Lead Generation is Like Hosting an Awkward Party
There is a sales and marketing misnomer that “leads” will generate business growth (lead generation), but they don’t. Leads are just data points. They are a metric - it's the number of people interested in your content - a click, a download, a phone call. They are just actions that by themselves, do not lead to sales.
Every sale starts with a story and stories start with branding.
Your brand is not your logo or your tagline. It’s based on perceptions (the stories) that exist in the hearts and minds of your ideal client. If you are new to the market, chances are that you need to invest in branding, unless you’re as recognizable as Nike.
Lead generation without branding is like hosting an awkward party. You invited people from college, work, cycling class, church, your amateur soccer league – basically a hodgepodge of interests. They show up at your door, but you haven’t even figured out what you are celebrating. “Happy Birthday!” you scream in a panic as they enter a room filled with Halloween décor, a Cinco De Mayo buffet and plates from the summer luau. Nineties hip hop is blaring from the backyard and you look square into Pastor Mike’s eyes and think, “Sh!t. Do I really want him mingling with Frank the Tank while he’s sipping on Friday’s stale keg beer? Does Jane from cycling class even like fried pickles?”
Record scratch.
Your party should have started with a plan. First, you would have decided what you want to celebrate, then who should be there and then sent out the invitations. The décor and what you say when people arrive –that is just the icing on the cake. In branding terms, those are your logo and tagline.
Lead generation is the same way. You need branding first.
Community branding defines what you do, who you do it for, how it helps your customer and how your brand is different (better) than your competitor’s. Yes, it may also include logo design and colors, but those are just creative extensions of your brand. Once you have all of this defined, you have to make sure your messaging, products and services align as well. There’s nothing worse than going to an “eco-friendly” café that serves their food on Styrofoam. It doesn't align.
Branding reveals where you can reach your ideal customer and aligns everyone on your team with a story to tell.
In turn, your customers and team become your biggest brand loyalists. Everyone in your organization is selling and every sale starts with a story.
If you need help defining your message, aligning your teams and delivering on your brand promise, call a Maven.
We don’t sell leads. We sell strategy. Then, when our clients grow, we throw a party.
Brands Take Note: Consumers Seek Community in a Post Pandemic World
Scroll, tweet, click, tap, swipe. Social media is an endless buffet of information. Brands are trying harder and harder to cut through the clutter and get our attention. Ads are following us, popping up, bouncing in and interrupting our favorite YouTube video mid-punchline. With information overload and an increase in online communities, we are connected more than ever to anyone and everyone we want to reach, but we aren’t.
Social media has created a void.
We are yearning for more profound, authentic connections in our everyday lives -- a true sense of community.
What online platforms have given us is the concept that our community is vast. No longer do we feel fulfilled by the informal connections with the individuals in our neighborhood. The mom at soccer practice doesn’t seem as engaging as the thought leader sharing principles of entrepreneurship online. We find ourselves bored by these daily interactions of frivolous small talk.
We want better content. We want to be awakened, enlightened, inspired or motivated. We seek communities of like-minded individuals that share our passion for foreign lands, exotic foods, entrepreneurship …. fill in the blank.
For the sh!t show that was 2020, it was also a chance to slow down, unplug and spend quality time with family and ourselves. Being at the brink of what felt like the world coming to an end, watching millions of people succumb to, or perish from, the invisible monster while grappling with the thought that we might die too, had an everlasting impact. Perhaps we paused and thought about what we really wanted out of life for the first time ever. We realized our time is limited and it is precious. We asked ourselves, “why am I watching this mind-numbing reality show of someone else stumbling through chaos when I could be learning a new language, how to play guitar, or share a laugh over zoom with my ailing father?”
Or maybe it was an innocuous question, “Why am I wasting money on the cheap vodka? “
We instead found joy in simple pleasures like the agave almond mint margarita mixer -- some fancy items we found in our community of like-minded cocktail lovers. On February 29, 2020, Vine Pair said:
This cocktail trend was seriously a thing in 2020 – pre-mixed, canned, or bottled cocktails, exploded after the U.S. began to feel the pandemic’s effect, seeing 90.4 percent year-over-year growth in Nielsen-measured off-premise channels for the pandemic-impacted period ending June 27. Before Covid hit, year-over-year growth was just 21.5 percent for the 52-week period ending.
