Branding is the most important component of digital marketing: It secures your traffic sources, creates lead generation channels, builds trust and loyalty. Today we are talking to the digital branding specialist @ShellyKramer
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About Shelly
Shelly Kramer is a 20+ year marketing veteran and co-founder of V3*Broadsuite. She’s a brand strategist focused on delivering integrated marketing solutions in both the B2B and B2C space.
Make sure to connect to Shelly on Linkedin.
Questions we discussed
Q1 How did you become a marketer? What’s your career path?
I started my career in marketing with a midsized agency about a million years ago. Then went out on my own as a marketing consultant about 23ish years ago.
So I suppose that means I’ve been doing this a very long time. Or that I’m old ?
My journey to the digital space began when I started seeing the role the web was going to play in marketing/business. That made me an early adopter of sorts, at least from a marketer’s standpoint (not necessarily from a geek standpoint).
re:Q1 @ShellyKramer Was there anybody who influenced or inspired you at the beginning? #vcbuzz
— Sana Knightly (@SanaKnightly) March 15, 2016
I had some great early mentors. People who taught me to always be curious and to never hesitate to ask questions. I also was lucky enough to learn brand strategy by working with a brilliant marketing strategist.
I agree, @ShellyKramer! Mentors are heaven sent. #vcbuzz
— Cendrine Marrouat (@cendrinemedia) March 15, 2016
Absolutely. I’ve been very fortunate to have great ones throughout my whole career.
Q2 What does digital branding involve and how it integrates into overall digital marketing strategy?
I think differently about “digital branding” than many. I think that the digital space is a communication channel and that we use those digital channels for communicating a brand’s message/purpose/products, etc. .
So when it comes to “digital branding” I think you go back to the basics. Business strategy, business goals, target audience and how we use different tactics (and channels – digital or otherwise) to achieve those goals.
Digital branding is really (1) who are our target markets (2) what they want and need (3) how we reach them and deliver on that.
Should we expect an ROI on Digital Branding? How do we measure whether or not it’s working? #vcbuzz
— Charles T Harper (@charlesharper) March 15, 2016
Well, do you expect an ROI from your “TV Branding” or your “radio branding” or your “direct mail branding”. My point is that “digital” is a communication style — and of course you can expect ROI from your digital efforts.
Marketing is about them. Branding is about me. #vcbuzz
— Don Sturgill (@DonSturgill) March 15, 2016
Your brand is always about you. And how you make customers feel about what is you do or sell.
I kinda like case studies when i can get them #vcbuzz
— tomshivers (@tomshark) March 15, 2016
@ShellyKramer How do you calculate ROI from branding? It’s a long-term effort! #vcbuzz
— Jessy Troy (@jessytroy) March 15, 2016
You’re absolutely right. I think that your brand overall is an asset. How you leverage that asset (website, tradeshows,. online tactics, offline tactics, what you do across omnichannels leads to what kind of value that asset can deliver).
Yes, but B2B consumers already know what they want, more or less. @ShellyKramer #vcbuzz
— Cendrine Marrouat (@cendrinemedia) March 15, 2016
As someone who specializes in the B2B space, I would argue that ?
@cendrinemedia @ShellyKramer I find the challenge with self-education/content is for buyers to find the right content. #vcbuzz
— Kelly Hungerford (@KDHungerford) March 15, 2016
Q3 Please share some digital marketing tools you use on a regular (daily, weekly, monthly) basis…
There are so many. Tools for email marketing, demand gen, programmatic, FB ads manager, LI ads – more tools than time to discuss.
@vcbuzz More and more I’m looking to who’s connected to content for influencer campaigns. Buzzsumo’s a gem for that! #vcbuzz
— Kelly Hungerford (@KDHungerford) March 15, 2016
Image creation: Canva, Visual.ly are favorites of our team. Content curation: Feedly, Scoop.it
Website assessment tools: (Moz is a favorite), heatmap tools, Unbounce – all things we use often.
Dashboards are invaluable, Hootsuite, Sprout Social. We are fans of Brandwatch and Onalytica.
@ShellyKramer could you list a couple of demand generation tools? Intrigued! #vcbuzz
— Jessy Troy (@jessytroy) March 15, 2016
“Tools” is kind of a misnomer. Platforms is more appropriate. Many choices. Act-On, Right-On, Marketo. I think you have to be very careful with demand gen — it’s tempting to go the DIY route and not make any headway
#Digital #Marketing #Tools that are essential #GoogleAnalytics #GoogleSearchConsole, #AdWords, #BingWebmasterTools, #vcbuzz
— Debi Norton (@BRAVOMedia1) March 15, 2016
We are big fans of Moz’s suite of tools, like Followerwonk, and use BuzzSumo on a daily basis as well, for a variety of things.
