Clubhouse for Marketers: What You Need to Know

Clubhouse for Marketers: What You Need to Know

by | May 3, 2021 | Business & Marketing Strategy, Insights

Clubhouse for Marketers: What You Need to Know

Written By Beth McDonough

On

By this point, you’ve probably heard of Clubhouse. And whether you are a frequent Clubhouse user, or have simply heard the name in passing, it’s common knowledge that this social media platform is quickly becoming the next marketing power tool. As busy business owners and overwhelmed marketers, you might be feeling frustrated over yet another networking tool and social media platform to keep track of and figure out hot to leverage. So we did the legwork of trying to figure out if this new app is actually worth your time, energy, and potentially your dollars.

So What is Clubhouse?

Clubhouse is the latest social media source that’s rapidly rising in popularity. Born through a socially deprived pandemic where people were limiting their in-person interactions, Clubhouse is now taking the internet by storm. In essence, Clubhouse is a place for professionals from all industries to join together and network in real-time.

This unique layout combines popular social media platforms like LinkedIn (giving you the ability to network with like-minded professionals and gain knowledge on navigating your way through your career endeavors), Facebook (providing the opportunity to connect with others around the world and discuss common interests), and Snapchat (after a “session” is over, the conversation is gone forever). It’s a fully interactive audio app that allows you to either listen to or participate in live discussions.

Clubhouse’s purpose is easy to grasp, making it a strong competition as the new kid on the block among established social media platforms. The app is full of various rooms that cover a myriad of topics. As a user, you simply choose the room you want to engage with and enter the chat. Clubhouse is completely auditory, so there are no photos, videos, or live streams. It operates in the way a classroom would, or if a podcast was recorded in front of a live audience. Moderators, or those that form the topics of the “rooms,” are those who control the flow of the conversation. When you “enter a room,” you can choose to listen in on other people chatting, or you can volunteer to “raise your hand.” When you are called on, it’s your turn to give your two cents on the conversation as you have an opportunity to speak on the subject.

Ok, Now What’s the Appeal of Clubhouse for Marketers?

Should Clubhouse continue on the upward trajectory that it seems to be on, it’s likely that it will soon join the ranks of the other top social media sites. And just like LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook, Clubhouse is a great way to advertise your business. Their algorithm allows you to strategically leverage your company and get your business in front of a wider audience of people without a lot of the “pay to play” challenges Facebook and Instagram are known for.

Clubhouse is a great opportunity to gain customer loyalty. With the way Clubhouse is set up, brands can title rooms on relevant topics that pertain to their business while also using it as leverage to get their name out there. The topics you choose and the way you use your brand identity to title and describe them — along with the voices you feature— can go a long way toward making your business recognizable and building loyalty.

Another advantage is that this app is constantly evolving. It started off as a vessel for celebrities and influencers to host conversations related to entertainment, business, and technology. This original idea has quickly evolved into a space for any like-minded professionals to share their thoughts and advice in their given field. Clubhouse also caters to the rising trend for podcasts and the rising demand for audio content. The app capitalizes on the popularity of virtual socialization and provides an opportunity to connect without the burden of screen fatigue.

We wanted to understand what folks in our own networking spaces think about Clubhouse thus far, so our Founder and Managing Director, Rajat Kapur, conducted a poll on LinkedIn to get a feel for other people’s experience so far. You can find all of the feedback here, but below are a couple quotes from those who chimed in:

relationship marketing poll
From a followers standpoint— until you figure out the right people to tune into, it’s hard to tell what’s a waste. Like other platforms, you have to find your tribe. However I think it’s a tad harder here because unless you are following people you are already familiar with, there’s no archive to thumb through ahead of time. So finding your tribe takes a bit of time. I did want to approach it from a leader’s standpoint instead of follower so it took me some time to figure out the angle. I started hosting rooms last week to see where it would take me.
Erica Quigley

From the personal use, I think Clubhouse is a great way to quickly and easily crowdsource some information to build your content using insights from thought leaders outside of your immediate sphere of influence. I also wonder if it is a way to conduct qualitative research that we sometimes struggle to obtain.
Amanda

One last pro to consider. Clubhouse also offers a feature that allows you to connect your other social media platforms. If someone clicks on your icon, they receive links to your Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and any other social site you want to send them to. This adds an extra opportunity for interested clients or customers to see the labor of love you’re putting into other platforms as well — especially if you have a stronger presence on one of those sites.

