Online Presence Archives – Cortex Marketing

January 31, 2021February 10, 2021

Social Media, Groups Or Pages; Which Is Best?

When Social Media started in 1997, there wasn’t much to it.

It started to get its rise in the early 2000s — when the first big-idea(s) regarding the power of online networking started and was in its infancy.

In fact, there were many great ideas that came across the social media platforms at the time. Two of the most popular features, with the staying power of time (amazing within a social media world), have been “groups” and “pages”. Now, almost all of the major networking sites, e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn, NextDoor, etc., have them for you to join or create.

As such, we are now in a time where these features, and how they work within the platforms, are fairly standard… yet they serve two very distinct purposes.

So what are the Social Media differences regarding Groups & Pages?

Essentially, if you’re looking to establish a brand and promote your business to a large number of people, a Facebook or LinkedIn Page makes the most sense. If you’re a new or small business looking to establish a presence, a group can be of great help, especially if you sell niche products.

Further “Groups” are great for things you are passionate about that you want a sense of community. Pages, on the other hand, are more for broadcasting your message or narrative of your brand. They will both support your big-ideas, blog announcements, daily thoughts, however, the decision on which to have, is largely how you want the interactive & engagement aspects to take place.

So… which is best for you?

Social Media Groups

Groups make it easy to connect with specific sets of people, like teammates or coworkers. Groups are dedicated spaces where you can share updates, photos or documents and message other group members, which makes them great for networking as well as sharing.

Facebook is easily the largest social networking site in the world and one of the most widely used. The general advantage of Facebook is that your message can get to virtually everybody who’s on social media anywhere in the world. The disadvantage is that your message can get to virtually anybody who’s on social media anywhere in the world, so you have to be clear about the purpose is of your group and ensure your description is easy to understand, as well as, create a set of rules and guidelines, so you can moderate the page effectively.

This also goes for the other major business networking site, which is LinkedIn. I personally love LinkedIn and they have a very strong library of groups that you can join. However, with both of these group platforms, if you are not regularly active, you can get lost in the mire of it all.

Social Media Pages

Inherent to the nature of social media, pages are unique in that they are primarily for a business’s brand and are, overall, fantastic for being able to capture a brand’s web presence. However, you are much more likely to get an issue-based engagement directed at your customer service.

Pages are great for customer service in that you can see who your directly dealing with — as Facebook has vetted that for the user to be able to speak to you — in other words, the customer has almost immediate access to you and your service-complaint-department, allowing them to feel more in control; one of the key component to an effective customer service department.

There Are Many Social Media Platforms With Groups & Pages

I am not sure of how many platforms have groups and pages, as that number is changing almost monthly. However, most Social Media allow you to create, manage and engage, within a much more specific way via your interests. Some of the top ones are:

- - Facebook
  - LinkedIn
  - NextDoor
  - Twitter
  - Instagram
  - Pinterest
  - Reddit

100+ Social Media Demographics that Matter to Marketers in 2021

Hootsuite just released “100+ Social Media Demographics that Matter to Marketers in 2021” where “Understanding social media demographics will help you fine-tune your marketing strategy and reach the right people with your message.” It’s a good read and I highly recommend it!

Anyway, if you need guidance with your marketing, Cortex provides a variety of services that may be a good fit for you. Please reach out at 1-888-502-3523 or schedule a quick chat and I will call you.

Writing Your Social Media Descriptions

Are you a small business owner that is struggling with the all too typical problem of not knowing what to write, how to start, or how to position what you want to say to be compelling and influential? I know you did not get into your business to write about it, however, this is overwhelming for many.

Cortex has you covered; I specialize in creating compelling content & marketing copy when you find it difficult to create it yourself. Let’s have a no-cost, no-obligation quick chat and let me help you get seen, get heard, and get noticed!

August 16, 2019

Brand Colors – How To Pick Your Color Scheme

Picking Your Brand Colors
So you are at the stage of picking your brand’s colors or you have decided to rebrand your business. How do you go about picking the colors for your new brand?

Regardless of whether you’ve decided to branch out from a company or are launching a game-changing new startup, understanding the impact of color on consumer behaviour will help solidify your brand become a success.

Remember, we buy emotionally and research shows that up to 85% of consumers believe color is the biggest motivator to choose a particular product, while 92% acknowledge visual appearance as the most persuasive marketing factor overall.

How Do People Respond to Brand Colors?

Every color elicits a different response from humans. Having a clear idea about what your brand’s goals are and how you want your target audience to feel will help you hone in on the most impressive colors to choose for your brand.

Colors can be divided into two main categories: warm and cool. Warm colors tend to be associated with energy, while cool colors are linked with calmness and security.

But how do each of the following colors affect us and what does that mean for your brand? Here’s an overview — courtesy of Marketo — of what differentiates each color and how your brand can pick the right mix of them.

Red

Red evokes a passionate and visceral response. It is a color that increases your heart rate, makes your breath faster, and is generally associated with energy, excitement, and passion. It’s one of the colors that is attention-grabbing, while it can also be provocative and excitable.

