Social Media Marketing / Design / Princeton, NJ

What Branding Really Means, and Why it's Usually Code for BS

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 15:03:55 -0400

What Branding Really Means, and Why it's Usually Code for BS:

You probably think a brand is a visual identity because of âbig brandsâ like Nike, Apple, Google & Coke. We identify those companies by their logos,but…

Excellent article from KISSmetrics that tackles two vague marketing buzzwords: ‘branding’ and ‘positioning.’ Get a better understanding of what these terms mean, and how to internalize & apply them to your brand’s marketing strategy.

Forbes: 10 Reasons Why Your Social Media Efforts Aren't Working & What You Can Do About It

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 18:50:17 -0400

Forbes: 10 Reasons Why Your Social Media Efforts Aren't Working & What You Can Do About It:

Here’s a great piece from Forbes that outlines some of the most common shortcomings of a brand’s social media efforts. Feel like your company’s social media presence is lackluster? Take a look at this piece for ideas on how to approach things differently.

Not sure you have ‘what it takes’? Reach out for professional help. One thing I often tell my clients: you have an accountant to handle your taxes, you have a tech guy to help with your IT needs… if these activities are not your strength, you should not be spending your time on them. As a business owner, you most likely have an excess of tasks on your to-do list, and you have to manage your time wisely. Getting your brand’s social media right takes time & attention. If you can’t dedicate that time, reach out to a specialist for a consultation.

A Quick Social Media To-Do List for 2013

Tue, 01 Jan 2013 21:44:00 -0500

The New Year is here! Are you ready? Here’s a quick list to help you head into the new year with a fresh start.

1. Update your LinkedIn profile. Unless you’re a LinkedIn pro, you might find that your LinkedIn profile has gotten a bit dusty. Take 5 minutes and give it a once-over. Read through your job & project descriptions, add any updates, freshen up the language. Take another look at your photo: is it working? (Is it clear, professional, well-lit, inviting…?) Finally, join some new groups and ‘follow’ some industry pros. It’s all about expanding your network, after all.

2. Write yourself an editorial calendar for one month. An editorial calendar is an outline for your blogging or marketing goals, laid out in advance. It’s an invaluable tool if you’re serious about providing regular, exciting content. If you don’t use one regularly, try it for one month. It doesn’t have to be complex or lengthy, just give yourself enough detail to go on so that you’re inspired to keep at it. (Prediction: You’ll see an increase in post frequency.)

3. Change your Facebook Cover Photo. It’s a minor one, but this change gets attention! Think about your brand ‘s major initiatives are right now, and how you can convey that through a photo. Freshen things up! While you’re updating your photo, take a look at your page through a stranger’s eyes and see if there’s anything else you can add to or enhance to captivate new visitors and engage those who already ‘like’ your page. (…and if you’ve written your editorial calendar, you’ll be prepared to serve up engaging content all month long!)

4. Sign up for social media management tools so you can stay active on Twitter. In my opinion, it’s better not to have your brand on Twitter at all than to have a stale, neglected Twitter account! If being consistently active Twitter is a challenge for you, check out some tools to make Twitter more manageable. Programs like HootSuite are designed to make tweeting even easier, with features that let you write and schedule tweets ahead of time, data reporting to help you judge how effective your tweets are, and more. Finally, remember to check your Twitter account often so that you can reply to mentions and interact with your fans in a timely manner.

Here’s to a happy and productive New Year!

Wondering why it’s been so quiet at Jacquilope HQ? Well,...

Fri, 30 Nov 2012 13:24:00 -0500

Wondering why it’s been so quiet at Jacquilope HQ? Well, at the end of October, NJ got hit hard by Hurricane Sandy. Though my home town fared better than most, we were still without power for over a week. Through it all, though, we were learning just how extensive the damage to New Jersey’s coastal towns had been.

Imagine losing everything - EVERYTHING. That was the reality so many towns at the Jersey Shore had to face as Hurricane Sandy moved on. It’s not in my nature to sit quietly when big things happen, and luckily, my friend Melissa Klepacki, founder of PrincetonScoop, is of the same mindset. One phone call from Melissa, a few emails exchanged with other talented local ladies and an hour or two later and we’d created Restore Our Shore, a philanthropic movement dedicated to raising funds for nonprofits working at the Jersey Shore.