The crux of the matter - when we were deprived of the noise that was our everyday lives, we invested in ourselves and our surroundings. We realized that we yearn for authentic connections with like-minded individuals.
We seek community - a feeling of fellowship with others as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.
In some ways, the 2020 forced pause was akin to the moment in the movie Wall-e when the overweight passenger gets knocked off her mobile recliner. Without the blinding screen in front of her, she discovers the vibrant world around her. It doesn’t mean she forgot about all that great content and the connections that could be found online, but she is awakened. She realizes there is a world outside of the screen and she seeks to explore it, to make authentic connections.
The endless scroll is no longer fulfilling. We need community now more than ever.
Brands looking to cut through that clutter and reach their consumers need to focus on creating a community brand. Creating ways for your brand loyalists to authentically interact with other like-minded individuals who love your product, service, or tech software is the way to grow your brand.
How are you creating a community for your business? How are you creating a group of loyalists seeking to buy your fancy flavor of vodka? The solution is in community branding. Through intentional messaging and building authentic relationships with loyalists of your brand, then you bring more loyalists and cut through the clutter; you create a community brand. Contact us today to discover how we can help your community tell its story.
Your Marketing Agency Mysteries Solved
In pursuing the perfect marketing agency to partner with, you may find yourself overwhelmed with a sea of various solutions and a budget the size of a rowboat. Agencies may say they can get your rowboat to operate more like a yacht and help you reach your goals… but knowing whether you’re buying the right solution can make anyone sea-sick if you don’t know how to navigate it.
We’re here to hand you the paddle - and a compass while we’re at it.
This sea of options is hard enough to navigate and when you add in layers of marketing jargon and buzzwords, finding the best solution for you can feel like solving a Nancy Drew mystery. When trying to get to the bottom of “who is the best partner?”, there are several key questions you can ask to help you make a more informed decision.
(Yes, dear reader, we just bridged a sea metaphor and a Nancy Drew metaphor.)
Here are a few questions to ask when searching for a Marketing Agency:
1. “What is your specialty?” 
There are digital agencies, media buying agencies, branding agencies, etc. Start at the top – the head of the agency is a good indicator of what kind of agency you are hiring. If their experience is in data analytics or heavier on the creative side, their team is likely built around that practice area.
Be wary of an agency that says its team can do it all. They may tell you they have experts in everything from SEO to design. It might be true in some cases, but typically, this is a bit of o-strich if you ask us.
2. “How does the agency measure success?”
Key performance indicators (KPI’s) are essential. Set specific measurable goals when you first hire an agency. Know what you need out of the investment to get a return. Identify successful actions (website form downloads, increased engagement) that lead to a closed deal. Then ask your agency how they can help you to reach those goals.
The right agency won’t promise they can double your lead count and they might even push back on your goals. Hearing an opposing view is a good sign because you want your agency to be a trusted advisor and do what is best for your brand. Be wary of an agency that promises unrealistic expectations it’s likely they won’t be able to deliver.
3. “How do you communicate with your clients?”
Quarterly reports? Monthly check-ins? Dedicated account manager? Carrier pigeon?
It’s important to know who you are partnering with and how you can connect with them. As a business, you don’t want your company’s marketing efforts passed along to an agency without clear contact. Make sure you can identify who will own your marketing, how you can reach them, what their reporting process looks like, and how often you can expect updates.
4. “How do you structure contracts and handle billing/invoicing?”
Agencies tend to vary in the contracts they offer and how they handle invoicing. Some bill hourly while others create a monthly retainer. Hourly clients may see slower results while those on a monthly retainer may be treated as a high priority. You want to ensure you are clear on the contract and understand what value you’ll receive for your investment.
Essential questions vary here but may include: “how will you bill us?”, “what is included in a retainer?”, “what would be considered out of scope of our agreement?” or “how many hours will be dedicated to our marketing work?”
5. “Can you share similar projects or work examples that you've completed previously?”
What types of projects do they typically take on? What industries do they work with? Do they know your market?
Ask a potential marketing partner if they have client references or check if they have a case study similar to your project. You want to see how your brand would align with its current clientele. Feel free to ask if they will share current or past clients and examples of past campaigns. They may even be able to give you insight on upcoming projects they are tackling. The worst they can say is no!
