Comparing 4 popular AI-Generated Content Programs

Now that you know what AI-generated content is and how to use it - how do you select which tool to use? We recommend trying them all out because each one offers a trial before the paid version starts (and some are free for now). For each one of these, we asked, “What are the benefits of Vegan leather” so you can get an idea of the results each AI-generated.

 So let’s get into it -

Open AI ChatGPT ( https://chat.openai.com/chat) is an AI-powered chatbot that interacts with users conversationally. The latest on the scene to use AI to answer questions, you simply type in a question, and the chatbot can provide lengthy and thorough responses to questions.

One thing we like about ChatGPT is that it is simple, and you can regenerate the response if you do not like it. We did it four different times and got slightly different worded responses. However, when we asked the question verbatim from other accounts, we got the exact same output. We discuss why you cannot cut and paste here. It currently is FREE, but because it has become increasingly popular, we have seen it go offline many times. You get the “ChatGPT is at capacity right now” message”.

For example, We asked Chat GPT the following “What are the benefits of Vegan leather.”

Canva Magic Write (www.canva.com) - You probably already use Canva, so this may be a great place to start. You open a document, hit the plus sign, and select Magic. Type in your prompt, and Canva does the rest. Unlike ChatGPT, you cannot one-click regenerate the response, but you can type it in Magic again and get an altered response.

For example, we were able to get five different versions of the “What are the benefits of Vegan leather” question. See below for one.

We found Magic Write has a more casual tone, and if you are a pro-member, it is included. Using the free version gives you get 25-lifetime credits to use Magic Write. We suspect you would burn through those quickly.

Go Charlie (https://dashboard.gocharlie.ai/ ) - We found this one to be a little clunky. It is not as intuitive as to where you start etc. but once you figure it out, it is fairly simple. One thing Go Charlie offers is more detail. You can put in the type of content you want to create - blog, press release, call to action, value proposition, and so on. There are a host of more options. You can also add details to make it more specific to your brand. You can do a free trial or pay $39 a month.

When we asked, “What are the benefits of Vegan leather,” it automatically gave us two responses: a short one and an expanded one with more detail. We liked seeing that side by side.

Jasper (https://beta.jasper.ai/ )- By far, this was our favorite. Of course, that makes sense because it is the most expensive! You can do a free trial or a plan based on the number of words you need (for example, 35,000 words a month is $40). Most people we spoke with use the $80, which is 100,000 words a month. But you get what you pay for, right?

There are a variety of templates and content types (similar to Go Charlie), but Jasper takes it a step further and asks qualifying questions to help personalize the content more. Things like tone of voice, audience, keywords to include, etc. This helps speed up the process the editing process. Also, the customer service we received from Gaby R was lightning-fast.

And here was the result when we put in that we wanted a blog about the benefits of Vegan leather.

These are just four options we tested out. There are MANY more out there, so take a look and play around with them. Please remember to think of these sites as your brainstorming partner. They help you get STARTED, and then you run with the content and make it your own by editing, adding your thoughts, and making it in your style. You never want to cut and paste directly. If you leave with one takeaway - let it be that. You must make it your own!

What is AI Generated Content? And Should You Use it?

AI-generated content is a blog, articles, social media prompts, essays, product descriptions, etc. written via artificial intelligence. The AI content creator generates the content after you ask a question or give keywords, phrases, or subjects that cover the topic you want to discuss. Numerous different software programs do this - we will get into that in a second.

First up, do you think you should use AI-generated content? The answer is YES and NO.

YES! - Using these services is a great way to get ideas, get unstuck, or get started with your content. This only works as a starting point. You still need to edit it. Give it your voice, fact-check the information, etc.

NO! - You cannot ask a question and then cut and paste the AI response as if it was yours.  

Why you ask -

1. While AI content is usually detailed, it is sometimes factually incorrect. You could be sharing something incorrectly.

2. For most of these services, if you ask the question or topic in the same way as someone else ( we tested this three times) you get the EXACT same response. No Bueno!

3. As more and more people start to use AI-Generated content, you can begin to tell. For example, look at some of the social content you follow. You can start to see hints of that tone of voice when people don’t edit it. This is why it is IMPERATIVE that you use it as a starting point and then edit it with your ideas and your brand style.

As a result of AI-generated content blowing up recently, several schools have banned the use of the software, including New York public city schools.

