Tagged: marketing
Why brand authenticity wins over marketing perfection every time
- by Luke Thiessen
Have you ever seen an ad that stopped you in your tracks, just because it felt so real? Has a piece of marketing ever made you think, wow, nobody else could have gotten away with that?
To me, moments like these are the holy grail of marketing. Even if I don’t know the brand and have no interest in the product, it just makes me giddy to see marketing that truly embraces authenticity.
The internet – and social media especially – really changed the game, lowering the costs and risks of trying new things with marketing. Trying something weird, edgy or different is difficult to justify when you’re paying top dollar for the ad space. But on social media, where all it costs you is your time? The only thing holding you back is your courage. (Okay, and maybe your CEO or board of directors.)
Now, I’m not here to say that every brand should embrace the weirdest and wackiest advertising they can imagine. That’s not going to be authentic to most brands – we’ll get into what authenticity should look like for you. But first: a detour to Denny’s Diner.
Denny’s, and brands being weird on the internet
Even before Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, some brands were embracing the wild-west nature of the early internet by creating weird online personas, and were often rewarded for it.
Most notably, Denny’s – the American diner chain – gained notoriety for starting a Tumblr account (an early blogging-slash-social-media platform famous for its weird niche communities) where they fully embraced the internet culture of the day. Denny’s was posting memes and engaging with fans in ways that matched and even exceeded the weirdness of the platform and the internet as a whole, going viral (or what passed for viral 15 years ago) over and over for content that, as one internet commenter described it, “captured exactly what it feels like to be in a Denny’s at 3am.”
But as is the way of the marketing world, Denny’s soon had its imitators, and they started with similar restaurants. Wendy’s became known for doing similar things on Twitter (where Denny’s has also been active), and many other fast food chains effectively copied the model with varying degrees of commitment and success.
The problem with all of this is that, while it was once novel and effective, the many copycats have caused this to no longer feel unique, and have arguably demonstrated why this was never truly “authentic” to begin with. Innovative and entertaining, yes. But authentic? I don’t think so.
How to craft an authentic brand voice
It may sound ironic on the face of it, the idea of “crafting” an authentic voice. How authentic can it be if you had to craft it?
But hear me out. I believe true authenticity for brands should be a natural extension of having a few key things in place:
- Well-defined values
- A strong USP (Unique Selling Proposition)
- A robust copy / style guide
If you are missing any of the above, or if they are not well defined, it’s likely your marketing will be less consistent, lower quality, more easily swayed by the trends and movements around you, and ultimately inauthentic.
[And for those who didn’t go to marketing or business school: a USP, or Unique Selling Proposition, is a concise description of what makes your product or service different from your competitors.]
If you have the above, and have done them well, authenticity in marketing should become easy. Whether you do your own marketing, have an employee or team, or hire an agency (like Starling Social, for instance!), these things should act as a roadmap for marketing that feels grounded in everything that makes your business unique.
And that doesn’t have to mean weird. Some of the best marketing I’ve seen has felt authentic simply because it’s real, it’s unique to the brand, and it isn’t trying to be anything it’s not.
Why authenticity beats marketing perfection every time
If the backlash to AI in digital marketing can teach us anything, it’s that most people can smell marketing that is inauthentic.
We even see research bear that out. Companies like Meta conduct regular user surveys to test ad recall, and even ads that do everything “right” will have a substantial number of people scroll right past, quickly forgetting what they saw.
We don’t have the data to prove why someone can’t recall a given ad because, well, they forgot it already. But we know that authenticity gets attention and increases retention and conversion, especially among younger audiences.
A survey from Stackla found that 90% of Millennials say authenticity is important for them when deciding what brands to buy from. And they’re not alone – 85% of Gen X respondents said the same, along with 80% of Baby Boomers.
Authenticity also builds brand trust, something that is both increasingly important and increasingly rare according to numerous studies. While the average consumer today has lower trust in most companies and institutions than they did in decades past, they value it more and will reward those companies which earn and keep that trust.
Another thing consumers care about now more than ever before is supporting brands whose values align with their own. That can be tricky, especially when your values might get mixed up in politics and other touchy, controversial subjects. However, messaging that may exclude some customers can often be extra effective for attracting and retaining other, better customers.