Bottom Line: Your marketing partner shouldn’t be a mystery!
At HAVEN Creative, we are an award-winning branding agency committed to making mavens of our peers and partners. We utilize our proprietary process, the Maven Method® to develop, design, and deploy strategic branding and communications campaigns that raise awareness and inspire action.
Have more questions? Send an email to the HAVEN Mavens™. We would be happy to share industry insight to help you navigate the marketing agency world.
5 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Marketing Agency
Choosing the right marketing agency for your organization is as personal as online dating. Unfortunately, the vetting process doesn’t come with a detailed bio or a swipe right option! And choosing the wrong agency could mean thousands of dollars and time wasted on an agency that doesn’t have the enterprise or passion for fulfilling your specific needs. Before hiring a marketing agency for your next branding project, be sure to ask them these five questions.
WHAT DO YOU SPECIALIZE IN?
While every marketing agency appears to "do it all" they often are really only experts at one or two services like branding, digital marketing or web design. Be weary of an agency that claims to do it all. Smaller agencies often don’t have the expertise to provide support in all of these areas. Before you engage with the agency, find out what area of expertise they focus on and if they have the time and resources to focus on your organization’s unique and individual needs.
WHAT KIND OF CLIENTS DO YOU WORK WITH?
While sometimes hiring a marketing agency that doesn't work in your industry vertical can provide a new perspective, it is highly valuable to hire an agency that does. Does the agency work with products or B2B? Do they understand the nuances of successfully completing a public branding project working with multiple stakeholders, or are they used to working with only one decision maker? Knowing your potential agency’s strengths and experience will benefit you in the long run. It’s likely that if they have worked with organizations similar to yours, they already have experience overcoming marketing-related obstacles, in other words – no need to reinvent the wheel.
HOW DO YOU MEASURE SUCCESS?
Quality marketing is an investment, and being able to report your return on investment is crucial. At HAVEN, we set specific measurable goals with our clients at the kick off meeting to gain alignment and measure the success of a rebrand, or any project for that matter. Finding measurable results for a creative project can be challenging, which is why we include you, our client, in the goal-setting process.
WHO WILL I BE WORKING WITH?
We are living in a world full of apps and internet-based companies that can provide services from anywhere in the world. The fast-food approach to marketing may provide a cheaper, quicker product, but likely lacks high-level vision and customer service. Before hiring a marketing agency, be sure to ask whom you will be working with and what will the project management experience be like. Your organization will benefit from being able to sit down with a dedicated marketing team to discuss your goals and provide a marketing strategy. Don’t get us wrong, for some projects, we need the extra muscle and will bring in strategic partners if we don’t have that specific expertise, but the majority of our work is done in-house. Each of our clients is assigned one of our HAVEN Mavens™ as their point of contact, whom they can call anytime if they have a question. We are all about making mavens of our peers and partners and this is something that requires time and individual attention.
CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT YOUR COMPANY CULTURE?
This is not a typical question to ask, but it is one that can yield interesting results. By asking about their company culture you can find out how an agency manages projects, what they are passionate about and how they treat their customers. Are you looking for fun and fresh? Do you like to laugh? Perhaps you’re more into aggressive and direct…we’re wishing we had that swipe left function again! It isn’t imperative that your company cultures are exactly the same, but they should complement one another. Your potential marketing agency should offer something your organization is lacking; maybe it’s creativity or writing skills. It could be graphic design or website know-how. You need to feel heard and understood and at the end of the day, it doesn’t hurt if you actually like each other.
We have a saying at the HAVEN, we aren’t for everybody and everybody isn’t for us. If you like to laugh and want a holistic approach to connecting the dots between marketing, sales and customer service, book a meeting with one of our HAVEN Mavens™.
Your Mission Statement Doesn't Matter
Newsflash! Your employees don’t care about your company’s mission statement. Mission statements tend to be corporate marketing jargon meant to align a team with an action-oriented one-liner. Some of the world’s best-known brands have some of the world’s worst mission statements. Consider Amazon's: "to be the Earth's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online." A mission statement like this is a complete disconnect from the very team it is meant to align.
