How to manage your marketing projects more efficiently

Doing more with less is what every marketing manager hopes for but efficiency is easier said than done. Smaller companies might even feel they are too niche to be doing anything at all.

If you are exhausted from handling too many marketing tasks (or the mere thought of it), then it’s time to change things up. Here are four suggestions that will help you become more efficient in managing your marketing:

Stop micromanaging

Managers love managing – there is no doubt about it. In marketing that’s no different. When coordinating multiple campaigns at different stages, it might seem counter-intuitive to take your hands off everything. However, you have to remember that you have hired talented people to do the job.

Micromanaging is a bad habit which, more often than not, will actually slow down progress, screwing your own deadlines in the process. You don’t need to take the lead on every single task. Learning how to delegate work will not only help you stay sane, but gives you the time and space to see the bigger picture – which is actually your task. Remember that you are a marketing manager – not a graphic designer nor a copywriter.

If you trust in your hiring choices, then your teams don’t need micromanaging. They need to be empowered with information and space to manage themselves. This is true for in-house marketing departments as well as agencies that support your efforts.

Get help if you are understaffed

You know what to do, but you simply don’t have the resources to execute it yourself – so don’t even try. Smaller companies often try to manage all their marketing efforts in-house, sometimes relying on one person to ‘do it all’. Other companies operating in niches often disregard marketing altogether.

Hiring a marketing generalist to take care of newsletters, social media, blogs, and events will eventually cost just as much as using external partners. But it won’t get you the same outcome.

Marketing is results-driven, but tracking content and performance across multiple channel and platforms can become tedious. Use the resources of external partners to combine your marketing reporting and tracking in one platform. Don’t get me wrong – you still have to define your marketing goals. But working with agencies to plan, execute, and track marketing campaigns will make your work a lot easier.

Don’t chase every marketing trend

The world of marketing is fast-paced, ever-changing, and vast – touching everything from social media and content to PR and web design. Staying up-to-speed is your job, but not every trend will add value to your business. Just because Snapchat is hot, you don’t have to create daily snaps.

Being an expert in every marketing-related field is near-impossible. Specialised agencies can help you to fill your knowledge and resource gaps. If social media is your weakness, then hire an agency that specialises in it.

You need to understand what works for your brand and what doesn’t. Of course, it’s important to be informed about trends, but you shouldn’t let your goals out of sight. If the majority of your leads come via your website, you should focus on  your blog instead of Snapchat.

Reconnect marketing & sales

Especially in larger companies, it isn’t uncommon to encounter a disconnect between marketing and sales. While both are separate departments and work independently, they actually should work directly together – after all, they are chasing the same goals.

Establish a process that helps to connect these two departments. Create effective communication channels, set up regular meetings, and catch-ups. Being clear about objectives and how to achieve them together will help to connect these departments more closely. In the long run, it will simplify your work.

Bottom Line
  • Make the right hires, so you can delegate tasks and empower others
  • Get help to plan, execute, and track your marketing
  • You are never too niche to do marketing
  • Focus on what is bringing results – not trends
  • Create synergies across departments to achieve your goals

 

Need help with managing your marketing efforts? Get in touch with us at hello@mutant.com.sg

 

Mastering media relations in the digital-only age

The recent news of Today Newspaper and Campaign Asia shutting down their print editions and going fully digital got us all talking about the fate of newsrooms and journalism.

Make no mistake, earned media is still hugely important for brands and that is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future. However, the way people consume media has changed drastically and that has far-reaching implications not just for journalism, but also PR and communication teams.

Here are some tips to help you keep up and evolve:

Know your editors and their beats

This is key to ensuring your news is visible to those who need to see it. Understanding the new media landscape from a journalist’s point of view is paramount if you want to participate as a business owner, marketer or PR professional. And there’s multiple ways to do this! Start by reading every online and print publication that matters. Staying  in sync with topics journalists cover will only benefit your campaign. Industry news and hot trends are a must, but knowing what captures the attention of journalists and editors is the key to a successful pitch.

