If you didn’t join live and would like to access the recording, click the Access Recording button below.

This webinar explores what commoditisation is, why it’s a trap, and, most importantly, how to escape it.

It covers:

• Understanding commoditisation
• Recognising the symptoms
• Strategies for de-commoditisation
• Switch’s Journey & the CATALYST Framework
• Q&A

Presented by Richard Muscat Azzopardi, CEO at Switch

The post A Guide to De-commoditisation for B2B Businesses [Webinar] appeared first on Switch - Digital & Brand.

He shamelessly cited the momentum of the corporation, its ability to to move in the same direction even when beset by challenges or unexpected market forces, because the sheer volume of trade wouldn’t be impacted by sporadic issues.

Looking back, one sees that he worked for what is possibly the least innovative company on earth. It did, step by step, months and often years after the competition, adapt to new realities. And as it did, it remained afloat. There’s a lesson there. If you’re such a giant, you can get by with doing the least possible, relying on a mind-bogglingly large client base to pay for your sluggish behaviour.

Then there’s the rest of us. While Mike Tyson isn’t known for his business strategy, he taught us a valuable lesson when saying that “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

When wisdom comes from a boxer, you expect it to be direct and visceral. But consider his words for what they really mean. Our strategy is a longer term and broader reaching sequence of events than a boxer’s plan. We hope to go on for longer than a handful of rounds. But it can also be derailed by a sudden and unexpected turn of events. Which we have all had to contend with to a certain degree when a pandemic comes knocking on our door.

For better or worse we’ve all adjusted our strategies. We’ve hunkered down, assessed our costs, reevaluated our resources, sought new client bases… We have also pivoted entire businesses, reassessed our brand’s purpose, figured out new ways to reach our audiences…. But have we really, fundamentally, worked on our strategy?

It seems to me that we have changed plenty of tactics. In military terms, we have picked our battles and sought to fight them on familiar ground. But is it possible to win plenty of battles and still lose the war? Let’s look at WWII and find out:

When the sovereignty of Poland was under threat by Nazi Germany, Britain raised an admonishing finger. They said, in no uncertain terms, that invading Poland would be tantamount to a declaration of war. We all know what happened.

Years of bloody battles ensued, at tremendous human and capital cost until that fateful day when the Nazi flag was torn down from the Reichstag in Berlin.

With war finally over, Britain effectively handed over Poland to Russia to say thank you for their contribution that helped win the war.

Did Britain actually win the war if the first thing they did was hand over the very reason they started to fight in the first place? Is it possible to have a strategy that has a very defined goal at the outset and to lose sight of it once the going gets tough and does so repeatedly?

We have had wave after wave of blows and of hope. At the end of 2020 we were mostly acting like the turn of the New Year would somehow let the virus know that it had overstayed its welcome. We have had news of a vaccine followed by news of more virulent and deadly strains. We have had countries that had to double down on second and third lockdowns. What happens to our strategy when it takes more than one punch in the face?

The first thing to do is to step back from the noise, to view the bigger picture with the clarity that is afforded by standing away from the flames for a brief moment. There is a bitter irony to this. How can I help save my business that has little fires everywhere if I’m not running around with buckets of water, putting them all out?

It does help to step back though. When we’re busy fighting the small battles, we lose sight of the bigger picture, and the bigger picture is the company’s core purpose. Why did we set out to do all this in the first place? This helps us get back to the room and know which fires to prioritize and, in some cases, which to completely ignore. After all, prioritizing helps with the crucial endeavour of focusing our resources where they really need to be deployed.

While we’re a step back, it pays to see the business with the eyes of an outsider. Find an outsider you can trust and engage in honest and open dialogue with them. Chances are that this could be painful. It hurts when you’re asked why you do something the way you do it and find out that your only answer is, “because we’ve always done it that way.” Only repeat what you’ve been doing if you can find fresh justification to do so.

Base your updated strategy on agility and, if possible, on building a war chest in parallel. Acting like this pandemic will be over and then the sun will shine and there will be no more problems ever again is just nonsensical. The statistical probability of another pandemic next week is exactly the same as the start of this one was. And pandemics are not the only potential disruptors to global or local business. Your next strategy must be built on agile foundations, with steps in place to make sure you bend rather than snap when the next blow is dealt.