Often thought up in the 20th floor board room without employee buy-in, mission statements miss the mark when they aren’t articulating the company’s purpose or providing something meaningful that the team can rally around.
Leaders, it’s time to flip the script.
People are not working to serve you or your pockets. They come to work to fulfill a deeper purpose - to pursue their passion. Sure, there are those that seek to follow. They don’t care about the routine. They maintain status quo, collect a check and could give two sh*ts what the poster hanging in the lunchroom says. But then, there are the others. The purple cows, the linchpins, the unicorns - we call them Mavens.
They are inside your organization and they want to break from status quo, they want to be inspired and want to pursue their passion. If you empower the Mavens, you will increase productivity and improve your company culture.
How? Talk to your people.
To find the Mavens and understand what motivates them, talk to your people! Don’t be afraid to discover what motivates them. What is their “why” for coming to work? If you have the courage to dig deeper and have the hard conversations, you will eventually find a common thread among your team. You will find the Mavens. You will discover the common link to their passion and the company’s purpose.
When organizations successfully align the company’s “mission” with the employee’s purpose, amazing things happen. During discovery work, you may even find that your employee’s strengths aren’t being fully utilized and it might be time for a seat shift.
When you put an employee in the right seat, doing what feeds their purpose, they become a Maven. When you empower mavens to innovate, give them the freedom to fail and the authority to take action, your company grows. Enthusiasm is a force multiplier; these mavens inspire other mavens inside the company. Over time, the culture shifts from paper posters on the wall to a thriving organization with a team of high performing mavens.
I’ll say it again for the bosses in the back. Your mission statement is dead. It’s the purpose and your people that matters.
At Haven, we’re here to create better work environments where people feel seen, heard and valued so that they can live for the week, not the weekend. We are about community branding and can help you find the Mavens in your organization to create culture that delivers inspired work.
Making mavens is what we do.
It's not coddling corporate culture stuff. It's creating teams that perform using strategic communications and branding. Let's talk.
In the meantime, for continued amusement – check out these WORST MISSION STATEMENTS OF ALL TIME.
Communicating During COVID-19 & Beyond - Evergreen Campaigns
How Gaston County Launched an Effective Evergreen Public Information Campaign During a Pandemic Using HubSpot Marketing Hub
Campaign Challenge
In the midst of the global pandemic, Gaston County Public Information Department had limited resources but needed to extend its reach to provide critical COVID-19 resources and information to high-risk populations in the county. Using available CARES funding, they turned to us at HAVEN Creative for additional marketing and communications support. We developed a strategic communications campaign called, Gaston SAVES (Safety, Awareness, Vital Emergency Support) to tackle this challenge. While it was initiated to address the COVID-19 crisis, the campaign was eventually designed to be “evergreen” so that it could be used to provide resources and information in an emergency situation. Gaston County also needed a system in place to collect resident contact information and send out important information via email to residents like COVID-19 updates.
Campaign Solution
Layered into this campaign were several key messages. The first of which was Mask Together, an educational push to promote mask-wearing. Once flu season started in the Fall of 2020, the marketing narratives shifted to include COVID-19 vs. flu education. In January 2021, additional messaging and visuals, COVID Stops with Me, were layered into the campaign to educate the community on the COVID-19 vaccination. The initial launch of Gaston SAVES included the development of a dedicated website that was integrated with HubSpot Marketing. HAVEN Creative also designed supporting creative marketing assets and managed the advertising buys to extend the reach.
The purpose of paid advertising was to attract Gaston County residents to visit the gastonsaves.com website and sign up for important updates via Hubspot forms. The contacts received regular COVID-19 update emails and pertinent information regarding testing and vaccines, building trust and credibility with residents. We were later able to use Hubspot to send out post-vaccine surveys for contacts to share their experience and determine our promoters in the community.
Tools and Tactics: Gaston SAVES Marketing Assets PDF
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- Website with HubSpot forms to collect resident information
- Print ADs
- Social Media – advertisements and weekly postings
- Billboards
- C-Store Signage and Video Boards
- Video Production
Campaign Results
The Gaston SAVES initiative has reached more than 25% of the county’s population through the website, gastonsaves.com, to date. By delivering over 6 million impressions, there have been 137,191 sessions on the website and more than 28,000 contacts entered into the database to receive email updates from gastonsaves.com.