Use social media to connect

As more information goes out on social media, these platforms have become a valuable story resource for the journalists and editors. Social media is a key ingredient to mastering media relations, so use it effectively:

  • Gather intelligence – Want to pitch a story idea to a reporter? Then use social media to learn what makes them tick. Target specific journalists or bloggers and follow them on Twitter, their professional Facebook pages, Instagram or LinkedIn. It will provide you with insights that can help you with your next pitch.
  • Build relationships – Interacting through Tweets or comments can be a gateway to a conversation. Don’t underestimate the impact of a well-placed and thought-through comment.
  • Promote your thought leadership – The more you share your content and thoughts on social media, the higher your chances to appear on the feeds of journalists or editors.
  • Respond to breaking events – Share information that helps putting a related breaking story into context. You will have a good chance of attracting the attention of journalists. While you’re at it, pay attention to trending hashtags.
Use Google analytics for insights

Welcome to the age of data-driven PR. Using Google analytics, there’s an abundance of data insights at your fingertips, ranging from the source of your traffic to how many pages a visitor viewed. You can track visits from published PR materials and the source of leads. You can find out more about what your target audience looks at and where they come from. These insights into the readership of digital news websites add a strategic element to your campaign.

Suggested read: Up your PR game with data

Don’t limit your press releases

While it’s important to announce product announcements or executive changes, press releases can do much more. Use press releases to promote whitepapers, webinars, blogs and much more. Online content is becoming  more diverse in topic and imagery. It’s rare for a publication to be solely print nowadays, so it’s vital to consider content for the website.

A journalist is more likely to run your story if you can provide a few good quality images, a video and an infographic. Online publications rarely use only text. Announcements that are a little different and use alternative media will capture the attention and make your viewing experience as diverse and interesting as possible.

Need to get up to speed with digital media relations? Get in touch with us at hello@mutant.com.sg

 

Turn user-generated content into Digital Marketing gold

Is your social media strategy starting to feel a bit stale? Do you feel like you are running out of content to post? More importantly, are you having difficulty connecting with your audience? User-generated content (UGC) is any type of content that is created for a brand by its fans – ranging from online reviews to customer photos on Instagram. While the brand gets free content and promotion, users are rewarded with discounts or similar offerings. Consumers trust peer recommendations more than any other type of advertising, so your audience is more likely to trust your brand if the content is user-generated. Simply put – it’s marketing gold!

But how do you incorporate it into your existing strategy? Carrying out a successful UGC campaign requires a thorough understanding of your audience and a well thought-out strategy. Stumped on ideas? Here are a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing:

Create a buzz

If you want people to be speaking about your brand, you need to give them a good reason! From Coca Cola’s ‘Share a Coke’ campaign where they swapped their logo for random names, to Starbucks’ festive ‘Red Cup Contest’ campaign, there’s a number of different ways you can create a buzz for your brand with products. One of the more recent UGC campaigns that got everyone talking was #castmemarc

Popular fashion designer Marc Jacobs took to social media, announcing that he’s casting models for his next advertising campaign from Twitter and Instagram submissions. The campaign generated over 15,000 submissions in just 24 hours from fashionistas around the world! Needless to say, this led to a trend of ‘selfie-casting’ with companies using social media to discover the next face for their campaigns.

UGC idea for your brand: Create a campaign completely bespoke to your brand that has not been done before, think outside the box!

Suggested read: Writing for Social: Why one size just doesn’t fit all

Leverage the power of the #

A hashtags is the most popular way of initiating UGC. Used effectively, it can spread like wildfire. A brand that’s slaying the UGC hashtag game is the renowned online retailer ASOS. Creating a curated page on their website for #AsSeenOnMe, customer could submit their images via Instagram or upload them directly.

While that already created a lot of buzz, ASOS went a step further making every shared image shoppable, linking it to the product item featured in the image. 