A3 I’ve seen @oktopost has great social media lead tracking feature. @Cyfe for tracking multiple stats… #vcbuzz
— Ann Smarty (@seosmarty) March 15, 2016
Great tools. The problem with tools is that there are so many, it’s truly impossible to test them all.
A3 I also use @TryMajestic, @SEMrush and @SpyFu daily #vcbuzz
— Ann Smarty (@seosmarty) March 15, 2016
I forgot about @spyfu … love that as well. I’m also a big (long time) fan of @getclicky for analytics. When every developer wants you to demo their platform – they have no idea what a time investment is involved there
@ShellyKramer So many tools, best to join mastermind groups to discuss the pros / cons so you can choose wisely. #vcbuzz
— Gail Gardner (@GrowMap) March 15, 2016
Mastermind groups are great. I have a trusted group of friends who share information/insights on a regular basis
A3. Empathy and understanding are two of the greatest tools we all have access to. Know who you’re targeting, how you can help. #vcbuzz
— Kelly Hungerford (@KDHungerford) March 15, 2016
I agree. But these “tools” are not intrinsically something that all possess. That’s why you need team members who do.
Q4 Humor is your personal brand most distinguished characteristic that sets you apart. Is it happening naturally? Do you tend to recommend clients using humor or staying away from it? How to build your digital brand using humor?
How to build a digital brand using humor. Start by knowing your audience. And the personality of your brand. There is always something your audience will enjoy, from a humor standpoint. Don’t try to force it, just be “human.”
B2C or B2B it’s really humans that we’re connecting with, digitally or otherwise. Being formal, in some instances, is good. In other instances, being warm and down-to-earth, or even funny, is good, too. It all comes down to knowing your audience.
A4 Humor is one of the toughest skills for me, provided I am the foreigner. I mostly don’t get American humor ? #vcbuzz
— Ann Smarty (@seosmarty) March 15, 2016
That’s a challenge indeed. And the same for Americans doing business globally. Communication nuances are important to learn.
@ShellyKramer so true, and communicating in the culture of the country is complicated. We have to know so much these days #vcbuzz
— Janette Speyer (@websuccess) March 15, 2016
That’s one of my mantras … I love learning. Thankfully. Otherwise, I’d be in the wrong business! And the exciting thing? It changes every day. If we didn’t love change, that would be problematic!
Q5 How do you keep yourself organized? Do you manage to have life beyond Internet Marketing?
How do I stay organized? I’m masterful at scale. Which means that I’ve surrounded myself by an army of incredibly smart people (like @mistygirlph, to name just one). My job is to give direction, then get out of their way and let them do their jobs.
I also am fortunate to be wired such that I function very well in a state of chaos – which I believe describes much of our work life today. I thrive on that, and am grateful for that personality trait.
We are also fans of tools that help us stay organized. @slack has proven invaluable, as has @asana
We are also in the process of building an intranet for our team, to further streamline access/communications
For those of us who live in the tech space, using tools that help us do more, better, is a constant focus. Another thing that makes live easier @freshbooks for time-tracking for our team and invoicing — OMG I love it so much!
A5 I don’t honestly. I do have a calendar but just take things day by day #vcbuzz
— Johnna Sabri (@JohnnaSabri) March 15, 2016
I like control, but I’ve learned to let go of that need + try to let my team fly + flourish. They don’t always need me.
A5 Be mindful. It is quite the balancing act. I take only a select # of clients & work them myself w/ my expert programmer #vcbuzz
— Debi Norton (@BRAVOMedia1) March 15, 2016
When I say “chaos” I mean more of the need to constantly juggle many things concurrently — and keep it all straight. And I think that’s a challenge for many folks today – no matter what their area of focus. There’s a lot going on, at a rapid pace.
A5 My fave gtd tools: @Trello, Google Spreadsheets, Gmail ? (those are for personal productivity) #vcbuzz
— Jessy Troy (@jessytroy) March 15, 2016
Great SEO’s Need Talented Programmers -who understand at least the fundamentals of optimization. That is hard to find! #vcbuzz
— Debi Norton (@BRAVOMedia1) March 15, 2016
Find talented trusted writers and experts at @myblogu https://t.co/wre9wyZtDl #vcbuzz
— Jessy Troy (@jessytroy) March 15, 2016
Our previous branding chats:
- How Blogging Helps Brand Yourself & Sell Your Services: Twitter Chat with @DreBeltrami
- Relationship Building Twitter Chat with #BrandChat Founder @mariaduron
- Self-Branding Twitter Chat with @ChadPollitt
- Building Online Career: Twitter Chat with @AngelaAlcorn
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