The Found Gen

Marketing That Works.

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What is a Blog and Why Do You Need One?

Alright, people, we know you know what a blog is (you’re reading this, aren’t you?), but do you really know what it is and why it is so absolutely important for growing your business? Well, let us tell you.

Blogs are the great drivers of traffic to your website (hello, Google). By maintaining a steady stream of content to your website, you’re showing the algorithms of the interwebs that you – yes, you – are alive, well, and actively engaged with your clients’ and business’ needs.

But blogs are not just for Google (although who doesn’t want to be on page one of a search result?). Blogs are also for showcasing to the world that you know your sh**. You’re an expert in your industry and you are there to serve and be a resource to whoever strolls along to your site.

As we frequently preach at The Found Gen, if you want to get some, you have to give some – information, resources, valuable insight, you know the drill. And guess what? Businesses that use blogs generate up to 67 percent more leads than those that don’t, according to a survey from Demand Metric.

It’s not hard to see why. Just think about it, if you land on a website that was last updated months or, gasp, years ago, how likely are you to get in touch?

But if you see a business that is churning out frequent and relevant content that speaks directly to the issues you’re facing, you’ll probably think at least two things: a) this is a business I can trust, and b) why have I not gotten in touch sooner?

Now on to you.

It’s time to show the world that you are a business your clients can trust. Get a blog. Do it today. Oh, and about the whole writing the actual content part? Don’t fret. That’s what we’re here for. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.

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Is Instagram Right for Your Business?

The short answer? It Depends.

What? You were expecting a cut-and-dry, black-and-white answer? Nope. Like all things – marketing is more about the shades of gray.

Instagram can be a valuable tool for many businesses by helping to build brand awareness and create a community around your product or service. Instagram is especially useful for businesses that have a more aesthetic-driven company. What do we mean by that? Those who can rely on imagery as a good tool to demonstrate their business and connect with others. For example, these verticals do well on the ‘gram: real estate, photography, retail, travel, hospitality, community-driven for-profit or non-profits, and others.

For other industries – it’s not to say IG isn’t the place for you – it will just take a different approach to find your right audience and how to shape your message for this platform.

Let’s take a step back though and look at some of the numbers.

1 billion people use Instagram every month. 500 million use the stories feature every day. 200 million users are visiting at least one business profile daily. 75.3% of businesses (25 million) will be using Instagram in 2020. And, finally, Instagram’s total number of users, which is your potential advertising reach, is 849.3 million people.

Those are some big numbers. We could go on with the Instagram statistics (don’t tempt us with a good time!), but we think you get the picture. You have every reason and incentive to use Instagram for your business just looking at the stats, but here are some more specific reasons to consider Instagram.

Put a face to your brand

Customers respond better when they know that they are buying from or working with another human – one they can relate to and engage with easily. The more you empathize and identify with your audience on IG, the deeper a connection you make. This connection can lead to community, and ultimately sales.

Build up your community

One of the most exciting things for business owners is seeing the excitement of their clients when it relates to the products or services, or even just the conversation you’re delivering. Instagram can help you create a community of brand fans that are as into what you do as you are. 

Boost sales

Through Instagram you can create targeted marketing campaigns, flash sales, product or service awareness and so on and so on. And yet, while we all want the end result of all your hard social networking to be an increase in revenue – the real end-game is engagement and brand loyalists. For IG, the data to watch and measure is your engagement rate – not your numbers. Too often we’ve seen people chase the # of followers, while drastically diminishing the number of people who interact with each post. Eyes on the prize: a real community.

Gather data with polls

Instagram lets you interact directly with your followers, gather data and hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. Wondering if you should release that new t-shirt in blue or green – go ahead and ask your clients directly! Use these features wisely and you could gain some helpful insight while also allowing your customers to participate in your business – thereby adding more ownership of their own experience and a more willingness to buy.  

All that being said, we do think it’s important to mention some reasons why Instagram might not work for your business. In general, they all revolve around not using Instagram correctly, or not using it at all. The real question to ask yourself before creating an account is will you actually use Instagram? Here are reasons not to use Instagram:

If you’re not going to post or interact regularly

It almost hurts you more to have an inactive account than to have no account at all. Consider someone searching your business on Instagram and all they see is your 10 followers and the 5 pictures you’ve posted in the last 3 years. They will see this as either a business that doesn’t care or doesn’t have any loyal following. Additionally, if you have comments, or even negative feedback that you are not responding to this reflects poorly on your responsiveness and awareness.

