Month: March 2020

Personal Branding

~ Giulia Lenti ~ Leave a comment

Personal branding is a marketing strategy that focuses on creating a strong and clear set of values around one person. The best way to achieve it is to have a clear idea of what your key message is going to be, and for it to be close to your truer self (Chan, 2018). People understand and value who is real and authentic. On such a crowded environment, like the one we are moving in now is, it is fundamental to show that you are willing to offer something real (Connors, 2018).

Photo by Patrick Michalicka on Unsplash

The Importance of Personal Branding

Personal Branding is the new business card. Where you are looking for a job chances are that the recruiter will check your Social Networks to have an idea of who you are (Castrillon, 2019). Your online presence is supposed to reflect your values and reputation.
Having a strong personal brand is a way to stand up in a competitive world. It is also an opportunity not only to show your skills and abilities but also to display what your interests are, which can turn out into chances to have a career that matches what you love to do.

How To Use Social Networks for Personal Branding

Social Media are the most effective way to show your identity. It is also the fastest and more objective way to have a view of ourself from the outside.
The first steps to work on your personal branding is by claiming your name, in this way it will be easier to find you and recognize you. Another crucial step is to find the niche you want to be part of and be extremely active and relevant with the content you post. While doing all of this is important to create a visual continuity, this is the easiest way for people to associate you with the content you create and to become familiar with your persona (Kunsman, 2018).

Good Examples of Using Social Media for Personal Branding

Michelle Obama: she is passionate about the causes she cares about and authentic, that’s why people love her. She used Snapchat to raise important topics, and she talked directly to a younger audience (Cawthorn, 2019).

Photo by Alex Nemo Hanse on Unsplash

Elon Musk: Musk’s mission is loud and clear, to focus on technology that will help human kind. He is also pretty famous for his constant presence on Twitter, which is used not only to talk about news about his company, but mostly for sassy comebacks (Popkin, 2018).

Bill Nye: known everywhere as “The Science Guy”, Bill Nye is a famous science communicator, who used his persona, created for his children’s program, to advocate pressing topics about science and the environment.

REFERENCE LIST

– Cardello, J. (2019) 18 effective personal branding examples done right [online.] Available at: https://webflow.com/blog/personal-branding-examples [30th March 2020].
– Castrillon, C. (2019) Why Personal Branding Is More Important Than Ever [online]. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinecastrillon/2019/02/12/why-personal-branding-is-more-important-than-ever/#5d24bba82408 [28th March 2020].
– Cawthorn, S. (2019) How Michelle Obama Built Her Personal Brand (And What You Can Learn From Her) [online]. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-michelle-obama-built-her-personal-brand-what-you-can-sam-cawthorn/ [30th March 2020].
– Connors, C. D. (2018) The Most Important Principle for Building Your Personal Brand [online]. Available at: https://medium.com/@chrisdconnors/the-most-important-principle-for-building-your-personal-brand-dae76e41900e [28th March 2020].
– Miley, J. (2018) 16 Great Tweets from Elon Musk That Definitely Made Us Laugh [online]. Available at: https://interestingengineering.com/16-great-tweets-from-elon-musk-that-definitely-made-us-laugh [30th March 2020].
– Mimaroglu, A. (2019) 3 Executive-Branding Lessons We Can Learn From Elon Musk [online]. Available at: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/341278 [30th March 2020].
– Popkin, H. (2018) Elon Musk’s Twitter Account Is Tesla’s $40 Million Marketing Platform. ‘Worth It’ [online]. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/helenpopkin/2018/10/30/elon-musks-twitter-account-is-teslas-40-million-marketing-platform-worth-it/#1bd9e2b77873 [30th March 2020].
– Thurston, A. (2016) First Lady Michelle Obama joins Snapchat in an effort to engage young people [online]. Available at: https://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/flotus-michelle-obama-joins-snapchat/ [30th March 2020].

Inbound Marketing Analysis and Comparison

~ Giulia Lenti ~ Leave a comment
  1. Pandan Thai Kitchen (restaurant)
    https://pandanthai.kitchen/

It has a strong SEO, the website is easy to navigate and it has easy access to the main information that customers will be looking for. They do not offer a good variety of content, and Social Networks use and interactions could be improved.

  1. Curtis + Staub Golders Green (gym)
    https://curtisandstaub.org/goldersgreen/

The design is clear, but the information about contacts and Social Networks are not emphasized. The Facebook page is updated regularly with different kinds of content. Interactions with users are almost nonexistent.