Last April, Google also spoke out about AI content as it became popular. According to Search Engine Journal, “Google’s Search Advocate John Mueller says content automatically generated with AI writing tools is considered spam, according to the search engine’s webmaster guidelines.” When we searched this, we found that Google can detect if something is AI-generated by searching for patterns and inconsistencies in writing style and how good the quality of the content is. So it is your best bet never to copy and paste.

Ok, so now that we have covered what not to do - how do you pick a service? We take a look at 4 different programs. Click here to read.

Entertain Me

When you stop and think about it, the answer to what content you should put on social media, specifically Instagram and TikTok, is quite simple.  Just ask yourself why do you spend time on these platforms?  What kind of content do you seek out?  Odds are, most of the rest of us are looking for the same things and spending our time on these apps in the same way.  We are searching for information / to be educated on a topic or we want to be entertained. And what’s more entertaining or easier to consume than video?

Think about it - how many silly videos, dance challenges, pet videos, tarot readings, etc. do you watch in a day?

While there are no hard stats from Instagram about the time people spend on reels versus other parts of the platform like stories or the feed - it is definitely the feature that Instagram is pushing.  You now see suggested reels in your feed.  TikTok is a little different since you are obviously there to watch videos.

Short-form video is where everything is headed.  TikTok, Reels, YouTube shorts.  Our attention span is so small, that you have to show or say what needs to be said and FAST!  In 2020, 73% of videos clocked in at two minutes or less and if you look at what is trending as of late, it’s videos at 7 seconds!  Seven seconds!  What on earth can you get across in that short of time?  Actually - a lot and we will talk about that next week.

So let’s get back to what kind of videos should you be making.  While this reel is a fun play off of ‘Inventing Anna’ the hit series on Netflix - it boils down to what people are looking for in two words.  ENTERTAIN ME!

People want to watch videos that are entertaining or teach them something they did not know. Educate and Entertain.  If your video doesn’t accomplish one of those two things - it probably won’t resonate with your target audience.

If you can educate and entertain your audience, well that is just gold.  That is why so many cooking and DIY videos do so well.

Now by entertaining, we don’t mean you have to do the ring light challenge or the latest provocative dance. You can show a behind-the-scenes.  If you have a product you can make a fun stop motion video to a trending song.  The possibilities are endless.

The golden rule here - if you make a video, watch it.  Does it educate or do you find it entertaining?  If the answer is no, then ask yourself how can I change it.  

Of course, we realize some videos are not going to meet this requirement every time, and that’s ok.  But if you can give it a little thought and figure out how to educate and entertain - you have found the sweet spot.

Remove the stress of what to post every day. Batch and plan your content!

Business owners especially small business owners have all been there. You are busy doing something and all of a sudden you think “ DAMN, I haven’t posted anything today!”

FIRST OFF - Let’s dispel the myth you HAVE to post daily to all your social channels. Sure this keeps you in front of your audience, but if you aren’t posting anything of value - they will leave. So RULE NUMERO UNO - Don’t post just to post. Don’t put crap out there. You don’t like it when you see it, your target audience won’t either.

Ok, now that we have covered that - how do you remove the stress and anxiety of what to post? SIMPLE - PLAN IT.

Just like you do for clients, make a meeting with yourself. Once a week minimum. During this meeting - you sketch out your content ideas for the week and then you create them.

Using apps like Asana or Trello or even Google sheets helps you create a content plan. You can view the plan in several different formats, personally, I like the calendar view of Asana so I can make sure we have a sprinkling of content spaced out throughout the week. You can assign taks to other members of your team or make reminders. And the best part, you can download these to your phone so if an idea strikes you - you can easily open the app and make a note so that you can goo back to it on your designated content planning day.

Once you have your content plan, you can create all the content in one swoop. This is called BATCHING. You create it all at once and then it is ready to publish throughout the week. This works great for videos, TikToks and Reels. You film them all on one day (remember to change your clothing/background so it looks different) and then publish them later.

So how do you remember when to publish??

YOU DON’T. YOU SCHEDULE!

There are plenty of apps that help you layout and schedule your content. For instance, if you are dealing with Facebook and Instagram you can schedule them right in the Meta Business center for your page. You can use programs like Agora Pulse or Later to also schedule your content.

