In the sphere of blogs, there can be professionalism and unprofessionalism. People can write whatever they want—and trolling and mean comments are common. Some bloggers break rules when they are beginners and later realize that breaking rules went against civil behavior. Given below are some rules of blogging etiquette that every blogger must follow.

Think Before You Write.

Today, if an ill-considered comment publishes in a public forum, it often sparks an immediate and heated response from other bloggers and readers. Certainly, mean people exist on the internet. And every blogger will have their share of mean comments. The best thing is to be nice.

Be Discreet.

A blog can be an online diary but when it is used for business purposes. Indeed, a blogger cannot treat it as an invitation to share private thoughts and post indiscreet photos of oneself in questionable poses. Everything that goes in a blog is for public consumption and that reflects on the individual professionalism of the blogger and the credibility of the organization.

Readers will understandably assess the person behind the blog based on the posts published. Sometimes employers check out the blogs of job applicants to catch a glimpse of the person behind the professional resume.

Be Careful about the Language Used.

Business blogs exist for business purposes. There is no place for hostile, blunt, rude, insensitive, obscene, abusive, and discriminatory language on a business blog. Also, offensive language in blogs can lead to legal claims and monetary fines. Bloggers might be tempted to use the power of blogs to gossip about or defame anyone, but nothing is worth legal claims.

Avoid Blogging Anonymously

People might like to use anonymity to write in a defamatory, offensive, inappropriate, and irresponsible manner. There is no guarantee that anonymous blogging will protect bloggers from detection.

Be Careful about Spelling, Grammar, and Punctuation

A blog should never have errors. An important goal of professional blogging is to attract and grow a loyal following of leaders who will turn regularly to a blog as an expert source of timely and useful information. So, it will be difficult for a blogger to establish their position as an influential one if their blog lacks professionalism.

Do Not Repost Without Permission

It is never okay to copy somebody’s post without taking their permission. Not only is there the issue of duplicate content, but the readers will not check out the original post which means copying also results in stealing traffic from another blogger. This also potentially leads to the shutdown of a blog. So, before reposting anybody’s content, it is better to send them an email to get their permission.

Be Gracious

Not everyone will agree with the content on a blog. There will be people who will disagree and many of them will tell the blogger about it. In terms of blog etiquette, bloggers should learn to handle criticism and not resort to insults in their responses. Negative feedback on a blog and name-calling are common. A blogger should continue to be gracious to their readers and commentators.

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Do we post products? What questions should we ask? Why am I being tasked with developing a Threads strategy the day it launched? While some brands hesitated to join or post, others embraced the new, uncharted social territory. They leaned into the chaos of the unknown. Still, some may still be wondering if they should have a presence on Threads.

HOW, a 5W agency, recommends that all brands have a Threads account as soon as possible. There’s no downside if you don’t overthink it. The Insta-connection and Twitter-style platform does a lot of the heavy lifting automatically in terms of followers and engagement. So, there’s no need to build out a brand-new Threads strategy yet, especially while it’s still in its infancy.

However, there are best practices brands should follow, and there’s a lot to take away by looking at the hits and misses we’ve seen so far. Let’s look at some of the brands that stood out on Threads, along with some key learnings that HOW recommends brands should use as guidelines:

Casper

Mattress brand Casper’s debut on Threads was seamless and clever. The pun may have been handed to them in a way, but it still was genius and hit just right.

Casetify

Casetify capitalized on the palpable pressure surrounding social media managers with a very relatable post, playing off demands to include products in posts:

Oreo

Oreo took the same approach, poking fun at the fact that no one really knows what content is “good” for Threads.

Complex

Like most brands, Complex wasn’t even sure if anyone was listening.

Burger King

Meanwhile, Burger King was straight-up transparent about its internal situation.

Wendy’s

Wendy’s quickly took a page from its Twitter playbook with a meme playfully coming for McDonald’s.

Netflix

Netflix plugged one of their hit series by comparing Love is Blind in a post that was a little cheesy. Although, it was quite spot-on– and consistent with Netflix’s tone.

Auntie Anne’s

Questions and polling the audience is always a smart strategy, but whatever the tone, the query needs to be thought-provoking enough to elicit responses. Don’t just ask a question for the sake of asking a question (although we love a great pretzel).