Our neighbors at the shore need us, and Restore Our Shore is focused on raising funds to be distributed to credible nonprofits working in the heart of the most devastated communities. There is so much work to be done, and we’re here to rally our neighbors to help those who need it direly. We are taking no salaries and have no operating costs, so as the donations come in, we’re able to send it right back out to groups that need the funding. Have $5 to donate? More? Every dollar counts. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation.

…and stay tuned for more big things from Jacquilope!

As this weekend approaches, I wanted to take a moment to reflect...

Fri, 14 Sep 2012 10:00:37 -0400

As this weekend approaches, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on something I had been discussing with a friend earlier this week. We were talking about running our businesses, and we both agreed that it’s always easier to get down to work when the work is good. On days when the workload seems overwhelming, or at times when a project isn’t working out exactly as you had envisioned, it takes a little extra effort (and several extra mugs of coffee) to get work done.

It turns out, this type of thinking has been studied extensively by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania. I did some searching and uncovered a case study in which researchers tracked new hires at Met Life - measuring their success and failure rates, and analyzing the employees’ moods to determine their effect on overall performance.

The study compared sales people with a optimistic outlooks to those who were pessimistic. While the success and failure rates of each group were comparable, those workers with an optimistic mindset made far more progress - outperforming the pessimists by 20-40%. The reasoning behind this, the researchers suggested, was that people who were generally optimistic attributed their failure to something that the would be able to change. In other words, when they failed, they kept going, knowing that they could improve over time. Pessimists, meanwhile, took each failure far more seriously, to the point that it detracted from the work they were able to do.

How are you feeling today? Feeling a little overwhelmed? Why not put this theory to the test by letting yourself off the hook for those things that may not be working out as planned. Give yourself a pep talk and get back in the game.

If you’re feeling confident, well, go out there and make it happen!

Good Read: Event Marketing Ideas: Capturing & Curating Social Media Content - Business 2 Community

Fri, 07 Sep 2012 09:58:54 -0400

Good Read: Event Marketing Ideas: Capturing & Curating Social Media Content - Business 2 Community:

Social media can act as some of the greatest word-of-mouth marketing available. With platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, social media allows for the sharing of content in real-time. How can businesses harness this power?

Business 2 Community offers this article examining the ways information is shared at big events, and how to harness the power of shared content to build momentum for your brand. Want to generate a buzz at your next function? Take these tips to inspire the crowd to share their experience on social media!

Good Read: Big Companies Aren't Using Social Media For Customer Service - Forbes

Sat, 25 Aug 2012 12:52:00 -0400

Good Read: Big Companies Aren't Using Social Media For Customer Service - Forbes:

A thoughtful piece examining the use of social media by Fortune 500 companies. Turns out, many of the big companies see social media solely as a marketing tool. What they haven’t recognized yet is that social media is so much more than that. Social media provides avenues for connecting directly with consumers, which allows for product feedback, brand monitoring and relationship building. (All of which are essential to business growth!)

Read on to find out what social media has to offer to all businesses, and why these Fortune 500 companies ought to be embracing social media.

Good Read: Fast Company's #TheRules of Social Media

Sat, 25 Aug 2012 09:43:44 -0400

Good Read: Fast Company's #TheRules of Social Media:

Fast Company has hit a home run again with its new series of posts, #TheRules of Social Media. Inviting followers to share their own rule using the hashtag, they’ve come up with a series of posts that take a critical look at fundamentals in social media marketing.

Worth the read today: this article, linked above. It explains the value of engagement on social media, putting forth a very simple principle of marketing: give the people what they want instead of overtly forcing your marketing agenda on them. By providing content of value to your followers, you can begin to organically grow a loyal, engaged community. Read on!

Headed to Chicago… for one day only, before hitting the...

