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Your 7 Step Guide to a Brand Audit
New year, new marketing strategy? Before you make any decisions about your marketing, social media or brand touch points, it is vital to do some research so you can make informed and strategic decisions about what will work best for you. The first thing you should do is perform a brand audit. What is a brand audit? It’s a checkup to understand where your brand stands in its current state.
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Upgrade Your Flatlay Game With These Simple Tips
When you own a small business you wear a lot of hats, and ‘social media manager’ may be one of them. In the daily grind of managing your staff, interacting with clients and dominating your to-do list, it’s easy to let your social media strategy slip to the bottom of the priority pile.
Here’s why you shouldn’t let it... |
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Four iOS Apps To Level Up Your iPhone Photography
In our last post, we shared our top tips to help small business owners stay motivated in their Instagram hustle. This time, we’re taking a deep-dive into a few of our favorite iOS photography apps that turn your phone into an on-the-go editing studio. They’ll take your iPhone photos to the next level, and help you create engaging content that your followers will want to double-tap.
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5 Tips to Stay Motivated in Your Instagram Hustle
When you own a small business you wear a lot of hats, and ‘social media manager’ may be one of them. In the daily grind of managing your staff, interacting with clients and dominating your to-do list, it’s easy to let your social media strategy slip to the bottom of the priority pile.
Here’s why you shouldn’t let it... |
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PROVIDING A SERVICE CENTERED AROUND CARE
It’s pretty simple, we care about who our clients care about and then what those people care about. From there we reverse engineer our marketing strategy based on that information. We want to provide marketing with a service for our client's customers and feed them content, information, and products based on what they care about.
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Pictured: M.Marie Boutique https://www.shopmmarie.com/
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NATIVE ADVERTISING IN 2019
In this day and age, advertisement requires thoughtful strategy. The phenomenon and continual growth of digital advertising has recreated the way businesses execute on social, and if brands don’t follow suite to the ever-developing trends and technology, they will inevitably fall behind. In order to effectively sell a product or provide a service, businesses must work harder than ever to stand out amongst the influx of information and voices vying to be heard. So, how can you adapt your business to stay at the forefront of advertising?
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THE MAGNITUDE OF MULTI-PURPOSE MARKETING
The transition from traditional to digital has transformed much of what we know when it comes to business. Currently in the spotlight are two tactics that once marched to separate beats but now harmonize beautifully together. Introducing brand marketing and performance marketing, as a couple.
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MEET OUR TEAM: ELLIE HORTON
Somehow we scored. As soon as Ellie graduated with her Marketing and Communications degree we managed to convince her to slide into a full time position with us as our Editor/Account Manager. (Or maybe it was just our full size kitchen that lured her in?) Either way, our voice wouldn’t have nearly the sizzle without her ever growing vocabulary. Most importantly she shares our obsession with dogs, fitness and great food. You should also know that her handwriting is as impeccable as the recipes she whips up for lunch and is as meticulous as her knack for proofreading.
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MEET YOUR TEAM: RYLEIGH DWYER
Meek yet extremely keen, meticulous and highly methodical, Ryleigh Dywer has taken the chaos we call Black Oak Creative and tidied it up into a proficient, well-oiled machine. Punctual from the time she walks through the door to the EOB, Ryleigh's organizational skills are next to none and her unique sense of creativity adds a pop of personality to everything she does. From her phenomenal drawing talent to her deep-love for an old fashioned PB&J sandwich, Ryleigh is one of Black Oak's most wonderful assets.
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EPHEMERAL CONTENT: A SOCIAL CRAZE NECESSARY FOR SOCIAL SUCCESS
With the rapid growth in mobile technology comes a form of marketing that although was once viewed as invaluable now proves to be the frontrunner in marketing buzzwords. Say hello to ephemeral content. Basically, ephemeral content is short lived photos and videos. In this fast-paced, convenience-centered society, this tactic has revolutionized the way businesses integrate with social networks.
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MEET YOUR TEAM: JOHN JEFFRIES
Great people and quality culture are indispensable to Black Oak Creative. When it comes to our employees, not only do we meticulously search for exceptional talent, but we also always hunt for the right personality to mesh with our close-knit family. JJ is the epitome of what it looks like to be part of our tribe. Kind, thoughtful, hardworking and contagiously happy. This guy's zest for great 90's music and impeccable photography are next to none. With JJ in the office, there are no bad days.