PRO TIP: Do not SET IT AND FORGET IT. I know many marketers advocate for this and sure it removes one thing from your to do list. But here is why that is not smart. Things on the Internet live forever. It takes one person to make a screengrab and then circulate it around. So you want to make sure your content is in line with what’s going on in the world.

Example: A popular restaurant schedules a photo post about a new dish. The caption talks about how it is the bomb. The day it is scheduled to post, a terrible bombing happens somewhere in the world. Now your post looks incredible tone-deaf and insensitive and is open to backlash or made an example. Yes, I realize you are thinking, “ That’s dramatic and will never happen” but if I have learned ANYTHING it is that ANYTHING can happen. So at the beginning of the day or week, check what you have scheduled so if there is an event that could impact it you are reminded of what’s posting that day and can adjust quickly.

So give planning and batching a try for one month - track your time and see how much time and hassle it saves you!

What is a Communications Plan?

We all make mistakes in business, I know I do every day - that is how we grow and improve. But one thing you can take a look at today and make changes as needed is your communications plan? What is a communication plan? The simple version is a list of questions you want to address ( at least one) every time you communicate with your ideal customer.

For example:

These are just a few questions and examples you can use. Of course, you do not have to answer or discuss every question every time you communicate but you need to make sure your communication plan revolves around the important things you want to get across.

Having a target list of questions or messages you want to consistently sprinkle in helps you when you are writing content, going live, creating videos, Reels, and TikToks. This ensures your messaging is always on point and your content serves a purpose, because who wants to create content just for the sake of creating content. you want it to inform, educate and entertain your ideal client. More on the entertaining part next week……

Now of course, as you grow you will want a master communcaitons plan that actually outlines key milestones in your business ( launches, etc) and the comms vehicles that will support that - whether that is blogs, videos, social media, paid ad and so on. Not to worry we will delve into that type of comms plan later this month!

Creating Engagement for your Brand using Clubhouse

It’s Tip Tuesday and each week we bring a tip here to help you with your business.  For the month of April, we are talking about engagement.  Last week we shared ways to increase your Instagram engagement and this week we are talking about growing your engagement with your ideal customer by using Clubhouse.    Now you might be thinking, Clubhouse isn’t a great place for engagement because when the room is gone it’s gone – but this platform does offer you a host of ways to generate engagement.

First, let’s look at the numbers –

• This app has 10 million users and 2 million weekly users

• The app is iOS only and is available in 154 countries – just for reference, the app store is only available in 175 countries.

• The average user spends 11-20 hours a week on the app

So how do you create engagement –

First, let’s talk about creating it in the app. 

• Creative a killer profile that CLEARLY communicates your WHY and HOW you HELP others.  Make sure you connect your other SM handles AND that your website is listed.  Yes, they cannot click through on it, but it needs to be there.

•  Host and Attend rooms where your ideal customer is or that speak to your why. When you are in those rooms, CONNECT  send a personal DM to those in the audience – now they have your IG/Twitter handle and odds are they are going to search you out on Clubhouse as well.

• If you use your IG to share tips, talk about those tips in rooms.  If you are talking about how to use video to gain new customers, be sure to let them know to head over to your Insta to see a tutorial on how to do it.  Get them to where you can engage

Ideally, you want to convert people off the app to real estate you OWN so you can continue to connect with them.   If you have an offer for coaching,  mindset tips, a free challenge – list it in your profile.  Talk about it ( be careful here, it needs to be relevant to the convo so it doesn’t come off as salesy.  By presenting the offer this gets people into your funnel, you have their email and now can engage them directly.

Talk about your blog or what they will find on your website.  You can do this in the room directly but again make it natural.  If the topic is about how to book podcasts and you just published a blog on that, mention that.  Or when you are DMing people, say I was in the room when you were asking how to get booked on podcasts, I wanted to share a link to a recent blog you might find helpful.  The 5 things you must do to grow your presence with podcasts. This helps you start the conversation OFF the platform.

These are just a few tips to help you convert connections from Clubhouse into engaged listeners and hopefully potential customers/clients.

Next week we will be talking about increasing engagement on your website. Until then if you have questions, please reach out to us at hello@cascadecreativegroup.com.

Have a Great Week.

Tip Tuesday: Are you in the Club?