What Are the Cons of Clubhouse?

The list of pros for marketing your business on Clubhouse are nearly endless, and it’s a great app to capitalize on before others do. However, it’s also important to understand the cons. Since it is still in its beta testing phase, the app still needs to work out quite a few bugs. The most notable example is that Clubhouse can read as an unedited podcast. Since it is live and largely unscripted, participants can say what they want with little to no monitoring from mediators. This has led to problematic conversations and misinformation taking place in certain rooms.

They are also facing tough competition among other top social media sites. Platforms like Twitter and Facebook are toying with the idea of introducing audio features into their sites, which could mean bad news for Clubhouse’s future. But in terms of Clubhouse for marketing, it might be worthwhile to experiment with the platform so you can easily hop on the trend if the feature is adopted by some of the other big players. That way, you’ll already be an auditory marketing expert and ahead of the curve.

At first glance, adding yet another social media platform to your rolodex of apps that you scroll through for hours on end can feel exhausting. But there is a sense of authenticity to Clubhouse that other social media sites aren’t offering. Especially if you are a freelancer or entrepreneur, joining this interactive experience is a chance to network with professionals in your field, and gain invaluable information to help grow awareness of your expertise and build connections.

As with all new apps, it’s easier to gain a following on Clubhouse right now than in any other, more established, social media platform. Being an early adopter definitely has the potential to pay off when an app sticks around. And if it doesn’t, auditory focused marketing most certainly is. So for you it comes down the same thing it always does for all of us — risk versus reward. In this case, the risk is extra time and energy that could be going somewhere else. The choice is yours!

Need extra help trying to decide what social media platforms to invest yourself in this year? Download our 2021 Social Media Playbook to find out where you can score some real points, and where you should take a timeout.

download our 2021 social media playbook
About the Author

Content Manager and Copywriter Beth McDonough brings nearly a decade of professional writing and editing to the team at &Marketing. With extensive experience in an array of fields that range from entertainment publications to a Fortune 500 energy company, Beth has the ability to produce written content that speaks directly to the needs of a breadth of clients and channel their brand personality into a compelling story.

 About &Marketing

In today’s fast paced world, many growing businesses are struggling to modernize their marketing approaches because either they don’t have the expertise or the bandwidth to do it themselves.

&Marketing provides seasoned marketing strategy professionals and a nimble execution team to help our clients achieve their goals. Our unique partnership model allows us to augment our client’s existing teams or outsource the entire marketing function in an affordable, flexible, and transparent way.

6 Ways to Sharpen Your Brand Identity

6 Ways to Sharpen Your Brand Identity

by | Mar 19, 2021 | General, Insights, Storytelling & Branding

6 Ways to Sharpen Your Brand Identity

&Marketing, and marketing, outsourced marketing strategy

Written By Beth McDonough

On

When your brand is battling for a seat at the table your ideal customer or client sits at, the question really comes down to how sharp your sword is. Your brand identity is the essence of who you are as a business, and in turn, how you above all other competitors stand out to connect with your ideal target audience. Here are 6 ways you can sharpen your brand identity and win that seat every single time.

1: Shift Your Focus to Your Customer

We are all the heroes of our own stories. Our failures, successes, villains, and happy endings are the center of our own lives and the focus of our days. That’s true for everyone, including your customer. It’s also a big reason brands fail to connect with customers and clients — they become too self-focused. Maybe your brand identity revolves around a sustainable snack food like no one has ever tasted. Or perhaps your reason for waking up every day is an innovative technology the world hasn’t seen before. You love to talk about it, and you should, but in a way that focuses on how that unparalleled product or services helps your hero (customer) more than it focuses on how awesome your business is.

