you can’t clone yourself and you do need to sleep (and perhaps see your spouse every once in a while), the art of saying no is a powerful tool in your arsenal.

Work and life are all about choices. You can say yes to more of the right things–the right projects, clients, people–ONLY IF you say no to others.

As an organization, your brand strategy can be a great compass to keep you on the right path and not get distracted by inefficient investments, bad advertising opportunities, new social media platforms, or other shiny objects.

Further, your organization’s (or personal) mission, vision and values can keep you focused and moving forward.

Learning to say no is just as important as saying yes. But be sure you’re saying NO in a positive way.  (TWEET THIS!)

I’ve seen many entrepreneurs in recent years swing so far the other way down the “learn to say no” track, that they make it impossible (and frankly, unpleasant) to do business with them.

You can say no with respect. Offer them a path forward if possible. “Wow, that sounds like an amazing project and opportunity. Unfortunately, I’m unable to help with it right now. Here are some other folks who might be able to work and I’m happy to make an introduction.”

You can say no with empathy: Some rules can be broken because…life. It’s not “making exceptions” – it’s being understanding. “My usual policy is that meetings cancelled with less than 24 hours notice require payment in full. But that is terrible about your daughter being ill. I hope she’s doing okay. You’ve definitely got a lot on your plate. Why don’t we go ahead and reschedule this for free this time- but I won’t be able to squeeze this in for another month. Does that work for you?”

You can say no with kindness and collaboration, rather than assuming ill intent or that someone is trying to take advantage of you. Not everyone is your mortal enemy so take it down a notch. Instead of:

(Huffing) “Well, it’s my policy and you did sign the contract so you knew this was an issue!”

Don’t confuse being unreasonable and aggressive with being professional. 

How about: “What can we do together to remedy the situation while still staying true to the contract terms in Section 1B?” (and then go make sure that section of the contract is bolded and requires initials in the future!)

And if you decide to say no with this phrase “Nothing personal.” there are kind tones and aggressive tones. Remember, only 7% of your communication comes from the words you say. Non-verbal communication is everything, and that includes your tone of voice. As my mother used to scold, “It’s not what you said, it’s how you said it.” Usually before sending me to my room.

It’s super important to have boundaries, clarity, and conviction. You definitely don’t want to say yes if something is not the right fit, you don’t have time to do your best work, or you run yourself ragged. That’s not fair to the other person who needs you to be all-in. But…show some grace when you say no and you’ll not only still be able to prioritize or stick to your values, but you will also create a positive personal brand for yourself. 

Try not to take “setting boundaries” so dangerously far that you build a wall around yourself that no one can–or wants to– scale.  (TWEET THIS!)

Photo Credit: Michael Dziedzic on Unsplash.

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Why a Brand Project is a Transformation Project

Posted on by Maria Ross
A Brand Project is a Transformation Project

What can management consulting teach you about brand strategy work?  

Everything. 

My very first post-college job was as a change management consultant for a large consulting firm. My job was to equip people and teams at Fortune 1000 companies to adopt big changes, whether that was a new system implementation, workflow, or organizational structure. 

All of these projects had one thing in common: They transformed the company and the jobs of the people in that company. On the human level, they transformed how people thought of their jobs, their skills…and how they saw themselves. 

We dealt with the gamut of human emotion: Anger, fear, worry, excitement. Change brings that out in people. As diverse as humans are, they will all react differently to major change. 

Nothing could have equipped me better for my work as a brand strategist. 

Let’s be clear: A brand strategy and messaging project, whether to create a new brand or revamp an existing one, is a transformation project.   (Tweet this!)

Clients come to me because they know they need a change of some kind. In sales and marketing message. In reputation. In customer base. In market position. And change, of course, excites some people, worries and confuses others, and angers a few more. 

There are many brand strategists who come at this work purely from a marketing angle. “This is about your marketplace reputation and simply how you look and talk.” Yes, partly true. But it’s also about how you ACT as an organization. 

For going on 13 years now, I have brought diverse groups of leaders (at all levels) together in a room to hold an all-day brand strategy workshop. Some are psyched the company is finally “doing something” about their brand and lack of clarity in message. Others just want to pop off about how marketing sucks. Still others don’t quite understand why they are in the room. 

And then…magic. 