Finishing out our March theme of looking deeper into a social media platform each week for Tip Tuesday, today we are talking about the new kid on the block - Clubhouse.  Over the past few months, Clubhouse has exploded and with more than 10 million users it is a great place for both professionals and brands. 

Today we cover the top three reasons you want to be on the platform and five tips to help you make the most of it. 

Quick overview: Clubhouse is an audio-only app, currently only available to iOS users. Think of it like an interactive live podcast. There are rooms with speakers and listeners that usually focus on a topic. The rooms are not recorded ( unless otherwise noted) and the room is divided into two parts - the Stage, where the speakers are, and the Audience, those who are just listening. You normally can raise your hand to join the stage and contribute to the conversation.

So why should you care about one more social media app?

1. LEARN - Clubhouse is an excellent place to soak up knowledge. There are rooms on all topics at most any hour of the day. You have access to incredible, successful people in their field. There are rooms on boosting your LinkedIn profile, rooms about the 10X principle and yes, Grant Cardone the author of 10X is usually in those rooms, Leading professionals are hosting rooms giving away tips and answering your questions. The access is unprecedented. To hear some of these discussions you would have to go to a conference, take a course or hire them as a coach, not listen over coffee while you are in your bathrobe!

2. SERVE - People are here and they are waiting to hear from you. Find and serve your audience. Share your knowledge and expertise. Pour into people and bring value to these conversations.

3. GROW - Clubhouse is a place to connect and build relationships. You meet people you would never find on Instagram and honestly because it is your voice it is more personal. People tend to connect off the platform via Instagram or Twitter without hesitation. The Know, Like, Trust factor is higher. Bring value and you will connect with your people.

   So if you are on the app or you have an invite how do you make the most of it - Let’s go over 5 tips to make the most of the app!

   1. BE INTENTIONAL - Clubhouse is exciting, but it can be overwhelming and in truth it can be a time suck. There are so many great conversations to participate in before you know it, you might be on the app for hours at a time. Be intentional on what you want to get out of the app - are you using it for personal, business or both. Check out the room schedule and schedule your time for the rooms you want to participate in. Personally, I time block when I am going to be on the app. Obviously I am on the app Mondays when we host Collaboration Over Competition (7pm EST) and Wednesdays when we host Small Business Savvy: Insider Secrets you need to Know (12pm EST) and then I try to hit the Daily Networking Room ( 10am EST) while I go through emails one or two mornings a week and the Empower Her hour at (6:30pm EST) once a week to hear what people are up to. Both of those networking rooms are great to be an active listener.

   2. STELLAR BIO - Your bio is your calling card. When someone clicks on your avatar ( your profile pic) when you are in a room, they only see the first 3 lines. Those lines need to CLEARLY communicate - Who you are, what you do, who you help and why they should care.

   3. CONNECT - Clubhouse is a great place to connect with people. I mentioned those two great networking rooms which are held daily, those are great places to drop in and listen and meet people. BUT make sure you connect either your Instagram or Twitter so you can continue the conversation when the room is over. If you don’t have a way to reach you listed in your profile you could miss building a relationship with a key person!

   4. SPEAK - When people hear your voice, it tends to create a instant connection. You have value to share, so when you are in a room and feel like you can contribute to the conversation raise your hand and share. Be authentic, be you and be real,

   5. Network - While you are listening, click on other peoples avatars, check out their profiles, expland them to read more about them and make connections. There are always valuable people in the room and a lot of times, they may be listening in audience. Check out some of the daily networking rooms.

      Be sure to turn in later this week when we interview the Magnet Moderator, Caroline Geraghty, who is an expert on connecting on Clubhouse.
      

Are you on Clubhouse?  If so drop your handle in the comments 👇🏻

Interview with the Expert on Pinterest

We sit down with Jen Vazquez to talk about why brands need to be on Pinterest, how it can help your visibility, and most importantly how it can help you work smarter not harder with repurposing content!

As promised, we are building on Tuesday’s Tip Tuesday segment on Pinterest. We are chatting with Jen Vazquez an established wedding photographer, a long-time Pinterest user who now coaches others to achieve the success she has attained on Pinterest. She covers why you need to have a business page, what the Pinterest algorithm loves, AND how you can give the content you have already created a new life on Pinterest.

This one is packed with tips and you can visit her Instagram @jenvazquezcoach and sign up for the FREE Pinterest Challenge - 5 days of instruction to get your business Pinterest up and running!