If you’re not going to learn the app:

You don’t need to put a hundred hashtags for every post. Not every post needs to have a novel’s worth of content. Instagram is a very user-friendly platform but it does take some time and investment to learn how to use the features and platform effectively. If you’re not going to take the time, you may be better off using another social media platform.

If you’re not going to take the time to focus on aesthetics:

You don’t need to be a professional photographer to use Instagram. You do need to have some awareness of what makes a good picture and how to use the app’s features to create visually appealing images and messages. As we mentioned earlier, it’s a misnomer that Instagram only works for visual brands. You can make Instagram work for any brand, but you have to think about the aesthetics of your posts.

So, does Instagram make sense for your business?

We do want to assure you that we are not being paid off by Instagram to tout its glories. We just want to highlight the tools available to businesses. And Instagram is a fantastic tool when you learn to use it correctly.

Have questions about using Instagram for your business? Have success or horror stories? We’d love to hear from you and we’re here to help if you are looking for ways to utilize this social media platform to your business’s advantage.

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What It Means to Market for Tomorrow

Building a brand takes work, but you already know that. You’ve put in the late hours, kept your nose to the grindstone, and seen your efforts pay off. But even though we all inherently know success takes work, and time, and consistent and persistent effort, many of us still fall into the mindset of thinking that we can magically wave our marketing wand and immediately solve our customers’ problems in the here and now.

Sorry to break it to you. That’s just not the case.

What Marketing Is Not

Marketing is not the antidote to your or your customers’ problems. It is not an 11th-hour attempt to solve a business strategy gone wrong. You know as well as we do that if you have poor customer service, a 5-star website and a quick smattering of social posts will not be able to save you.

Marketing for the Long Haul

What marketing is, however, is a long-term strategy that enables your business to stay ahead of the curve. It’s about planning ahead, keeping your eyes on the long view, and thinking strategically about the best ways to position your business and brand in the market today, tomorrow, and well into the future.

Marketing is putting in the time to maintain a consistent relationship with your customers, understanding their needs and values, and being aware of what’s coming down the pike.

After all, by developing close connections with your customers and consistently interacting with them, it means they’ll turn to you first when a problem does emerge on the horizon. Why? Because they’ve come to trust you, your brand, and what your business represents.

Marketing is important, dare we say essential, to the success of your business. As you look ahead, consider the ways in which marketing can augment and enhance the relationships you develop with your customers and be an important component of your entire growth strategy.

At The Found Gen, we’ve been helping businesses build their brands and tell their stories for more than a decade. Let us help you anticipate your customers’ needs and develop lasting relationships so you can continue to grow no matter what gets thrown your way (ahem, like a pandemic). Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.

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Keeping Your Business Accountable as Part of the BLM Movement

We are at a pivotal moment in history. You feel it. We feel it. Every. Single. Person. Feels It. And that’s a good thing. A really good thing.

But like so many times before, there’s always a risk when we’re staring down change – even when it’s at the level and intensity of social change we’re all a part of right now. The risk is always present of us slipping back into the way things were. Quietly, slowly, ever so subtly, and before we know it, we find ourselves asking the same old questions to the same old people.

It’s time for that to stop.

And you can help.

What Accountability Looks Like as Part of the BLM Movement

As a leader, your employees, clients, and the community look to you to set the tone for the type of business you strive to be each and every day and the type of world you’re committed to living in. You have to talk the talk and walk the walk, and you do it by building trust and demonstrating accountability. So what does that mean?

Being accountable as part of the Black Lives Matter movement means truly committing to racial and social equality – and sticking to that commitment. It’s more than just doing your part today. We all should be doing that. It’s about staying committed for the long-haul.

And guess what? When you truly commit, we mean REALLY do your part, it’s good for your business, too. Not only does it shape the story of who you are, it also attracts audiences and customers as well as rock start talent and employees. All that on top of making the world a better place. Who can say no to that?

Some Ideas for Maintaining Accountability

Social changes take time, but it will never happen if we don’t start. Here are some ideas to help us each move several steps closer to a more equitable society – and better businesses.

  • Agree to close your business on Election Day.
  • Commit to hiring more Black professionals – and do so in a tangible way by setting a specific goal. For example, commit to having XX% of your business be BIPOC professionals by 2021.
  • Commit to finding BIPOC referral sources or businesses that complement your own and with whom you can partner.
  • Commit to posting less aggressive self-gaining posts on social media and instead focus on GIVING more to your audience. Be a resource. Think of others first.

What ideas do you have for keeping your business accountable? We’ve love to hear them! Drop us a line or find us on Instagram @thefoundgen to let us know.