2: Understand What Problem You’re Solving

Every decision human beings make, and every action they take each day stems from the need to solve a problem. Nothing to wear? Need to buy clothes or do laundry. Hungry? Must buy food or buy the ingredients to cook. Losing money to third party sellers on Amazon? Need a solution to keep them from stealing your listings. Breach at your company? Need stronger cybersecurity.

In order to sharpen your brand identity in a way that cuts through the noise and compels your customer to take action, make the problem you solve for them crystal clear.

3: Appeal to Emotions Through Storytelling

Stats capture attention, so I’ll throw a couple at you. People are 22 times more likely to remember a fact if it’s relayed through the lens of a story. Plus, the average attention span has fallen from 20 seconds to just 8 seconds. In order to be memorable and to capture someone’s attention quickly, you must make your customer part of a compelling story. A chemical response is sparked in our brains when we become enthralled by a good story, so take every chance you can get to tell one.

4: Refine Your Voice

Does your ideal customer laugh when you crack a joke, or do they want someone who is serious and somber to help them solve their problem? Do they respond to sarcasm and wit? Or do they want tenderness and emotion? Do they want to feel safe and secure, or do they want to feel inspired to do something out of the box and courageous? These are all questions that should influence your brand voice — the persona you use when you speak to your audience. Make sure it’s unique, and also make sure it’s a voice your customer will respond to and trust. For example, Snickers can get away with delivering snarky punchlines in their marketing, but your local healthcare provider probably can’t.

5: Be Divisive When it Counts

You know the old saying — if you don’t stand for something, you risk standing for nothing at all. If you want to be memorable, showcase your brand’s personality and voice by having an opinion on something that might divide people. It can be something as big as a social justice issue, but it can also be a more playful hill that you die on, like chocolate versus peanut butter, Apple versus Android, or Prince Harry versus Prince William. Team peanut butter, Apple, and Harry over here!

6: Offer Continuous Value

You’re going to be asking for the sale, prominently and frequently (if you aren’t then you should be). And in order to sell effectively, you need to build that like, trust, and know factor. When a potential customer or client starts to like, trust, and know a brand, it almost always means that business has already delivered some solutions to them that worked. People continue to build trust with those who help them solve their problems and give sound advice. So be generous with your expertise.

Now that your brand identity is sharpened and your sword is ready, you can sit at that table and earn your hero’s trust so you can help them solve their problem and find their happily ever after.

Learn how to tell your most compelling brand story with our Narrative Marketing Outline.

download the guide
About the Author
Content Manager and Copywriter Beth McDonough brings nearly a decade of professional writing and editing to the team at &Marketing. With extensive experience in an array of fields that range from entertainment publications to a Fortune 500 energy company, Beth has the ability to produce written content that speaks directly to the needs of a breadth of clients and channel their brand personality into a compelling story.
About &Marketing

&Marketing provides the robust outsourced marketing department growing companies need without the high overhead costs of big agencies or full-time employees. Our variable model empowers businesses to reach their growth goals through access to the guidance and expertise of senior level strategists and a flexible execution team.

10 Things to Add to Your 2021 Content Marketing Strategy

10 Things to Add to Your 2021 Content Marketing Strategy

by | Feb 16, 2021 | Business & Marketing Strategy, General, Insights, Marketing Planning & Execution, Storytelling & Branding

10 Things to Add to Your 2021 Content Marketing Strategy

Written By Beth McDonough

On

Content marketing is one of the most effective ways to build brand awareness, gain trust and traffic, and convert new customers. If you aren’t leveraging this tactic in 2021, it’s time to rethink your marketing approach and see where you can incorporate content. We’re here to help with some ideas for your 2021 content marketing strategy.

If you’re already implementing a content strategy, keep what’s working for you and improve what isn’t. We know growing businesses may not have the resources to completely reimagine a brand new content marketing strategy. Instead, you can add some new approaches or re-examine old ones. Here are 10 suggestions for ways to better your content marketing strategy in 2021 without stretching your budget.