We just created our Pinterest brand page @cascadecreativegroup and are starting to create pins. We are using Jen’s tips and will report back here on the blog in about a month to let you know what we have learned, how it’s going, and the results we are seeing!

Tip Tuesday: Taking a closer look at Pinterest

Keeping with March's theme for Tip Tuesday, we are exploring one social media platform a week. This week we are exploring Pinterest. Pinterest started as a great place to share recipes, pin ideas for projects, weddings, etc. but Pinterest has evolved over the years to become the 3rd largest social media platform, right behind Facebook and Instagram. Pinterest can offer you a unique way to repurpose existing content AND CONNECT with your target customer.

Who is on Pinterest:

• Pinterest has 459 millions monthly users

• Did you know that of US households that have Internet, 43% also have a Pinterest account?  That is nearly half!

• 60% of the global audience is female, but the number of men on the platform is growing steadily and has increased 50% year over year.

• Average income of Pinterest user is 75k

Why do people go to Pinterest?

• The reason hasn’t changed why people are using Pinterest, they are looking for answers and ideas.

• 85% of users said Pinterest is the first place they go when looking to start a new project

• 89% said they frequent Pinterest for shopping/purchase inspiration 

So what should you put on Pinterest? Pinterest is a great place to repurpose content.  You can create highlight boards and then pin things to those boards.  So for example, let’s take this video.  We could pin this to a Video Tips board, to a Social Media board, to our Tip Tuesday board and so on.  This helps your content be discoverable in more places.  Be sure to clearly describe what people will find when they visit your pin.  Use key words and be descriptive.  Pins tend to need about 30 days before you see traction and Pinterest experts say to allow 6 months before you see the pin at its peak!

Pinning Tips:

• Get Visual.  62% of the Gen Z/Millennial crowd prefers visual pins with an image, versus just a text pin.

• Like most social platforms, video performs best on Pinterest.  Video gets 6x more views than other posts.

• Don’t pin more than 10 things a day, you don’t want to be spammy.  Plus Pinterest has an excellent option to schedule your pins right in the app!

Each year Pinterest makes predictions on trends the year will see and this year they are predicting the CEO is the new DIY. More people are starting their own venture, creating a side hustle and they are searching out how to do this on Pinterest!  Full disclosure we are just getting started on Pinterest so later this week, we will sit down with Jen Vazquez, who is a Pinterest strategist to explore ways to leverage this platform for your brand.

Is Facebook Dead?

For the month of March, we are exploring one social platform each week. Last week it was all things Instagram and this week we are breaking down Facebook. Have you heard the rumors that Facebook is dead, don’t spend your time there. We are here to tell you with 2.5 Billion monthly users, that Facebook isn’t going anywhere. This week we cover what is working well right now, what you might be missing out on, and things you can do to increase your engagement.

• Are you currently doing Facebook Stories? Did you know 58% percent of people said they have visited a brand’s website after viewing a Facebook story. Stories has its own algorithm and it is easier to get organic reach. So what should you show in stories?

  • 52% said they want to see stories that are easy to understand

  • 50% want to see sneak peeks, new products, or reveals

  • 46% want advice or tips (like this video) in their stories

Live video is also something the algorithm is loving and will get you more organic reach. Live video gets 6x more engagement than a static post.

More tips on the algorithm in the video.

All week long we will be sharing supporting content to this theme on Instagram so be sure to follow us there @cascadecreativegroup and later in the week we will have an expert interview with Bobbi Baehne from Think Big Go Local to talk about how you can use messenger to grow your customer engagement.

You can always send us a message if you have questions or schedule a free strategy call with the link in the header on this page!

Interview with an Instagram expert, Jenna Redfield

This week's Tip Tuesday was all about Instagram. We have been sharing supporting content all week on the gram @cascadecreativegroup.com like filters we love, how to generate saved replies etc. All things to make your Instagram journey better. We are rounding it out with a great interview with Jenna Redfield, someone who knows so much about Instagram and teaches courses on how to maximize your presence on the platform. Jenna runs Twin Cities Collective and creates amazing content and she drops some gems in this interview, including tips for better engagement and on Reels - Instagram's new darling child.