Ritz

Ritz quickly started an emoji trend among brands in the CPG, health and wellness, and beauty category, just to name a few. You can’t go wrong with posting who you are.

These examples paint a very clear picture that brands really aren’t sure what to do on Threads, and that’s fine, because, for most of them, that strategy is working. Here are a few key learnings that HOW recommends brands keep top of mind when posting on Threads:

• Embrace the chaos: No one is 100% sure what works best here, so now is the time to embrace all the timely chaos and make people laugh.
• Repurpose your Twitter strategy: Most of these examples point to repurposing an existing Twitter strategy, which HOW recommends as a first step. If brands are unsure of what to post, simply repurpose top-performing Twitter content, and follow that existing strategy until anything changes.
• Keep your tone of voice consistent: Threads is not the place to suddenly reinvent your brand TOV. Stay consistent with your themes on all platforms, particularly aligning Twitter content with what you’re sharing on Threads.
• Engage and ask questions: Netflix’s point about engagement speaks the truth; many brands who were unsure of what to do at first took the conversation route to engage with followers and start conversations– always a smart strategy.

Matt Caiola is Co-CEO of 5WPR and leader of its digital agency, HOW.

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But no such rapidity of innovation will solve our climate change emergency. It will need to be attacked – the word is more accurate than “addressed” given the urgency we are dealing with – from multiple sources.

The sheer diversity of energy innovation required to give the planet a chance includes rapidly emerging sectors and platforms. An entirely new ecosystem that includes charging stations; battery technology; carbon capture; fusion power and hydrogen power; wind farms, smart grid; and predictive analytics that range from weather trends to the impact of carbon footprint reduction.

Each of these will no doubt be enormous categories. Indeed, with the existential risk to the planet, and the ticking of the risk clock, it’s no surprise that billions of dollars of investment capital are streaming – faster than Netflix – into this explosive industry. Last year, $50 billion was raised globally, and this has doubled since pre-pandemic levels.

ClimateTech

The nascency of ClimateTech creates an unprecedented series of branding and communication challenges for this category. These are radically different from what we see in more mature sectors of the economy.

We make that point because most companies who are competing for attention and business relationships have surprisingly low awareness, even among the key audiences they need to address.

Those audiences include their customers – both b2b and consumer – as well as media and government. For public companies, there’s a surprising gap when it comes to retail investors, we know that.

That is understandable. ClimateTech companies need to focus on their surname, which is why their technological prowess exceeds their focus on building and enhancing their awareness and reputations. But to continue to ignore the imperative to build a brand is to ignore what it will take to win in the fierce battle for ClimateTech success. These companies need strategic, disciplined communication plans – combining earned media and the best of digital outreach.

So, how should the complex ClimateTech industry address these unmet opportunities?

Executed correctly, they are actually far less challenging than the deep innovation required to unlock a climate-secure future.

For CEOs and other leaders in the industry, we propose three essential steps:

Construct a differentiated narrative and translate it to all your audiences.

All too often, even innovative companies don’t spend enough time creating persuasive and motivating storytelling. A quick scan of ClimateTech websites reveals that even the innovative companies fall back on bland and undifferentiated messaging. Familiar tropes like

“Leading-Edge Technology in the Fight Against Climate Change” are everywhere.

Build small, talented, creative teams of marketers.

We know the argument against this. “Why spend on marketing or communications when I could use the money to hire two more developers?” That’s true if you look at the decision through straight mathematics. But that’s not the right lens.

What Is the Enterprise Value?

Instead, think about it this way. Marketing creates enterprise value – study after study has proven this. So, by spending smartly on marketing you will be able to hire more developers, faster.

What’s more, given that marketers are motivated to work for companies whose beliefs they share, this is a moment to attract the cream of the motivated crop.

Identify thought leaders and influencers.

Even the best technology platforms need the validation and credibility that come from being surrounded by recognized experts and thought leaders who can tell your story with the unmediated power of first-party objectivity.

Given the reach and breadth of climate tech, these can be drawn from many global sources, including academia, think tanks, NGOs, and former government officials.

The net: Make branding and storytelling a critical part of your core competency.

CleanTech will save the planet. Effective communication will make it happen faster.

