Category: Uncategorized

Written by Allison Herrera, Becca Miller, & Brittany Prats

When preparing a new product or opening up a new business, marketing awareness sometimes falls short on entrepreneurs’ minds. Of course, entrepreneurs know that marketing is of the utmost importance, but their focus is on the matters at hand, resulting many a times in missed marketing opportunities. Think about it – upcoming movies hype people up by movie trailers, commercials, press releases, pre-launches with the actors/actresses, cross collaborations with other brands, etc…all leading up to the reveal of the movie itself!

Your product, business, or brand should not be any different. As movies prepare for their launch, your upcoming reveal should also generate buzz and get people excited for more information! Here’s three reasons why…

1. A pre-launch marketing strategy jumpstarts conversation and generates buzz.

The number one objective in marketing a product, company, brand or service is STARTING A CONVERSATION. When launching your product and setting it up for success, it’s important to build a plan that creates intrigue and anticipation. When you do this, your customers will gain curiosity and interest within your brand and your product. Just by teasing your product or information about it, you are already generating interest with your customers. Start planning your marketing about six to eight weeks before the launch date – this will help get your product to market faster and to a more receptive audience.

2. A pre-launch marketing strategy creates a receptive and engaged audience to sell to.

After we start a conversation, we create an opportunity not only for your message to be delivered, but to deliver your message to an audience that is interested and engaged. It’s all about establishing that relationship of trust and loyalty within your audience. A big part of establishing those crucial relationships is nurturing during the pre-launch period, throughout the launch, and even post launch.

You really have to keep your audience engaged in a way that makes them want to come back and get excited about your brand. If you present your business, ideas, and overall brand in a way that helps your audience to get to know you on a deeper level, then they will be more likely to support you in the future. Engagement can be increased through something as simple as giving teasers and hyping up your launch to make your audience more excited about this product that they know nothing about.

Consistently nurturing your audience helps build upon that already existing relationship. You have to keep that constant contact throughout the entire pre-launch and launch period in order for them to stay interested. Just because they supported you in this launch doesn’t mean that they will next time, so be sure to always engage with your consumers. This will not only help to build up your brand loyalty, but it will also make your audience feel that they can really trust your brand and therefore give you a more successful launch in return.

3. It guarantees your product or brand will already have somewhat of a following or audience.

When you take the time to create your product, you should put the same amount of time and energy into marketing it. When you don’t advertise early on, you’ll run out of people to talk to and to launch to. This is because there’s no anticipation or marketing of your product which doesn’t peak anyone’s interest.

When launching a product, think of it as the climatic scene in a movie. There are scenes that are building and building up to the most important part of the movie, and without those scenes your audience wouldn’t know what to expect or what’s happening. During the early advertising stages your audience will have an understanding of what you’re offering and why they should keep an eye out for your big launch.

When your customers have a reason to care about your launch, then they’ll be ready to watch for your release. Not partaking in early advertising is basically launching your product to a bunch of empty seats. After all, you did all the work for your new product, why not put the same amount of effort into marketing it?

In sum, you want to be on the ball before it starts rolling. But don’t worry…this is where we come in! Give us a call & we will help get you started.

Written by Becca Miller

Edited by Allison Herrera⁣

 

We HAVE to address this issue….boosted posts are the WORST. There, we said it. But before we get heated about this issue, let’s break it down.

 

A boosted post is when you put money into a post that you already have shared on Facebook. This post can be advertised to your selected targeted audience, but does not come with all of the customization features that Facebook’s AD Manager has. Boosted posts are, in our opinion, a juvenile move. Think of them as merely superficial – resulting in just more “likes” and comments than usual, but no real call to action (CTA).

 

In comparison, an ad is created in Facebook AD Manager and features much more customization needed for advertising your brand or products. These ads are strategically placed, created, and goal oriented. Proper Facebook ads reveal a sense of professionalism, which expands your credibility as a business.

 

So, why are we so heated about boosted posts? Well, for one, we’ve found that some companies get “boost happy” – as we like to call it. What that means is that they love to boost a post everytime Facebook tells them it’s a good idea, whereas most of the time it’s not.

 

 

Though posts and ads appear in a user’s feed like a regular post, they have two totally different end goals.

 

• Your post is meant to engage and motivate users to interact with you, as they would with their friends or family, because they love your brand so much.
• An ad is targeting customers you want to not only interact with you, but to go to your website, purchase a product, go to your event, etc. With an ad, you have more control over your audience, your goals, and how your ad looks on different platforms, which ensures peak optimization. It focuses on a CTA.