A very basic version of this is the modern trend of ads that say something like, “our product isn’t for everyone,” or “our product isn’t cheap” – implying by exclusion that it might be just your kind of thing, or very high quality. This can be very effective – although beware being the late copycat using a trope that your customers have seen too many times.
How can we help?
If you could use help finding your brand’s authentic voice, or using it to create great marketing, we are here for you.
Whether it’s a one-time brand audit, help with a specific campaign, or ongoing management of your social media channels, Starling Social has the team and tools to elevate your digital marketing into something truly authentic, and truly effective.
Get in touch today and let us know how we can help.
Meet Hayley Dobson
- by Alicia Kurz
Hayley Dobson is a childless cat lady. And if you know any childless cat ladies, you know that they have many interesting hobbies, take on the coveted role of fun aunt, make the best pet-sitters, and they basically live a more elevated lifestyle of someone in their twenties who can do what they want — except they aren’t broke and have a fully developed brain.
The other thing about women with fully developed brains is that they like to use them. If there’s one thing I know for sure about having a relationship with Hayley, you don’t want to get into a debate with her because you will certainly lose. This woman is informed, clever, and confident — as she should be. She can convince anyone of anything, which makes her an incredible and captivating storyteller.
When Hayley joined the Starling team, it was a blessing for us because of her personality and intelligence, and she became a great fit for our clients because she’s a funny, hard-working perfectionist.
Personal Life
Hayley “levels up” everything she is involved in. Her interest in yoga and dance led her to complete her 500-hour RYT certification, which she has been working towards for seven years.
“I'm really interested in movement as a healing modality and a path to more authentic expression.”
If you ask Hayley to do something, she gives it 110% every single time. One of the best examples of this was turning a simple bridesmaid speech into a personalized rap at a friend’s wedding — a performance the crowd will never forget.
She loves attending and running community events, and if you ever meet her at one, you’ll be able to find her because of a loud outfit (think light-up cowboy hats or eccentric costumes to fit any theme) and the gathering of people who naturally are drawn to her.
Whether you credit this to a trait she’s born with or the time, effort and space she’s given to working on herself and the connection between mindfulness and creativity — she’s that girl.
Work Life
Hayley started her marketing career over 10 years ago while she was completing her communications degree at Carleton University. During that time, she worked for the Student Association as Vice President of Student Life. She put her skills to use planning the student social calendar for the year, putting together events like orientation week, huge concerts, and homecoming. This is where she fell in love with experiential marketing and hosting events.
After graduation, Hayley started working in community at Lululemon in Vancouver.
“That's where I learned the power of meaningful experiences and how they support in building community, creating emotional impact, and driving awareness and brand resonance.”
She went on to work in sales and marketing in the cannabis industry, which taught her about working in regulated environments and building an industry from scratch.
Why is Storytelling Important for Businesses?
For many people, the ultimate decision about what product they buy or service they invest in comes down to whether the business or individual offering it aligns with their values. Storytelling allows consumers to learn more about what you believe and why you do what you do. It's the heartbeat of your marketing, and weaving the right story brings magic and life into your brand.
Storytelling helps businesses connect with their audience on a deeper level. When you are choosing a lunch spot, do you choose the sandwich shop you know nothing about, or the one where the owner went to Europe to learn culinary techniques and bring it back to your town because they have a passion for sharing good food? Having a back story just makes your purchase feel more special.
It’s about sharing values, experiences, and emotions. When you tell your brand's story—how you started, the challenges you faced, or even your quirky office culture—you make your business relatable and memorable.
Hayley is always interested in how brands show up outside their brick-and-mortar locations. She enjoys finding the stories within clients’ work and sharing them in an engaging way.
How Can Businesses Create Community Around Their Brand?
There's something special about providing people with the opportunity to have an experience with your brand - to create a memory.
Hayley says the best way to create community around your brand is to offer people meaningful ways to engage with it both within your brick-and-mortar and/or online space and outside of it.
Utilize experiential marketing in a way that works for you, whether that looks like hosting an event, going live on Instagram to answer questions or provide information, or offering surprise and delight moments in your store. Collaborate with other businesses who believe what you believe to help grow your reach. And most importantly, make people feel valued and cared for.