Matt Caiola is Co-CEO of 5WPR and leader of its digital agency HOW.

The post ClimateTech Needs Better Marketing to Change the World appeared first on DMNews.

An effective value proposition needs a good hook. It should address certain areas, such as problems that a specific audience faces, how the products and services of a brand solve those problems, and the value of the solutions given. Convey all in the right language. That helps to increase sales and improve conversion rates. The language used should be such that it can participate in a conversation that is going on in the customer’s mind. Given below are tips to create a value proposition that will help to impact sales positively.

Match offerings to help customers

To recognize the needs of customers, deep research is needed. If a brand is aware of the challenges its customers face, it would be in a better position to solve those challenges.  A value proposition becomes effective when it can match what it is offering to what the customer can afford. Every business should have a reason why their customers would want to buy from them and not their competitors. Tailor products and services to meet the needs of customers. The benefits of a product or service need emphasized.

Quantify benefits

If a value proposition is specific, it will be more effective. For that, it is better to quantify the benefits. Using a number or a percentage also acts as proof that a brand can live up to its claims. For instance, Stripe, a payment processing platform, has a sub-headline in its value proposition that mentions specific benefits. A company that manufactures printing ink can say that it dries faster than any other type of ink. A fact-based value proposition can result in huge gains.

Offer unique benefits

Differentiation is what makes a brand unique. A unique value proposition is concise and specific and backed by reasoning. It is a mistake to assume that a brand has no competition. A brand can focus on what its competitors are lacking and what it can do better. Also, write it with the ideal customer in mind and avoid hyperbolic claims.

Try out the value proposition

After crafting a good value proposition, it helps to broadcast it to target customers. Test it in the form of an ad, a landing page, or even a pitch. Ads can be run on different platforms depending on where the target customers would be. If the reaction to it is not what was expected, then it should be refined or modified. The feedback from customers would help a brand to understand how it should change its value proposition.

Matt Caiola is Co-CEO of 5WPR, a leading PR agency.

The post Tips to Create an Effective Value Proposition appeared first on DMNews.

Email marketing

The target audience would like to keep up with the latest news from the space industry. They would like to know about the space economy, or the latest rocket launch, and weekly newsletters can be immensely helpful in this respect. News on space startups and development in space science can be helpful too. Email marketing is a powerful way to increase brand awareness. The content of the emails should strike a balance between creativity and professionalism. Spam emails will never be popular.

Leverage social media platforms

Social media platforms can help a brand communicate with many people at any given time. For instance, NASA’s Instagram account has images of space captured by the Hubble telescope. The Instagram account of Lockheed Martin gives details on space exploration hardware. The Launch Company gives information on launching rockets.

Generate interest around the clock

Posting around the clock helps to generate interest. This is important for an industry like aerospace that is connected globally. Although followers tend to use social media during specific hours, posting content around the clock about new developments would keep them intrigued and help drive traffic. It may not be possible to hang around with posts and tweets all day, but research can be done on what works best. To get the timing right, the right tools should be used. For instance, Hootsuite can help with auto-scheduling.

Create blogs

Everybody knows that the space tech industry has the potential to transform the world. Launches are becoming cheaper and there are better safety records. As a result, the number of commercial space pioneers is growing. Space is closer to home now and for profits in that industry to skyrocket (pun intended), robust marketing strategies are needed. People are taking interest in the fact that space technology and satellite communications play significant roles in global security.

Remote sensing through satellites has also helped to bring about climate monitoring. Blogging about such happenings can be very useful as blogs can keep people informed about the latest developments. It is also a convenient form of content to share news stories and influence people’s understanding of space. The blog should be written in a specific manner with a particular kind of audience in mind, such as students or teachers.

Matt Caiola is Co-CEO of 5WPR, a leading PR agency.

The post Marketing for the Space Industry appeared first on DMNews.

Choose the right objective for your ad

Objectives are goals that should be set for an ad. A business might want its customers to show interest in its product or service or it might want its customers to learn more about it. The objective of an ad could also be converted. Facebook has already created objectives and choosing the right objective will help a business to increase its chances of success. The objective for an ad depends on the situation and the most frequently used objective is conversion. For instance, Sifted, a grocery delivery service used superior visuals of the items they stocked in their ad and witnessed a whopping 5,100% increase in its conversions.