 

Boosting your posts aslo skews and limits strategy…especially an ad strategy. Take a look at our graphic below. This shows how a boosted post only has limited objectives, audiences, options, budgeting, and more. Meanwhile, the Facebook AD Manager has many more options for professionals in terms of the strategy and optimization of your ads.

 

 

As mentioned in the above graphic, boosting can only give you a handful of options for running an ad. Meanwhile, Facebook Ads Manager gives you more options and objectives that can be maximized and optimized. These are the key objectives that are necessary to run a successful campaign:

 

• Choosing different ad placements:
  • When you boost a post you’ll be able to check or uncheck whether you want your ad to run on Instagram. While with Facebook ads, you get more options for where your audience will see your ad. This could be on Instagram stories, Facebook News Feed side ads, messenger ads, and more.
• Use specific ad objectives:
  • When creating ads you have to let Facebook know what your objective and goals are with the campaign. When you boost a post, you really can only focus on website clicks, page engagement, and local business promotions. While Facebook ads give you a full range of objectives and goals from conversions to email subscriptions.
• Maintain creative control:
  • Facebook AD Manager gives you the tools to create & design ads that fit the needs of your goals. You can create carousel ads, add specific descriptions, and add a call-to-action button that will drive your audience to take action. There are plenty more creative options available. While boosting a post doesn’t give you the same creative freedom.
• Using advance targeting capabilities:
  • This helps you reach people who are more likely to interact or remember your ads. Boosting posts lets you decide on interests, age, and gender for your audience. While Facebook Ads while give you the options of overlapping audiences and lookalike audiences to create an even more customized look at who is connected with your ads

 

To summarize our point, boosted posts aren’t great for your brand and/or company. There’s no true strategy behind just boosting a post, because Facebook is telling you that you should. After all, Facebook is a machine and is only looking at merely the data they can pull – the data telling them that the post is doing “great” or “better” than other posts. This ignites in Facebook’s algorithm to let you know that you should boost your post! It sounds nice, but again, the machine only knows so much compared to a well thought out and researched strategy.

 

But don’t worry…this is where we come in! We’re fully trained in creating, strategizing, and optimizing your Facebook ads to meet the needs and wants of your business. Give us a call to get started.

Written by Brittany Prats

Edited by Allison Herrera⁣

Natural disasters can be a devastating time for businesses, families, and communities as a whole. In only a few short hours, someone’s whole life can be flipped upside down, due to the destruction of a hurricane or tornado. Marketing your business might be the absolute last thing on your mind when a natural disaster hits, but it should really be something that you focus on.

As most of you know, Uptown Girl Media is based in New Orleans, which was just hit with Hurricane Ida. A lot of our clients went into crisis mode, not knowing what to do about their business or even where to start. That’s why digital marketing is so crucial during a natural disaster. Through digital marketing your business can communicate with your clientele in an easier, more urgent way.

First, email marketing is definitely not a thing of the past. Through a hurricane, most people may be out of power for days to weeks, so how could they possibly get information on what’s going on? Well, even with the power out, you can still still receive email notifications on your phone. Being able to put your main Call to Action in your email heading or even just at the beginning of your message will help those receiving it to get that message instantly. You can simply just say “We’re Open!” to get your point across in a quick, informative way. This way, even if people don’t have WiFi or power, they know you’re open.

Next, let’s talk about Google. When a natural disaster hits and you need a new roof or help getting debris out of your yard, what’s the first thing you do? You search “roofers near me” or “tree removal near me” on Google. With the help of a digital marketing agency, like us, you can use search ads and advanced SEO (search engine optimization) opportunities to use. This then puts your company’s website at the top of the search results. Not only does this increase your brand awareness, but you will receive more clicks and, in turn, more customers. This also builds your trust & credibility among your community – especially during times of disaster and need. Barely anyone will go past the second or third page of search results, so advancing your company at the top will reveal that you are a trustworthy and credible business.

Also, digital marketing, especially in terms of Google, is incredibly important in keeping your customers up to date. We can update your Google Listing to reflect your updated hours of operation, whether you’re open yet or not, and even if you have a limited menu/stock. This ensures that your customers receive the information they are looking for during times they need it most.

Finally, I’m sure your social media strategy is the last thing you want to think about during a natural disaster…but it is extremely important in keeping your customers informed. You have to remember, people receive communication in multiple ways after natural disasters. Social media messaging is also ideal because even if your power is back on, phones can still be down. In times like these, you can rely on keeping communication up with direct messages on social media or even with question stickers on your Instagram story, so customers can remain in touch with you. Social media strategy is also a helpful way in communicating updates with your business. For instance if you’re open, what the procedure is, if there are shortages, etc. Even just using Instagram to check in with your audience can be incredibly helpful and relatable; so, that not only are they informed on your status, but you’re also informed on theirs. Also, social media is a useful tool in promoting relief funds for the natural disaster you are enduring. Especially if you plan on creating a fundraiser of your own, you can easily promote it while also building your brand character at the same time.