UGC idea for your brand: Add customer photos to product pages

Offer cool rewards

You don’t have to give out discount codes or pay anyone? It can be as simple as sharing the content of users. When it comes to UGC, the smallest gesture of appreciation of a ‘like’ or a ‘share’ can go a long way. In 2015, National Geographic launched their ‘Wanderlust Contest’ campaign, encouraging users to post photos with the #WanderlustContest hashtag, for the chance to win a National Geographic photo expedition to Yosemite National Park.

The idea took flight – the campaign photos were featured on their website with their hashtag still generating over 60,000 posts. Campaigns of this nature underline the power of the hashtag, in conjunction with a creative, shareable reward.

UGC idea for your brand: Offer rewards to customers who write reviews

Make its easy for users to generate content

Having a UGC strategy is a great idea, until it becomes complex. Keep your platforms easy to coordinate, straightforward and fuss-free. This way you won’t be putting off your users from engaging. Take GoPro as an example, the GoPro product is literally a content creation machine, coming from the better-known phrase it’s a ‘video camera’. Yes, this is a given advantage, but, as much as GoPro’s product lends itself to UGC, you still need to make it happen. GoPro recognised this and made it happen, introducing their DIY product to the world allowing us to share our experiences, like those in the below GoPro user-generated clip:

Similarly, creating tools and platforms to enable your customers to share content without the fancy software makes a world of difference to encouraging UGC for your brand. Empower users to capture, create, share and enjoy their own work with others – to your brand’s benefit.

UGC idea for your brand: Introduce a platform that is easy to use with simple guidelines to follow for your users

Get in touch with us at hello@mutant.com.sg to see how we can help you create your own user-generated content.

 

 

 

How to Millennial-Proof your Content Marketing

Millennials are often described as confident, liberal, lazy and even indecisive. But, now more than ever, this generation of 18-34-year-olds is recognised for their spending power, which is predicted to reach about $1.4 trillion annually in 2020. No surprise then that every brand wants to catch this generation. But getting and holding their attention is no small feat – especially when it comes to online behaviour. Millennials react differently to trigger points because of the overwhelming presence of technology in their lives (think Snapchat and Instagram). It also makes them the most informed generation!

Effective content marketing starts with a great storyline, so in order to connect with this generation, you need to find a story to tell. So how does one intrigue this bunch and hold their attention?

Here are five tactics that can help with your Millennial content marketing:

Don’t curate, create original content

Creating original content gives your brand unique value online. Initiate the conversation! Original content, in the form of an e-book, infographics or blogs, also works exceedingly well as a lead gen tool, especially to drive traffic to your landing page. Better still – Google loves original content especially if it’s useful and SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) friendly!

Optimise content for social

Social is the new SEO, driving the most significant traffic back to brands. Invest a chunk of your marketing budget in optimising content for social platforms. Short captioned videos need to grab their attention in the first ten seconds. Make sure you keep it crisp, as Millennials don’t wait around to watch long and boring videos!

Lean on data

Using data to analyse the performance of your content can give you an insight into what kind of content potentially turns readers into customers. Use tools like Google Adwords keyword planner to help find relevant keyword phrases that people search for. It will help you to come up with exciting and relevant blog ideas. Similarly, use Google Analytics to track and measure whether your content resonated with your audience and how it performed.

Stick to authenticity

Millennials can spot an ad from a million miles away. So keep your communications, advertisements, and content as authentic as possible. Share real, actionable tips, be transparent in sharing and keep adjectives to a minimum. Most importantly, know your authentic voice and use it effectively to connect. Don’t just market to them.

Make it Insta-worthy

Each piece of content should be designed with Millennials in mind. Feature items that are instantly shareable – both in real life and online. Do also partner with key social media influencers (who breed authenticity) to help spread your story. Brands should prioritise influencer campaigns when marketing to Millennials. They relate to the authenticity of influencer content and prefer the no frills, real, up close and personal nature of the medium the influencers use. When creating content for Millennials, keep in mind what they value as well as where and how they consume content.

