By Kim Hanna
This week on Let’s Talk About Brand, we talked to Rebekah Radice on branding with content.
Rebekah is a former morning radio talk show host, but for the past twenty years, she's been training others on how to engage their audiences through digital marketing. She's the founder of Rebekah Radice Media and the co-founder of BRIL.LA, a digital marketing and consumer experience design firm that, as of this year, is working exclusively with cause-based organizations. She’s also the creator of the Authority Matrix and the performance method and author of the book Social Media Mastery: A Comprehensive Guide to Strategic Growth.
Check out our live video here:
Branding with Content
When branding with content, it’s really important to make sure you’re conveying something meaningful about your brand. Since content is everywhere, it’s making an impact in a variety of ways. That being said, it gives you the opportunity to get your brand in front of the exact people at the exact time and in the exact place.
Here are some of Rebekah’s top recommendations on branding with content:
Make your brand an extension of yourself. “We're tired of keeping up a facade that isn't congruent with that person behind the brand,” says Rebekah. “I would say the most important thing is that it speaks to who you are so that when people meet you in the offline world, that you're exactly who you represent online.”
Myth: You have to have everything perfect. Your brand doesn’t pop up overnight. “Get yourself out there. Just start talking to people. Start having conversations. That's the important aspect. And let all of those other things come.”
Don't be afraid to make continuous improvements. Rebekah explains that just as people evolve, brands evolve as well. “It is a constant evolution of just really paying attention. Typically you’ll find that there are 2-3 types of content that stand out for you and resonate most with your audience.”
Relationship marketing. Rebekah says that relationship marketing has been so important in the past six months, and brands that aren’t utilizing this are going to feel the sting. “It's more important that you focus on your audience and their needs...building that Know/Like/Trust factor to where they truly trust you as a confidant, as a friend.”
Advice to people starting out in social media
Rebekah says to just go for it! “The worst thing you could do right now is take a back seat.” We're in such interesting times, and people are looking for connections now more than ever. People are looking for a calm in this crazy storm that we're in. So now more than ever, people are connecting with each other through social media.
Don’t let the fear of not having everything perfectly ready keep you from getting started. People
will want to hear from you as you’re getting started. So get out there and start connecting with people and starting those conversations.
As you get started, pick a few channels and be consistent on how you’re showing up to them. Then, find people. “Pick people like Christine to start connecting with because she is a master networker!” says Rebekah. “Those are the people you need to be connected with. They will help raise you up and amplify your voice. They will get you out there in front of the exact right people too. Connection is everything. And the only way you can do it is just to get started!”
Using different types of content to convey your brand
There are so many different content types out there on all the different platforms. As you’re starting on social media, you might want to learn about some of the ways to use content to convey a personal brand.
Here are some questions to consider to better understand your audience: Where is this content going? Who is your audience and what are their expectations? What type of content are they looking to consume? Are they interacting with visuals? Are they interacting with video content? Is it short form or long form content? Is it questions? Or is it more just conversational type of content?
Figure out where your audience is spending most of their time and work off of that. “What you don't want to do is spread yourself out too thin at first. You just want to dip your toe in where your audience is spending their time and get a feel for what that content is.”
Doing a little bit of research to understand will go a long way. Test out different strategies to see what works best for your brand.
Understanding your audience
Since understanding your audience is so important, we asked Rebekah for some more advice on that. Here are some things you can try:
Use analytical tools - Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook all have great analytical tools for you to obtain insights on your followers.
Look at your competition - Pick out four to five competitors that are talking about similar things to your brand. Get a feel for the type of content they are sharing and look at how the audience is interacting. You’re not looking to steal somebody else's brand, you're just simply doing a little bit of homework to get a feel for the content that is already working with a similar audience.
Research - What might have been working a few months ago may not be the case today. It's important to take a step back fairly often to look into what your audience wants.
Find Rebekah
Thank you so much to Rebekah Radice for her incredible knowledge about branding and being yourself. The best place to find her is at rebekahradice.com and anywhere on social @RebekahRadice.
Next week on Let’s Talk About Brand, we have, 'brand for yourself, not the space.' We’ll be talking to an awesome friend, Mario the Maker Magician and his rock star wife, Katie Marchese. We hope you can join us live next Friday at noon!