These actions create an emotional impact that drives awareness and brand resonace,
If you’re looking for someone to tell your stories and add personality and colour to your digital marketing strategy, reach out to us here.
Ethical Content and Content Marketing in the Age of AI
- by Alicia Kurz
Written by Sr. Account Manager Alicia Kurz
Here at Starling Social, we’re all for working smarter, not harder. With new AI writing tools popping up what feels like weekly, it would be silly not to utilize them. They can help with spelling and grammar edits and are great for idea generation. What these tools still can’t do is write like humans.
We’re not going to BS you and try and say we never use AI, in fact, it’s almost impossible to get around. Even our scheduling tools have built-in AI features. As someone who uses these tools, the AI output is glaringly obvious, which is why we opt out of certain features. We spot content written by AI in blogs, captions, newsletters, and, honestly, everywhere. This just reinforces the difference that a human touch can make in your content — and we’re okay with that!
Let’s dig into the ethics, pros and cons, useful tools, and everything AI content marketing related.
The Intersection of Ethics, Content, and AI
AI is not going anywhere, and neither is the need for more content that’s on trend, on brand, and delivered in a timely manner across all your marketing channels. With that, comes ethical considerations.
What’s crossing the line when it comes to producing content for your own business — or in a marketing agency’s case, other businesses' content when AI is involved?
We believe in transparency, and using AI to enhance content, as opposed to compromising our ethical standards. What’s considered ethical in our field when incorporating AI into your writing, is using tools to streamline processes (like editing) or spark ideas. What isn’t cool, is plugging an idea into ChatGPT, asking for a 500-word blog, and calling it your own.
Using AI to assist in writing brings up concerns about authenticity, plagiarism, biases, and what responsibilities writers have. We don’t have all the answers, but here are a few things to consider if you are going to use AI to help create your content:
Authenticity: Please edit or prompt your program to use your (or your brand’s) voice, values and key messages. Otherwise, your writing will sound robotic and boring. Keep it true to your brand.
Accuracy: Just like when you’re scrolling through social media, fact-check your information. AI sources content from across the internet, so there’s no guarantee that it got its information from a reliable source.
Honesty: Don’t deceive your audience by passing off work created by AI as your own. Keep plagiarism and copyright law in mind, and always ask if it feels right to put your name on AI-generated work.
The only way to use AI effectively is with human oversight. While these tools offer efficiency and automation, a person is what makes your content align with brand values, quality standards, and ethical considerations.
The Pros and Cons of Leveraging AI in Content Creation and Marketing
We’re in a love-hate relationship with the idea of AI and content creation. Editing tools are a lifesaver for writers and people with screen fatigue (read: us). But we’re now seeing a lot of content that’s lacking a human touch, making it boring and forgettable.
Pros
Content generation: You can truly ask AI to write you anything, and it will produce it in a matter of seconds. This is great for generating ideas, asking questions, and helping to repurpose content.
Cost: It’s free, and you really can’t beat that. Of course, you can get access to better AI services with paid subscriptions, but there are free options readily available for anyone with internet access.
Insights: If you have data from Google, your social channels, or a newsletter, you can use AI to help you identify trends and keywords and develop strategies to improve the return on your marketing efforts.
Editing: After staring at your own work for hours on end, it feels impossible to spot minor spelling and grammar errors. These extensions improve your writing and help avoid any careless mistakes and embarrassing errors.
Availability: AI writing tools are available round-the-clock, allowing marketers to generate content at any time, regardless of time zones or office hours.
Cons
Lack of Creativity: Since AI sources information from what’s already available on the internet, you could argue that it’s unable to be creative at all. Additionally, (for us anyway) it feels good to come up with creative ideas and execute them.
Quality Concerns: You can usually tell when AI wrote something. There’s awkward phrasing, a lack of personality, and consistency to a fault in AI’s tone and style.
Limited Understanding: AI doesn’t quite get nuances, cultural references, trends, or context. The output can sometimes be wrong, or inappropriate.
Potential Plagiarism: Oops, AI can spit out plagiarized material, risking your reputation or even legal repercussions. This is another reason to only use these tools for information gathering, inspiration, and editing!