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 10:56:28 -0400

Headed to Chicago… for one day only, before hitting the road back east again. Looking forward to some road trip time, and I’ve loaded up with podcasts (addicted to WHYY Radio Times from Philly & ‘This American Life’, of course!) and will be catching up on my reading.

Some weekend reading I’d recommend to my fellow social media geeks:
‘Infographic: What’s Different About the 2012 Olympics? Social Media, Basically.’ via Fast Company
‘More Leads, Higher Customer Retention.’ via KissMetrics Blog
‘Tie Your Social Media to Your Business Goals.’ via Radian6 Blog

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Customer service and social media go hand in hand. If...

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 11:28:30 -0400

Customer service and social media go hand in hand. If you’re making use of social media for your business, you really can’t have one without the other. It’s all in the name: social media. As a digital ambassador for your brand, you should be treating people the same way online as you would treat them if they were in your shop or your office. Make sure you’re doing right, and read on to find out how to provide excellent customer service through social media.

1. Be present, be available. You wouldn’t leave potential customers unattended in your shop, and you would never leave the phones unattended - social media requires the same sort of dedicated attention. Cultivate a similar presence on your social media channels. Once you’ve set up your accounts and become accessible, you build credibility by staying present. Be available to fans and followers, and keep tabs on what they’re doing and sharing.

2. Stay in the know. In addition to simply being present on social media, dig a little deeper! Perform searches on Twitter, set up a Google alert for your brand, and monitor conversations across the internet. What are people saying about your brand? This is a huge learning opportunity! Is someone paying you a compliment? Thank them! Is someone complaining about poor service? Contact them. Remember - bad news travels fast, and people love to voice their complaints on social media sites.

3. Truly listen. By acknowledging and addressing compliments & complaints in a public forum, you’re showing that you’re listening - and that goes a long way. If you can tackle a complaint head-on, you show your confidence in your brand AND your respect for your followers. (For an example of someone who handles complaints gracefully and publicly, check out the Twitter Stream of Newark, NJ city Mayor, Cory Booker.)

Custom banner designs for First Field Ketchup. I recently had...

Fri, 06 Jul 2012 17:28:36 -0400

Custom banner designs for First Field Ketchup.

I recently had the privilege of helping my awesome clients at First Field Ketchup prepare for their first Fancy Food Show - a weekend long specialty food conferences attended by buyers, vendors and brands from around the world. The challenge here was to make this brand - the definition of a homegrown business - stand out amongst the sea of booths and vendors.

Owners Patrick and Theresa are involved in each step of their ketchup production - from choosing the right seeds, to farming their own tomatoes and sourcing others from local growers, and producing small batches of their delicious ketchup. They are ‘authentic’ in every sense of the way, and conveying that in their branding is key!

As we discussed the booth design options, Patrick and Theresa knew what they didn’t want: a ‘schtick’ with cheesy copy & gimmicks (hay bales & overalls). I suggested incorporating their existing package design - a simple, painted illustration of a tomato - into large banners that evoked seed packets.

Patrick and Theresa said their booth at the show was a hit, and judging by the recent press coverage they’ve received, their brand is earning a spot in the forefront of the specialty food world!

Weddingwire: Wedding Favors from the Fancy Food Show
Foodette Reviews: Summer Fancy Food Show Top 15
Grub Street NY: Otherworldly Condiments to Elevate a Cookout

Pretty much any cooking I’ve done recently has been...

Fri, 06 Jul 2012 10:01:02 -0400

Pretty much any cooking I’ve done recently has been inspired by The Pig and The Fig, a food blog written by Michelle DeHaven. Her site is the perfect balance of healthy, whole-food cooking (like the kale salad, above) with a dash of luxury (cheesecake!)

Aside from the fact that her site is beautiful and her writing is conversational and lovely, the recipes themselves do not disappoint! I’ve tried the Summer Rolls and the Lettuce Wraps (in this heat wave, those dishes really hit the spot). I’ve also made the Roast Pork with Blackberry Sauce, which was so good that it cemented my status as best girlfriend ever.

Enjoy the kitchen inspiration, and have a great, delicious weekend!

Above: Kale Salad, Chicken Soup With Farro & Swiss Chard.

