How You Can Win at Social Media Right Now (Hint: Silly Cat Pics Don't Cut It)

Today, it takes more than a couple of cat pictures for a brand to be successful on social media. Whether on Pinterest or Vine, brands constantly need to update their tactics and strategies in online marketing to stay relevant and engage users.
The Webby Awards released a list of 24 brands that are doing it right on digital media. These organizations are gaining followers and raising awareness of their brand, while also providing some key lessons in how to market with social media.
One of the key qualities among the companies on the list is an ability to tap into a community and supercharge it. Greatist, a website that inspires readers to make healthy choices every day, utilizes Instagram and Twitter to connect users to the website and each other. Followers add #imagreatist (I’m a Greatist) to photos of healthy food, Tweets discussing their exercise regime and workout selfies. Tagging the photo spreads brand awareness, creates content for the community and fosters engagement.
Brands on the list also found success in trying out new forms of social media to engage users. General Electric recently used Vine to encourage people to “pack as much science as you can” into a six-second video. Using the hashtag #6SecondScience, GE promoted its core values, raised brand awareness and helped their audience learn to use Vine.
One of the biggest takeaways of the report was that organizations can’t risk sounding too robotic or “corporate” online. If an actual machine, The Mars Curiosity rover, can create Tweets that are full of personality, other brands should be able to follow suit. “Curiosity is the biggest, most complex spacecraft ever sent to the surface of another planet,” says Veronica McGregor, a NASA News and Social Media Manager, in the report. “Her enthusiasm and personality draw from the people on the mission, and she has a rock-zapping laser! So the voice has to be both confident and fun.” With 20 percent of adult Internet users active on Twitter, engaging Tweets are becoming increasingly important.
Check out the full report for how companies like Red Bull, Kayak, Shake Shack, and more use everything from Facebook to Snapchat to build their brand on social media.

The Secret to Selling Your Brand With One Sentence

You believe in the importance of your vision, but how do you get others to stop and listen to you? There will be many instances when you don’t have a lot of time to grab someone’s attention, be it a potential investor or a licensee. That’s why you need to be able to summarize the benefit of your business idea in a single, powerful sentence -- a sentence that is so direct and compelling, it stops whoever reads or hears it dead in their tracks. A good one-line benefit statement should make someone think: "I want to know more about that."
I’ve learned that if I craft just the right sentence, it’s all I need to get people to listen to my pitch, open my emails and answer my calls. I still remember the day the iPod launched and Steve Jobs called it “a thousand songs in your pocket.” Wow. That's captivating. He didn’t have to explain any further. We wanted it already! 
People don’t care about how something works.They want to know what it’s going to do for them.
Newspapers, tabloids, and these days, Twitter have been making use of the headline for years. How often do you find yourself on a webpage you never intended to visit, all because a headline was so tempting, you had to click on it? That should give you an idea of what I’m talking about. Creating excellent one-line benefit statements isn’t an easy skill, but it’s an important one, because it can be used to explain your idea in so many different kinds of situations in an attractive, successful way.
Sometimes, you only get one chance to make an impression. Cut through the clutter to make it count! Here three ways to create an awesome one-line benefit statement:
1. Make it emotional.
Why should people care about what you have to say? Grab them with something they can relate to. Benefits sell ideas, not facts. What is your idea going to do for the consumer or the world? Don’t be afraid to use emotion. People are motivated by their emotions more often than they are motivated by reason. Emotion also evokes visual imagery -- if people can begin to see your idea, that’s a good thing. Some emotional words include: "free", "incredible" and "unbelievable."
2. Keep it short.
Like -- really short. I’m talking no more than 10 to 12 words, ideally less. Remember, you don’t have much time. If your statement is too long, people may move on before they’ve even finished reading or hearing it. Don’t be intimidated by using fewer words. This is a really good exercise in general. Too often, I ask an inventor or entrepreneur to tell me about his or her idea and I’m overwhelmed with a five-minute speech. "What is he talking about again?" I find myself thinking. I’m not even sure. Brevity forces clarity.
3. Use numbers.
Numbers convey specificity. Look around you. Headlines with numbers dominate our world. One has only to look at Buzzfeed to understand the power of numbers.
Here are some examples of one-line benefit statements my students and I have used with great success in the past:

• “The most versatile organization system available.”
• “The store all, carry all, go anywhere elevated pet feeder.”
• “This label will increase space on your packaging by 75 percent.”