Color code: aggressive, energetic, provocative, attention-grabbing, passionate

Purple

Purple is a sophisticated yet mysterious color. It tends to be used with higher-end products due to its association with royalty and elegance. Purple’s mysterious element is also linked with spirituality, and it can bring a magical element to your branding.

Color code: royalty, sophistication, nostalgia, mystery, spirituality

Blue

Blue is the most popular color choice for the top brands. It is thought to put people at ease, as it reminds them of the sky and the ocean. Blue is also associated with trust, security, and confidence which make a great combination for the brands that want these elements in their message.

Color code: trustworthy, dependable, secure, responsible, confident

Green

Green is a color that is synonymous with calmness, safety, and freshness. Its various shades can create a unique brand identity for your company. Green tends to be associated with health along with the feelings of peace and serenity.

Color code: Wealth, health, prestige, serenity, generosity, safety

Yellow

Yellow is a popular color choice for brands that want to evoke a feeling of positivity in their identity. Its association with the sun on its different shadows brings out hope and optimism. Yellow also stands out among other colors, which makes a yellow brand identity creative and appealing.

Color code: positivity, light, warmth, motivation, creativity, happiness

Orange

Orange makes an ideal color choice for brands that want to blend the optimism and the brightness of yellow and the passion and the energy of red. It is a creative and cheerful color that evokes a friendly and adventurous feeling.

Color code: vitality, fun, playful, exuberant, outgoing

Brown

Brown represents the earthly simplicity and it is usually preferred to reflect stability and strength. It’s comforting in its simplicity and is preferred by brands that want to be classical and trustworthy, without proceeding to bold moves. Brown is associated with the earth and can also remind people of dirt, so there needs to be a careful use of it, especially if it stands out as the main color for a brand.

Color code: earth-like, natural, simplistic, durable, comforting

Black

Black is another popular color option for brands and it tends to be one of the most classic options. It’s both classic and sophisticated and it can make a brand identity stand out. It seems to work perfectly with luxury products, blending the classic and powerful elements. Black is one of the colors that can be combined with others to add a stronger emotion, without losing the classical appeal.

Color code: Prestige, value, timelessness, sophistication, power

White

White represents simplicity, purity, and also cleanliness. These three make it extremely popular in the healthcare sector, in the cleaning business, but also in the child-related businesses. White can also bring out a feeling of trust by tapping in to purity and simplicity.

Color code: pure, noble, clean, soft

So what is your choice? Need some additional guidance? I love chatting about this kinda stuff, so, for a 20-minute, at no cost chat, visit here!!

March 12, 2018March 12, 2018

Accelerate Your Social Media – 5-Key Things That You Should Be Doing

Social media has confused many businesses and organizations over the past few years. Most get that they have to provide meaty, relevant content, but too many are not using proven engagement strategies that could significantly raise the success level of organically hitting a wider audience.

Discover the 5-key things you should be doing within your social media posts:

1) ENGAGEMENT AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY

Engagement (not numbers/views) is the #1 goal on Social Media.

Without engagement, you are yelling into a vacuum. Features do not create engagement, so be sure that you are using “relevant benefits” and focused on the perspective/viewpoint of the audience.

This life-changing video — regarding how you operate in your marketing world — takes 17-minutes out of your day to view “How Great Leaders Inspire Action” by New York Times® Best Selling Author of ‘The Power of Why’, Simon Sinek

2) KEEP POSTING, POSTING, POSTING ON SOCIAL MEDIA

This is a key component in your overall strategy. The frequency makes people always see something new, and that means it is “fresh” in the eyes of a like-minded spirit.

“When it comes to posting on Facebook and LinkedIn, remember that you may only have between two and five posts per week that will get distribution by the networks’ news feeds. With that in mind, focus on the quality of each post (and the content preferences of your audience), and aim to get more likes, comments, and shares as your metrics of success to build up your audience and to make the news feed algorithms work for you. And when it comes to Twitter, post freely — the timeline updates so frequently that you’re at an advantage posting more often to reach more people.” ~ Daria Marmer at Hubspot

3) PROVOKE, RESPOND, AND THEN RESPOND AGAIN

Research shows that to boost your engagement and response rate, keep your posts between 50 and 125 words. Response rates declined slowly, from 50% for 125-word messages, to about 44% for 500-word messages. After that, it stayed flat until about 2,000 words. This applies to email marketing too.

4) SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT ABOUT THE PITCH

Stay away from the pitches of ideology. Use your content-real-estate to connect with the audience, rather than just sharing what you find interesting.

With the advent of the influencer and the often paid promotion of “lifestyles” via social media, one would think that people would be accepting of sales pitches infiltrating their social media feed, however, that’s just not the case.

Your social media strategy should be about influencing and speaking to the people that already believe what you believe — your CTA should be about them sharing for themselves, not for you. It is this type of social media strategy that is what gets the most shares and engagement, grows your audience and potentially goes viral.

5) MEASURE, ANALYZE, AND ADJUST

All social media platforms have analytics. You should be watching those numbers and using the data to fine-tune your approach as defined in your strategy.

Adjustments along the way are common, if not crucial. We have a distinct advantage — more than any other time in history — to see exactly how our organic and paid marketing is doing. Incremental changes over time can make a big difference!