10 Things to Add to Your 2021 Content Strategy

1. Audience Segmentation

Not everyone who consumes your content wants the exact same thing. By dividing your audience into groups based on where they are in their journey and what they’re interested in that you have to offer, you can create targeted content designed to give people what they like, and avoid sending them what they don’t.

2. Target Your Specific Audiences

To do this, you need to make sure you know your prospective (and existing) customers like the back of your hand. What do they want, what obstacles are they trying to overcome? What makes them happy, and what keeps them up at night? Then, you can understand what exactly they are looking for so you can tailor your content to their needs.

A great way to do that is with keyword research. See what the current demand for your topic is with Google Trends or tools like SEMRush and UberSuggest, and use them to guide what you create.

3. Keep Your Content Up-to-Date

As time passes, content naturally becomes outdated. To ensure your readers will still be gaining something from your content, you have to periodically go through and update information. Start with your most popular posts that are six months old or older, then work your way down.

4. Create Content Based On Your Core Values

One of the most important things content marketing does is build your brand. Your audience gets the chance to develop a relationship with your business. With content based on your core values, you can continue to develop that relationship, showing your audience what is important to you and what their experience with your company will be like.

5. Stay Flexible

As you deploy your updated content marketing strategy, stay flexible. Be ready to receive feedback, measure effectiveness, and make tweaks.

On the whole, content marketing requires adaptability. The digital landscape is constantly changing, and new avenues for marketing are always being created. To stay competitive, you have to keep on top of the latest trends and always be ready to adapt.

6. Conduct a Competitor Analysis

Your competition can tell you a lot about how you can improve your content marketing. Take a look at what they’re doing, see what’s working and what isn’t, and integrate the successful techniques into your strategy.

Google has many automated tools that allow you to take a good look at your competition, and other sites (like UberSuggest mentioned above) do, too. No matter what tool you use, your goal is to see what approaches you can start using for your own business. Don’t steal! Just use it as inspiration to fill in any gaps and create something even better.

7. Create High-Quality Content

Regardless of what kind of content you’re creating, you want it to be great quality. Your audience isn’t going to stick around for boring or unhelpful content. While content marketing is marketing, your primary goal is to build trust and offer value. Whether you’re providing entertainment, education, statistics, stories, or tutorials, your content has to give something generous to your audience.

8. Create a Content Calendar

A lot of content marketers take it one piece of content at a time, reactively instead of proactively. However, this can make it really hard to track the effectiveness of your content and to successfully market it.
Instead, create a comprehensive calendar to track and measure all of your activity ahead of time. Plan out what content you’ll create and when you’ll publish it. With a calendar, you will have a well-thought-out, long-term strategy. Plus, when you work ahead, your content will be ready to go when you need it.

9. Try New Types of Content

If you are able, an excellent way to reach new audiences is with other types of content. There are hundreds of types of content out there, and changing up what you’re producing every now and then will help boost your audience’s interest. It also allows you to keep your content fresh and explore new avenues of content marketing. If you’re only writing blogs, try turning some of them into infographics, or checklists and templates you can use as a lead generator (something you offer in exchange for a reader’s contact information). Usually write long-form think-pieces? Try a listicle, like this want. Whatever you do, make it helpful, switch it up, and let your brand personality shine.

10. Final Thoughts

With a great 2021 content marketing strategy, your business can bring in more leads and convert them into loyal customers.

Want even more guidance on exactly how to execute an effective and impactful content strategy? Download our eBook below.

    Download the ebook
    About the Author

    Content Manager and Copywriter Beth McDonough brings nearly a decade of professional writing and editing to the team at &Marketing. With extensive experience in an array of fields that range from entertainment publications to a Fortune 500 energy company, Beth has the ability to produce written content that speaks directly to the needs of a breadth of clients and channel their brand personality into a compelling story.

    About &Marketing

    &Marketing provides the robust outsourced marketing department growing companies need without the high overhead costs of big agencies or full-time employees. Our variable model empowers businesses to reach their growth goals through access to the guidance and expertise of senior level strategists and a flexible execution team.

