As of 2020 there were 2.2 million podcasts on Spotify alone, and they’re suddenly big money. Joe Rogan reportedly earned over $100 million for giving the streaming service exclusivity over his show while deals for Barack Obama and Prince Harry weren’t cheap either.  

The public are savvy these days when it comes to indirect marketing. Product placement on screen is scrutinised and businesses need new ways of engaging potential customers. Meaning the decision to start a podcast must be made with the intention of sharing insights rather than selling a product.  

Brand awareness

This is a brand awareness avenue. If done correctly a well-produced podcast can build trust in your business and a positive relationship with listeners. Technology firm Dell currently produces the Trailblazers Podcast, short, mostly half hour episodes looking at areas of digital disruption. Dell the company aren’t mentioned in the content, but all the content is relevant to Dell’s business.  

One of the best things about podcasting is, as mentioned previously, there’s a show for everything. So it doesn’t matter if you don’t believe there’s an audience interested in hearing about the sector behind your business. If you are able to jump on a microphone and speak with knowledge on a subject it is a crowd pleaser.  

Setting up podcasts

Compared to some marketing alternatives, podcasts are quick and easy to create. All you need is a computer, a microphone, editing software, and half an hour to discuss a topic of the week.  

The initial start-up will take some time, especially when it comes to creating the all-important name and logo for the show, but once up and running, word of mouth marketing can quickly take over in the podcast world.  

Brand awareness for small businesses is arguably both the most important, and toughest, areas of marketing to succeed in. Give a podcast a go and let your passion for the business you’re in do the work for you.  For help and advice in all of marketing ventures, please contact us at Brighter Directions for a free discovery call!

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In the UK, 85% of young people unfollowed influential social media stars during the pandemic; but why? This week, we’re discussing influencer marketing across all perspectives. We explore the phases of the purchasing journey and how emotions impact each touchpoint.

Over the last decade, we have seen social media grow rapidly in importance. More than 3.4 billion people actively use social media – that’s 45% of the world’s population.

Inevitably these people look up to influencers in social media to guide them with their decision making.

Influencers in social media are people who have built a reputation for their knowledge and expertise on a specific topic. They make regular posts about that topic on their preferred social media channels and generate large followings of enthusiastic, engaged people who pay close attention to their views. Brands love social media influencers because they can create trends and encourage their followers to buy products they promote.

Types of Influencers

You can separate different types of influencers in multiple ways. Some of the most common methods are by follower numbers, by types of content, and by the level of influence. You can also group influencers by the niche in which they operate. This means that influencers who may appear in a low category by one measure may seem more influential when looked at in another way. For example, many mega-influencers are also celebrities. Yet both these groups often have less real influence on their audience because they lack expertise in a dedicated narrow niche. Some micro and even nano-influencers can have a tremendous impact on followers in their specialist niche. They may be of significant benefit to a firm selling a product targeting that sector.

What is an influencer?

An influencer is an online personality who impacts their followers’ purchasing decisions based on their reputation. They use their online presence, mostly on social media platforms and blogs, to partner with brands they use and create content that advertises products or services of those companies.

How many followers do you need to be an influencer?

People with followers in the range between 40,000 and 1 million followers on a social network are macro-influencers. Most influencers are micro-influencers with between 1,000 and 40,000 followers. In really specialist niches, you have nano-influencers with fewer than 1,000 followers.

Here at Brighter Directions our social media team keep ahead of popular influencers and trends to engage with audiences in our social marketing strategies.

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There is a massive opportunity in these figures.

Empathy and emotional intelligence

Exceptional customer service is built on an agent’s empathy and emotional intelligence. These are learned skills, but they’re not easy to teach – a task made even more challenging with generational differences among agents and the customers they serve.

It’s only natural for humans to want to feel understood and heard, especially with the chaos and anxiety permeating the atmosphere these days. In order to successfully validate a customer’s wants and needs, empathy is a must.