I must admit, when I first started this work, I wasn’t sure how my process was going to fly. What if I couldn’t wrangle the voices or disagreement? What if no one completed the pre-work? What if no one spoke up? What if EVERYONE spoke up? What if at the end of the day, we still had no consensus, and everyone left not only dejected but pissed they’d wasted their time? 

Turns out, there was nothing to fear and everything to gain. 

Because I have found in my proven brand strategy process, that when you bring these diverse voices together (after prepping with some crucial pre-work) to hit them directly in the face with their strengths and red flags; when you force them to hear each other and respect the vantage point each one has of the company and its customers; when you allow “non-marketers’ to express what customers ask for and how they think the company solves problems; when you get the founder or CEO to vulnerably riff on the impact and legacy she or he hopes the company will have on the world (in a way many of them hear for the very first time), there is no other word to describe it but magic. 

Why? How? It’s partly a forced exercise in empathy. Partly making people take a chunk of time away from daily firefighting to think ABOUT the business. And partly deft facilitation and dot-connecting. But not just on our part, but on how they step up to do the same.  Often the ground-breaking phrase or big idea comes from a heated moment of debate, shouted out by one of my clients, not me. (Instigating and provoking, when used for good, are two of my superpowers.) 

Together, these people transform perceptions and prejudices of each other. Yes, marketing cares about driving sales. Yes, engineering has an eloquent and inventive way to describe the product (and often, some pretty creative marketing campaign ideas). Yes, HR is actually a strategic business driver because they bring in and nurture the most important aspect that drives our growth: Our talent, our people, our brand ambassadors. 

A brand strategy and story is not just a marketing exercise, but a company-wide transformation exercise. It attracts the right customers with clarity and conviction. It inspires them to want to join in. It inspires us as employees by giving us purpose. And in almost all cases, it ignites serious discussion on how operations, policies, hiring, even product design needs to change, if everyone wants to live up to that articulated new brand story. 

One of the best compliments of my career was from the CEO of a tech company. He said our brand strategy work did not simply result in a new product name, message and look and feel for the company. It forced the leadership to have core strategic conversations. He relayed that the project helped them change the way they talk – internally and externally – and would help them achieve their ambitious corporate vision and goals. That’s transformation and it’s way more than a new logo. 

Brand strategy, true brand strategy and story crafting, is not just about cute taglines, logos, or ads. It’s about transforming the way employees see their work, the company sees its purpose, and customers engage and clamor to be an important part in that story. 

Ready to transform? Take a look at what we can do together and let’s have a conversation about your goals to see if this is the right fit. 

Photo Credit: Artem Maltsev on Unsplash

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Who Needs to Be Part of the Brand Project?

Posted on by Maria Ross
Who Needs to Be at the Brand party?

Your organization’s brand is its reputation, essence and core. It’s not just a logo creation exercise or marketing’s purview from an ad perspective. It’s everything your company is, offers and stands for, inside and out. 

Clients are sometimes surprised that when we  work on a brand strategy process together, the key component is not just a marketing workshop, but a cross-functional workshop. “What can our engineers/CFO/HR leader contribute to a brand conversation? They don’t really understand marketing.” 

Doesn’t matter. They represent a view of the customer or product that serves as an ingredient to crafting the brand story. I’ve had some of the best brand epiphanies come from someone in the room that the marketing lead didn’t think belonged there: The curmudgeon who thinks marketing is a waste of money, or the pre-sales consultant who is not quite sure why they are involved in this effort. 

Here’s the thing: All of these functions are necessary to live out whatever “brand” that marketing cranks out. In fact, they ARE the brand.  (Tweet this!)

Their interactions with customers and partners create a brand perception. They need to have a voice in how it’s represented but more importantly, contribute to the conversation in non-marketing speak. That’s how you get to the “real stuff,” to the way people ACTUALLY talk that is not in the press boilerplate. 

When I worked in enterprise technology marketing, my favorite people were the sales engineers. They knew exactly what the product was capable of, keeping us honest in our claims, and they could rattle off use cases and benefits by memory. They dealt with customers and prospects every day. They knew the struggles with adoption and implementation beyond the sale.  

All of these are key ingredients to the brand story. 

