The Chameleon - Adaptive Marketing Ideas For Your Business

I recently stepped out from behind client accounts and created my personal Instagram. As usual, I'm typically way further behind when it comes to personal social media adoption. While I struggled with, "Do I need yet another platform to manage?", I finally caved. As I setup my account a question kept running through me head, "What is the difference between Facebook and Instagram?". My answer was weak at best. That inspired me to dive deeper into the platforms and give myself, as well as you, a good answer. 

First, as I've told clients for years, you don't have to be everywhere, but you need to at least understand what's available. No, not every company needs to be on Instagram, or Facebook, or even social media for that matter (very rare cases). However, you should at least explore emerging platforms to see if they could be viable for your business. Ok, let's dive deep...

Chances are, your marketing & sales activity are 'ok'. People aren't busting down your doors to do business with you, but things are going 'ok'. You probably have some basic necessities like a website, social media and other outreach methods like email marketing. But, is 'ok' really 'ok'?

If you are an executive in an insurance agency, you probably have the following:

Take some time to socialize.

You’ve said it. I’ve heard it. “I just don’t have time to post to social media for my business”.

Sure you do. You just, well, think about it too much.

I recently had a twitter conversation with Mark Sephton which got a bit of notice from our networks. Mark started off with,

“I do not understand why people unfollow lots of people to make themselves look good... You risk harming your brand.”

To which I responded,

“Agree! Drives me crazy. Hate when someone follows and unfollows within a day or two. How about trying to actually be social.”

Recently I've been back into a training phase as I gear up for a few endurance races later this year. This morning, I was back in the pool at 5:30 am. While I generally enjoy swim workouts (more so than running), they can be a bit tedious and certainly boring at times. Even with intervals and workouts that require "pool toys", it is hard to break up the monotony of staring at the black line at the bottom of the pool. While it can sometimes be a chore to get started, the time in the pool can also be a nice break! With all the 'noise' at work, family and social demands, as well as my two young kids requiring a good bit of attention, it is sometimes nice to let my mind wander while doing nothing but swimming. It's almost therapeutic. 

Marketing is one of those areas that make or break many small businesses in particular. Competing with some of the larger brand name companies in the same industry who can offer lower costs, whether marginally or substantially, is no easy task. One thing that has leveled the playing field with those larger corporations is the power of social media marketing. The benefits of social media for small businesses go beyond the pure marketing aspect of a business and much more into the customer interaction and creating lasting relationships, business and otherwise.

Having a social media presence isn't enough, however. What you do with it and how you maintain it is what is important when it comes to brand recognition, generating business, and creating lasting, meaningful relationships that help to grow your business. Below are some of the many benefits of social media for small businesses and how those benefits can help you compete with larger businesses.

Millions of Americans plan to tune in to tonight’s Democratic debate.  If this is your 1^st, 2^nd or even 10^th debate viewing experience, you have certain expectations.  You expect multiple candidates to show up and bring their best game faces to win your vote.  You expect a moderator, probably one from a local or national news syndicate, to ask questions of each candidate.  Finally, you expect a crowd—fellow citizens who’ve come out to cheer on their respected candidates, not to mention the possibility of shaking hands with the Democratic party’s representative for President next year.

Do you want to control your brand? Be intentional!

Changes to the platform have made it easier to control and promote your personal brand on Facebook. How? By giving you more control over what you highlight and what information you share across the network. Here are some changes that can have a big impact on how you present yourself.

As school started back today here in Charlotte and I’m sure in many other cities across the country, I was struck with an overwhelming since of “where did the time go?”.  We spend so much of our time planning; planning our days, our weeks, our vacations months from now, but do we spend the same amount of time relishing in the moments?  After a large event ends, many feel a sense of loss because they are no longer sure what to do with their days, but did they spend any time looking at photos or writing down memories from that day? Too often the answer is “no, I just don’t have the time”.