Empathy is crucial for establishing healthy relationships and fostering compassion. It involves experiencing another person’s point of view, as opposed to just one’s own. It is a prosocial, or helping behaviour, skill that comes from within rather than being forced. From a customer service perspective, empathy is the ability to have a human interaction with a customer.

Responding to negative feedback

One bad experience with an agent can cause them to abandon you for a competitor. Worse, one bad experience can cause a lost customer to write a bad review or utilise word of mouth to criticise your business, but we all know that a negative customer review does not always have to do with your quality of customer service, and oftentimes, it is beyond your control. What you do have control over, however, is how your team responds to negative reviews. Resolving a complaint can be just as effective as preventing one in the first place. Responding to negative feedback in an empathetic manner can actually boost loyalty and overall brand image.

Exceptional customer service is at the heart of our Brighter Directions company culture.

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On your first usage of TikTok, the app will provide featured videos. These are curated content based on the number of viewers it collected. After watching multiple videos, the app will create a video feed based on your interest. You can also follow your favourite video creator to receive notifications of any new content they have available.

What is the TikTok app?

TikTok is a video platform that allows people to create short watchable content and share it with friends, family, or the public. The app makes it easy to make entertaining videos as well as adding various effects such as filters and emojis. Home of viral videos and promising stars.

What are the effects on TikTok?

Choose between all kinds of effects: filters, speed control, time-lapses, rewind, transitions and other ‘time machine’ effects. TikTok is a social network that, unlike many others, is actually still fun to be on. It is here to get you in on all the latest trends, dances and viral videos.

Why is TikTok so popular for making videos?

The app makes it easy to make entertaining videos as well as adding various effects such as filters and emojis. Most people are also emboldened to create videos thanks to the 15-second limit.

TikTok is a popular social media app that allows users to create, watch, and share 15-second videos shot on phones. With its personalised feeds of quirky short videos set to music and sound effects, the app is notable for its addictive quality and high levels of engagement. Amateur and professional creators alike can add effects like filters, background music, and stickers to their videos, and can collaborate on content and create split-screen duet videos even if they’re in different locations.

Launched in its present form in 2018, TikTok joined the ranks of social media giants in record time. It had about one billion active monthly users worldwide by the start of 2021 and had been downloaded in the U.S. at least 200 million times, according to Wallaroo Media 1.

Like all social media companies, it has been the target of persistent if vague concerns about the potential use or misuse of the private information it gathers about its users. The difference is that a majority of TikTok is Chinese-owned.

Like most companies, Brighter Directions are a fan of using TikTok videos as a marketing tool!

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Materialistic benefits such as expensive gym memberships, gift vouchers, all paid for dinners and drinks etc, these benefits are seen to be less important in regard to company culture. These benefits may seem beneficial, good, and exciting in the short term; however, they are less important when it comes to really thinking about your company’s culture.

Employee experience

Employee experience can really be broken down into three main factors; physical, technology and culture. When looking at these three components to you as an employee its important to think about if the company’s culture aligns with your own, do you have the appropriate space to work in the office or remotely? Do you have all the tools in order to do your job efficiently?

When employee experience aligns with the company’s culture and vice versa it makes for the best possible relationship between the two.

Our culture

When looking at our company as a whole (Brighter Directions), we make sure our company aligns with our intended culture. We make sure we keep what we stand for as a business at the forefront of our company’s culture, celebrating diversity and female led roles within our company. Physically we make sure our employees each have the appropriate space when working and ensure that each employee is given the necessary technology when working remotely. Employee experience is necessary when wanting to create a good work atmosphere, ensuring that your organisation reflects the cultures of that of its employees while supporting them.

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Constant learning

Leaders can’t keep their heads in the sand regarding the constant changes.  They need to pay attention the world around them.  There is so much available information through the news, the internet, and social media platforms.  Take time to explore current trends, including the use of videos and podcasts.