Assess ad frequency

The frequency of an ad on Facebook is the number of times a person sees an ad. If people see an ad repeatedly without acting, they are not particularly interested. The greater the number of orders, the higher the frequency should be. The audience sizes can also be increased and decreased accordingly.

Choose a location

Facebook can help a business to target its ads to people in a certain location. A business can also choose a radius around its target area. For instance, after choosing a city a business can then choose if it wants people who live 50 miles away from the target area to view its ad. Businesses that have physical locations can take advantage of this. Location proves to be very helpful when it comes to a local marketing strategy. Facebook geo-targeting helps to ensure that people who are viewing an ad will find content that is relevant to them and will visit a site to see what else it has to offer.

Use unique ads

Ads on Facebook should be unique as they present a brand to the public. The target audience should not ignore an ad or hide it from their newsfeed. Sometimes, the little details help, for instance, using a brief copy or a value proposition can be helpful. People will only give an ad a couple of seconds to impress them. Use those seconds effectively so that the call to action of an ad maintains clarity for the user. For instance, Crate and Barrel uses superior-quality images and avoids unnecessary text which keeps the focus on the products. It is clear to the audience what products are on sale.

Matt Caiola is Co-CEO of 5WPR, a leading digital PR firm.

The post Tips to Optimize Facebook Ads appeared first on DMNews.

Consumers

Most customers these days have access to vast amounts of information. They’re quite savvy in figuring out what they want. That’s why companies first need to understand their target audiences before they can proceed with any business operation. This is because without knowing the customers, companies won’t be able to create anything that caters to them, whether that’s solutions or content.

With a deep understanding of the target audience, companies will figure out how they can communicate with the customers in a persuasive fashion, respect their time and investments, and create promotional efforts that are both clear and informative.

Results

When companies start investing in marketing efforts, they constantly must keep track of different metrics to see whether their campaigns are performing as well as expected. To generate the best possible results, companies constantly must utilize the insights that are generated from their marketing campaigns in optimizing their promotional efforts.

There are plenty of tools and platforms that can help companies figure out the right insights and what the customers want from a business. However, the tools themselves aren’t there to solve a company’s problems. That’s because, at the end of the day, companies must utilize those tools. They must make smart choices to drive positive results. This is instead of assuming that different pieces of software can do all the hard work themselves.

Needs

Another marketing best practice and essential that companies need to know is the needs of the target audience. After all, any solution that a company makes must meet the wants and needs of the target audience. Although this might seem simple, it’s not quite so. That’s because plenty of times the customers themselves can’t articulate precisely what they need. That’s why it’s the company’s job to figure out exactly what the audience needs. Additionally, to solve that pain point in the best possible way.

A great example of this type of strategy comes from Henry Ford. Ford revolutionized the automobile industry in the United States. He understood that it was up to him to figure out what the customers really wanted. Because, according to him, if he had simply asked that question, the response he would get would have been simply “a faster horse”. However, he managed to create a brand-new solution that ended up revolutionizing an entire industry. He did this by keeping the needs of his customers in mind when trying to develop a brand-new product for them.

Matt Caiola is Co-CEO of 5WPR, a leading PR agency. 

The post Marketing Best Practices appeared first on DMNews.

Study

Great ways exist for a company in the enterprise and SaaS tech industry to grab the attention of relevant media outlets and target audiences. This is by developing an original study that will help others figure out customer trends and insights. For example, an enterprise or SaaS tech startup can create a survey. It includes the preferences of the type of customer service the target audience wants to receive.

The results from that survey are going to be relevant to plenty of other companies, researchers, marketers, and more. Not to mention, there’s also the fact that search engines also prefer to see original research from companies. Compared to other types of content. That means by linking to surveys in scholarly studies, companies can increase their ranking on search engine results pages. Because search engine algorithms consider them as a sign of authority and credibility. Additionally, original research can generate a lot more website traffic. And an increase in website traffic is a definite signal of a credible and trustworthy source to search engines. This can further improve the ranking of a website.