In the meantime, it is wise to think of a post-war economy. This sees a certain amount of jubilant and irrational spend but it also sees the entrenchment of a more thrifty mindset. Applying this to your strategy will help you build something of a warchest, squirreling away some funds to help with the next unexpected move.

Once you’ve updated your core strategy, leave it there for a while. Then revisit it after a week or so. There is a possibility that you will see it as familiar but that it will appear flat or slightly superficial. This is the point of revisiting. The best strategies are several layers deep. While laying out the foundations for business growth, for agility, for sustainable growth in brand value, and for long-arc product lifecycles, we do not always look around us at our environment and craft strategies to account for all possible avenues.

Is there a possibility that part of your strategy is designed purely to force your main competitors to overspend on marketing, depleting their resources? Could your strategy involve placing regulatory pressure that will eventually swing such a crucial aspect of the external environment your way? Have you considered that your most precious resource is human capital and how you could wind up employing all of the most valuable minds in your industry, gaining unshakeable advantage?

So revisit your strategy with a significantly broader perspective the second time around. Add depth and retain the elements that keep you nimble and unwavering. And when you’re done, summarize it. Reduce your strategy to the point where you can explain it to your mum in a lift ride. This could be the hardest step but it is crucial. Because once you’ve done that, it means more to you than anything and it is now in a format that can be communicated to everyone on the team. With everyone on the team working to the same strategy, it is going to be tough for anyone, or anything, to knock you off your course for longer than you can handle.

1. Step back from the noise and reassess your strategy without distraction from the daily grind
2. View your strategy as an outsider or with an outsider and retain those bits that withstand the scrutiny
3. Base your updated strategy on agility
4. Include provision for the gradual building of a resource war chest
5. Revisit after a while and add depth to your strategy, considering a wider set of influences on your business
6. Distill your new strategy into a very concise mantra and share it with your team

The post Add depth to your business strategy for built-in resilience appeared first on Switch - Digital & Brand.

If you’ve done it before, it’s almost easy: you can finish your ALEX bookcase only consulting the instructions a few times. If you’ve done it enough times, you might even be able to DIY customisations not provided by the instructions. 

If you’re new, it’ll take you longer. Guidelines are good, but you learn more by doing. Your bookcase might come out a little wobbly, but it’ll serve you until you learn how to do it better. 

Now. 

Picture building an ALEX bookcase. 

You’re used to it. 

It’s something you’ve done before. 

You know what it’s all about. Every screw, every tool needed, every possible outcome. 

Except you’ve borrowed someone else’s tools, you’ve lost half the screws, and your house is on fire. 

That was strategy marketing in 2020. 

What’s strategy marketing?

How do you talk to your consumers? 

Social media, or events? Billboards advertising your products, or try-it-live stalls in supermarkets? Do you write blogs? 

Do you Tiktok?

What you do to communicate about your brand is strategy marketing. Strategy marketing takes an overall look at how your business is doing, and plans out the next steps, the next big event, the next investment that will push your business forward. It’s necessary for any organisation to have a strategy on how they’re going to market to their audience. It means knowing who your audience is, knowing what they like to hear, and figuring out the best way to combine those things into what can feed the bottom line. 

In 2020, however, strategy marketing had to pivot. 

Strategy Marketing changeover: 2020 edition

Most strategy marketing tactics focused on selling. 

You have a brand. It sells something – a product, a service, a way of living. A lifestyle. A promise.

To make your brand work, you come up with strategies that sell: buy one, get one; the last vacuum/plate cleaner/showerhead you’ll ever buy; how did you ever do without this airpod case for your earphones? It’s the norm. Consumers won’t buy something they don’t like the look of, won’t see the use of, or don’t understand, so strategies work around those issues with advertising, brand campaigns, and social media. 

For selling. It’s important to memorise that most of what happened before 2020 was to sell. 