5 Things Working Well Right Now on Instagram

Are you feeling lucky? All March our Tip Tuesday series is taking a look at social platforms. For this week’s Tip Tuesday we are focusing on Instagram. This month in addition to coming here on Tuesday, we will be sharing supporting content all week on our Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn channels that tie back to the weekly theme. This week we will be sharing some of our favorite filters, hacks and rounding it out with an interview with a featured expert on Instagram.

So we all love Instagram, but it can be crowded. How can you stand out and connect with your ideal audience? This video touches on 5 things that are working well right now on the gram.

REELS - Reels is Instagram’s new version of short form video, 30 seconds or less. People come to Instagram to be educated and mainly entertained and reels can accomplish both. Reels will increase your organic reach. Because it is new to the platform, Instagram is favoring it heavily in the algorithm. Reels also make your account discoverable. Instagram will show your reels to many people who are not interacting with your account. So an account with only 500 followers could have 10,000 views on a really great reel, thus exposing that account to thousands of new people. Don’t worry, reels can be educational - you don’t have to do the Bust It Challenge or dance.

INFOGRAPHICS - These allow you to educate your audience in a fun and visual way. They can be based on things going on in your business, current events, or trends. They are not difficult to make, you can import the data into Canva and easily generate a visually appealing infographic.

YOU - Seems simple, but so many miss this one. People buy from people they trust. It is hard to get to know a logo, so show yourself. Let people see what is behind the brand and get to know you. Creating a relationship is the first step to creating a long-lasting customer that keeps coming back for more. Give them a look into your business’ world. Show a day-in-the-life, a behind the scenes or just make videos where you answer frequently asked questions.

QUOTES - Strong relatable quotes. You can take popular quotes and turn them into branded content. Make a graphic that highlights the quote, make sure your brand colors are woven in, and then in the post caption explain how this quote inspires or relates to your company. People love to share great quotes and they are a wonderful tool for starting a conversation with your audience. Speaking of audience, that brings us to #5.

ENGAGEMENT - You are seeking engagement for your ideal customer, so make sure you are engaging with them as well. When people comment on your post, be sure to engage. Comment back or heart their comment so they know you saw it. Instagram stories are another great way to interact with your audience. You can do a quick poll, ask questions of your audience, or offer up a multiple-choice question. Not only does this get you interaction, but it gives you content that your audience is interested in already. You can take the answers you get to your questions and turn that into a post, make a Reel or do a follow-up story the next day.

These are just a few things we see that are raising engagement on Instagram right now. Be sure to tune in later this week when we speak to Jenna Redfield from Twin Cities Collective to get her expert opinion on what you can be doing right now to step-up your game on Instagram.

Every Tuesday we bring a tip here to help you grow your business. Visit www.cascadecreativegroup.com to learn more about content strategy, creation, and how to create influence for your brand.

Content Strategies and Planning: Achieving the Know, Like, and Trust

This week for Tip Tuesday we are wrapping up the month of content tips. So far we have covered the 3 key must-haves - your content needs to be RELEVANT, you need to be CONSISTENT and you need to ENGAGE. We talked about repurposing content and last week we touched on batching your content to save time. Today we are covering off on the last few strategies and planning your content. Let's make sure your audience: KNOWS, LIKES AND TRUSTS you and your brand. If you missed the first three Tip Tuesday episodes this month on content, you can watch them here in the blog to help you on your content journey.

Let’s start with your content pillars or buckets. These are subjects you talk about regularly and that would be of interest to your ideal customer. When you create these you want to think about accomplishing the following:

• KNOW - you want people to know about your brand

• LIKE - you want them to like the brand and to keep coming back for me because your content resonates with them

• TRUST - You want your ideal customer to trust you because we buy from people/brands we trust

So let’s break that down.

KNOW - the easiest way to accomplish this is to SHOW UP! Be CONSISTENT and intentional with your social media plan. If you have a weekly blog, stick to posting it every week. Don’t post a flurry on Instagram and then not post for weeks. be there for your customer!

LIKE - The easiest way to like someone is to see their personality. This one is a hard one for many. You aren’t comfortable being the center of attention or you don’t want to be on camera. Do it anyway. You will see a spike in your engagement and your following. Let people see the personal side. Show behind the scenes of the brand, a day in the life video or 5 facts about you or the brand.