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Being a Business and Supporting Black Lives Matter

How to Actively and Respectfully Engage in the Movement While Still Promoting Your Business

The times are changing. This should be abundantly evident, unless you have your head in the sand. Not since the Civil Rights Movement, has there been such upheaval based on the racial structure of America. The Black Lives Matter movement is as strong as it is vital and necessary to our world.

We believe that we need to celebrate Black lives, honor Black experiences and support Black voices in every possible way.

But how do you support the movement, ethically, responsibly and with your whole heart, while still promoting your business? It’s a question that has been on the mind of business owners across America, especially primarily white-owned businesses. In the times of a pandemic, worldwide protests and a large economic downturn, many businesses are struggling to stay afloat. The only way to survive is to keep the doors open and keep promoting.

Here are 5 ways you can promote while still supporting Black Lives Matter:

  1. Identify how you can help others through your services

No matter what your business is, there is a way to help others, directly or indirectly. You can donate. You can volunteer as an organization or you can find the unique ways your business can be a part of the solution. For example, if you are a therapist you can help people struggling with emotional grief in the current climate. A criminal defense attorney could step up to protect those being arrested for protesting. An HR company could give more talks on diversity and inclusion in the hiring process.

  • Watch your language

Words have so much power. Language is what sets us apart from others, both as businesses and as human beings. Your words can help or they can harm and they can also leave you open to criticism. We’ve been watching a number of businesses fall apart and be called out for non-inclusive or derogatory language. Don’t let this happen to you. Watch your words. Think before you speak and especially before you post anything.

  • Be honest and open

Remember the Golden Rule? Treat others as you’d like to be treated and if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Now is not the time for more negativity. We need to lift others up. But in the same vein, don’t force a post or a comment just because everyone else is doing it. Disingenuousness leaves a bad taste in the mouth and it’s painfully obvious.

  • Strike a balance

You still need to promote your business, but do so within reason. Good promotion is always focused on taking the spotlight off of you but right now it’s even more important to GIVE. People know what it looks like to promote for self-gain – don’t be that business. Focus on others and do everything you can to give back.

  • Commit to a change

Put your money where your mouth is. Actions speak louder than words. The only way to make a change is to be the change. Now is the time to hold your business accountable and make actionable steps to support the movement.

And since we don’t want to be that business, we’re practicing what we preach. We are committed to promoting, engaging and donating and in some cases have already begun monthly donations to the following organizations:

  • People of Color in Publishing
  • We Need Diverse Books
  • Black Writers Collective
  • Rebuild Foundation
  • Art 21
  • Black Art Futures Fund
  • Harlem Academy
  • National Black Child Development Institute
  • Thurgood Marshall College Fund
  • Black Lives Matter
  • Equal Justice Initiative
  • Color of Change

In solidarity,

The Found Gen

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How to Overcome One of Your Biggest Business Challenges

While a whole heck of a lot has changed in our world these past several months, as business leaders, one thing that will never change is the importance of connecting with your people.

After all, if you forget about staying attuned to your clients’ needs and interests, you can bet they’re going to forget about you.

Please, don’t get forgotten.

At The Found Gen, we pound coffee day in and day out to keep businesses and brands like yours front and center in the eyes of your people. We know that growing a business is a huge undertaking, and one of the biggest ongoing challenges any business faces, no matter the size or industry, is staying relevant in the eyes of their people. We’re here to help you overcome this hurdle.

See and Be Seen

A lot has been thrown at us right now, and it can feel impossible to stay on top of it all. We get it. Each and every one of us has been left with no other choice but to take on multiple jobs at once caring for ourselves, our families, our businesses, and everything in between. But there is certainly some good news about this whole situation, and it’s that it is forcing us all to push the reset button.

If you’re looking to see and be seen, then it’s all about getting back to the basics. Here are some important places to start:

  • Connect with your audience – The key to staying relevant is meeting your people where they’re at. What social channels are they using? What information are they searching for, and how can you help? Listen to what they’re saying and contribute valuable insight to the conversation.
  • Communicate consistently – One and done simply will not work if you’re trying to build brand loyalty.
  • Pivot and compete – What worked before may not work anymore. Rethink your strategy post-pandemic and be prepared to take it in a completely new direction (for some ideas on what those could be, check out this post).

Go Forth and Market

No one said growing your business would be easy. But at the heart of it all is filling a need your competitors aren’t and staying relevant to what your people need. You make that happen. We can help.

If you have questions or need a little boost to get started, drop us a line.