With the pandemic, while more people were shopping online than ever before, brands struggled to connect. We’ve covered this in other blog posts, so we won’t repeat it now (have you read our ebook on it? It’s free!), but the ‘too long, didn’t read’ version is this: 

Wages went down. 

So sales went down. 

So people stopped talking to/about/with brands. 

So brands couldn’t reach their audiences. 

So profits dipped. 

And brands went into panic mode. Social media accounts which had gone dormant sprang back to posting. Websites due an update debuted their new look with sales. Brands that didn’t have websites made websites. 

It worked, for a little while, but the allure of new wore off, and brands were back at square one, wrestling with how to sell to audiences that don’t want to buy. 

What changed?

Strategies pre-2020 focused around selling. 

Strategies post-2020 should focus around talking. 

It’s a subtle shift. Barely noticeable unless you’re looking for it, and we were curious, so we looked for it. The biggest difference between 2020 and 2021 is that the central focus for why you needed a strategy changed from selling to conversation, from audience-as-consumers to consumers-as-audience. 

That changed what came after. Brands didn’t push prices, cheaper options, ‘try this or you’ll regret it’ products. 

Brands pushed help and conversation. 

It worked. 

Business strategy tips for 2021

A strategy is only as good as long as you’re willing to work on it. 

It’s not static. It can’t be moved from year to year and maintain the same strength. For a strategy to be effective, it has to be alive, a part of your business that changes as you do, adapts as you do. With the ongoing pandemic to reckon with and the fluidity of consumer behaviour an even greater concern than before, you need to make sure that your strategy for 2021 is apocalypse-proof. 

Here’s a few tips to help. 

• Adapt. You’ll have to change your strategy a couple of times until you find what works. The things that work for you, the things that work for your audience, and the things that work for your brand are a Venn diagram built on patience and trying things out. 
• Stay ahead of the technology curve. Cookies are ending. Google is updating. Facebook is becoming Instagram is becoming Facebook. To make the most of your strategy, you need to know what’s happening with the platforms you use. 
• Build trust, build connection. Your brand will survive if consumers want it to. Don’t be the reason they don’t. Foster connection with your audience first and foremost. Make people the centre of your brand’s purpose for existing. 
• Do what you say. Brands all make promises. Sometimes those promises get forgotten about. Not on the internet – not anymore. If you’re going to promise your audience something, hold to it. Donate to that charity. Give a percentage of profit to the community. Help. 
• Relax. We know it’s hard. Corporate brands are corporate because it’s safe, and it’s easier than taking a risk that doesn’t pay off – but people respond to casual brands, even if it’s just on a website or a Tiktok. They want to anthropomorphise a brand into someone or something that’s alive. Give them that. 

Ultimately, our one tip is this: when you’re looking to create a strategy, you need a centre-point, something that is going to drive your goals. Our suggestion?

Put people at the centre. Put your community at the centre. 

The greatest victories come when you understand your opponent and their desires and their wants as well as you know yours. From there, it’s easy to make a plan on how to succeed.

Just ask King Frederick II of Prussia, the reason potatoes are a fundamental staple of European cuisine. 

The post Business Strategy 2021: How 2020 threw out the Strategy Playbook appeared first on Switch - Digital & Brand.

The post W is for Write appeared first on Switch - Digital & Brand.

