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Marketing Simplified

Let’s Get Personal

Uncategorized

When you buy a product or service, are you doing it for the actual product or service or what it will bring to your life or the lives of people you care about? Chances are, you answered the later…

We buy the sweater because we want our friends to think we look stylish. We buy the fancy cheese to make a cheese tray to entertain the people we care about. We buy the college sweatshirt to show everyone how smart we are.

The list goes on… but the underlying theme remains… we buy things for our own personal reasons, for other people, or for how those other people will perceive us. 

With all this focus on people and the personal, why does marketing get so stiff? We try so hard in marketing to make everything look so finished, so perfect, so produced, that we often forget what our customers really want to see… the personal. It’s a tough change to make, especially since we’ve spent several decades putting said perfection over personal connection. But you know what they say… it’s never too late to change.

Since I know change is hard, today I am going to help you baby step into it with three very simple things you can do to make your digital presence more personal.

  1. Change the “from” line in your marketing emails from your company’s name to a person’s name. I know, I know… this is really HARD to do. It feels all kinds of uncomfortable… but I promise it will vastly increase your open rate.  Assuming you are sending weekly emails, you should see improvements in four to six weeks.
  2. Make all of your social media profile pictures of actual real people. Your logo is beautiful, meaningful, and amazing. It belongs in many places… the upper left corner of your website being one of them. It doesn’t belong on your social media profile pictures. Your social media is just that… social. People are social. People power companies. People make us buy things. Logos are just fancy things that reinforce that the people we are following belong to a brand we really like. Note:  If you can’t decide who should represent your company in a profile picture, a group of people in a profile picture works, too. Don’t you like the photo of actual business owners featured above a lot better than a picture of a logo? That would make a great profile picture.

And to the person out there saying “my company is too big and formal to do this,” research proves otherwise. Give it a chance and enjoy the social lift.

  1. Tell social stories all the time. Your customers have stories. Your employees have stories. Your employees wear green on St. Patrick’s Day. Your customers wear cat ears on Halloween. Show people doing these social things across your social networks. The line between the personal and professional has blurred. That doesn’t mean you have to tell your deepest darkest secrets on social media, but no company ever lost engagement by showing employees participating in their local food bank’s food drive, right? (That’s right… just in case you were wondering.)

To my dear marketing friends out there who edit, refine, and repeat… I see you. I know you were trained that way. I know it’s hard to let go of that formal logo-in-the-profile-look (I struggle with it too). But if you do try some of all of these suggestions, please drop me a line at [email protected] and let me know how it works out. I am rooting for you and your personal success!

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Testimonials

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“Vanessa changed my life. This is not an exaggeration. I learned more about marketing and brand management from Vanessa in one weekend than I did in YEARS of trying to navigate these subjects on my own. Vanessa has a way of presenting material so that it is easy to understand, effective and immediately actionable. She makes complex concepts simple and accessible. With her many years of experience, she is able to teach real-life lessons that you can implement to launch or improve your business today. Most of all, Vanessa can see your potential and vision sometimes better than you can see it yourself. She truly believes in her students and clients and has a unique way of helping them make their dreams a reality. I did not always think of myself as a thought leader in my industry but Vanessa inspired me to look at my career in new ways. She has helped me bring forth opportunities that I never thought were possible. I am so thankful to have her in my life and forever appreciative of the impact she’s had on both my personal and professional endeavors. Vanessa uses her special gifts to help bring out yours.”

Dr. Lisa Hornick
Optometrist
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“A huge thank you to Vanessa and for her unwavering commitment to shaping leaders of the future. Her knowledge and strategies with personalized thought leadership was the foundation that transformed the way I presented myself and my business. I realized how crucial it is to create a brand that authentically represents you, your values, and your mission. This branding not only impacted my career but shaped the way we position WilsonTech in the market, emphasizing our dedication to excellence, trust, and innovation.”

Ryan Wilson
student and business owner
Heidy Kellison

“Working with Vanessa is like being in your mother’s arms. Seriously. She‘s persistent yet patient, nurturing yet assertive, and accessible while promoting independence. Most impressively, Vanessa knows what she’s talking about. Doing what she says, even when it removes us from our comfort zone, always pays off. You cannot have a better ally for online marketing.”

Heidy Kellison
DOWNTOWNNORCAL
Meaghan Likes

“Before Vanessa, I literally spent thousands of dollars on other marketing courses, and Vanessa’s strategies continue to outperform and exceed my expectations every single time!”

Meaghan Likes
OWNER, BOOKKEEPING ACADEMY ONLINE | CEO, LIKES ACCOUNTANCY COMPANY
Claire Tauzer

“Vanessa helped us realize that we needed to look at marketing one of our new ventures in a whole new way — the opposite of we were doing before. When I followed her approach to create our offer, conversions were downright easy.”

Claire Tauzer
CO-OWNER, TAUZER APIARIES
Bruce Watts

“I like how Vanessa begins with the end in mind. She has you strategically understand your goals, ideal customer, and offer first, then teaches you how all the rest applies. It’s not tied to one thing, but rather, it’s an integrated approach. I would like to create online products for my business and Vanessa really reaffirmed the possibilities. She also highlighted how simple it can be to get them started.”

Bruce Watts
WATTS-WOODLAND AIRPORT
Alison Kent

“Vanessa’s careful nurturing of her clients, her guidance, and her cheerleading have been invaluable to me. The amount of information you get in her workshops and online course is staggering… it includes email marketing, social media, paid traffic, content creation and so on… email marketing was especially valuable for my business. I would recommend her to anyone looking to increase their organization’s online marketing presence.”

Alison Kent
PRINCIPAL, LISTENINK
Lorraine Beaman

“We actually slowed down our marketing plan to keep up with all the new business!

Vanessa has expert knowledge of marketing techniques, but what is really special is the way she helps her clients understand and apply those techniques. She is a great mentor and coach.”

Lorraine Beaman
FOUNDER, INTERVIEW2WORK
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“Vanessa’s strategies have allowed me to significantly outpaced competitors in fundraising revenue generation. But what I really appreciate is her passionate approach, the way she cares about each individual person she works with, their mission, and how it can change the world. Her marketing strategies can’t be found in any textbook but they work significantly better than the ones I find there.”

Tracy Fauver
Executive Director, Davis Community Meals and Housing
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