Try out potential statements on everyone you know. Which one has the greatest impact? Ask for feedback. Then, start using this line all over the place. When someone asks: “So what is it you’re working on again?” you will have a great answer!

5 Ways to Keep Customers Knocking on Your Door For More

How does one go from investment banking to starting a wildly successful online jewelry store? Just ask Amy Jain and Daniella Yacobovsky, founders of BaubleBar, who did just that. After meeting nine years ago in a banking class at Harvard Business School, they ditched the prospect of becoming financial analysts to open BaubleBar.

The two were shoe shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue together when they realized they never shopped for jewelry because they could never find jewelry they liked that was reasonably priced. They decided to take it upon themselves to fix this problem.

1. Get personal, even -- no, especially -- online. 
Interacting with your customers or clients on a personal level is very important if you want to build loyalty. BaubleBar takes a great online experience one step further by offering their customers in-person services. Though we live in a digital society, there is no better way to build loyalty than face-to-face interaction. This will make your customers feel special.

At BaubleBar, SWAT (Service With Accessorizing Talent) Stylists help customers pick out pieces that are right for them. Whether, you are looking for a piece to match a certain outfit, be worn on a special occasion or just can’t decide between two necklaces, someone at BaubleBar can help you.

2. Make your customer experience consistent throughout your brand.
Cohesion is a necessary component to creating a company that people fall in love with. BaubleBar has a major challenge because it is hard to translate an online store into a brick-and-mortar shopping experience.

Opening a physical store when you have an online presence will only be successful if you duplicate the look, feel and mood of the virtual counterpart. Your customers already know what to expect, so don’t change it up too much. Jain and Yacobovsky have done this through their first brick-and-mortar location, The Bar, in New York City. Regardless of how they decide to expand, they know everything has to have the BaubleBar signature touch.

3. Partner with influential people who have their own following. 
It doesn’t take an MBA from Harvard to understand why it's important to involve bloggers and style influencers with large followings. To do this, BaubleBar started the Guest Bartender series. Each month they introduce a new style personality who curates a special collection based on their personal aesthetic.

The personalities that BaubleBar teams up with have loyal followers of their own who trust their opinions. By giving customers a new collection each month, the brand gives them something new and exciting to look out for.

4. Reward your best customers.
Ultimately, as an entrepreneur, if you say customer service is your number one priority, you have to put your money where your mouth is and do something generous for your customers. Jain and Yacobovsky have done just that with their customer loyalty program, The Vault, which allows customers to earn points when shopping or inviting friends to join. 

5. Build customers into your branding. 
BaubleBar posts pictures of their fans wearing their jewelry on the homepage of the website. Actively encourage your customers to participate in your brand, then showcase their participation. This gets people talking and helps build a community.

Every aspect of BaubleBar’s branding is well thought out. The result is a business changing the way consumers shop for jewelry. When you are thinking about your overall brand, you should never be scared to go down new avenues. Just make sure they are consistent with what you have already created

Branding Firm Wows With Fresh Package Designs

Who: Dallas-based packaged-goods company Kusin & Kusin launched the first-ever dry-application, odor-eliminating pet wipe, in a clever reusable pouch designed by Los Angeles branding firm Ferroconcrete.

What: Reviver Pets Freshening Swipes are sold exclusively at Petco. The existing "pet-odor removing" products are based on wet sprays or wet wipes, says Scott Meisse, project director at Ferroconcrete. "Reviver Pets is radically different by being dry and completely reusable, two things no one would expect in the category. We didn't really consider any product as competition; we considered consumers' expectations and purchase habits as the competition and greatest challenge."



Why we love it: This package has personality: It is fun yet clean, bold and effective. The resealable perforated pouch, with minimal marketing copy, is designed to sit in a custom countertop display. It relies on a clear window to show the dry wipe, and the shape of the window clearly indicates the end user: dogs, cats or pet parents.