Five steps to implement a successful strategy

1 – Determine what your goal is. It may seem like something you don’t need to do – but do not underestimate the importance of this very first step. You want to make sure that your team is all in agreement and have the same objectives. You cannot possibly move forward if there are internal conflicts or misunderstandings. This could include something as simple as choosing how to advertise a product, to the complex decision of rebranding the whole company.
2 – Once you have agreed on what your aim is, the next step is to brainstorm. You must decide what needs to be done to go ahead with your plan in order to succeed. Brainstorming is very important, and it requires a good amount of time. To come up with great and creative ideas you need to get out of your comfort zone. Our advice is: stay away from your desk. Change the boardroom into a games room, go to the beach and take with you note pads and colorful pens, or simply go for a walk and get inspired by your surroundings.  We tend to lose our creativity when we are sitting in front of a monitor, so get up and open up your mind.
3 – Choose a deadline. If we had all the time in the world, we wouldn’t get anything done. Pick a date, mark it on your calendar in BIG BOLD TEXT, put reminders on your phones and have sticky notes spread around the office with the date written on it. It’s essential to have a deadline, it allows you to manage your time and have a target to reach. Make sure that everyone is aware of the important date, and if needs be send some kind and funny reminders to your team – just in case all those colorful sticky notes aren’t enough.
4 – Once you and your team have an idea and have picked a deadline, you have to decide on how you are going to go about it. For example, you wish to organise a competition for your target audience so as to promote your product: how do you intend on doing it? Will you be using social media or will you organize an event?
5 – Who? It is now time to delegate the work. This will require time and discussion; you want to make sure that your team feels comfortable enough to run the task, they have clearly understood what they have to do and have enough time to get everything done in the most efficient way possible.
Ready, steady, go! Now that you have a strategy in mind, it is time to put it into action and show everyone what you are capable of doing.

The post S is for strategy appeared first on Switch - Digital & Brand.

What makes an ad campaign successful?

It’s the beautiful marriage of many hours of research, paired with genius design, which leaves us so gob-smacked. A great campaign does not just come out of nowhere. It’s not pure luck. There is a lot of background work involved to make it seem so seamless and easy. There are years of experience, and an all-star team pushing the envelope with cutting- edge ideas.
Daniel Pink talks about the difference between the two hemispheres in our brain. Creatives are said to be more intuitive and holistic, thus using the right hemisphere of the brain far more, whilst the left is said to be the logical, analytical and sequential side, used more by strategic planners.

But what if we had to use both?

What if we had to become that rare percentage of human beings that uses both right and left equally?

So here comes the whole point of this blog post: How can being creative bridge the gap between strategy and design? If you’re creative, you already have that bit extra that is so sought after. You see things that others don’t, and you have the ability to communicate visually through whatever medium you feel comfortable with. Creatives are usually the backbone of the work.
We then have the strategic thinkers, the brains behind great campaigns. These creatures are the logical beings, perhaps those who feel more comfortable expressing themselves with square-based diagrams and pages upon pages of scribbly writing. But, don’t be fooled, these analytical minds are geniuses at what they do.
A couple of years ago, I was lucky to meet someone who had the capability of using both logic and creativity when thinking and expressing herself. With her background in fine arts and a love of mathematics, I always remained in awe when listening to her rationalise. It’s amazing how much you can learn from a person just by trying to understand the way they think. We were both reading for our Master’s degree together, and that year I learnt to really get out of my comfort zone and own that feeling of the unknown.
That is when I was introduced to strategic thinking within brand management. For the first time in many years, logic and rationality were the foundations of my research, whereas design played a superficial role in the final aspects of a project.
What I discovered is that creativity and logic do not have to be two separate entities. You can approach a problem by thinking in a creative manner. You may think that this sounds quite obvious, but you’ll be surprised to find that the few creative people who explore different ways of thinking are actually those capable of making this look easy. We are already gifted with a unique way of seeing the world; by applying strict rationality to the overall development process, I believe we are able to achieve outstanding results. After all, it all falls under the same industry, you are merely opening your eyes (and brain) to a world that’s bigger than just design. Just imagine, a design brief that has been tailored by you.

So that’s it folks. When you next come across one of those amazing ads, perhaps look at it in a way that you wouldn’t normally. Instead of focusing on its beauty, open your eyes to the reaction of the people watching it, and try to imagine the thought behind the emotional engagement created that makes that ad so powerful. You could very well achieve the same response through your work just by getting out of your comfort zone… and who knows, there will be a day when other fellow creatives will come to you to pick your brain.

The post How creativity bridges the gap between strategy and design appeared first on Switch - Digital & Brand.

Another abstract word which can be applied to many different contexts, what does intelligence have to do with Digital Marketing?
Apart from the fact that you need to have a good head on your shoulders in order to have successful marketing campaigns, intelligence in relation to the digital world goes much deeper.