Findability

According to studies, most journalists tend to ignore over 95% of the pitches they receive from companies and individuals. Instead, most journalists prefer to find different story ideas on social media platforms. Additionally finding them on search engines, digital newsrooms or press pages, and company websites. However, that doesn’t mean that every single company should stop sending its pitches through social media platforms or via email to target journalists.

This information simply means that companies need to invest additional time and effort into creating a media or a press page on their website. This is going to be a place where they can add all of their newsworthy and share-worthy company news. As well as any other type of content that might be of interest to journalists that are looking to learn more about the company or its solutions and talk about it in their content. Furthermore, companies in the enterprise and SaaS tech industry should also be conducting keyword research. This is to better understand which types of keywords, both short, and long tail, are popular with both the target audience. Additionally, what is popular with journalists to increase their chances of being found by them in an organic manner.

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Users find inspiration on Pinterest for different areas such as fashion, lifestyle, decor, and health among others. Pinterest allows users to curate and share content that they like. Below includes ways in which a brand can grow traffic on Pinterest.

Use keywords

To win in the game of visibility and discoverability on Pinterest, it is important to find the right keywords for a business. A list of possible keywords should be made for a business and then they should be used in the profile description, pin image, board title, and board descriptions. Specific keywords should be used on pins and boards to increase the chances of being discovered by different audiences with different needs. For instance, a fitness studio creates a board called, ‘Yoga poses to reduce backache’ instead of ‘How yoga transforms’. Pinners normally type exactly what they are looking for and a business would want to show up for them.

Create shareable pins

A business should create pins that are so unique that people would want to re-pin them. The logo or icon of the business also needs added to the pins to increase brand awareness. Quote images are very popular among pinners. The quotes do not have to be original. They can be entrepreneurs, historical figures, and celebrities. Quotes from different kinds of people can also help a business to reach a more diverse audience.

Humor is also very popular. Some fun and humor can also be added to the content so that the audience can enjoy a chuckle. Use tools like Canva to create infographics as pinners like infographics too.

Post the right amount of pins

Posting is a growth strategy, but the target audience should not feel overwhelmed by too many pins. More than a couple of images should not be used within a couple of minutes. Dedicate a specific time of the day to expanding the Pinterest channel.

Add shareable images to blogs

If a business has a blog on its website, create a couple of Pinterest images to link back to the blog post or video content. The purpose of this would be that the people can share content straight from the website of a business to their boards which would help the business drive traffic.

The post Growth Strategies for Pinterest appeared first on DMNews.

Culture Crisis

This type of crisis occurs when an organization wrongs its customers. When this happens, an organization needs to respond immediately and clearly define what action it would take. For instance, in 2018, Starbucks faced a racial discrimination issue. Two black men, Donte Robinson and Rashon Nelson, were arrested while they were waiting for a friend after a staff member called the cops on them. Social media created uproar, followed by in-store protests. The issue was racial bias.

CEO Kevin Johnson issued a statement stating his position on the matter, calling the act ‘reprehensible’ and wanting it fixed. The response was that Starbucks closed 8,000 stores across the United States so that their staff could receive racial bias training. The brand lost around $12 million in profit when the store shut down briefly. But it was more important for them to repair their relationship with the customers.  The act involved sacrifice and went down well with the public.

Workplace Violence

Each year, approximately 2 million workers across the country report that they have been a victim of violence at work. It costs businesses around $130 billion every year. An organization needs to ensure that its workforce prepares for violence so that it reduces casualties and responds promptly during a violent incident. It is the duty of an organization to keep its workforce on the premises safe. Security measures need implementation.

Fake News and Misinformation

The rise of social media has also led to an increase in information, both real and fake. On social media platforms, people share conspiracy theories and unscientific stories which spread like wildfire. There are also video recordings of people saying and doing things that they never did. This escalates to crisis scenarios when they go on to become more than harmless entertainment and can impact the reputation of an organization. Such content and news should not be left unregulated and should be penalized.

Financial Crisis

Financial crisis scenarios can be caused by several factors. A recession potentially impacts an organization. Products can lose their popularity and there could be poor management of funds. Institutions such as these it is important to let the public know that an organization is active and will remain so when things improve. An organization must remain connected with its current and potential audiences.

Matt Caiola is Co-CEO of 5WPR, a leading crisis PR firm. 

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