Communicate

Talk to the people around you, employees and peers.  Be open to new ideas.  Think about and ask what trends are being paid attention to in the world, why this might be and what implications these changes can have to the world of work now and in the future.

Connect with others

Being successful in leadership is rarely something that is achieved by someone on their own.  Joining groups is an advantage to discuss current and future changes in the workplace, either within a particular industry or expanding further.  Social media sites are a great way to do this with a wide variety of groups available.

Access a diverse network

While it is nice to be surrounded by people who are on the same wavelength, it is also beneficial to access the views and opinions of people who don’t believe in the same way.  Leaders should learn from listening to other people’s perspectives.

Help others

As leaders grow and develop themselves, they should pass that understanding of growth and development to the team around them.  Continuous learning and sharing develops a well-rounded team to support leaders to succeed and be ready for the next steps.

Leaders need to constantly evolve, and the Brighter Directions team is led by someone who is open and adaptable to any strategies which will help to succeed in the new world of work.

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So what are Instagram Reels?

Reels are a new feature on the Instagram App that first rolled out in August of 2020. It is very similar to Instagram Stories and is comparable to the popular app TikTok. They are intended to be accessible, built right into your Instagram interface, and provide a source of regular content on your homepage.

Here are the basic features of Instagram Reels:

• Reels are short videos, anywhere from 3-15 seconds long.
• They can be filmed directly from the Instagram app, using the Reels camera, or you can use video from your camera roll.
• You can film a single take, or you can edit different clips together: you can cut to different camera angles, different locations, and more!
• They are mobile-only. Reels are only available on the Instagram app; you can’t post them from your desktop.
• They can be uploaded to the Stories feed or added to a special Reels gallery on your profile page. They can also appear on your home feed!

So why use Reels to market your business?

Why not just stick to story vids? Well, for one thing, Reels get more exposure because they can appear in stories, home feeds, and your profile. The unique editing features in Reels are also useful. Sure, the Stories camera works when capturing something in-the-moment, but it’s hard to be the next Alfred Hitchcock or Steven Spielberg without the option to edit different takes together.

The opportunity to film and edit different takes is perfect for tutorial videos. You can cut between close-ups of each step without worrying about the empty space or missing details from a single take.

You can also use the Reels feature to highlight giveaways, show off products, and produce room-by-room tours of your office (or a property, for those who work in real estate).

The take-by-take editing allows you to create short stop-motion films as well—especially fun and useful if any of your products need assembly.

Remember: Reels are supposed to be short, sweet, and to the point. Make your call to action as bold as possible: feature it in the audio and in any text you have on-screen.

You don’t want the viewer to miss it!

If you are looking to boost your Instagram marketing, why not give us a call and see how we can help?! hello@brighterdirections.co.uk

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Due to the last few years, certain principles have come to the forefront of what is necessary for employees to embrace and adapt to, and organisations to consider for future hires. The following are some of the relevant principles of the future employee:

Flexible working

Having the freedom of flexible working has become a high priority since the pandemic forced this way of work on us.  Employees have become used to the freedom of home working and aimed with the knowledge that the company needs can be met in this way, going back to full time office based jobs will not be an option for many.

Building your own career path

The traditional career path is no longer expected of the future employee. They will now be encouraged to look at their own way of progressing.  Building their own networks, sharing valuable ideas and utilising feedback will be encouraged and contributions will be recognised.  Showing leadership in this way can put employees on the path to becoming a future leader.

Information sharing

In the past employees have kept information to themselves in the hopes of getting ahead, now they freely share information with colleagues and collaborate on ideas together.  More organisations are moving to a structureless establishment to remove the hierarchy amongst peers, therefore encouraging employees to share ideas and information to work together for the benefit of each other and the business.

New ways to communicate and collaborate

Once relying only on emails and phone calls, future employees are embracing new technology and new ways to connect.  Zoom calls, Team meets and new apps for fast efficient communication are becoming the new normal.