    Webinar Recap: How to Use Content for Lead Generation

    Webinar Recap: How to Use Content for Lead Generation

    by | Jul 14, 2020 | Events

    Webinar Recap: How to Use Content for Lead Generation

    Does your content marketing plan align with your business goals?

    Written By Beth McDonough

    On
    70% of marketers are actively investing in content marketing. While this statistic confirms content’s reigning title of king on the internet, companies often make the mistake of generating blogs, eBooks, and social media posts blindly. This results in content marketing that lacks a real strategy, a concrete plan, or a way to track tangible return on investment.

    Gone are the days where content is used just to build awareness. When backed by data and developed in conjunction with your overall goals, content can be used to drive your target audience to convert and generate concrete revenue for your business.

    Content Manager, Beth McDonough, and Marketing Director, Paul Ferguson, recently discussed how data-driven content developed in tandem with your business goals can drive quick conversions and lead generation. They also covered:

    • How to align your business goals with your overall content strategy.
    • How to use data to influence your content creation and distribution.
    • How to create content your target audience is actively searching for.
    • How to leverage Business Intelligence in conjunction with compelling storytelling and messaging to drive lead generation.

    Couldn’t make the live webinar? No problem! Watch the recording to learn how data combined with storytelling can be a powerful lead generation tool.

    Watch The Full Webinar Here
    Ready to begin applying some of the methods we covered in this webinar? Download our latest eBook, “Cut the Fluff: How to Create Content That Actually Grows Your Customer Base,” to get our step-by-step process for gathering data, writing compelling and conversion-ready content, and distributing it to the right audience.
    DOWNLOAD THE EBOOK
    About Beth McDonough

    Content Manager and Copywriter Beth McDonough brings nearly a decade of professional writing and editing to the team at &Marketing. With extensive experience in an array of fields that range from entertainment publications to a Fortune 500 energy company, Beth has the ability to produce written content that speaks directly to the needs of a breadth of clients and channel their brand personality into a compelling story. Visit Beth’s LinkedIn.

    About Paul Ferguson

    As a Marketing Director at &Marketing, Paul Ferguson uses his 16 years of B2B marketing experience to help clients develop fully integrated marketing solutions that make impressions and drive results. Whether it be design-oriented campaigns or digital market execution, Paul skillfully creates strategies backed by data, to effectively reach client’s desired audiences. Paul graduated from La Salle University with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and a double minor in Marketing and Business Administration. Visit Paul’s LinkedIn.

    About &Marketing

    In today’s fast paced world, many growing businesses are struggling to modernize their marketing approaches because either they don’t have the expertise or the bandwidth to do it themselves.

    &Marketing provides seasoned marketing strategy professionals and a nimble execution team to help our clients achieve their goals. Our unique partnership model allows us to augment our client’s existing teams or outsource the entire marketing function in an affordable, flexible, and transparent way.

    Top 7 Tips For Tackling Social Media In 2020

    Top 7 Tips For Tackling Social Media In 2020

    by | Dec 30, 2019 | Insights, Storytelling & Branding

    Top 7 Tips For Tackling Social Media In 2020

    Written By Beth McDonough

    On

    2019 brought no shortage of changes to our favorite social media platforms along with the surprising rise of some new players. Our social media experts have combed through all of the major updates, studied, the trends, and analyzed what’s coming in the new year. Here are our top 7 tips for tackling social media across B2B and B2C in 2020. Plus, don’t miss our complete &Marketing 2020 Social Media Playbook so you can set your growing business up for success on social.

    1. Join the Huddle

    Leverage Facebook Groups 

    As Facebook continues to experience a plateau in growth and an exodus of younger generations from the platform, they must rediscover their purpose in people’s lives. By putting Groups at the forefront of the user experience, Facebook believes community will be re-established on a platform that has begun to function as an advertising hub. Unlike Facebook Pages, where your audience may be there simply for promotions and discounts, Facebook Groups are genuinely interested and more engaged in a specific topic. This presents an opportunity for businesses to join conversations within your niche— staying relevant with existing fans and reaching new ones. Taking part in these discussions can also prove your status as an expert in your field.