So who needs to be in the room when crafting or revamping your story, values, approach and personality – or even having input into naming? Well, first of all, let’s not get crazy. You can’t build a brand strategy by committee. It becomes a Frankensteined shell of its former self with no real teeth or differentiation, because you’re trying to “please everyone” and so you end up with more bland jargon that customers don’t care about. But you can consider various viewpoints and have that represented in the final product so there is end-to-end buy-in. 

Ideally, who needs to be at the brand party? 

Head of marketing:  Obviously. They know about lead generation and customer attraction principles, pipeline building and the prospect journey/buying cycle. But more importantly they are on the hook for execution. And clearly, many branding projects are spearheaded by marketing. I have yet for a VP of Product to give me a call about how to rebrand the company (although he or she might be the bug in the CMO’s ear!) 

One or two other key marketing roles:  We want to avoid making this a marketing-only exercise. Choose one or two other key marketing roles (perhaps head of comms or lead gen) to be a voice in the conversation. 

Head of product or engineering:  They know the ins and outs of how the product works and what it delivers. They have spent time prioritizing features to address customers scenarios. They often work with sales when requests come in or things go wrong. 

CEO:  Yes, the CEO needs to make time to be part of this process. A strong brand is modeled from the top down, even if it’s defined from the bottom up in some cases. If the CEO is not part of the process and bought in to why this is necessary and how it will help the company accelerate growth, you’re dead in the water. Also, my best conversations about the larger company vision, values and market-changing impact happen when the CEO is in the room and everyone is inspired to think bigger. 

Head of people or HR:  Call this Chief People Officer or simple SVP of Human Resources. Time and again, I’m shocked when clients are loathe to involve HR on a brand strategy project. HR is responsible for how the company brand is perceived by prospective employees and what it takes to attract them. They are sharing the brand story every day. And they are tasked with bringing in the right talent who will make the best brand ambassadors. How can they do that if they’re not part of the process? Your people are your greatest brand assets, and therefore those responsible for finding them need to be in lock-step with the brand strategy so a consistent story is told. 

CFO/COO:  What? Yes. Your brand does not stop at customers’ or prospects’ doors. All of your internal policies and processes need to embody the brand promise. A brand starts from the inside out if it is to be genuine, believable and consistent. These policies extend to every vendor interaction with your company: they have their own networks to which they either talk you up, or talk you down. The brand needs to be lived out internally and with key external audiences just as much as your prospects. I’ve seen way too many Silicon Valley companies deny this fact – and while they may claim agility, speed or innovation to their customer base, their vendors are living a painful nightmare of outdated processes, lack of support, or late payments. And vendors talk. To prospective customers. You see where I’m going with this. 

Head of partnerships or alliances:  See above. Partners are part of the eco-system and just as much brand ambassadors as your employees. How does the brand story impact them? The perspective that partner and alliance folks can bring to the brand story is invaluable. 

Head of sales and top salesperson: Brand story shaping is a vanity exercise unless it ultimately drives sales. And who knows what customers and prospects are saying better than your sales leads? They are  talking to prospects in the consideration phase. What they need, want, struggle with, or aspire to be should all be factored into the brand story. And you need to know how customers and prospects talk – it’s not what we want to say, it’s how THEY articulate the problem that will most resonate. Otherwise, how do you empathize with and attract those people? I love when we can have the head of sales involved, but also the top salesperson. 

Head of customer care or customer success: In the trenches, with customers every day. They know their pains, wins and how they are using the product long after the sale. They have a great perspective on which benefits we should lead with – often ones that have been overlooked in past messaging. 

These leaders serve as representatives and solicit input from their teams, so that we avoid an unproductive brand workshop of 35 people. 

Benefits to a cross-functional brand strategy effort 

Yes, it’s hard to get all these people to fill out pre-work. Yes, it’s hard to find a time when they can all get in the same place for 5 hours. But a few amazing things happen when all these various perspectives are at the brand party: 