Marketers: The 3 Differences Between Millennial Guys and Gals

For anyone looking to get a handle on what makes the influential millennial consumer tick, don't forget this simple truth: not all millennials are alike, and this is especially true when it comes to the sexes.
Like all populations, millennials can be segmented into unique and specific subgroups, and you'll want to add gender to the top of your list when approaching your segmentation strategy. Because when it comes to the sexes, there are some key differences in their lifestyle and purchase behaviors.
What are these differences? First, some stats. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women are quickly climbing the ranks, earning 60 percent of master’s degrees, about half of all law and medical degrees, and 42 percent of MBAs. In the workplace, women have also made strides, now holding over half of managerial and professional jobs—up from 26 percent in 1980. And in the professional fields, close to one-third of America’s physicians are now women, as are 45 percent of associates in law firms.

Despite these advances, women continue to face barriers with pay equity being a key concern. Fifty years after the Equal Pay Act, women are still paid an average of 77 cents for every dollar paid to men. But take heed: according to a 2012 Pew Research Center study, 40 percent of American working wives now already out-earn their husbands, and according to one blog on the subject, referencing a Boston Consulting Group study that predicts, in 15 years, women will not only close the income gap with men but out-earn them.
Given this assertion and assuming things relatively equal in terms of buying power between millennial guys and gals, here are three key differences:
1. Millennial males are more likely to be early adopters
From the research, millennials, across the gender divide, are 2.5 more likely as non-millennials to be early adopters. But when parsing the differences between the sexes, millennial men express a heightened interest in being the first to try the hottest new technologies available.
This finding holds true when considering their shopping habits. Indeed, eMarketer recently highlighted a 2013 DDB Worldwide survey of US Internet users that underscores the increasing influence of male shoppers between the ages of 18 and 34. Not only did 40 percent of male millennial respondents say they would buy everything online if they could versus 33 percent of female respondents, but male millennial consumers are more likely to shop online auction sites, more likely to use a mobile shopping application and request a price match via their smartphone and are more likely to use a retail store app than female consumers.
The bottom line? Given their early adoptive nature, the male millennial consumer is an increasingly interesting target for digital marketers these days. Case in point: The Dollar Shave Club, an online razor subscription service, became a household name and go-to brand for men thanks to a viral video and a bevy of amused millennial males who couldn't wait to share the hilarious video with their friends

2. Men are "lone rangers"
In general, millennials are highly social, both off and online, and are significantly more likely to do things in groups, like traveling together, than non-millennials, research shows.
But, again, when parsing the differences, the research shows that you're more likely to find millennial men enjoying a "lone ranger" lifestyle from eating to shopping to traveling alone. On the other hand, women like to do things with their gal pals and families in greater numbers, according to one study.
To reach them effectively, create custom experiences that appeal to these consumption behaviors. For instance, in the case of male travelers, focus on providing efficiencies like quick check-ins and outs via kiosks where human interaction could be viewed more as a nuisance when a long wait time is involved. When targeting women, consider offering group travel discounts or "girls night out" exclusive brand experiences for the ladies to win their loyalty.
3. Moms are taking charge
With this final point, it's not that moms matter more than dads. However, according to the research, millennial moms are finding themselves in the position of being the key decision makers on big decisions, as opposed to the past, when men were the heads of the household. Today, moms are "calling the shots" when a situation involves major household purchase decisions.
Indeed, a Pew Research Center survey found that the woman makes decisions in more areas than the man in 43 percent of all couples. Men make more of the decisions in only 26 percent of all couples, while couples that split the decision-making responsibilities comprise the remaining 31 percent.
"Mothers are now directly influencing the for a family unit," says Christine Barton, as quoted in Marketing to Millennials (AMACOM 2013). "Not surprisingly, there is a lot of consumption of mom opinions thanks to an overwhelming number of mothers, especially first-time moms, turning to social media for product research and advice. There is a tremendous amount of power in mom advocacy as a unit."
These moms are indeed influential, with 50 percent of them making a brand or product recommendation either daily or weekly, and 21 percent talking to their friends and family members about products at least once per month. So when targeting millennial parents with a new or existing product offering, step into the shoes of these savvy moms and think about how you can cater directly to their needs.
Given these differences, it makes sense to think of millennial men and women as two different groups. Spend time getting to know your target consumers and the differences, whether by segment or by gender. It will lead to a bigger payoff in the end.