With email open rates averaging 60+%, Gaston County has been able to feed vital COVID-19 information to county residents.
Since the website was built using HubSpot, contact lists can now be easily segmented by location, age, group, etc. This will allow the county officials to quickly and efficiently disseminate critical information to the appropriate target audiences. The flexibility of the campaign platform has proved to be a valuable resource. Communicating information during the pandemic and beyond has been ever-changing, and this segmenting has streamlined the process for the county.
Campaign Impact
Since launching Gaston SAVES, lives have been saved. Important COVID-19 messages and vaccination announcements have reached residents in a timely manner. Several partnering organizations have become clients as well. They see the long-term value of HubSpot and the impact Gaston SAVES is having on the community. Gaston County's Communication Manager and PIO Adam Gaub said, “The work on Gaston SAVES has transformed expectations for what county communications can look like, and the metrics have pointed to just how successful this has been in connecting residents with potentially life-saving information.” Gaston SAVES will live on past the pandemic. This will be the way new campaigns are launched and guided with Hubspot strategy.
Is your organization in need of a campaign strategy that will stand the test of time? An evergreen public health campaign will allow you to provide messaging that reaches your audience quickly and effectively. Let HAVEN Creative help with this! Reach out to Maven Jeni today to discuss your campaign needs.
HAVEN Creative® Agency Receives HUB Certification
Waxhaw, NC (January 22, 2021): HAVEN Creative® Agency has received certification as a Woman-Owned, Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) firm with the State of North Carolina. The agency is listed in the Statewide Uniform Certification (SWUC) Program database.
As a result of North Carolina’s Executive Order #150, the Historically Underutilized Business Program was established in April 20, 1999. The North Carolina Office for Historically Underutilized Businesses is an organization that advocates actions, increasing opportunities for historically underutilized businesses. It also promotes diversity and inclusion in state government procurement and contracting.
President and Founder, Jeni Bukolt says, “Being a certified Woman-Owned Business is an important resource designed to increase opportunities for women in business. Many of our clients are in the government sector, so receiving the certification will help increase our visibility and opportunities within our specific niche. This is also beneficial to our clients seeking to achieve the existing statutory goal of 5% of federal contracting dollars being awarded to WOSB.”
HAVEN Creative® is a full-service strategic communications and marketing agency with a primary focus on community building initiatives. Driven by a dream to create inclusive, thriving communities, HAVEN strives to impact one million lives through the communities they serve. HAVEN Creative® is a team of industry experts (HAVEN Mavens™) dedicated to growing communities through print, video and digital marketing solutions.
10 Must-See Charlotte-Metro Communities during the Holidays
‘Tis the season to be festive. Why not celebrate in the Charlotte metro communities we love most during the 2024 Holiday season?
At HAVEN Creative®, we are all about creating community, and nothing feels more like a celebration of community than a holiday community-wide event. We’ve highlighted some of our favorite local holiday events hosted by some NC clients and community partners.
Here is our curated list of the Top Ten communities to visit this holiday season:
1. Downtown Waxhaw, NC
Waxhaw's Christmas Parade will be held on Sunday, December 8, at 3 p.m. in downtown Waxhaw. It will feature local school marching bands, entries and floats by 70 businesses and members of the community and an appearance from a special guest from the North Pole! Announcers will cover the entire parade route to ensure that you hear all of the details surrounding the fun entries passing by.
2. Light the Nights at Truist Field (Charlotte)
Even during their off-season, the Knights don’t stop lighting up Charlotte. From fireworks to Christmas lights, don’t miss plenty of winter activities like ice skating, hockey, snow tubing, and even some shopping. This year kicks off on November 27th so make sure you don’t miss it.
3. McAdenville, NC
Christmas Town U.S.A - If you’ve never been, it’s an entire experience.
It’s like something you would see in a Hallmark movie. The whole town transforms into precisely what you’d expect Christmas Town U.S.A to look like. There will be some changes this year so check out this link before hopping in the car.
Traditionally, the annual count of visitors to McAdenville in December exceeds a half-million people.