Like what you’ve read? Drop a note at hello@mutant.com.sg for a customised content marketing plan for your brand!

 

Let’s talk branded video content

From online TV or subscription services like Netflix, to free video on platforms such as YouTube and social media, folks in Asia are consuming more video content than ever before. You’ve heard this all before – and while brands now have a robust video strategy in place, creatives are still far from perfect.

Here’s our 5 key takeaways on creating effective online ads for branded video campaigns:

Optimise video for mobile

Mobile is already the primary device for accessing the internet in APAC, yet, brands still choose to produce glossy 30-second TV-type ads that do little to hook mobile users. Because content is consumed differently on mobile devices, brands need to ensure their videos capture attention and emotion from the get-go.

Make a sentimental pitch

Video tech company Unruly’s data shows that sentimental storytelling ads are the best performers for 18-34 year olds, a key audience segment for many brands. The study showed that millennials have a stronger reaction to emotional content like this 2014 campaign for Thai Life Insurance.

 

 

Make it work for sound-off

According to Unruly, 80% of millennials mute a brand’s video ads. To engage this audience, advertisers need to create content for a sound-off experience. Avoid dialogue and use text and graphics to draw consumers in

Tailor video for specific social media

YouTube users hold phones sideways to consume content, while Facebook videos are best viewed upright. Majority of Facebook video is watched without sound, while YouTube is always played with full sound. Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter come with their own peculiarities. Brands that stand out are the ones that are tailoring social media content for each channel and country’s internet speeds.

Think beyond views

When it comes to measuring a video’s success, views aren’t everything. Whether it is to increase awareness, consideration, or influence sales, it is important for advertisers to establish marketing goals for their campaigns, and then come up with a set of KPIs to track and measure campaign success.

 

Let us help you create effective content – drop us a message at hello@mutant.com.sg

 

 

How to create a Buyer Persona

Sophie is 35 years old. She’s just been promoted to Marketing Manager at the Tech company she works for. She learned the ropes in a Marketing Assistant role and her seniors expect a lot from her position. Her first order of business: improving the effectiveness of the company’s marketing.

Here’s the catch, Sophie isn’t a real person. She’s a buyer persona – a representation of an ideal buyer.

With consumers exposed to as many as 5,000 marketing messages every day, creating user personas help businesses break through the clutter and capture attention with relevant content. It humanises your customers and paints the picture of an individual buyer, identifying their problems and values.

Apple’s success story

Apple effectively uses buyer personas for its different products. Check out their persona focus technique in this iPad 2 advertisement:

 

Now watch this:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTFPB4OUqrM

 

The first features the user scrolling stocks and investment portfolios, capturing the business professionals’ attention. Suddenly, they can see how this product would fit into their work life and visualise themselves using it in their day-to- day business needs. The second shows an adrenaline junkie preparing to take on the torrential rain with his iPhone 7. Creating this persona attracts the outdoorsy types and demonstrates the waterproof features of the new device.

How to create buyer personas

Creating the profile is probably the most important stage in the process – get the wrong persona and you’re marketing to a completely different audience, not to mention wasting your time and efforts.  Here’s a couple of steps to consider to get you started when creating your buyer persona:

1. Establish the basics

Segment your target group and ideal buyer by gender, age, job title and role responsibilities. Identifying these basics will give you a strong starting point of who you are targeting.

2. Learn from example

When you create a persona, you are creating an example of your ideal consumer. From this example, you can identify your consumer needs, objectives and potential obstacles. Doing this also gives insight into how your buyers view your products and services. Use this information wisely to improve your offerings.

3. Study, study, study!

To do this study their needs, concerns, frustrations, urgency to buy and ability to buy. This helps to develop and tailor content that appeals to your target audience, resulting in greater leads and sales.