Now, here’s the deal. Not every marketing agency is going to know what’s going on in your local community. This is why it is so important to work with local agencies (like us  ) during a natural disaster. Being a New Orleans based company, we will always know how to react with our community in terms of dealing with storms, hurricanes, and disasters alike. We are always the first ones to reach out, the first ones to stay back and help you through it, and especially the first ones to communicate with your clientele on the state of your business. We know what you’re going through – more than a national agency, and we especially know how it feels to have your whole livelihood flipped upside down. Digital Marketing is absolutely crucial during a natural disaster, so let us help you through this devastating time. Just give us a call to get started!

Written by Brittany Prats

Edited by Allison Herrera⁣

Gen Z vs. Millennials. Which group is better to advertise to? Which generation should you market to? Do you need to understand them both?

Well…we have news for you. In order to have an effective campaign, you need to understand & learn from both! Each group brings in new ideas & different points of view that can be critical in creating an effective strategy. Let’s discuss some observations about both groups to keep in mind.

We all know this already, but Gen Z is much more focused on social media than Millenials. Yes, millennials use social media, but if you’re trying to advertise your brand to specifically a younger generation, social media is king. The presence of your brand on social media is what’s going to make that Gen Z-er follow you, interact with you, and buy your product. Don’t even get us STARTED on how important Tik Tok can be for advertising your brand to Gen Z.

I know what you’re thinking – so what do they have in common? They both crave authenticity. Both groups grew up in a time where they can get the answer to any question in a matter of seconds. They will look right through your false ads & rip you apart because of it. Just keep it real & you’ll gain the trust of both generations.

You gotta grab their attention STAT. Millennials have a twelve (12) second attention span & Gen Z only has an eight (8) second attention span. You either have to make a really intriguing ad or put your call to action at the forefront of it. They’re not going to sit there for a five (5) minute video about why your product is the best. They want it in a quick, to the point form.

It’s all about the experience for both groups. You can have a great product, but if your customer service is bad or your website is hard to navigate, you just lost a customer. Both Gen Z and Millennials want that seamless experience. Give that to them & you’ll have a customer for life.

At face value, Millennials & Gen Z seem VERY different, but trust us, for marketing purposes they’re pretty similar. They both care about short form, experiences, brands supporting causes they care about, and they just want you to be honest about your product. It is vital to have an understanding of both generations, and in today’s industry, you can’t really rule one of them out.

Don’t know how to advertise to both at the same time? We got you! Just give us a call and we’ll help you figure out what works best for your brand to attract the younger generations.

Written by Brittany Prats

Edited by Allison Herrera⁣

I’m sure we’re all wondering how to get consumers to truly connect with your brand. Something that consumers connect to the most is authenticity. Creating an authentic experience for your consumers is crucial in establishing that relationship of trust.

While Marketing can easily become inauthentic at times, it’s important to always steer back to that idea of authenticity. You want your consumers to trust your brand – this makes them speak highly of you to bring in more customers, and more importantly, makes them come back. It can be hard for marketers to figure out how to be credible in a community that is filled with so many opposing forces…so let’s break it down!

There was a new study in the Journal of Marketing that explained the way a consumer determines authenticy with six characteristics: accuracy, integrity, legitimacy, proficiency, connectedness, and originality. While these are all pretty straightforward, it’s important to fully understand them and to (try) to keep them integrated in every strategy. Including these elements in everything you do will build your brand’s credibility, which creates a more trusting relationship with your consumers. What happens when you combine your brand being seen as credible and trusting? AUTHENTICITY!

So…what’s the moral of the story? Always keep the characteristics of accuracy, integrity, legitimacy, proficiency, connectedness, and originality in everything you do for your brand. This will help consumers view your brand as authentic; and, thus, make YOU their go-to brand. We know this might be hard to ALWAYS have in the back of your mind, but let us do the work for you. At Uptown Girl Media, we always have these characteristics at the forefront of every strategy we do.

If you’re worried about always making sure you’re being your most authentic self, give us a call! We’ll help you create an authentic strategy that keeps your consumers coming back for more. Let us showcase your most authentic self through our original & organic strategies!

Written by Brittany Prats

Edited by Allison Herrera⁣

I’m sure we’re all wondering how to get consumers to truly connect with your brand. Something that consumers connect to the most is authenticity. Creating an authentic experience for your consumers is crucial in establishing that relationship of trust.