4. Belmont, NC
Holidays at the Garden at Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden. You can sing along to your wintertime favorites at the popular topiary display, take in the rolling lights of the Piedmont Prairie and stroll among the blossoming cherry trees.
While you are in Belmont, check out the Festival of Trees. We are adding it to our list!
5. Concord, NC
Speedway Christmas has returned to Charlotte Motor Speedway, and it’s bigger and better than ever! The 11th edition of Charlotte’s spectacular drive-through light show features more than 4 million lights over a remarkable, 3.75-mile course that includes most of the oval as well as the infield and the ROVAL™!
6. Ballantyne, NC
Head to the Bowl at Ballantyne for a festive evening at Jingle Bowl! On Friday, December 6 from 5 to 8 p.m., celebrate the holiday season with fun for everyone. Free Selfies with Santa—Make memories with Santa himself with a festive backdrop
7. Camp North End (Charlotte)
Camp North End will transform into a drive-in movie theater on Thursdays in December. You will be able to enjoy a socially distant cold-weather activity, a beautiful view of the Uptown skyline & the historic water tower, and a variety of food options from the food trucks.
8. Carowinds (Charlotte, NC)
On the North and South Carolina border, Carowinds will host Taste of the Season. You can purchase a Tasting Card to choose among 30 samples of holiday sweets and savories, see dazzling holiday décor, and wrap up your Christmas shopping. A few family rides are open too!
9. U.S. National Whitewater Center
Creating a community of its own, the U.S. National Whitewater Center has a lot to offer this season. The ice skating rink includes 17,000 square feet of ice and an on-ice Airstream trailer serving craft beer, hot chocolate, and coffee. After you finish skating, check out the LIGHTS installation. This isn’t your typical Christmas light display.
10. Tanglewood Festival of Lights
Another drive-thru experience sure to brighten your winter is the Tanglewood Festival of Lights. Complete with a gift shop, S’moresville, and horse-drawn carriage rides, soak in the lights in comfort and style.
While we enjoy the many festivities in North Carolina, you can also read more about Christmas traditions around the world here.
What community events should be added to our list? Leave us a comment below!
How Gratitude Can Improve Company Culture
Working remotely can strain company culture and complicate communications inside an organization if you don’t have a regular meeting routine. Since November is National Gratitude Month, we thought it was the perfect time to share our team’s daily gratitude practice with other organizations to improve their company culture. Gratitude is more than merely saying, “thank you.” Gratitude has the power to shift us from focusing on the negative to appreciating what is positive in our lives. And finding positive moments has been hard in 2020. That’s why we made it a point to practice gratitude every day as a team, and it positively impacted our company culture at HAVEN.
Daily gratitude practice is something any organization can implement immediately (at no cost) that can immediately impact communication and company culture. First, you have to have a quick daily meeting (aka a huddle) schedule. The huddle comes from the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS). Huddles are meant to be brief check-ins with your team to discuss the tasks for the day. While in the office, our huddles were always project related, but once we went remote, our enthusiasm dwindled while anxiety seemed to be on the rise -- that’s when we added the gratitude practice. We believe this small addition to our daily huddle routine had an overwhelmingly positive impact on our company culture and is a big reason why we’ve been able to remain productive while working remotely.
How we start our day
Our daily morning huddle is a short meeting set for 9:30 Tuesday through Friday (we hold longer weekly meetings on Monday). This 15-20 minute huddle is meant to inform and align the team on the work that needs to be done. Each member of the team covers four topics:
1. Gratitude
Each team member starts with something they are grateful for and gives a quick explanation if they choose. This helps the team members focus on something positive and gives other team members a little insight into their life. Some themes we’ve seen recently are coffee, a good night’s sleep, and flexibility.
2. Headline
Your headline should be the one thing you have to get done today. This is the task you’ll be held accountable for, and the team will check back in with you at the end of the day to see where you are.
3. Deadline
This helps you look ahead. What is your next deadline? What project or task should you start working on next?
4. Stuck
Now is the time to discuss anything hindering you from moving forward with your headline or deadline. For example, if you are waiting on approval, this would be the time to bring it up.
5. Headline Y/N
This provides team members with accountability. Remember the headline you set at the beginning of the day? Now each team member is held accountable for that project or task they were supposed to complete. This isn’t meant to shame the team member but instead, to provide support and help if they are struggling for whatever reason.