  1. Holland & Barrett (health and wellness retail shop)
    https://www.hollandandbarrett.com/

Strong SEO and strong branding. The website is easy to navigate and displays offers and a wide range of products they have right away. They have link to their profiles on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. All profiles are updated with different formats and with content created for any recent holiday or manifestation (Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day), which shows how they focus of offering fresh content to their customers.
Offers, rewards and subscription options are highlighted in the Home Page, showing how their Inbound Marketing strategy is also focused on the engaging and delighting phases.

Pandan Thai Kitchen vs Curtis + Staub

Inbound Marketing Approach
Both Pandan Thai Kitchen and Curtis + Staub have a user-friendly website. In both cases is easy to find the information that potential customers are looking for (like booking options or timetables). Both have a strong SEO, all the links on the first page of Google Search are related to their businesses.
Pandan Thai Kitchen focuses a lot on the visual impact of its website, offering a lot of pictures and previews of the dishes offered. It’s easy to order take away, book a table, or check their menu. They also have their social networks links and email visible.
Curtis + Staub has a less dynamic template and a sober design, but it directs the customers immediately towards the timetable and the prices. Location, contact details and Social Networks are not highlighted too much.

Strengths and Weaknesses
Pandan Thai Kitchen has an appealing website, and gives straight away the main information customers will be looking for (menu, booking and online ordering options). All the key words are used in the title, making it clear what they do. The website also has pictures of the different dishes, and information about opening times, location and how to reach the restaurant. On the downside, Social Networks are not used in the best way, they are not updated and could be used in a more original way. Pandan Thai Kitchen could also benefit from offering new content formats, like videos or a blog.
Curtis + Staub has a clear website, showing immediately the timetable and the prices. Its Facebook pages is updated regularly with different contents: videos, articles, suggestions and motivational quotes. All in line with the identity of the business. Nevertheless, the interactions with customers/users are not the best, and the contents could take advantage from a more personal touch.

Which one is the best
Pandan Thai Kitchen is the best, even if it doesn’t use completely its potential. The business has an average website with the main information that concern that kind of business, but it could easily improve its presence online using different channels and creating more content.
Curtis + Staub can look, at a first glance, as the one which a strong social media presence, but with a closer look it is clear that their online strategy is not working. It is also clear that they know what they have to do to make it work (the do post contents, and videos, and recipes, bringing a lot of potentially good content), but they don’t do anything genuine (some of the pictures they used are not taken in their gym, the same goes for the recipes).

Improvements
Pandan Thai Kitchen doesn’t use Social Networks too much. The only ones that appear on the website are Google+, Instagram and Facebook, and they are not updated regularly. The Instagram account they have could benefit from a stricter content calendar, and it could be integrated with blog content. They could focus more on Instagram updating regularly culinary tips or recipes, and pictures of the dishes and with the latest newness of the menu.
Curtis + Staub website could benefit from a new design. Even if Social Networks appear on their website they haven’t been updated in months, the company should focus more on its online presence. Also, the only updates present, especially on Facebook, use pictures clearly taken online and not genuine content, which can damage the company’s image. There also have no interactions under their posts, showing clearly that the strategy they are using doesn’t really reach their customers. They should focus on delighting strategies, offering genuine content and real interactions with their customers/users.

REFERENCE LIST

Kinzer, D. (2019) The 8 Must-Have Elements of An Effective Inbound Marketing Strategy [online]. Available at: https://www.lonefircreative.com/blog/8-elements-of-an-effective-inbound-marketing-strategy [25th March 2020].
Leaning, B. (2019) 31 Call-to-Action Examples You Can’t Help But Click [online]. Available at: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/call-to-action-examples [22nd March 2020].
Lepp, C. (2019) Attract, Engage, Delight: How Inbound Marketing Works [online]. Available at: https://info.zimmercommunications.com/blog/attract-engage-delight-how-inbound-marketing-works [24th March 2020].
Mortimer, P. (2019) How to develop an effective inbound marketing strategy [online]. Available at: https://www.digital22.com/insights/how-to-craft-an-inbound-marketing-strategy [25th March 2020].
Whitney, M. (2019) The 5 Elements of a Strong Inbound Marketing Strategy [online]. Available at: https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2015/08/25/inbound-marketing-strategy [25th March 2020 ]