    2. Try New Plays

    A/B test with Facebook’s New Ad Platform

    You’ve likely been using Facebook’s existing ad platform for your business, but now they’re taking a page out of Google’s responsible ad playbook. Facebook’s new responsible ad feature is officially dubbed “Multiple Text Optimization,” and it’s essentially an upgrade to the A/B testing tool you are already familiar with. The new feature should make it easier to create and optimize different options for headlines, ad copy, and product descriptions so you can make the best choices for your campaigns.

    3. Get Your First Draft Pick Ready

    Reach Gen Z with New Platforms like TikTok

    Facebook began as a social media website only college students could use to connect with roommates, classmates, and others using only a college email address to sign up. WIth the demographics of Facebook changing, Gen Z consumers are looking for a new social media space they can claim as their own. That space is shaping up to be TikTok. Ad opportunities are still relatively limited, but you would be wise to be an early adopter of this platform before the algorithm rears its ugly head here too.

    4. Get to Know Your Fans 

    Make Insights Work for You

    Facebook for Business has a resource center called Blueprint that offers tons of free eCourses and certificates you can earn to help grow your digital marketing abilities through Facebook and Instagram. Over the summer, Facebook added nearly 30 courses that cover everything from growing a business Page to editing the copy in your Facebook ad and how to select the best visuals. When Facebook tells you what works on their platforms, you should probably listen.

    5. Recruit Top Players with Personalization 

    Slide into Someone’s DMs in 2020

    Private and direct messaging continue to grow in popularity on social media. DMs are taking the place of calling a customer service representative, so potential and existing customers expect their questions and requests to be responded to personally and in a timely manner. As a result of this, chatbots are growing and more people feel comfortable reaching out to strangers on social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook.

    6. Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

    Partner-up with Key Players in Your Arena

    Collaboration over competition is going to continue to be the theme in 2020. Team up with an influencer on Instagram. Invite bloggers to contribute to your group boards on Pinterest. Do a Facebook Live interview with an expert on your Business Page. Increase your exposure and your network through valuable partnerships and engagement from both audience and theirs.

    7. Give Back with Donate Buttons

    Give Your Customers a Cause to Care About

    If you run a nonprofit, or if you simply partner up with a charity or cause that your consumers would care to get involved with, Facebook and Instagram have made it easier to donate. Instagram stories already offered “donate” stickers in Stories, but Facebook has jumped on the sticker bandwagon too. Additionally, Instagram now makes it possible for nonprofit organizations to add a “donate” button to their business profile.

    These are just the highlights of the major changes of 2019 and how you can use them to execute a stellar social media game plan for 2020. For a full highlight reel of all the biggest 2019 changes per social platform and our complete playbook on where to spend your social media time and energy and how, download the &Marketing 2020 Social Media Playbook for FREE below.

    DOWNLOAD OUR FREE PLAYBOOK
    About the Authors

    Beth McDonough

    As Content Manager at &Marketing, Beth McDonough helps brands identify their unique voice, develop their engaging story, and execute compelling copy and thoughtful content that increase engagement and generate leads. Beth tailors a thoughtful and innovative approach to hone each brand partner’s strengths and articulate them to attract and retain customers. Beth holds a Master of Arts degree in English from Gannon University.

    Savannah Kleiner

    As a Marketing Manager at &Marketing, Savannah Kleiner develops and implements influencer marketing solutions that increase engagement and drive results. With an innovative and unique approach to each client, Savannah tailors custom strategies to effectively reach clients’ desired audiences and goals. Savannah graduated from the Lacy School of Business at Butler University with a major in Marketing.

    About &Marketing

    In today’s fast paced world, many growing businesses are struggling to modernize their marketing approaches because either they don’t have the expertise or the bandwidth to do it themselves.

    &Marketing provides seasoned marketing strategy professionals and a nimble execution team to help our clients achieve their goals. Our unique partnership model allows us to augment our client’s existing teams or outsource the entire marketing function in an affordable, flexible, and transparent way.