 

If you need help creating your buyer persona, drop us a note at hello@mutant.com.sg – we can help you to tap into your target market! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Planning a tech B2B content calendar in 2017

2017 has arrived, and that means another year of content that needs to be planned. For tech B2B companies, it should go without saying that your company blog is important for generating leads, engaging and retaining your community, or simply letting people know the lights are on. On a broad level, not much changes, but every year brings its own quirks. So how do you plan blog content for 2017? Here’s some key trends to keep in mind:

More people are looking at you on mobile

This varies from company to company, so check your Google Analytics to see how many people are reading your blog from mobile. If it’s more than 30%, start cutting content down to size. No point being verbose if it makes people swipe away.

Mobile-friendly also means thinking about how to handle content other than text. Widescreen formats still work, but important details or text should be viewable even when shrunk down to 4 inches wide.

Your site should also be mobile friendly – it’s easy bonus points for ranking better on Google. Use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to make sure your content works well on mobile. But please, draft your content on a keyboard. Being typo-free goes a long way towards looking professional.

Hedge your traffic sources

It’s 2017, so write for humans first. Robots should always come second, but don’t forget about them.

Facebook will never stop tweaking their ranking algorithms, so don’t expect what works today on Facebook to work forever. Because of Facebook’s endless changes, 2016 saw the prolific collapse of a number of clickbait-like sites, and plenty of collateral damage at respectable news outlets. Fake news looks likely to follow, but I’d like to hope we’re all honest people here ☺. Of course, Facebook is still a valuable source of traffic, but a sustainable strategy means looking beyond the gold rush.

On the Google front, the search engine continues to update its ranking algorithm, aiming to prioritise original content that makes people stay, read and share. Focus on interesting content, and don’t forget to support it with meta tags, and just a smattering of keywords in the right places.

Ideally, traffic should come from a combination of social, search, back links and dark social. If a single source accounts for more than half your referral traffic, think of how to diversify and buffer against algorithm changes.

Go live

Consider live content to make your posts more visible. Videos streamed ‘in the now’ do not just rank higher on Facebook and Twitter, they also give you a reason to repeatedly post related Tweets and photos to stay visible and hit different hashtags for the duration.

This tactic works best when you actively go out and network. Attend (or organise) events with a huge following, meet reputable people and tag them in a photo. Leverage their following to reach a new audience. Bonus points if you can feature them in your content and they share it. Offline activities boost your online presence – who’d have thought?

Plan it out

When you’re ready to start making your content calendar, click below for a free content template. This is based on the very same template we use to plan client content throughout the year. On the “content calendar” tab, you can plan your posts to make sure a regular stream of content goes out every week. On the “report” tab, a pivot table has already been created, where you can filter by month or content type to make sure you have the right balance.

 

If you need any help with your 2017 content marketing efforts, drop us a note at hello@mutant.com.sg.

 

5 myths about Public Relations

Working in public relations (PR) has it’s fair share of benefits – cool product launches, exclusive parties, and getting to meet some great leaders and innovators – but the profession has been somewhat glamourised by a few Hollywood films.

public-relationsFact: It’s unlikely you will lead a life like Samantha Jones

Don’t get us wrong, life in the PR fast lane can be glitzy, but behind the scenes there’s a lot of hard work, research and pressure for results. Let us bust a few of those common PR myths.

  • MYTH 1: PR is just press releases
    “Why are we paying you so much to just sent out a couple pages to media?”

Reality: PR does not stand for press release. Public relations is about building long-term relationships with the media and the members of the public through a defined strategy and campaign. Anyone can send out one press release – but what you’re paying for is experience, relationships, strategic insight, networks and expert advice and account management to portray yourself and your business or product in exactly the right light. If you’re doing this across multiple countries, it’s even more work. Don’t underestimate how much work goes into getting your name out there.

  • MYTH 2: PR is easy
    “Anyone could do it.”

 

Reality: Yes, well, you could try but you won’t necessarily succeed. Good PR takes time and a lot of research. You need to constantly be in the know about what journalists are writing and which topics certain journalists cover, and how to pitch your story in a way that will capture their attention. If you don’t do this right, you risk embarrassing yourself and your brand, offending a journalist, and losing the game before you even begin. PR is not just parties and fun – there is real work that goes on to get the right coverage with the right results.