  1. Cross-functional leadership stops what they are doing and really thinks about the core issues. A brand conversation unearths so many things. I’ve seen disconnects over everything from future company direction, to what the product can actually do, to who we are targeting. You’d think they worked for different companies. When you’re all running on your own tracks, how can you presume to get anywhere together faster? This project is a forcing mechanism to hash our conversations that we are often too busy to have. Crucial roadblocks get discovered that have nothing to do with branding – and solutions to those issues can come out of these conversations because we’re finally talking about the big stuff that is often written off as “Well, of course everyone knows this.” 
  1. You increase buy-in and adoption company wide. When others know their functional area was represented, they feel better about the output. Those present can explain the process to their teams and specifically address what role their team plays in living out the brand strategy in their daily work. 
  1. Employees reignite and reengage: Taking time to step away from the daily grind reminds people why they joined the organization in the first place. The energy in the room is palatable as we discuss bigger issues, including why folks are passionate about the offerings and what they hope to achieve for customers. It’s inspiring. It’s morale-building. And that buzz lasts long after the branding project is over, especially as the company brings the brand story to life visually, verbally and experientially. 

Ready to see how a brand strategy project at your company can be done efficiently, effectively and ensure all voices are at the brand party? Let’s chat! 

Photo credit: Antenna on Unsplash

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Don’t Reinvent the Wheel

Posted on by Maria Ross
Innovation Builds on What Comes Before

What do you think of when you think of innovation? 

Do you picture a think tank of experts, crammed into a meeting room with Post-it notes on the wall, formulas on a white board, leftover pizza boxes strewn about, and crazy ideas flying back and forth? 

When we think of innovation in that way, it can seem daunting. What if I go into a room to innovate and come out with nothing? How long will this take? How do I spend time on this while running my business? 

The reality is that many innovations occur when we borrow and build upon what’s already there. What has come before. And we make it better. We find new uses for it. We slightly tinker with it to make it fit a brand new customer, market, or purpose. 

I’m a huge fan of not reinventing the wheel. Like, ever. Sure, inventing something completely unheard of is amazing (iPhone, Tesla, ride sharing, anyone?).  

But not all of us are wired this way. While, I’m rapid-fire white-space thinking and can come up with new, crazy ideas with the best of them, I am also someone who excels at reacting to something first and then finding all the ways to make it better.  I’m also good at seeing what’s there and connecting the dots that no one else sees. 

Are you like this? 

If you are, cool. Embrace it. Understand that this is a skill and it makes you more efficient at adapting and evolving.  

When there is no need to reinvent the wheel, don’t. Simply improve it. (TWEET THIS!)

A past marketing VP of mine used to call this “Stealing with pride.” Not quite plagiarism, but if you see a company or team doing something great, learn from it. Adapt it to your own purpose, voice, data. Don’t “rip it off” but build upon it. 

In my inbox, lives a little folder called “Good Marketing Funnels.” This is where I save any email campaigns that resonate with me. Maybe I loved the brevity. Maybe the call to action was irresistible. Maybe I liked the way they wove the story across multiple emails. 

Often, I use these as inspiration instead of starting from scratch. But I make them mine. And I make them even better. 

Use your resources. Learn from those who’ve mastered things. See what others in your industry are doing. Not to make yourself feel bad or get jealous. But analyze the ideas that work, make them your own and make them better. 

Consider it a more efficient way to innovate! 

Want to borrow some great marketing ideas, powerful sales email templates, and proposed blog post topics to take and customize for your own brand so you can boost business? Check out my digital program, MOMENTUM Pro and get all the goods!  

Photo Credit: Photo by Alessandra Caretto on Unsplash

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

How You Can Look At Innovation

Posted on by Maria Ross

While all the talk of “pivoting” these days is turning into a drinking game for some entrepreneurs, it’s important to remember one important thing: 

As a business owner, creator, entrepreneur, it has always been your responsibility to innovate. This is not new. 

Show me a business that never adapts, and I’ll show you an extinct business. 

Show me a leader who fails to evolve, and I’ll show you someone who’s never had a real impact. 

Many businesses big and small have shown remarkable ingenuity in how they are adapting to change. Some have gone after new markets. Some have changed their sales strategies or service delivery models. Some have reimagined their product lines. I shared some great examples here in this Entrepreneur.com article on five ways to pivot and thrive. 

And not all of it is about “technology.” 

In fact, innovation requires more than tech. It requires humanity. Empathy. Mental space. New relationships.   (TWEET THIS!)

Wanted to revisit two classic posts from the archives with you on this important topic: 

Make space to innovate. 