TRUST - If you can successfully do the first two ( Know and Like) then Trust should be easy. We tend to trust people we know and like and people prefer to do business with people/brands they Trust! When examining your content plan look for opportunities to educate your audience, solve a problem they may be facing or answer their frequently asked questions. All of these will establish you as an authority, as a brand that is there to serve and bring value and that helps build trust.

If you are struggling for content ideas in these pillars there are a few things you can do to find inspiration. Take a look at trends. What is going on in your industry? Can you tie your content to a specific event or day? Poll your audience. Polls on Instagram stories are a great way to not only tap into the mind of your ideal customer, but they also generate content ideas. You can take those questions and answer them on your social channels, in your blog and position it as the top questions from our customers. By doing this, you can answer a potential customer’s question that they may not have even know they had!

Everyone likes variety - so be sure to mix it up when planning out your content. Don’t just stick with one medium. Make a mix of static posts, photos, carousel, reels and and remember when in doubt, go with video. We are a visual society and people tend watch more video. You want to be ENGAGING. And mixing it up helps the algorithm as well ( if we are talking about Instagram).

Look at what your competitors are doing. Don’t copy them but get inspiration and do it differently to make it your own. Ask yourself “What does my ideal customer want to know about _____?” Create content around that.

Once you have the ideas, you want to sketch it out so you know what you are posting and when. There are lots of apps out there like Planoly or Later that can help you schedule content, but you can simply use a Google doc to lay it out so you can see it all in one place. Planning it out also helps you to see the gaps. Maybe you wrote down the blog launches on the 5th, but you don’t have any social scheduled to promote it. Seeing it laid out will help you recognize that in advance and plug something in to your schedule.

Above all remember - DONE IS BETTER THEN PERFECT!

Just get started putting out content you think will resonate with your audience. That is the beauty of analytics - you can check your insights, see what is doing well and then double-down on more content like that!

If you have any questions or need help building a content strategy, email hello@cascadecreativegroup.com

Repurposing Content

Work Smarter, Not Harder

Last week we talked about the 3 things you must not forget when creating content:

1. BE RELEVANT - Ensure your content is relevant for the time of year, what is going on in the world, etc. Does it provide value?

2. BE CONSISTENT - Do not post and ghost. Do not create a flurry of content at the beginning of the month and then drop off for the rest of the month. There will be no reason for your audience to engage with you and most likely they will leave.

3. ENGAGE - You are looking for people to engage with you, with your product, and with your brand. Do the same! Engage with your content and your audience. If they leave a comment, start a dialogue.

So having said all that, you may feel overwhelmed and think “ I do not have TIME to create new content every day!” Don’t worry - you don’t have to. This week we are talking about REPURPOSING your content.

You can take ONE piece of content and spread it out throughout the week by making little tweaks to make it feel fresh and new, even though it is reiterating the same underlying message.

Example: Tip Tuesday Content.

Day 1: Today I made the Tip Tuesday video and posted it on our Cascade Creative Group Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn pages. I also wrote this blog and posted it here on our website along with the video. I also pinned this blog post on Pinterest.

Day 2: Post a carousel graphic on FB, IG, LI with key highlights from this Tip Tuesday.

Day 3: Will do an IG story on repurposing content. Will make a post showing the pin on Pinterest.

Day 4: Share that IG story on FB as a video and in LinkedIn stories.

Day 5: Post on FB, IG, and LinkedIn with a photo talking about the 3 Must-haves - Relevancy, Consistency, and Engagement.

Day 6: Quick IG story poll on have you engaged with your content this week?

Day 7: Graphic with a quote from the blog post with a link to the blog.

All of these actions thread back to the same messages covered in the video and here on the blog. So I haven’t had to generate new ideas, just some quick tweaks to an overarching idea to make it a bit different.  

This saves you time, but also helps your end game. The marketing rule of 7 states that “consumers need to and an average of seven interactions with a brand before converting or making a decision to buy.” By repurposing the content, you are more efficient and creating more than seven interactions with your brand!

Next week we cover BATCHING content so you can get it all done at once, scheduled and you can get back to business.

Get On Video - Get Better Engagement

Are you using videos to promote your business? Did you know video gets 2x more engagement on Instagram, 73% more views and engagement on Facebook and even on LinkedIn ( which btw is one of the few places giving organic reach to videos) video will get you 3x more engagement. People would prefer to watch a video rather than read a static post.