  • MYTH 3: Public relations will make me an overnight sensation
    “Following this press release, I’m gonna be a millionaire overnight.”

Reality: While you will definitely see an uptick in sales, sales or website traffic, understand that PR is about long-term engagement. A strong public relations and marketing strategy will undoubtedly help grow your revenue and help make you successful, but it doesn’t happen overnight. Building brand awareness, trust and credibility is a slow and steady burn that needs to be managed well.

  • MYTH 4: Only large public relations companies can do the job
    “They will have the resources and staff to handle my needs”

Reality: Big agencies are obviously good at what they do, but depending on your needs and your brand, a smaller, more nimble agency can become your ideal partner. And it’s not just because it saves you money – it’s a combination of less bureaucracy, being quicker to adapt, and the ability to have more senior managers on your account. Bigger doesn’t necessarily mean better.

  • MYTH 5: My business is doing well, so public relations has no value
    “Only bad products and images need PR.”

Reality: PR has more value than you think, even if things are going well. It’s not true that PR is only necessary from a crisis point of view, when things are going wrong, or when you want to change an audience’s perception. That can be part of the role, but more often that not, PR is about letting your customers know about all the great things you’re doing. Customers today are savvy – they know the deal. They turn to the Internet for credible write-ups and reviews of a product or service before they decide to purchase – and this is something your advertising dollars alone can’t buy.

So there you have it! There is a lot more to PR than meets the eye.

If you need help in spreading your brand message, drop us a line at hello@mutant.com.sg.

 

Main image source: Pinterest

How to score your first job in PR

Internships are vital for getting your foot in the door. Just because you’ve studied for more than a decade to eventually get your degree doesn’t mean you’re automatically entitled to a full-fledged job the moment you graduate.

The harsh truth is that most agencies aren’t going to hire fresh graduates with no experience, but they are always on the lookout for interns. So you may have to bite the bullet for 3 – 6 months in an internship before you can even dream of getting your name cards printed –  and that’s ok!

So, take it from me, an intern turned full-time exec at Mutant – you need to stand out.

No boring cover letters, please

The first step to writing a good cover letter is to differentiate yourself. Don’t follow wikiHow’s tips on how to write a cover letter and ditch the boring and formal language that so many people write in.

Hiring managers receive tons of resumes every single day so you need to impress them right off the bat. If you’re going to write in the exact same way as everyone else, chances are the manager won’t even bother to look at your CV.

PR agencies look for people that can write well, and creatively. So if you’ve got the skills, why not show it off in your cover letter? It is after all the very first impression that you will make on your potential employer.

 TIP: Get started on writing that killer cover letter here.

Be active

You need to show the agency why you should be considered for the job. Telling them that you’re enrolled in the relevant degree is great, but so will everyone else.

In a competitive market, the need to stand out is stronger than ever. Employers don’t necessarily look solely at grades but also at other external activities or communities you may be involved in.

Prior to Mutant, I had a couple of finished personal projects and a previous internship under my belt. This included my short digital video creation stint with Youtube x SK-II, being a suggested user on Instagram and 5 months in an e-commerce startup.

The more activities or projects you’ve done, the more you’ll have to show and talk about in your CV and interview. Even if you’ve never worked in PR, the relevant experience in those projects will show employers your interest and passion for the field.

TIP: Start with something simple, like freelance writing.

Tailor your application

Don’t blanket send! I applied for many internships and jobs at various PR agencies and their specialisations ranged from lifestyle, startups, tech, healthcare…and the list goes on. I didn’t send them all the same CV and cover letter. Instead, I tailored each one to make it more relevant to the specific job description and the business.

Tailoring your job application to the business will show the agency that you’ve done your research and have interest in the position.

Do your research

This is a no-brainer. Simply take 15-20 minutes out of your day to go through the company’s website, social pages and profiles of who will/may be interviewing you (I said ‘may’ because sometimes you won’t know who will be sitting in the interview).