When you strain and struggle, you don’t leave yourself enough space to get creative. This is why an empathetic team culture leads to more innovation: People are free from fear and pressure and can focus on creativity. They feel safe. Their heads are not full of so much extraneous junk. They are free to see things in a new way and imagine new possibilities. Years ago, life coach Danelle Dowling shared her formula for innovation: Think Less, Bitch Less, Push Less = Create More. If you need some tough love on how to get more creative, check it out. 

Times are tough. Stress is high. It’s on you as a creator to take care of yourself and make the space you need to reimagine possibilities and adapt quickly. 

Redefine innovation 

Innovation is not simply about inventing something no one has ever seen before. True, that is part of it. But can you innovate your processes, service delivery, product usage? Can you adapt how you interact with customers, how to design products, and even which markets you serve? 

And can you simply conduct business in a whole new way? Break the mold of how “things have always been done. This past post shows why redefining success IS innovative. And companies like Zoom Communications, AirBnB, and Ford are showing that empathy and compassion for employees and customers is an innovative (and profitable) way to do business. This was the entire point of my book, The Empathy Edge. The way you do business can be what sets you apart and creates a whole new standard of success. 

Want to rethink your own brand and business? Let’s chat in a 90 minute strategy session to get the juices flowing on what’s possible with what you already have to work with. 

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Why Brands Need to Speak Up

Posted on by Maria Ross
Why Brands Need to Speak Up

With everything going on in our world – from a global pandemic to economic hardship to countless social justice and racial inequality issues, corporate brands might be tempting to adopt a “business as usual” approach and focus only on their products and services. 

But you can’t. And here’s why. 

Your business thrives on people. And your employees, customer, suppliers and partners are all people, being impacted at home by hardship or adversity. Whether they are juggling work demands with homeschooling their kids…or whether they are people of color who are fighting for their rights and their lives, they are all IN THIS. They are dealing with a lot. 

Your brand cannot be tone deaf right now. Your company will simply look out of touch at best and callous and heartless at worst.  (TWEET THIS!)

And the public is paying attention. Not only have people watched and made purchase decisions based on brands’ responses to the Covid crisis, new startling research shows that people are expecting brands to take a stand and speak out on social issues. Edelman reports: “Respondents believe that brands must act to create change and influence: 60% said brands must invest in addressing the root causes of racial inequality and 57% said brands must educate the public.” 

Younger consumers are even more critical. According to ongoing research from DoSomething.org, Gen Z is demanding that brands provide useful content, community resources, and treat their employees with respect: 

“65% wants brands to ensure equal representation in their leadership, including having people of color on their executive team and promoting people of color to management. And 64% want brands to promote diversity in their advertising, like having more BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) models. The biggest takeaway from what Gen Z wants from brands right now is aligned with what they’ve always wanted: show, don’t tell. Yes, use your platform. But go further. Those who will win among Gen Z are those who back it up, do the work, and show us the money.” 

So optics aside, what can your brand say and do right now to make things better? What real change can you make to not just talk the talk but walk the walk? How can you pivot your message, customer focus, or even hiring, sales strategy, product and service delivery to keep pace with what your audience wants but also to show your company is using it’s influence for good, rather than evil? 

Show up. Don’t shrink. Not when your customers and society need you to lead. 

Need help thinking through the current disruption and coming up with a solid game plan, in an efficient strategic sprint?  Please reach out and we’ll talk. 

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Use Your Platform for Good

Posted on by Maria Ross
Use Your Platform For Good

Whether you reach 5 people or five hundred thousand. Whether you are CEO of a global brand or an entry-level manager or a solopreneur whose office staff consists of you and a lazy Black Lab who lounges next to your desk all day. Whether you’re a stay-at-home parent, work for a big corporate giant or a small scrappy local business. 

You have influence. You have a voice. Use your platform for good. (TWEET THIS!)

We are in a crazy time right now, where the lines blur between work and home (how can they not when you’re Zooming in on your boss in his guest bedroom/makeshift office as his 5-year-old wanders in, demanding a cupcake?). The façade is gone. We are vulnerable and real. There is no longer a “work you” and a “personal you” just YOU. A whole being, with all your complexity, obligations, life circumstances…and values, ethics, and opinions. 

Now is the time to speak up. Now is the time to align your work with who you are and to use whatever influence you have. 