Human intelligence

It’s not always about textbook knowledge, it’s not simply about theory, facts, and figures – sometimes it’s even more complicated than all those combined- it’s about intuition. If you want to be successful you’ve got to have a specific kind of intelligence – the kind which allows you to understand the various layers that go behind something and to just ‘get it’.

This is especially true when it comes to audiences. You might have all the data in front of you. The demographics, the age range, the times they’re online, and the pages they spend the most time on. But if you can’t understand the human beings behind the numbers then your strategies will only go so far.
The problem is that you can’t teach intuition. However you can train yourself to be slightly better at hitting those immeasurable targets.

• Put yourself in their shoes – would the campaign be relevant to them? It’s useless trying to sell high end designer stilettos to the over 50s who have no desire to break an ankle.
• Appeal to them on an emotional level – will they want to be a part of the campaign and engage with it, creating long term benefits for both parties? Or will they simply get what they need and go, possibly never to return?
• Look into all the pros and cons – how will an outsider view the campaign, is it user friendly? What’s the UX like?

Technological intelligence

According to Back to the Future’s predictions by now we should all be driving flying cars and wearing funny clothes. While I’m still waiting on the flying car to be manufactured, it is impressive to see that technology has advanced in leaps and bounds in ways which we could have never imagined.
Who would have thought I’d be able to speak to my phone and get almost human replies (thanks for the laughs Siri)? Wearable tech and the smartest apps you could think of have simplified life and made the mundane interesting. Artificial intelligence, real time data, and the ability to sync across devices and instantly connect all your tech has revolutionised our world.
And while some fear that A SkyNet/Terminator situation is imminent, we can’t help but count our lucky stars for the convenience created by our intelligent tech.

Intelligent Marketing

This is probably our favourite aspect of intelligence in the digital world.
Let’s go back a couple of years – before digital marketing was even conceived. Marketers had a tough time trying to get quantifiable data regarding their campaigns. They did brilliantly of course – they had their suitcases full of artillery, their pitches, their theories of hierarchical needs, and anything else a traditional marketer could ever want.
What they didn’t have were instant results, data about even the most seemingly irrelevant thing, the option to target specific people, and the possibility to customise their adverts.
This is why we love digital.
Google is God when it comes to simplifying the marketing process. From highly specific SEO criteria which ensures that the best search results are displayed, to the constant improvement to make digital marketing more human. Digital marketing is putting people at the forefront. Whereas before marketers would talk at an entire broad audience, now they can select, tweak, and even target specific groups. What’s more is that with things like retargeting and context marketing you can easily come up with a strategy which really gives people customised adverts which will actually be relevant and useful to them.
So at the end of the day we can say it’s true that sometimes it’s not how much you know, but how you use it. We’re always ready to see what new forms of intelligence the digital world will throw at us. Let’s just hope it won’t be terminators.

The post I is for intelligence appeared first on Switch - Digital & Brand.

A lot of companies find themselves doing well in the market for several years. Everything is going great but at some point they just have to get themselves some sort of communication strategy, so they come to us.  And even when they have been active and successful for years, suddenly a blanket of silence falls onto the room when we ask: Who are you as a Brand? What are your values, what guides your work and, consequently, guides your communication?
Things become even more interesting when you are speaking about companies that come from industries which are very distant from the communication fields: accountancy, cheese makers, metallurgical industries, medical treatment, or nutrition professionals, etc.
The first answer you will probably get is an operational answer: “we work with numbers”, “we make cheese”, “we transform iron into stairs”, “we try to heal people”, “we teach people how to eat better”, etc. Some other clients may think that their identity is their logo, the colours and even the font they’ve been using since the company’s origins (which is kind of true, but that’s only one of the many embodiments that the identity may take).
When it comes to creating a brand identity it’s the same as when talking about a person. You’re not defined by what you do for a living, or the colours that you wear to go to the office… what defines you is something that comes before that, it’s bigger and it guides all that you are and do.
So, before working on a communication strategy it’s essential to firstly know who you are… what your identity is. More often than not brands ignore who they are and think only about what they do. The good news about this is that it’s never too late to find your identity behind all those circumstantial expressions of it. You’re always in time to take control.
So, for all those who are always asking, “where should I start to achieve better brand communication”, here are some initial steps to move in that direction.