I have only just discovered - and become completely enamored...

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 10:56:21 -0400

I have only just discovered - and become completely enamored with - the Independent Fashion Bloggers’ site. Not only is it a great resource for bloggers working in the fashion industry, there are also a ton of excellent posts with resources that any blogger can make use of. (Seriously, though, combine fashion + marketing and I’m sold. This site is stylish, readable, and full of awesome content.)

In particular, I loved their post about SEO for beginners, titled ‘Strutting the Ranks: The IFB Beginner’s Guide to SEO.’ They address keyword research & keyword optimization, page tags, and provide links to useful tools to help bloggers implement proper SEO on their sites. All of this is explained in a straighforward, conversational manner, so it’s easy to understand and digest. SEO may be intimidating to many people, but the writers at IFB have made it accessible. If you’re looking to get a better handle on SEO, start with these guys!

Getting Customer Engagement on Social Media

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 16:31:52 -0400

So you’ve set up social media accounts for your small business… but things are feeling a little lackluster. Or, downright slow, even. Don’t throw up your hands and walk away from the digital world! Get your customers engaged with your posts, and generate excitement around your brand. Here are several ways to generate customer engagement on social media:

1. Be yourself. Yes, the same advice your mother gave you all those years ago rings true today! Your customers love you & your brand for who you are, and that’s why they keep patronizing you. The tone and attitude you bring to your business should be carried across to your social media campaigns. This is a core element of successful branding, and will only help strengthen your business. Speaking in a familiar, consistent tone conveys authenticity, and nothing is more valuable than that.

2. Ask questions. Give your followers a chance to speak their mind, share a story, or voice an opinion and they will! Come up with a question or poll that is relevant to the service you provide, and encourage your customers to tweet their reply or post in the comments. Keep the conversation going by replying, retweeting, and posing follow-up questions.

3. Create a contest on social media. A little incentive never hurt anyone! Inspire your customers to share something on social media - a photo of them using your product, a testimonial, a favorite memory - and offer a prize for participation. Be sure to promote the contest to your fans through emails, and in-store posters, and watch the engagement happen. Again, acknowledging participants is a must - even if they aren’t the big winner!

4. Use images. As this article from Social Media Today explains, images posted to Facebook generated much higher engagement than any other type of content. Harness that power and share fun images from your business. Encourage your fans to share their own pictures, and re-post them. Keep it relevant, and keep it fun.

There are plenty of ways to inspire engagement on social media, and these will get you headed in the right direction. What has worked for your business on social media?

Just read a fascinating piece from the KISSMetrics blog:...

Sat, 16 Jun 2012 19:04:00 -0400

Just read a fascinating piece from the KISSMetrics blog: ‘The Shocking Truth About How Web Graphics Affect Conversions.’

It references a study lead by advertising legend David Ogilvy (pictured above) that essentially debunks the myth that any use of images automatically translate to higher conversions. Turns out, that’s not entirely true. Depending on their content, their placement, their quality and their relevance, some images can work against you.

Read on to learn the do’s, don’ts and how-to’s for effective use of images on websites.

Weekend get-away time. Gratefully heading to Boston for the...

Fri, 25 May 2012 09:49:56 -0400

Weekend get-away time. Gratefully heading to Boston for the long weekend, where I will get to see my sister run in a marathon (awesome) and meet some of my dear former RISD classmates for brunch. A little less social media/branding/marketing work, and little more sunshine. It’s a welcome break, and I am ready to hit the road.

Another mission objective of mine is to pay a visit to Barismo, a small-batch roaster & cafe. I’ve been following their blog for a number of years, though I’ve never made it to the space. As a certifiable coffee geek, I’m always interested in scoping out cafes that are the ‘real deal.’

Wishing you the best long weekend, with lots of great picnic food and plenty of friend time.

If you know me, you know I’m a Jersey girl through and...

Tue, 22 May 2012 14:39:39 -0400

If you know me, you know I’m a Jersey girl through and through (and by that I mean a ‘real’ Jersey girl, not one of the stereotypical types that are being beamed into your homes by MTV!)