While Marketing can easily become inauthentic at times, it’s important to always steer back to that idea of authenticity. You want your consumers to trust your brand – this makes them speak highly of you to bring in more customers, and more importantly, makes them come back. It can be hard for marketers to figure out how to be credible in a community that is filled with so many opposing forces…so let’s break it down!

There was a new study in the Journal of Marketing that explained the way a consumer determines authenticy with six characteristics: accuracy, integrity, legitimacy, proficiency, connectedness, and originality. While these are all pretty straightforward, it’s important to fully understand them and to (try) to keep them integrated in every strategy. Including these elements in everything you do will build your brand’s credibility, which creates a more trusting relationship with your consumers. What happens when you combine your brand being seen as credible and trusting? AUTHENTICITY!

So…what’s the moral of the story? Always keep the characteristics of accuracy, integrity, legitimacy, proficiency, connectedness, and originality in everything you do for your brand. This will help consumers view your brand as authentic; and, thus, make YOU their go-to brand. We know this might be hard to ALWAYS have in the back of your mind, but let us do the work for you. At Uptown Girl Media, we always have these characteristics at the forefront of every strategy we do.

If you’re worried about always making sure you’re being your most authentic self, give us a call! We’ll help you create an authentic strategy that keeps your consumers coming back for more. Let us showcase your most authentic self through our original & organic strategies!

Written by Blake Ecuyer

Edited by Allison Herrera⁣

Your Brand is everything when you are a business. Your logo, color, and (most importantly) your name are things consumers see, hear, and recognize. Brand nicknames, however, create an even deeper connection to a brand than before.

Nicknames foster a sense of community and give brands a cool aspect among the masses. Many brands such as McDonalds, Buffalo Wild Wings, Chevrolet, and more, all have nicknames for their brands. They are also fun and easy to say with friends, family and/or even strangers. For example, McDonalds is referred to as MickeyD’s, Buffalo Wild Wings is known as Bdubs, and people call Walmart by the name of Wally World.

Now, when brands try to use the nicknames for their businesses in advertisements, it can pop the bubble around the nickname by taking the casualness and naturally developed nicknames for things. Merely trying to capitalize on nicknames of the brand loses a piece of its identity. For brands, it is all about fostering the culture around these nicknames instead of flat out trying to put them in a box.

Popular research shows that when marketers successfully strategize and utilize popular nicknames, brand presence becomes maximized within digital landscapes, which includes a boost in SEO & social media profile management. Think you’re ready to give your brand a glow up? Let’s chat – we would love to help you out. Email us today at contact@uptowngirl.media for a customized brand + marketing plan.

Written by Blake Ecuyer

Edited by Allison Herrera⁣

Your Brand is everything when you are a business. Your logo, color, and (most importantly) your name are things consumers see, hear, and recognize. Brand nicknames, however, create an even deeper connection to a brand than before.

Nicknames foster a sense of community and give brands a cool aspect among the masses. Many brands such as McDonalds, Buffalo Wild Wings, Chevrolet, and more, all have nicknames for their brands. They are also fun and easy to say with friends, family and/or even strangers. For example, McDonalds is referred to as MickeyD’s, Buffalo Wild Wings is known as Bdubs, and people call Walmart by the name of Wally World.

Now, when brands try to use the nicknames for their businesses in advertisements, it can pop the bubble around the nickname by taking the casualness and naturally developed nicknames for things. Merely trying to capitalize on nicknames of the brand loses a piece of its identity. For brands, it is all about fostering the culture around these nicknames instead of flat out trying to put them in a box.

Popular research shows that when marketers successfully strategize and utilize popular nicknames, brand presence becomes maximized within digital landscapes, which includes a boost in SEO & social media profile management. Think you’re ready to give your brand a glow up? Let’s chat – we would love to help you out. Email us today at contact@uptowngirl.media for a customized brand + marketing plan.

Written by Jamie Hanzo

Edited by Allison Herrera⁣

Is emotional intelligence the core factor that makes a salesperson successful? Some might say so, however, studies show that it is not the only factor that makes someone good at sales. Journal Marketing discovered that having a high level of emotional intelligence is “not enough” to make a salesperson successful. 

Why are we talking about salespeople today? Well, because digital marketing is essentially selling your product, service or idea behind a screen…and it is what we do best. A salesperson should both have and be skilled, with the ability to use, manage, facilitate and perceive emotions. These skills are not found easily, but when they are, it changes the game.

