Consider these 8 Marketing Tips in 2019
By Ann Marie Nieves | January 26, 2019 |
We are so excited to welcome our newest contributor to Writer Unboxed—-Ann-Marie Nieves! Ann-Marie is the founder of the highly respected company Get Red PR, with expertise in PR, advertising, marketing, copywriting, community relations, social media, and more! From her bio:
Ann-Marie is a communications generalist grounded in traditional media and proficient in accessing the power of social media. Within traditional outlets, she has garnered placements in media as diverse as: The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, CNN, NPR, Fitness, Parade, Working Mother, Fox Business Network, Life & Style, InStyle, E!, New York Magazine and The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Welcome, Ann-Marie!
It’s my 20-something year in PR, my 10th in social media, and good ole lucky 13 as a tiny business owner. While I’m thoroughly enjoying the wisdom of my 40s, I can honestly say that each day at my desk, seated in my well-worn chair, feels brand new.
You’ve seen the substantial changes in the media world in 2018—several magazines will cease printing or reduce print schedules. (We’ll miss you Glamour!) You’ve experienced the seismic shifts in social media world. (I can follow #dogsofinstagram hashtag?!) While much has been written in the marketing communications sphere about highlights for 2019, here’s what I’d like my colleagues in words to pay attention to:
- What’s your story? Sure, you write stories, but what stories are you telling about your past and present self? What stories could help sell you to say CNN or The New York Times? “People forget facts, but they never forget a good story,” says Esther Choy, founder of Leadership Story Lab and author of the book Let the Story Do the Work.
- Think holistically about your marketing communications. So you’ve written a book, and the scene from the Lion King when Rafiki lifts Simba above his head and all the animals bow at the new prince of the pride – plays in your head on continuous loop. You want your book to get the most exposure as possible. We do too. There’s a but here. But you will write another. And another. Sure, a meaty project can be adrenaline pumping, but stepping in and then saying goodbye often makes me feel like we missed considering you.
- Pay attention to what’s going on in the media world. Having learned my field working in-house at PR firms, I spent my hours making one pitch call after another. I was hung up on, cursed at, laughed at. I would learn which reporters had left, who changed beats, and who preferred a certain kind of story. I don’t expect my clients to know these things, but I do expect them to have a working knowledge of the media that they could get exposure in. Also, understanding the shifts in the media world—vast layoffs at digital outlets and newspapers alike—gives the client a better understanding of how hard our work is to bring their stories to light.
- Consider the in–betweens. What are you doing in-between your book launches, initiatives, and projects? You should be (in no particular order): updating your website, editing your bio, cleaning up the “about me” sections on your social media, making sure mastheads on social media are up to date, and reviewing insights and analytics on your platforms.
- Embrace a platform. I’m not an all-or-none type of girl. My life—professional and personal—are not well-documented. Truth be told, I forget to take pictures of my kids. (I like to think I’m truly experiencing the moment!) Social media is not just about the #tenyearschallenge; these platforms are also about business, sales, messaging, spin, and building meaningful relationships. Determine which social media platforms you genuinely enjoy and learn the hell out of that platform.
- Find your voice. As you learn the ins and outs of Instagram, Twitter, and/or Facebook, be able to describe your social media voice in a sentence. One of the biggest issues most of my clients have with their social media is content development, and it’s because they haven’t determined their voice.
- Create a big impact with a tiny idea. Sharon Rowe, founder of Eco-Bags Products and author of The Magic of Tiny Business, offers this sage tip. She brought the first reusable bags to the marketplace some 30+ years ago as a new mom with the desire to rid the streets of single-use plastic bags. I want you to think about something outside of your book that you can share with the world. Make it part of your story.
- Be generous. This may come as a shock, but the social media platforms we frequent can be places of true kindness and generosity. Be a part of that. Take a moment of your day/week/ month to give a shout-out to another member of the writing community. Share a sale, buzz a launch, shout-out a book you devoured.
So, tell me, where will you begin?
Ann-Marie Nieves (she/her) is the founder of Get Red PR, and an award-winning communicator with experience across a broad range of industries in both the business-to-consumer and business-to-business sectors. She has experience within all communications platforms including public relations, advertising, marketing, copywriting, website development, community relations, and social media.
Having worked with Ann-Marie, I urge you all to read, print, and memorize this post. She knows what she’s talking about.
Thanks, Rebeca!
Welcome to Writer Unboxed, Ann-Marie! I find your first tip the most intriguing: “what stories are you telling about your past and present self?”
