Summer Company Kick-Off

I had the pleasure to present for the Waterloo Region Small Business Center Summer Company students for the second year in a row. As well, this year I was joined by the newest Mad Hatter, Kalob Witzell. 

Our presentation focused on the importance of social media in regards to defining and creating awareness about your brand. We explored creative campaigns and case studies across select social media platforms in order to gain an understanding of how to use them professionally, as most of us are used to using social media for personal reasons. 

In the seemingly short hour we reviewed 10 social media platforms, as well as discuss content curation, creation and consistency tactics and concluding with ways and tools to manage the madness. 

The group was quite interesting, we heard about all types of start-ups and cant wait to check in and see how they are doing throughout the summer. Some interesting companies to search on social and support in the next few weeks are: 

• Bandit VR
• Creative media
• Econ arts
• Graphic tees
• Lift off clothing
• 150 change
• Hungry boat
• Creative activity platform
• Talent guide
• Gymnatic
• Fushimi productions
• Wisebath.com
• alley chimit (house training)
• Paranotsonormal
• Ben Klowski (event photos)
• Life memories - documentary
• Justice sustainable services
• Ml breads
• Wolf entertainment
• Churries
• CBC labs
• A to g music
• Paplot

Mad Takeaways

Our presentation concluded with clarifications and questions from our eager and inspiring audience. We separated the group into tables and had half the room focus on to do's and the other half not to do's. Here's what we came up with: 

Testimonials

The group agreed that customer testimonials are a great way to show off your brand. People who purchase your product and have had direct experience with it are the best ambassadors for your brand. Having written or video testimonials to display would be great for creating awareness and excitement about your brand. 

Highlights/Action (ie: Wendy’s, Apple, Samsung) 

Highlighting a current topic or trend of creating some form of engagement with another brand is guaranteed to gain some attention. Remember to keep it clean! 

Consistency 

We know that remaining consistent on social media channels is key to keeping our audience.  We explored the Buffer and Hootsuite apps that can assist with pre-scheduling our social posts for the day, week or month. 

Improve reach with informative and entertaining information 

The type of content you share has everything to do with your audience's reaction. Content shared should be useful, whether informative, inspiring or entertaining. 

Target marketing/various countries 

If you cannot reach companies in other countries through social media channels, try sending an email with links to content you want them to see or creating a PDF with images and hyperlinks to send over email

Influencers (ie: Dj Khaled)

Using influencers to gain exposure to a wider or different audience is a great way to spread awareness about your brand 

Reddit as a Content Engine 

Most social channels can be used as search engines to find information and Reddit is a great source for finding content to curate. 

Poor quality 

Refrain from captions that aren't thought out and images that aren't creative and clean.