No Human Touch: AI can’t produce content that resonates with the human experience because it hasn’t had human experience. Think about those videos where people get AI to watch 1000 hours of Hallmark movies and create their own — they just don’t make sense. The key to connecting with your audience is authenticity!
Your Brain Stops Working: Not really, but kind of. You know what they say: if you don’t use it, you lose it. The more you write, the better you get, so using AI to write everything for you just takes away any opportunity for you to improve that skill on your own.
How to Spot AI in Writing
Spotting AI-generated writing can sometimes be challenging. After all, writing isn’t everybody’s strong suit. Keep an eye out for repetitive patterns, unnatural language transitions, or inconsistencies in writing style.
There are common “red flags” like:
- Unusual phrasing
- Generic language
- Emotionless writing
- Heavy use of keywords
- The same tone and style
- Lack of personal anecdotes
The bonus of having content so heavily produced by AI is that human-authored content now stands out even more. No algorithm can replicate the depth of human emotions or intuition.
5 Useful AI Tools
Grammarly
What it does: Analyzes written text for grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, punctuation issues, and sometimes even style and tone inconsistencies.
Note: Make sure you set your location correctly (it defaults to U.S. spelling) and make sure Grammarly’s corrections still sound like you. Their “rewrite for clarity” option can be grammatically correct, but sometimes removes the personality from your piece.
Hemmingway Editor
What it does: Uses AI to fix common grammatical issues and spelling mistakes. It also assesses the reading level of your writing.
Note: In writing for the public, you want your score to be at at 8th grade reading level.
ChatGPT
What it does: It is a chatbot that can provide information, answer questions, generate content, and assist with various tasks.
Note: Content generated from ChatGPT sounds automated. We recommend using it to gather information, ask questions, or even help with repurposing content.
Rytr
What it does: It’s an AI writing software that can create blog posts, email and ad copy, outlines, stories, and more. It also has functions like checking for plagiarism and keyword research.
Note: We find it useful for creating blog outlines, but you still need to edit the output heavily.
Perplexity
What it does: This chatbot is similar to ChatGPT, but it provides sources for its output.
Note: This one is great for doing research!
There are so many AI content creation tools that we aren’t going to go through them all, but these ones are vetted. We aren’t trying to sell you anything—just give you a heads-up on what’s available.
Balancing Automation with Authenticity
There are clear benefits of automation in marketing, like efficiency and scale, but authenticity is necessary to build trust and credibility with consumers. Only people have the sense to create great, personalized experiences that capture consumers' attention.
Authenticity isn’t something that can be automated. It requires empathy and an attempt to understand and respond to a real person. Too much automation risks creating impersonal content that fails to resonate with your audience.
If you’re interested in human-authored copywriting to connect with your audience, contact Alyson at alyson@starling.social to discuss your next project.
The 4 Vital Marketing Metrics That Matter to The C-Suite
- by Alyson Shane
Whether you're a FT social media manager or a part of an agency handling the social media for multiple brands, having the ability to analyze relevant data and make quick decisions is essential.
That being said, being able to report on your findings and convey the information you've gathered in a way that makes sense to your C-Suite executives can often make or break your ability to drive the changes needed to continue to increase the ROI of your efforts.
With this in mind we've compiled a list of the top marketing metrics that our C-Suite clients care about the most. Let's dive in:
Followers
Followers may be one of the first metrics that traditional marketers are quick to write off, but slow down there! The number of followers you have is important because perception matters, and a high Follower rate acts as social proof to let other users know that a brand is worth following.
How to sell it to the C-Suite
More followers = increased perceived influence.
The key to conveying the importance of Followers comes down to being able to demonstrate that your followers meet your Target Audience criteria. Being able to demonstrate that a significant portion of your Followers are people who meet a business' Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) will ensure that leadership sees the value in the communication platforms we're using.
If industry influencers (these vary depending on your industry) are following your brand on social media, use this as an opportunity to collaborate or tap into their social following in order to increase awareness about your brand.
Some actions you can take include:
- Develop Affiliate Business and Influencer lists. Use these lists to prioritize who your brand engages with on social media, and use their content as 3rd party curated content for your own timelines.