As a writer, of course I want my work to speak for itself. At the same time, I’m well aware of our celebrity culture. And there are the studies that show that we remember stories better than anything else, so I can see how stories about myself might help potential readers remember me.
The stories I tell about myself (I assume you mean on social media) must be true ones; anything else I would find deeply offensive. Yet, you’re correct that I am always aware that what I post represents, not just me as a parent and grandparent, not just me as a friend or a dancer, but also me as a professional writer, editor and writing teacher. This double consciousness–being open and honest, while also being a bit wary about how I present myself–is something I hope you’ll expand on in future columns.
Then, too, there’s always the possibility that I’ve misunderstood what you were saying. :D
Hi Barbara, No, I don’t mean what stories are you telling about yourself on social media. While that is important, and everything you said about is accurate, when I ask a client what her story is – it means give me something to sell to the media. Here’s an example– one of my favorite people on the planet is the brilliant author and ad agency author M.J. Rose. She wrote a novel I devoured in 1 day called Tiffany Blues. As you might have guessed, the fictionalized story was based on the real-life artist Louis Comfort Tiffany, founder of Tiffany & Co. What I learned about M.J. in promoting this book is that she not only loves jewelry, she’s been to jewelry school, has collected one-of-a-kind pieces and that she weaves jewelry into her stories… and after shops based on her characters! Her unique story was featured on the wonderful jewelry website The Adventurine (https://theadventurine.com/culture/books-exhibitions/the-author-who-uses-real-jewels-in-her-fiction/). Now that’s a story!
Thank you for this post, Ann-Marie, and welcome!
I enjoyed your hard-earned insights and would love if you could expound on a few of them via examples? I’m thinking specifically of the “What’s your story” advice (I’d really like to see what a few other people have done here to get a better of idea of what and how you mean); as well as under the section Creating a Big Impact With a Small Idea – when you say to “think about something outside of your book that you can share with the world. Make it part of your story.” It would be helpful to see some concrete ways other writers have done this to, again, get a better idea of what you have in mind here.
Thanks so much.
Hi BB – I responded to Barbara with an example. In terms of Creating a Big Impact with a Small Idea – here’s an example I was discussing at lunch with a friend earlier in the week. Steve Berry, is a #1 NYT bestseller. He and his wife (the powerhouse Liz Berry, co-founder of 1,001 Dark Nights) travel to many places to research for his novels. He’s also a history buff. They discovered that so much of our nation’s heritage was in desperate need of preservation but without funds to do so. So he created the nonprofit History Matters, to assist communities around the world with restoration and preservation. https://history-matters.org/
How incredible is that?
And building on what BB has written, it would also be helpful to have examples of what you mean by ‘social media voice’. I think I know what you mean but…maybe not.
I found your article helpful, Ann Marie. And look forward to more.
Hi Leanne, Regarding social voice. I like to refer to the late, great Jackie Collins. I can sum up her social media voice in three (-ish) words: Pop Culture, Out on the Town, Bookish. In terms of Pop Culture, she would discuss movies and TV shows she just watched, actors she loved, who she saw out on the town, what she read in the gossip columns… For Out on the Town – her readers knew was Oscar party she was at and if she went to Craig’s for dinner on a Wednesday night (with pictures of the celeb friends she ate with!) For Bookish – she discuss the authors she loved; the books she devoured; pictures of the pages she hand wrote of her latest novel.
So, Leanne, can you sum up your social media voice?
Leanne, sorry for the typos!
Welcome, Ann Marie, and I hope to learn more specifics about the general advice you have given here in this introductory post. Like others have said, I think I know what you are saying about “voice” and “story”, but examples would clarify for those of us who are not familiar with the jargon associated with marketing. Thanks!
Hi Maryann! Here’s the thing, this isn’t marketing jargon. This is about you. There is a lot that’s unique about you besides the fact that you’re a brilliant writer. How do we get that out in the world? And you can see examples I’ve written about above to the other folks that commented.
Oh – and sorry for any typos in my comments!
Welcome, Ann-Marie. I’m another WU contributor and need a ton of help in this realm. Look forward to learning more from you.
Awesome write up. Simple and useful tips. As we are a newly started real estate firm in Sunshine Coast, Here I got great useful tips to implement in our marketing strategy. Since we’re working on our website development with a leading website design agency in Sunshine Coast to get a unique website and these tips help me a lot for 2019 marketing.