Parfait

The semester is coming to a rapid end and with that comes the flood of client projects. One, in particular, was very special. This client was Parfait. We developed both a content marketing plan and a social media plan for this client. Content marketing is a great long term marketing strategy as it is something that will keep your customers engaged with the brand. It moves away from a hard sell type of content and towards something that reaches your customers on a personal level and helps to drive customer loyalty. The 80-20 rule is still a large factor.Content marketing speaks to that 20%. It also helps to increase your search engine ranking and social media traction. Want to learn more? The Content Marketing Institute has a great read on why this type of marketing should be at the core of all of your marketing plans.

Parfait is a local frozen yoghurt and speciality coffee bar in downtown Kingston. Their appealing storefront and prime location on Princess street draw a student and a young business professional crowd. They use high-quality products and locally sourced ones when possible. Their largest competition is Menchies due to their strong online presence and current downtown location. Their biggest issue is awareness, they have only been in business a matter of months.

Our strategy to help solve the issues of awareness is a content marketing plan that focuses on customer loyalty, trust, and engagement. Ultimately, these customers will become brand evangelists and continue to spread the word about Parfait. For now, the focus of the strategy is to reach the target audience as a friend and helpful source. To achieve this we developed content that is helpful and the target audience can relate to. It speaks directly to their pain points. This content is meant to help them either with tips and tricks, making them laugh or teaching them a new skill. that for both targets are a busy life. They are on the go either with school or work.  A full editorial calendar was developed to demonstrate the type of content that would be used. Some examples can be seen below.

Blog

Blogs are a great way to communicate larger messages. When done right they are extremely engaging and easy for the reader to share with others. They increase search engine ranking and increase social currency. They can really be about anything and are a great way to pad any content marketing strategy. They plant a seed in a customer’s mind that will be shared with others either online or through word of mouth. If that isn’t enough, 77% of internet users read blogs. (source) This particular blog post is directed at students. It talks about ways to survive the first month back to school. It will be posted mid-way through September and talk about different activities or things that make school life survivable. It is short and sweet but gets the message across in a funny way.

To read the post, click through here.

Infographic

Infographics are great shareable content that teaches the user something. They are very engaging and easy to understand thanks to the design elements and don’t take up a lot of the customers time. The infographic that was developed for the client targets both students and young professionals. It shows them how to properly tie a tie. This content is very useful and helps to ease some morning stress.

Video

Videos have become one of the most popular ways to share content over the last few years. They are engaging and easily shared. With features on Facebook like autoplay, it makes it easy to increase views and draw in an audience as the video begins for them to see. Our video focuses on the holiday season. Both of our target audiences can be engaged with these style videos. During this time of year, people want to see happy and heartwarming video content. This video fits perfectly into that description. People are also more forgiving about production value and really want to see content they enjoy watching.

Memes

Memes are a hugely successful trend that brings a humorous human element to social media in a way that has not been done before. They bridge social media, human emotions and pop culture together to create extremely engaging content. These memes will be released in November to bring a smile to very stressed students as they prepare for finals. The memes below relate to student life in a humorous way. They are easy to share and very easy to engage with.

 

All in all, this has been a challenging learning experience. After 2 years of focusing on primarily promotional marketing, moving 100% away from that too strict content marketing took a lot to get my head around. But I know see the huge upside of content marketing for all businesses, not just Parfait.

Going back…

This Thursday I went back to my old high school. This time on my own to give a presentation to a class full of students who are getting ready to graduate. While I was presenting I remembered what it was like to sit in their seats. I took that very same class two years ago and heard a similar presentation on blogging and never in a million years did 17-year-old me believe that I would be blogging let alone win awards for it and then be giving talk on how to blog.

Below is about as wild as I got. Semi-Formal and I was stone cold sober. I guess another piece of advice I would give to myself at 17 is, there will be lots of time to get drunk and not remember nights. Enjoy these ones while you can because everything is about to change.

My amazing twin and I. Miss you, darling ❤

It made me realize just how much life changes when you leave the comfortable halls of high school. If there is anything I would say to 17 year old me or to any of the 17-year-olds sitting in that class Thursday morning listening to my talk on how to blog it would be this: let the world hear your voice. It is an amazing thing to say what you feel. It is empowering and freeing. Trust me, it is.