Because agencies usually have their case studies up on their website, it’s just like an open-book test. Reading through them will help you think of interesting questions to ask during the interview.

This is something I’ve done across various interviews – and to the interviewer’s pleasant surprise, they said they never expected someone a junior to do that much research.

Bottom-line, it honestly isn’t that hard to exceed expectations. It’s just 15-20 minutes of research. Do it. Don’t be lazy.

Ace that interview

If you’ve secured that interview, congratulations! The next step is to ace it.

Doing a couple of rehearsals beforehand and thinking of some good questions to ask will help you get ready and feel more confident. Remember, interviews are not just for the employer. They are also a great opportunity to learn more about the business and if you see yourself as a good fit. You can also find out about the job opportunities available for you after the internship.

 

Landing a PR internship is the first step, the next, is to dominate it. Stay tuned for the second part of this blog, where I will share my secrets on how to turn a PR internship into a full-time position.

So, have you got what it takes to be a Mutant? Visit our careers page for more information.

Stop using these words

I know, it’s hard to write good copy. You know what your product is about, you understand the ins and outs of it all, but can you actually put the right words down on paper? Remember that your readers are real people. They are not going to respond to cheesy sales talk – this will turn them off.

Overtime, content has evolved and is now one of the more popular marketing tools out there. However, with lots of content, comes a stream of overused and annoying words and phrases.

Here are some of the top words that frankly, in my opinion, should be banished.

1) The very best

  • State-of-the-art
  • Best-in-class
  • First-rate

state-of-the-art-words

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unless you have solid proof then stay far away from them as they mean nothing to your readers and cheapen your brand. I understand that your product is your baby and to you, it is the best, but sadly your customers don’t care. Look at it from another angle – no business is ever going to claim that what they are offering is rubbish, so claiming that you are “first-rate” just devalues your brand.

2) The visionary

  • Revolutionary
  • Innovative
  • Next generation

Really? Are you? Ok, if you talk about Steve Jobs and Apple – yes! But most of us are not Steve Jobs, so stop trying to amplify your product. Remove all that fluff from your content and tell people what you actually do and how you can help them. It’s that simple!

the-visionary-words

 

 

 

 

 

 

3) The vain

  • The best
  • Amazing
  • Superior

 

 

 

 

 

 

Again – really? Using words like this to describe your company or product generally don’t get you anywhere. If your product is indeed superior and the best – show us, don’t tell us! Use vanity with caution as it can really disrupt your credibility, and like I’ve already said…no one really believes or cares that you say you are amazing. Actions speak much louder than words.

The main takeaway for this is that content is a lot more than just a few words that explain your product. You need to inspire people and spark an emotional reaction from them with your words, graphics or videos. Be real and be honest, and stop using all that fluffy sales talk. We are all human, so remember to write words that you, yourself would want to read.

Need help creating compelling words? Need help with your content? Drop a message to hello@mutant.com.sg 

WORDS CTA-order

How I got schooled by a 16 year old while trying to do my job

I thought the times of me being put on the spot at meetings were over. I’ve had practice of dealing with different personalities at many different meetings before, both professional and personal. We all have that one difficult friend or client that deserves an honest piece of your advice.

But what I wasn’t prepared for, was a simple, innocent question by a 16-year-old high schooler at a business meeting. I was there to discuss about a social awareness campaign that involved charity work by students from different secondary schools. They were packing meals for the needy.

A client was sponsoring the initiative so we had to step in and help out with some PR. Our conversation went something like this:

Me, overzealous: “I think this is a great media opportunity, maybe we can discuss some great story angles and objectives about the campaign to pitch to the media.”

Student, sassy: “Well, the objective is to stop world hunger and feed hungry people, who are dying everyday from starvation.”

That, I did not expect. It was a legitimate argument, because shouldn’t world hunger be enough of a reason for media to care and write about?

I wasn’t angry, nor did I blame the student. The poor guy was sincerely puzzled and confused.