6. Rate the Day
Team members are asked to rank the previous day from 1 to 10. This helps the team understand any challenges or win that person experienced throughout the day.
Strengthen Your Brand
These easy to implement meetings are ultimately strengthening our culture. Your brand is your culture; your culture is your brand. Your people are your best marketing tool so make sure you invest in them and show your gratitude. And if you need some help aligning it all, you can book a marketing pivot session with HAVEN Creative founder Jeni Bukolt.
How Can I Stay on Brand During COVID-19?
The Japanese word for “crisis” is 危機 (“Kiki”). The first character (危) means “dangerous” while the second (機) means “opportunity”. That is what a crisis is after all. It is dangerous and scary, but it also represents an opportunity; it’s a chance for change and new beginnings.
To communicate effectively in times of uncertainty, it’s important to have a plan. You need to identify what makes your brand unique and have to narrow down your audience. By examining your market, finding the white space, and telling your unique story, you can create a brand that stands out, develops a strong sense of community, and leaves a legacy, especially during uncertain times like a global pandemic.
Although it can be scary to speak up or even know what to say during times of uncertainty, it's better than saying nothing at all. Below we have listed four ways your community can filter messaging and stay on brand.
1. Be Visible
Don’t be quiet! Saying nothing can be just as detrimental as saying the wrong thing. You must know your own values. Ask yourself these questions to help define your brand story and lean into your values:
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- WHO are you talking to?
- WHAT do you do?
- WHY do you do it?
- WHY does that matter?
- HOW will it impact your customer’s life?
2. Think through the message
Be direct, thoughtful, authentic, and informative. Your message first and foremost is the most important. It needs to stay in-line with your brand’s day-to-day message and core brand values.
Customers can often be attracted or detracted from a brand through their messaging – the wrong message can certainly turn off a client, or even a potential employee. Saying nothing at all can be just as detrimental to a brand as saying the wrong thing.
3. Consider the platform
Your message needs to be communicated on the right channels, the right way – and this can get tricky. Why? Because each social media channel has a different audience with different expectations, giving you the obligation to meet these expectations while communicating a consistent and strategic message.
The more you know and understand your market and the different relationships you share with your audience on the different channels, the more capable you will be to adapt your message, while keeping it consistent, for each of them.
4. Pick the time
Timing is extremely important to how the message resonates. Timing may mean when you launch a campaign or when a specific message is released. If you are scheduling social media posts or emails, be sure to monitor the news and know what you have planned. When it comes to COVID-19 things seem to change by the day. It’s imperative to have knowledge of the current climate and the message you are putting out.
If you are ready to pivot and looking for effective ways to communicate, HAVEN Creative is ready to help! Just fill out the form below.
How to Use Federal Funding to Support COVID-19 Related Communications
Public Health Officials and Government Communications professionals have been working tirelessly to disseminate information to help slow and stop the spread of COVID-19 in their communities. Unfortunately, many residents have become tired of hearing repetitive COVID-19 related messaging. Now is the time to have a strategic communications campaign to help fight the fatigue. Your campaign should have through message testing, creative campaign development, and a well thought out and mapped out media strategy; a strategic communications campaign can help reach your intended audience more effectively. Strategic communications campaigns such as these are costly and, with limited resources, are a significant project to undertake. Here are a few tips to overcome these hurdles.
Use Special Funding to Develop Your COVID-19 Campaign
States can use CARES funding to support health-related social needs exacerbated by COVID-19. This often includes developing strategic communications campaigns designed to stop or slow the spread of COVID-19 in the community.
CARES Act funding allows government entities in the state, local, and tribal levels to receive funding that is necessary expenses due to COVID-19, were not accounted for in the recent budget, and were incurred after March 1, 2020.
CARES Act funding provides a unique opportunity for communities to develop strategic communications campaigns to reach residents in times of need.
Make the Most of Federal Funding related to Communications
To make the most of the CARES Act funding, you may want to consider developing an evergreen communications program that could live on and be used during any local emergency. Haven just launched a campaign that will not only address COVID-19, but will also be used to build community advocacy in any emergency situation.