Researchers asked managers and salespeople throughout many industries (i.e. real estate, insurance, and more) about success. They found that those salespeople who are both emotionally intelligent and emotionally confident hold all the factors someone needs to be a top-notch employee. These types of people are able to relate, calm and empathize with customers resulting in a mutually beneficial relationship with their clients.

If someone did not have both emotional intelligence or emotional confidence, their sales performance would be worse in comparison with someone who does acquire these traits. If someone only has one of these traits, let’s say emotional intelligence for example, but not emotional confidence, that individual probably finds it difficult to obtain relationships with his/her clients. Confidence is key, in all aspects of life. 

On the contrary, if someone has emotional confidence but lacks emotional intelligence, their results in sales will have the same negative results. This is because they are overly-confident while practicing sales and lack evidence to back up their strong points. Statistically, clients do not enjoy communicating with someone who is overly-confident. Most of the time, overly confident sellers lack connections; whereas, the more humble and down to earth you are, the more you can relate to humans on a personal level. Customers find that salespeople who are too confident come off as overly-eager or inattentive, as if they only care about making a sale – not the genuine state of the potential client.

“If their salesforce does not have the emotional confidence to match their emotional skills, then they cannot realize the benefits of these skills.” – (American Marketing Association)

In conclusion, salespeople need to be aware if their emotional intelligence is lacking compared to their emotional confidence, and vice versa. This awareness can be monitored by managers and executives through training. It is equally important to be trained in emotional intelligence as it is to be trained in emotional confidence. By acquiring strong levels in both of these things, sales results will sky rocket for salespeople. 

An environment with encouraging supervision, high levels of team collaboration, and access to resources needed to serve customers is found to be the best for salespeople to obtain qualities of emotional intelligence and confidence. In addition, a workplace that is a low-stress environment can also help a salesperson work to the best of their ability on an emotional level. 

With all of this being said, it is not impossible for someone to gain these traits over time. Salespeople all over the globe are continually striving to be the best they can be. Selling in person is tough enough, so let us come up with innovative and creative ways to get your points across. Call us today, and we can get started.

Written by Jamie Hanzo

Edited by Allison Herrera⁣

Is emotional intelligence the core factor that makes a salesperson successful? Some might say so, however, studies show that it is not the only factor that makes someone good at sales. Journal Marketing discovered that having a high level of emotional intelligence is “not enough” to make a salesperson successful.

Why are we talking about salespeople today? Well, because digital marketing is essentially selling your product, service or idea behind a screen…and it is what we do best. A salesperson should both have and be skilled, with the ability to use, manage, facilitate and perceive emotions. These skills are not found easily, but when they are, it changes the game.

Researchers asked managers and salespeople throughout many industries (i.e. real estate, insurance, and more) about success. They found that those salespeople who are both emotionally intelligent and emotionally confident hold all the factors someone needs to be a top-notch employee. These types of people are able to relate, calm and empathize with customers resulting in a mutually beneficial relationship with their clients.

If someone did not have both emotional intelligence or emotional confidence, their sales performance would be worse in comparison with someone who does acquire these traits. If someone only has one of these traits, let’s say emotional intelligence for example, but not emotional confidence, that individual probably finds it difficult to obtain relationships with his/her clients. Confidence is key, in all aspects of life.

On the contrary, if someone has emotional confidence but lacks emotional intelligence, their results in sales will have the same negative results. This is because they are overly-confident while practicing sales and lack evidence to back up their strong points. Statistically, clients do not enjoy communicating with someone who is overly-confident. Most of the time, overly confident sellers lack connections; whereas, the more humble and down to earth you are, the more you can relate to humans on a personal level. Customers find that salespeople who are too confident come off as overly-eager or inattentive, as if they only care about making a sale – not the genuine state of the potential client.

“If their salesforce does not have the emotional confidence to match their emotional skills, then they cannot realize the benefits of these skills.” – (American Marketing Association)

In conclusion, salespeople need to be aware if their emotional intelligence is lacking compared to their emotional confidence, and vice versa. This awareness can be monitored by managers and executives through training. It is equally important to be trained in emotional intelligence as it is to be trained in emotional confidence. By acquiring strong levels in both of these things, sales results will sky rocket for salespeople.

An environment with encouraging supervision, high levels of team collaboration, and access to resources needed to serve customers is found to be the best for salespeople to obtain qualities of emotional intelligence and confidence. In addition, a workplace that is a low-stress environment can also help a salesperson work to the best of their ability on an emotional level.

With all of this being said, it is not impossible for someone to gain these traits over time. Salespeople all over the globe are continually striving to be the best they can be. Selling in person is tough enough, so let us come up with innovative and creative ways to get your points across. Call us today, and we can get started.