I calmly gathered my thoughts and realised that it was time to take a step back, and bring it back to the basics. As PR professionals, we need to help our clients understand what it takes for us to do our job properly, while helping to achieve their goals.

So what is it that we do exactly? Here is a simple break down:

  1. Angles (Gathering of information)

We need as much information as possible. With this information, we will pick out the most important angles we can use for the press release. Tell us about the who, the why, the what, the when and the how – we’re all ears.

Stopping world hunger is a legit reason, but what sets Stop Hunger Now apart from Oxfam, Red Cross, or The Salvation Army, who are all sharing the objective of feeding the needy?

  1. Press release (Storytelling)

We help tell the story about your brand, and why it is worth writing about in the media. Yeah sure, we’ll add a bit of fluff in there – but most importantly we only write about the facts, nothing in there is made up or a lie.

  1. Media pitching (Persuasion)

Journalists are very busy people, they get tons of emails and sometimes our emails get buried under piles of other releases. This is when we pick up the phone, and have some one-on-one time with a specific journalist.

It can get quite nerve wracking, speaking to someone unfamiliar on the phone and trying to pitch an idea to them. This, thankfully, only gets better with practice. Once you know the journalists, their style and personality, you’ll gain confidence in persuading and become more eloquent in trying to deliver your message.    

     4. Media coverage (Public opinion)

This is what it’s all about! Getting your story published and hearing people talk about your brand can be a great feeling. People read the news, and we always aim for a positive story. This plays an important part in informing and swaying public opinion, about the good and bad of your company.

We help educate about your brand and to support it. Media coverage is one of the best and foolproof ways to do this.

If you need help with your PR campaign, please get in touch with us at hello@mutant.com.sg

 

Go small or go home: Why boutique PR agencies are crushing big firms

At the speed of digital trends, do you want a PR agency that’s agile like a fox or sturdy like a buffalo?

Big PR firms have the manpower, resources, and contacts to execute campaigns quickly, but advances in technology means brands need the flexibility to pivot to suit the mood of today’s on-demand audience.

Here are a couple reasons why you should hire a boutique agency over a big firm:

Skilled Staff

More manpower doesn’t mean a higher quality of work. At some larger agencies, smaller accounts may be handed down to junior members or even interns.

At a boutique agency, there is a specialist for everything. By nature, these smaller companies follow lean organisational structures stripped of multiple management levels and stringent systems and constant revision. This makes the team more nimble, enough to weave past unnecessary approval processes that eat up your billable hours.

They’re part of the ‘hacker generation’

Smaller companies tend to have a startup mentality: Fearless, resourceful, unorthodox problem solvers.

They are known to approach barriers from the outside and sometimes, through the backdoor instead of waiting for the higher-ups to approve a solution. On top of that, staff at leaner agencies enjoy taking the unconventional routes that keeps them on track with or sometimes even ahead of the consumers.

They thrive on change

Change is the constant of boutique PR firms, and they are well-equipped to move along with key industry trends and developments. Rather than fearing new technology, smaller agencies race to be the first to use a new platform or tackle a new social media trend.

With fewer people, revisions are also easier for boutique agencies. If an internal structure is holding back results, managers at small agencies will not hesitate to remove or reform them, to power your business and theirs forward.

Skilled Staff

With the internet bubbling over with too much information, brands need more creativity, quicker.

It’s become clear that advertising is no longer just the business of selling your product or services. Instead, it is now all about making their brand a part of the customer’s everyday life. In order to be there with the customer every step of the way, brands need to be able to tailor strategy at the very last minute.

This is typically where the big players have struggled to keep up, given their internal business reglementations put in place to ensure consistent organisational structures.

What I feel is imperative for businesses today, is to steer themselves away from the traditional view of how bigger or more is better. This can be done through re-evaluating business goals and looking further into what the boutiques can bring to their table, helping business owners get the best bang for their buck.

Need more advice on choosing the right agency for your business? Contact us at hello@mutant.com.sg

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