I was the kid who has always loved to write but has always been terrified of sharing my voice and my work with the world. In my classes I rarely shared my work and if I did it was usually only with the teacher and only because I had no choice. Then college happened and all of a sudden I was in a new environment with new people and I realized that eventually if I was going to be successful I was going to have to share my work. Then this blog happened and it gave me an outlet to do so and slowly develop my voice. I have and now it isn’t so scarring in fact it has become therapeutic.

So to all the 17-year-olds never ever be afraid to share your voice and try something new. Your perspective is important and needed. Your experiences are unique and deserved to be shared. As I writer I ask you to share your gift with the world, let us learn from your mistakes with you. Let us grow with you and let us experience along side you. There is nothing more powerful in this world than an empowered voice.

Mad Men

Hi all,

As today is Monday, I would like to share one of the many things I have learned from Mad Men.

Don Draper is trying to pitch an ad campaign plan to a client from Kodak. The product is a projector.

Here is the scene.

Here is what I learned.

It does not matter what you are selling at all. The best way is to develop a personal connection to the product for your audience. Show them how your product will bring them he past, happiness, a new perspective. Show them how your product will bring them closure to inner peace, to taming their demons, everyone has them and we all want them silenced. If you can do that, if you can develop a bond with your audience sure you will sell some product but you have touched their lives and at the end of this crazy journey we are all on; isn’t that what it’s really all about?

Just some food for thought,

-M

Is it Friday already?

Hello everyone!

This week seems to have flown by faster than I would have liked but that doesn’t mean I didn’t learn anything. So as always here is what I have learned.

Be Kind

These week I have had a lot of our first years reaching out to me for help with their blogs. The blogging assignment in our program and be intimidating. For those of us who do not post frequently on our umpteen social media accounts it can be scary putting yourself and your thoughts out there for the world to see.

So when I get emails and messages of people asking me for help I could say no that I am up to my eyes as it is but I don’t. Be kind to each other. Sometimes all people need to hear is that their idea is a good one.

Make the most of all of your situations

This week I have faced so many technical difficulties I have been left wishing I was born in 1960 when the most horrible piece of tech was a typewriter. Use those as a learning opportunity. I am sure if you spend enough time swearing at a computer screen you will find a silver lining. Let me know what you find!

My Resume is awful

Just saying. It needs to be redesigned. Like bad.

Also this awesome joke:

I tried to make reservations at the Library but they were fully booked! LOL god I crack myself up!

Happy Weekend!

-M

Experience Wednesday…

It has been a while dear readers. I am sorry for that but a lot has gone on. This will be one of my last experience posts of the summer. I am sure I will continue this into the fall as I am staying on at my “summer job”!

But I will first catch you up on the wild and crazy experiences of this old soul!

So! We had a slight social media melt down 2 weeks ago regarding a comment my boss had made that was blown wickedly out of proportion. Now, on top of many things like how awful people can really be when sitting behind a key board, I also learned that I will NEVER work in PR. It is a very hard job and no matter what you do people are going to be screaming for your head to be on a spike. Many I’ve been watching to much Reign lately but it’s true. They all come running with torches and pitch forks while safely sitting behind their key boards.

An old friend of mine came to visit this past week and that taught me a lot about myself and life in general. I have changed a lot since moving to Ontario. I guess moving when you’re 16 while in your developmental years means that you will change and grow. I am not the same person I was at 16 and that is for the better. I have amazing friends here and I have built a life for myself that will make leaving very hard. The one thing I did realize is that leaving Saskatchewan was the best thing my parents ever did for me. The friend is exactly the same as she use to be. And no disrespect to her, it is all a personal choice and one that I will never judge but I did change and I grew up and embraced my new life with open arms and that now means that our friendship isn’t the same that it use to be. Many that is for the best, it is hard to say right now.

I realized while she was here just how lucky I truly am to have what I do. I have this amazing life that I built with amazing people. I am blessed to have the opportunity to attend a college with the support my parents have so kindly given me. That’s not to say my life is this magical fairy world with no challenges but compared to many I have none.

My yoga practice has taken off nicely and trust me you learn more about your body during a 75 minute class than you ever wanted to know. But it gives you building blocks for your life from breathing exercises that will get you through any exam ever to remembering that you can’t change everything but you can sure stretch it out.

So all in all it has been a very eventful 2 weeks and I cannot wait to find out what is in store for me in the very near future.