That brings us to the next point:
Outsource to an Agency
By outsourcing your communications campaigns to a strategic communications agency, you can carry on the day to day tasks of getting pertinent COVID-19 related messaging to your community and build a strategic communications plan that will last.
That is Haven Creative’s specialty. As mentioned above, Haven Creative had the opportunity to create a Gaston County campaign with the help of CARES Act funding. We created an evergreen communication program, Gaston SAVES. The program's long-term goal is to get critical information and vital emergency resources to residents in need during emergency events. However, the first initiative for Gaston SAVES is Mask Together, an educational campaign to promote mask-wearing.
So far the message has been well received and been picked up from local news organizations.
The initial launch was before Labor Day with a press conference and a big social media push. The strategic messaging will continue through the end of the year with a roll-out of billboards, gas stations, and pre-roll ads.
You can check out more COVID-19 related campaigns we’ve brought to life here.
If you need help creating your strategic message campaign, fill out the form below.
5 Frequently Asked Community Branding Questions
Take a second to think about your community brand. What comes to mind when you imagine it? Maybe the logo or a community sign. You already know that we've got a lot more to say than that, so we're going to answer the top five community branding questions.
Every community already has a brand; it’s based on the perception that lies within the hearts and minds of the residents, businesses and visitors. With strategic brand forms, you can positively shape that perception.
- Jeni Bukolt, Founder of Haven Creative
1. What is branding?
Branding often is thought of as a logo or a tagline, but it's deeper than that. Branding is the perceptions that reside in the hearts and minds of the people that live, work, or visit a community. Therefore, a rebrand or branding campaign seeks to shape that perception positively. You can do that through the messaging, the logos, and, most importantly, delivering on that promise to your citizens.
2. Why is community branding important?
The idea is to positively shape that perception in the eyes of your visitors, residents, and people coming to your community. And you can do that through messaging and brand ambassadors. Those are the key people who embrace the core values and story of your community. They're only going to embrace it if you get that grassroots buy-in from the community as a whole and hear what those stories are. Community branding also supports economic development. We'll explain more with our next frequently asked question.
3. Who should lead community branding initiatives?
Most of the time, it's going to be from the economic development department. Branding, in the community sense, is used for boosting the economic development of a particular area.
We have also seen communities partner with their chamber and businesses to build a lifestyle focused marketing website, which is great for telling the brand story - arts, dining, things to do, places to visit, etc. It can also be used to speak to potential developers looking to build in the area by showcasing available properties or tips on how to start a project in the area.
4. How long does a community rebrand take?
Branding takes time to become effective and to be embraced by a community. It typically takes 6-8 months to go through the initial branding process and then another year to spill into every area of your community. You have to have someone that owns it and makes sure the story and the visuals are consistent throughout every aspect of the organization for it to be successful. Changing the perception of the community in the minds of residents, businesses, and visitors is not easy, but if you are dedicated to the process, it can be done! Check out this blog to see how you measure your community's brand awareness.
An analogy we like to use is community branding is like piling sand: If you don't keep piling it up, it'll slide back down. If you don't continually apply the brand elements and speak to the brand elements, your campaign may not be embraced.
To ensure our community branding campaigns are embraced, we use the 8 to Great Maven Method. Our method ensures we build trust among the community and also protect and preserve its identity.
5. How much does a community rebrand cost?
Community branding, if done by a professional branding agency with experience in surveying, public input sessions, and more, will range from $20,000.00 -$100,00.00. The cost typically depends on how large the community is and how many projects and departments the design portion of the branding has to touch. Beware, if you are ready to invest in your branding, you'll want to make sure you go with a reputable company that has a proven public input branding process and can provide measurable results. You don't want your community to think you've spent thousands of dollars on a new logo -- that's not what branding is.
We also recommend rolling out your branding in small bits to create buy-in and to be fiscally responsible. This creates an opportunity to celebrate small accomplishments over time! There are plenty of ways to keep reintroducing the brand. But keeping it fresh and celebrating it over time is important.
Check out Haven Creative's founder, Jeni Bukolt, on The Amazing Cities and Towns Podcast talking about this very subject. She covers these frequently asked questions above and offers some more insight on how to successfully brand your city.
You can listen now here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-amazing-cities-and-towns-podcast/id1494377544?i=1000475949145