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MEET YOUR TEAM: KRISTA SCHIPNER
Brains, beauty, boss lady. Krista Schipner is queen bee around the Black Oak office, and without her quick wit, storehouse of knowledge and confident, caring attitude we would not be the small, but mighty agency we are today. Learn more about Krista’s contagious personality and her involvement in our business.
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VERO: THE SMARTER TRUER PLATFORM THAT COULD POSSIBLY RE-WRITE SOCIAL MEDIA HISTORY
There’s a new kid on the block, and he's setting up a whole different kind of lemonade stand…the organic, locally grown, OG kind. Coined as the smarter, truer social, Vero is going against the grain of today’s routine social media experience.
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FACEBOOK'S REFINED ALGORITHM DEMANDS MEANINGFUL MOMENTS AND VALUABLE INTERACTIONS
We recently wrote about the importance of publishing great, engaging and authentic content in order to appease Facebook's algorithm and make sure your content is put in front of the audience. Well, come 2018, Facebook has refined that algorithm to more closely detect if your content is merely click-bait or thoughtful, trustworthy information that people want to consume. If your post isn't deemed worthy, you'll be booted to the bottom of the pack. Don't be booted to the bottom of the pack. Read more to find out how.
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AN ALGORITHM THAT ENFORCES WORTHWHILE MESSAGES AND CREDIBLE CONTENT
Every day, Facebook news feeds are engulfed by a tsunami of information. Businesses are vying for consumer attention while consumers are desperately looking for tasteful content. Since the competition is stiff, publishing a valuable message is no longer as simple as clicking “post.”
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UPDATE...INSTAGRAM IS STILL
#WINNING When Instagram first made the eyebrow-raising, head-turning ploy to copy Snapchat’s Story feature, it brought everyone to the edge of their seats. It became the social media feud of the year, and people anxiously waited to see how the battle would materialize. Backed by Facebook and with a bigger following, there was no doubt that Instagram gained an early foothold on Snapchat. Now, 10 months (and a few more mimics) later, Instagram is still #winning.
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CONTENT ADVERTISING AS AN ECOSYSTEM
“Give a man a fish, and he eats for a day; but teach a man to fish, and he’ll never go hungry.” Curiously, this entreaty - a motto typically applied to the importance of acquiring long-term skills and investments - couldn’t ring any truer to the operation of marketing today. Drew Neisser from AdAge.com explains the gravity of establishing an ongoing source of sustenance for a business’s marketing ploys in his article “Why Marriott is a Content Marketing Mecca.” Meeting the minimum line with a few entertaining pieces of content here and there no longer cuts it. David Beebe, VP global and creative content marketing at Marriott International, conveys why.
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MARKETING TACTICS THAT DARE TO BE DIFFERENT
There is nothing conventional about the way we live today. Acknowledging uniqueness is encouraged, and people are steering away from comparisons and learning to love their own skin. With this current mindset, what are brands to do in response? Be unconventional. Tell customers you get it, that being unorthodox is trendy and that your products cater to their efforts to be different. David’s Bridal recently launched a new campaign that is a picture-perfect example of how to tailor to the “one size does not fit all” culture.
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MARKETING WITH EMPATHY: IT'S ALL ABOUT TUGGING ON HEARTSTRINGS
Technology is advancing, products are developing, brands are growing and marketing is accelerating. This new year, already, has dumped a whole load of genius marketing ploys and advertising spots on consumers. Just look back at the Super Bowl commercials. Some were smart, engaging and funny. However, despite their appeal, are advertisements like that enough? We say no, and so does a recent spot from Volvo. With voice-over featuring the famous philosopher Alan Watts’ speech “Live Fully Now,” and imagery that focuses more on life than product, this ad embodies the foundation of marketing.
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JUSTIFYING SOCIAL MEDIA: GET YOUR COWORKERS ON BOARD
People are skeptical. Can social media be validated beyond a millennial’s pastime? Is it really pivotal to the overall marketing plan? According to the Chief Revenue Officer of Rival IQ, Nathan Cowen, social media is the most direct pipeline to the consumer. In one of Cowen’s recent webinars called “Justifying Social Media,” he explains how to turn social media skeptics into proponents for the marketing tool. We feel it is pertinent to heed his advice.
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