I love my home state, and was honored to be featured this week on Design Sponge, where I offered a tour of my hometown, Princeton. If you’re ever in the area, do stop in and visit! I covered most of my favorite spots, but there’s plenty more to see!

Without further ado: Princeton, NJ City Guide - DesignSponge.com by Jacqui Alexander!

See you!

Tools For Effective Tweeting: Tweriod

Wed, 16 May 2012 10:16:01 -0400

A few weeks ago I posted the first in a series of write-ups reviewing tools for smarter tweeting. If you’re managing the Twitter account for your business - and also trying to, you know, run the business - finding an effective way to plan and share content is crucial. Save time, tweet smarter, and share great content with your followers using these programs!

Last time, I reviewed Buffer, an app that allows you to schedule as many Twitter and Facebook posts as you can write ahead of time. It’s great - you can prepare all the tweets and posts you need, and not only does Buffer post them, but it will give you metrics to show you how many RTs and clicks you got for each one.

But let’s talk about those clicks… obviously the goal is to share content that gets as many clicks as possible, so naturally, your odds are increased when you have more followers online. But how do you know when that is? That’s where Tweriod comes in.

Tweriod analyzes your Twitter followers and provides you with a chart showing how many of your followers are active at different times throughout the day. It provides these statistics for each specific day, as well as weekends combined, and weekdays combined, giving you insight on the optimal times to share your content.

Tweriod is free (with slightly limited features) for analyzing up to 5,000 followers. If you’re just getting started, the free version should suit you perfectly.

Tweriod markets itself to work alongside Buffer, which I have been making use of, but the information the program offers can act as a guideline that you can use with any other sharing app.

Happy Friday, everyone. Here’s hoping that you had a...

Fri, 11 May 2012 10:53:16 -0400

Happy Friday, everyone. Here’s hoping that you had a productive work week. If you’re like me, you head into the weekend with high ambitions, too! I have a lot on my to-do list this weekend (including helping my friends at first field bottle some of their organic jersey ketchup!) I hope I can tackle it all.

One of the things I’ve been trying to make time for is painting. I’ve been stashing inspiration on pinterest, and the paintings by artist Sage Vaughn covered in a post on NOTCOT are definitely getting put in the ‘inspiration’ file. I love the texture that Vaughn gets with the dripping paint and the overlaid butterfly/moth images.

Social Media: Smarter Sharing

Thu, 10 May 2012 13:02:46 -0400

There’s a ton of information being shared on social media, designed to lure readers, engage them, make them click, buy, retweet, etc. When you are just one voice among these millions of other voices, how will you make sure you’re heard? How can you be certain that the content you’re sharing is engaging your followers, and attracting new ones? Here are some strategies for smarter sharing on social media sites.

1. Mind your post frequency. Too often and it’s annoying, too little and you get lost in the crowd. Deciding on how often to tweet or share takes time, and you’ll find your rhythm as you go. For starters, shoot for a handful of posts per day - more than 3 - and see how that goes. The key here is consistency. If you suddenly vanish, the social media world will forget about you and keep moving on. Dedicate yourself to a regular number of posts - blog posts, Facebook and Twitter posts - and stick with that frequency.

2. Maximize your reach. If you’re managing multiple accounts, consider this point raised by Robert Caruso, author of bundlepost. He argues that strategic posting across each of your social media channels increases the exposure of your post. If you’re sharing your new blog post on Twitter, share it on Facebook at a different time, and engage a new audience. The audience on your social media sites fluctuates throughout the day, and if you only share it one time, double-posting on social media sites, you’re only reaching one audience, one time. With that in mind…

3. Work the metrics. There are many apps that can work to your advantage when it comes to content sharing. One of my favorites at the moment is an app called Buffer, which allows you to schedule tweets and Facebook posts ahead of time, and then provides you with the analytics for each afterwards. (Read my review of Buffer here.) The benefit to this is being able to see how effective each post was - how many people saw it, how many clicks it got, etc. - so that you can fine-tune your sharing strategy.

Thinking strategically about how you share will increase traffic to your site, engage your audience, and help you grow your social media presence.