If you have expertise, share your thought leadership generously. If you passionately support a social justice topic, be visible. Post. Tweet. Share articles. Donate money. Raise awareness. Get involved.  

In my twenties, I used to believe in “Work Maria” and “Personal Maria.” Personally speaking, back then,  it was probably a good thing to have those boundaries!  

But we cannot continue to be one person in business and another at home. Not that we don’t have rules and etiquette for the workplace, but you need to be whole.  

You can impact change by raising your voice and standing up for something. Regardless of the size of your sphere of influence. 

So whether you are a website design, or coach, or software engineer, or marketing executive or whatever….you have a brand. You have a community. Make work that matters. Be a light. Speak out. Use your work, your voice, your platform for good, not evil.  

No one is going to ask for credentials or limit you because you are not famous or have less than a million followers. Make the impact, one person at a time.  

That is how change happens. 

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

3 Tips to Differentiate Your Messaging

Posted on by Maria Ross
3 Tips to Differentiate Your Messaging

So often underused, yet so powerful. MESSAGING 

Sure, messaging might not be as sexy as logo design or digital marketing but nailing your messaging can do more for your brand effectiveness than any other aspect of your brand strategy mix. 

Many times, I work with successful companies that already have customers and are generating revenue, but they are revamping their messaging to accelerate sales, go after new markets, or stand out in a crowded market. 

Did you catch that last one? Stand out in a crowded market. 

Marketers often get too hung on thinking “rebranding” means the whole visual, verbal, and experiential kit and kaboodle. New logo, website, colors, stationery, signage, t-shirts, tchotchkes. But many smart companies know that simply revamping messaging can do wonders to accelerate growth and attention. 

If you clarify your messaging and ensure it’s absolutely compelling to your target audience, I submit this will take you farther than a slick website or cool visual design. 

Not at all to say those things don’t all work in tandem to tell a cohesive brand story. But if you’re looking for the lowest hanging brand fruit, start with your messaging. 

Messaging is where my brand strategy works starts! Without clear messaging, how do you know what you are trying to communicate and to whom visually or experientially?  (TWEET THIS!)

But how can you use your messaging to stand out and get noticed?  

Here are 3 tips to differentiating your company messaging 

(Warning: This will all sound great in theory, but your company leadership may not have the stones to implement them!) 

  1. Adopt the language of your customer, not jargon: No one cares what the analysts call your category or what your CEO decided in a vacuum was the most important term for your space.  

Your company should talk how your customers talk.  

Ditch the jargon that (you think) makes you sound really smart. Talk to your customers and capture their exact words. Articulate the problem and solution in the words your customer uses inside their heads. When you talk how your people talk, they will connect with you. They will pay attention. They will say, “Hell, yes, that’s what I’m talking about!” and will clamor to learn more. If you only care about appeasing the Gartner analysts, ask yourself if Gartner pays your bills! 

  1. Take the competitors stance – and twist it: Watch what your competitors are saying…but don’t worry about it. Find a way to turn it on its head and capitalize on how you do it better. Never adopt messaging simply it is because it’s how everyone else talks about your product or service. Of course, use the language of you industry but never second-guess yourself just because a competitor is saying something you are not. I’ve suffered through too many CEO’s who wanted “our website to have a section like their website.”  No strategy. No vision. Just “do what they’re doing.” 

Well, first, what if they don’t know what they’re doing? What if they’re wrong? And second, what if their brand voice and story is speaking to a different buyer than ours? Resist the urge to simply adopt messaging because it’s what everyone else is doing, unless there’s a strategic reason to do so. Remember, your mom’s advice whenever you wanted to do something all the other kids were doing? “Is all the other kids jumped off a cliff, would you do it, too? 

  1. Develop a unique brand voice and tone: One of the best ways to differentiate your messaging is not in what you say, but how you say it. After a deep dive brand strategy exercise, determine the unique brand voice and personality that best serves your customers and genuinely reflects who you are. Method Cleaning Products does a fabulous job of owning a unique, funny brand voice on their products and it’s aligned with their culture of “being weird.” If you truly want to stand out, stop sounding like everyone else and develop your own viewpoint and personality so when people come across your messaging, they will know it is distinctly YOU. 

Want some help crafting that brand messaging and unique voice so you can stand out and accelerate sales? Take a look at what we can do together and let’s chat!