Continuous learning

Future employees can no longer rely on just what they already know, to succeed employees will need to commit to lifelong learning.  Having the skills, ability and willingness to learn new things, how to access this information and how to apply it to their continuing work role is possibly one of the most valuable principles.  This links in to sharing information as companies don’t always have formal training programmes to adhere to.  Accessing online learning sessions, internal teaching and face to face interactions employees can share this information with others to teach and also learn from each other.

At Brighter Directions we pride ourselves on already having these principles as part of our company’s culture, if you would like to work as part of a supportive, friendly and empowered team then please contact us to discuss what vacancies we have available.

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Customer contact

Social Media allows customers to interact a lot more closely, interacting with customers can only bring a positive impact, there’s nothing worse than a company that ignores customer interactions it makes them look false and rude – in ‘real life’ you wouldn’t walk into a shop and expect to be ignored after saying hello to the shop assistant, the same analogy applies to ignoring social engagement.

It’s important for brands, especially consumer driven firms such as travel agencies to address customer interactions, even if they are negative to show that they value customer feedback. Those that show your values through social media and nurture those relationships through a customer centric approach are the winning companies online.

Social Media and user-generated content are an essential part of marketing to the modern affluent travellers. By leveraging the millions of authentic travel photos and stories that people post online everyday, luxury travel brands can create engaging digital experiences that move travellers along the path to purchase.

Unlike low price driven online platforms, high-end hotels and travel agents don’t want to reach everyone on Facebook and Twitter. That would be a waste of time, given that not everyone can afford your services (we talk a lot about buyer personas and the importance of refining your core audiences in other blogs). Utilising the likes of social analytics can help brands understand their customers better and provide valuable insights that drive stronger content strategies in the future.

Buyer personas

Buyer personas, or audience segments provide a deeper understanding of the target audience. Professions, ages and what they like/dislike are absolutely critical to successful online marketing. With the opportunity some hotel groups are now using, such as rewarding guests who have checked in via Facebook, Twitter or Foursquare with exquisite bonus services like complimentary spa treatments or a welcome bottle – these additional tactics drive the personal experience for the customer and help them to remember their experience with you, and in turn drive sales in the future. Another way to drive your audience interaction and engagement is encouraging holiday-makers to share their holiday photos via creative services and facilities.

Key takeaways

• Know your consumers, create a buyer profile (if you are struggling with this, we can help!)
• Keep it exclusive and relevant; tailor your content to a great customer experience
• Gain deeper insights into your consumers, and refine your activities based on THEIR needs and desires, not what you want to show…travel brands should then focus on creating tailor made, personalised content online.

Are you a luxury travel brand that is looking to excel your social experience for your audiences and drive sales? Contact us for more information and don’t forget to follow our page @brighterdirections on Facebook or LinkedIn for more insights.

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Today, February 17^th, is Random Acts of Kindness Day.  The day was started by The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation, a non-profit organisation that began in the 1990s in Colorado, USA.

Kindness

Kindness has been scientifically proven to have positive benefits to our health.  It has been shown to decrease pain. stress, anxiety, blood pressure and depression.   And to increase our energy, happiness, oxytocin & serotonin levels and even our lifespan.

The idea behind the day is to pass on feelings of kindness and brighten up someone’s day.

As it says in our name, here at Brighter Directions we always aim to achieve brightening someone’s day And we find that being kind is at the forefront of our work ethos.

Support

From the smallest thing of complimenting each other to bigger acts of support when times are busy and tough.  Being kind is conducive to having the best atmosphere for a healthy work environment.

In truth, compliments are not small things. They inspire a better work ethic and increase productivity, and they take the least amount of effort!

We are a small team here and without supporting each other we would struggle to achieve our goals.  We start small with making cups of tea without being asked, but more importantly we help each other and take on work to relieve each other’s workload as necessary.

Without kindness we would not be able to work as the fantastic team we are!

#RandomActsOfKindnessDay  #MakeKindnessTheNorm

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