Don’t get too caught up in the numbers. I say this as there is so much data, that it is easy to get hung up in the marshlands of analytics. 80% action; 20% analytics is how I operate!

LASTLY, DISCOVER HOW CORTEX MARKETING CAN HELP

Did you know that there are several facets of social media management? Get a free assessment of your social media strategy and which management plan may be right for you!

February 22, 2018February 22, 2018

Your Best Asset Is Your Ability To Sell Yourself

“Sell yourself” is such a ubiquitous term. Even as I say it, at least one of you is saying: “I don’t get it.”.

That is because I believe that the ‘end goal’ is selling, not selling yourself.

The approach on how to sell yourself should be more marketing methodology than in the sales methodology in the development. To successfully sell yourself, you’ll need to do these Top-4 things:

Know your “brand”;
Be a storyteller;
Know your audience; and
Show don’t tell.

power of why circle As I covered in my “The Power Of Why” blog post, a huge part of inspiring others to take action, is to clearly state ‘why’ you do what you do. Within that, you must first know yourself i.e. what drives you, what gets you up in the morning.

Someone who exemplifies this is Alan L. Sklover. He writes a weekly blog about employer and employee legal issues — and this quote was offered to Alan by one of his followers and he shared it.:

“Want a new client or customer? First, you must “sell” the value of your product or service to them. Want a raise or promotion? First, you must “sell” your value to your employer. Want a new job? First, you must “sell” yourself to the new employer. An effort is the “horse” that pulls the “cart” of opportunity. Always been that way; always will be. It’s a challenge if you accept it; a continual disappointment if you don’t.” ~ Patrice of Santa Rosa, New Mexico

So how do YOU start the process of how to “sell yourself”?

Schedule 30-minutes with me and I will buy you coffee and walk you through the process. —Yes, I just said I will buy you coffee!! Ask me how.

June 14, 2017January 13, 2018

How To Increase Your Online Presence

Are you ready to get serious about your online presence?

Your Online Presence in Your Personal and Business Branding

In today’s online world, it is crucial to pay attention to your online presence and the many ways in which ‘a potential customer’ can discover more about you or your business.

As an example, if you are looking for a job, you need to be aware of your digital footprint — the information connected with your name online. This is two-fold however as if you are a business, you definitely want to come up in the SERP (search engine result pages) when someone needs your product or service.

Forbes Magazine says: “For most customers in the 21st Century, their first introduction to a business is by discovering the business online. That’s why each and every business needs to have a strong online presence.” ~ Full Article at Forbes.com

And while your personal and business presence may seem like distant cousins, they are more like brother and sister. Each has its own set of pros and cons, and you should examine — if not leverage — each of those.

Some of them are:

The topic(s) of your content
Your overriding branding and character of that brand
Your message frequency
Your public-facing follow through in online message boards/forums/help centres
The quality of your publically presented messages and images
… and more… (contact me to discuss further)

So how are you approaching your own online presence? Let’s dive a bit deeper…

Website Optimization, SEO, and Your Online Presence

Let’s face it, none of us really know for certain what are the algorithms of Google, Bing or other search engines. Google — the owner of the 2 biggest search engines: Google.com and YouTube.com — keeps a tight lid on the actual formula, but they do give hints as to what they are looking to achieve regarding their users’ experience.

According to MOZ: “A webpage doesn’t always look the same to you and me as it looks to a search engine.” ~ Full Article at Moz.com

That all said, optimizing your site for its message, its focus keyword & content friendliness, and its code, is a synergy that just cannot be ignored these days.

If you use a WordPress site (like I do), I recommend the Yoast plugin. According to Wiki: “Yoast is currently considered the most comprehensive search engine optimization software available for WordPress users, with its developers responsible for over 10% of WordPress releases.”

FYI – WordPress is reportedly the most popular website management or blogging system in use on the Web, supporting more than 60 million websites — that means that about 6million WordPress sites use Yoast.

Being Visible Online

Being visible and top-of-mind is a science all on its own. The online world is full of opportunities for promoting your business. If you desire to grow your client base, then being found, being visible, and connecting with prospects and clients online, is going to be very important for you.

To ensure you will be visible online, you will need to address the following elements:

Your Relevant Content: This goes for both Social Media and your website. Your website content should contain the words and phrases that clients would use to search for your type of business. Now no ‘keyword spamming’; the recommended keyword density is 2.5%.

The Quantity of Your Content: The more written content you have on your website the more there is for Google to find, rank and return in their results. A very effective way to add regular new content to your website is by publishing a blog.

Good Coding Practices and Meta-Tags: On the technical side, the coding that sits behind your website pages should include relevant page titles, descriptions and keyword tags.

Links: Quality links to and from your website are important to search engines because they can indicate relevance and popularity.

Your Social Media Online Presence

Ah, Social Media, It is kind of hard to even think about being online without it anymore.

However, for your business, Social Media is an important part of your online presence. It improves your chances of generating additional connections and generating customer loyalty, allowing customers — and potential customers — the ability to easily engage beyond the sale.

Category: Online Presence