Ok, so now you know by not doing video you are missing a huge opportunity to connect with your customer. Let’s take a look at the reasons you may be using for not being on video.

1. You need to have it professionally done - FALSE.

2. To do it yourself you need fancy (ie. expensive) equipment. - ALSO FALSE.

   You will see in video above, it has decent lighting, thanks to an inexpensive ring light that clips right on your phone. The iPhone has amazing video quality.

3. You will forget what to say and look like you don’t have it together. Ok this one has some truth to it. The first time you set out to make a video, you will probably have tons of takes. Pro tip - put key bullets of what you want to cover in the video on a post note and stick it right below the camera on your phone. You can see your notes, but it won’t seem like you are reading from a script.

4. It won’t have a clean edit. FALSE.

   There are tons of apps out there to help you edit your video with ease. iMovie can help you with trimming, transitions and captions. It you want to take it further and add graphics, music or a call to action look into an online program like wave.video.

   The point I am trying to make is just START. Les Brown said, “You don’t have to be great to get started, but you have to get started to be GREAT.”

   Will you make mistakes? Of course. Will it be perfect? Nope. But done is better than perfect. Just start. make a video and tell your customer WHY you are the person or brand to help them Let them see you! Every video you do will get easier. You will get better at it and so will your engagement.

As the owner of Cascade Creative Group, Lindsay has been helping companies for more than 20 years find their message, execute it through the right channels and create influence with their ideal customer and within their industry.  Our goal is to not only help companies get their message out but to create influence for the brand with their target market and within the industry.  We guide clients step-by-step to craft a crystal clear message and a complete communications plan that will build momentum and get results.  If you need help with your brand message, public relations, or social media strategy, schedule a free strategy call today.

Finding Your Ideal Client

This week we look at where you might find your ideal customer and some of the resources you can utilize to make sure it is in fact the right place.

First off - you need to determine where your ideal client hangs out and spends their time. Similar to doing market research to know who uses your products and services, having the information on who’s on what platform helps you in building your marketing strategy on how to engage with them. Having a complete picture ensures your brand is present in the correct channels and your message will reach them. There are many great resources that can give you demographic data and most of this is available for free. Sprout Social is a great place to start. It takes a look at the major social networks and breaks down the users by age, gender, geography, and even income.

Facebook ranks as the second most popular platform, right behind YouTube. Armed with that information alone, you might decide it is a good idea to create a targeted Facebook group. But what if your market research shows your target customer is a 16-year-old girl? Pew Research shows that 51% in the age range 13-17 are on Facebook. So that seems a good place to start, but don’t stop there. The same report (available on Sprout Social) shows that 72% in that age range are on Instagram daily and of that 53% are female. Maybe Instagram might be better you are thinking. Keep digging. The report shows 85% of 13-17-year-olds are on YouTube multiple times a day and of those 68% are female. So perhaps the best move to connect with your customer would be to create YouTube content that you can repurpose in other places.

What about income demographics? If your product or service is a higher-ticket item, you may want to make sure your marketing is hitting people with a certain level of disposable income. That data is also easily accessed. For example, of Pinterest users, more than 41% report an income of more than $75,000 a year. But you can't take that as an indicator if your target market is male and earns 75K a year. This is because only 15% of Pinterest’s audience is male. So you can see you have to have a complete picture before investing your time and resources into a platform.

It is a lot easier to connect with your ideal customer if you know where they are, so always start with the research.

Using social networks to share your content is not the only place to find your ideal customer. Look to fan groups, did you know that the Golden Retriever Club on Facebook has nearly 300,000 members? If you make a pet product, that might be good ground for cultivating ambassadors. Look at forums online, people who are passionate about home theater most likely participate regularly on the AV forum. Networking groups are also great places to connect with your ideal customer, especially smaller focused ones, like a working moms group. The more you can drill it down, the better connections you will be able to make and turn those connections into long-lasting customers.

As the owner of Cascade Creative Group, Lindsay has been helping companies for more than 20 years find their message, execute it through the right channels and create influence with their ideal customer and within their industry.  Our goal is to not only help companies get their message out but to create influence for the brand with their target market and within the industry.  We guide clients step-by-step to craft a crystal clear message and a complete communications plan that will build momentum and get results.  If you need help with your brand message, public relations, or social media strategy, schedule a free strategy call today.