- Share interesting, educational content. Share a variety of content to help potential new followers see the value in following your brand online.
- Engage, don't just promote. Nobody wants to follow a brand that looks self-interested, so take time to quote tweets, respond to comments, and re-share interesting, industry-specific information whenever possible.
Engagement
Monitoring how often followers are liking, sharing, re-sharing, and commenting on a brand's social media content is one of the easiest ways to tell if the content you're sharing is resonating with your audience.
How to sell it to the C-Suite
Engagement = Reach = Followers = Leads / Conversions
One universal across all social media platforms is that their algorithms prioritize engagement above all else. This means that the more engagement your posts have, the higher organic (unpaid) reach your social content will have.
If your ultimate goal with your content is to drive conversions and new leads, then the more engaging your content is, the father it will reach.
Some actions you can take include:
- Pitch social media as a customer service opportunity. Sprout Social found that 35% of people prefer social media to any other channel for customer support, which means you can leverage these platforms as a way to keep customers happy.
- Seek out 1-1 conversations. According to Marketo, modern-day consumers look to social media as an opportunity to build relationships with brands. Give them that opportunity!
Leads Generated
Marketing and sales are intricately linked with one another, and one of the best ways to convey the value of social media and your digital marketing efforts is to link what you do to the leads generated by the brand you're working for (or with.)
Make sure to utilize tracking parameters in every URL you post so you can measure the leads generated from your paid and organic social campaigns and include your findings in your reports.
How to sell it to the C-Suite
Social campaigns = Conversions = Leads
The most important component of presenting this information isn't measuring which of your social campaigns have the highest lead conversion rate; it's understanding how many of those conversions became quality business leads that moved successfully through a brand's sales pipeline.
Some actions you can take include:
- Identifying your buyer's journey. Different social campaigns will speak to leads who are at different places along the buyer's journey, so determine how a campaign will use copy, visual assets, and even video to encourage them to take the next step.
- Test different content. Different content drives different responses, and a strong social strategy should include a variety of content combinations to avoid looking stale and continue to drive engagement.
Revenue
You must have known we'd be ending on this all-important metric.
Obviously whether a business is generating revenue will play in to whether or not they have the bandwidth, budget, and interest in social promotion, but your role as a marketer is to draw a connection between what you do and the revenue the business generates.
How to sell it to the C-Suite
Social promotion = engagement + reach = new leads / customers = revenue
Digital marketing is a game that requires long-term investment. C-suite executives who expect to see an instant increase in ROI need a reality check, because social promotion isn't just about acquiring new leads; it's also about nurturing existing relationships and converting our audience from followers to brand advocates.
Brand advocates are individuals who not only buy from the same brand on a repeat basis, but they actively engage with the business online, recommend their products and services to their friends, and colleagues, and generally report positive and trusting feelings about that brand.
Some actions you can take include:
- Don't expect the most out of every channel. Depending on your industry, some social channels are great for lead generation, while others are better for nurturing existing relationships.
- Some leads take time to convert. Most consumers (B2B and B2C) need time to familiarize themselves with a new brand before making a purchase or reaching out.
Are there any metrics that your c-suite is obsessed with? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or on Instagram!
7 Not-Just-Marketing Books to Read This Holiday Season
- by Alyson Shane
It's almost the holiday season (yahoo!) and while the the time away from the office may provide an opportunity to overeat (hi, carbs), toast to friends, family, and loved ones, and catch up on some much-needed rest, it's also a great opportunity to sink your teeth into a good book.
In our case, we love reading books about marketing from thought leaders in our industry. Reading their books provides us with valuable sources of inspiration and knowledge, helps us better understand the minds behind some of the biggest successes in our field, and often provide us with answers and lessons that we can apply to solving future challenges for our clients.
That being said, there are often lessons to be learned in books that aren't specifically about our industry, as well, which is why our holiday roundup includes some marketing and business classics, as well as a few other interesting reads thrown in for good measure.
So if you're thinking of putting aside some time to get a little learning in while you relax over the holidays, consider curling up with one of these entertaining, info-packed, thought-provoking reads:
1. How to Win Friends and Influence People
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie is one of the best-selling self-help books ever written, and it played a pivotal role in how we think about how we represent our clients online.
When we act on our client's behalf, by posting to their social media, for example, we consider every engagement to be an opportunity to further develop our relationship with that individual. By using techniques outlined in the book (the TL;DR of which is essentially "be interested in people, listen, ask engaged questions, and be polite") we work to create meaningful relationships with our client's audiences and customers by paying attention and being genuinely interested in how they're doing, not just how they're engaging with us.
2. Steve Jobs
Whether you love or hate Apple products, this biography of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson is a fascinating look into the passion, values, and drive behind one of the most influential figures in the modern tech world.
Steve Jobs not only played a major role in revolutionizing desktop and mobile technology, but he created a fan base who have an almost cult-like obsession with his products, and this deep dive into the mind of the tech giant is a must-read for any marketer or entrepreneur.
3. Blue Ocean Strategy
Starting a new business can be daunting for any entrepreneur, especially if you're starting a business in a space that's already saturated with similar businesses (like *ahem* digital marketing.) Luckily, in 2005 professors W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne and their book Blue Ocean Shift provided an innovative way of looking at how companies can create "blue oceans" of uncontested market space (compared to "red oceans" already full of competitors and their blood - yikes.)
While the original is a great read, the recently released an updated version of the original which includes updated case studies and examples, chapter expansions and additions, and a new preface by the authors (with the great title "Help! My Ocean is Turning Red") for businesses who may now be feeling the effects of increasing competitiveness in their market.
4. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
Malcom Gladwell is a whip-smart thinker who wrote one of our favorite books about language (The Stuff of Thought) and The Tipping Point is one of our favorite books about how trends catch on in popular culture.
Gladwell bases his analyses on several factors, including the "stickiness factor" which makes a message memorable (our pals in the startup world are probably familiar with this term), the power of context, and how external factors influence widespread human behavior. He also describes what he calls the "Law of the Few" and how 80% of change is created, discovered, and shared by three types of people: Connectors, Salesmen, and Mavens.
(If you read this one, or have read it, tweet at us and let us know which one you think you are!)
5. The Book of Business Awesome/Un-Awesome
Despite the super-cheesy catchphrase ("UnAwesome is UnAcceptable", har har) Scott Stratten's book is a must-read for any marketer looking to make a significant impact in today's digital landscape and provides meaningful examples of the good, bad, and (ahem) UnAwesome. Even though it's a little junior - it's meant for people who don't already live their lives completely immersed in social media - it's still a valuable reminder of some of the most important aspects of navigating the digital landscape.
One of the biggest takeaways from the book is this: whatever you did before social media is only going to be amplified by your digital presence. If you're new to the world of personal branding, social media, and digital marketing, or just looking for an entertaining and clever refresher on the basics, then this book should be the first one on your holiday reading list.
6. Writing on the Wall
If you're looking for an in-depth read about how humans communicate then we recommend Tom Standage's Writing on the Wall, which offers a historical perspective on where we've come from and where we are when it comes to sharing information.
Starting with the Roman Empire and erasable wax tablets used an informal messaging system (told you he started early), moving through the Dark Ages where most literary men lived in monasteries and information was scarce, through to Gutenburg and the printing press and into modern-day communications methods including TV, radio, and - of course - social media, Standage's book is a great read for anyone interested in the story of how our species has recorded, stored, and shared what we know.
7. The Digital Divide: Arguments for and Against Facebook, Google, Texting, and the Age of Social Networking
Did 2017 feel like a year when you couldn't hear a balanced argument? Then dive into this collection of essays and arguments from marketers, authors, and thinkers from both sides of the spectrum when it comes to the positive and negative influence of social media on our society.
Interestingly, instead of dividing the book into "pro" and "con" sections, the essays are organized by subject, so the chapters like "Social and Personal Life," "The Human (and Political) Impact," and "Learning in and out of the Classroom" feel more like discussions than arguments for and against one side or the other.
One of the most pertinent questions of our time is "is social media doing more harm than good?" and this read should provide some valuable food for thought for those holiday debates with the family luddite.
Are you reading anything interesting this season? Tweet at us or leave us a Facebook comment and give us your recommendations!