How do you know if there is something to be worried about?

Brand identity is the answer to “Who are you as a brand?” Think of your brand like a person, it works for your personal brand as well as for a multinational company. So be sure that you are not answering this question with things that you do, colours that you wear or the mood in which you can wake up every now and then. To get there, you can try this exercise.

1. Analyse honestly and sincerely what your Brand VALUES are. Generally speaking: what are those three or four things that make you do what you do, in the way you do it, and not in a different way?
2. Think about the PROMISE that you, as a brand, are making to your clients every day. What do you offer to your clients that makes them come to you and not to someone else?
3. Think about how all that DEFINES your brand and your job.
4. Think about how your client SEE your brand.
5. Think about how you would like your brand to BE SEEN by the clients.

If you can answer all these questions, and the result sounds logical and makes you feel happy with what you have; then you have a clear idea of WHO YOU ARE as a brand, and you are ready to communicate in any possible way your brand may need to.
Otherwise, if with each of these questions, another five new questions appear, or you only get vague replies for them; it means that you have the common situation of being unable to analyse your brand’s essence.

Don’t panic

It’s always difficult to analyse yourself objectively.
Keep calm and breathe, you simply ask for an expert’s help to take the first step in the right direction. To get to know something that is as basic and important for your brand, as it is for any person: get a better knowledge of yourself as the brand that you are, to understand who you are, and find out your identity behind the promise you are making.
Only if you know who you are, you will know what to do. And we are here, ready to guide you through this process of getting to know yourself to start turning your brand into a healthier one. So if you need some expert advice, why not get in touch?
These images were designed by one of our interns, Antonella Meli. Who doesn’t love a panicked Wonder Woman?

The post Finding the identity behind the promise appeared first on Switch - Digital & Brand.

Information made available by a website or other electronic medium- The Oxford Dictionaries
Defining the word is easy – but actually understanding exactly what it entails and how to include it in your marketing strategy is a whole other level.

What?

Though ‘content’ trends more on Google, the term ‘content marketing’ is steadily rising in popularity. This is because of the trend in inbound marketing which revolves around the creation of content in order to attract readers, followers, and, therefore: buyers.
From 2014 onwards there was a sudden surge in the use of content marketing – leaders in the industry started to realise that digital marketing couldn’t function the way traditional marketing does. You couldn’t simply shout at people in order to sell your product – the internet can’t just be used as an extension to billboards. If you really want to be successful you’ve got to engage your audience.

But how?

Content is whatever is found on your website or social media platforms. It’s anything you produce or create – from images to text to video. Great content inspires and generates interest – great content is shareable. So the main aim for you and your content should be for it to be interesting and shareable so that it creates discussions about and around your brand.
One of the best (but not easiest) ways of doing this is through a blog. These days most websites have a blog which is used as an extension of their brand. That doesn’t mean that everyone with a blog is using it properly. Posting once every blue moon won’t get you anywhere, neither will boring content which doesn’t provide any value.
The first thing you’ve got to do if you’re serious about your content is to come up with a content marketing strategy. Plan out the next three months’ content with an easy to understand schedule with clear deadlines. Don’t be afraid to plan topics in advance, but do allow for some posts which are relevant to things happening at the time.
 
For your blog’s content to be successful it must be actionable, interesting, and engaging. Remember that you’re not talking at your readers… you’re engaging in long term dialogue, and if you work at it you’ll see the same people interacting with your brand over and over again, these are the most loyal people who will take your brand to the next level.

Why should I care?

• It makes your brand more human, it shows who you are, and can be used to establish you as a leader in the field.
• It’s great for your SEO because fresh, frequent content will help you rank higher in search results since it shows you’re more than just an advertising space.
• It directly drives traffic to your website, and can boost overall engagement with your brand.

This is of course just the tip of the ice berg and there are many more reasons as to why content is king. It’s a world of many interconnected layers waiting for you to explore it – so if you haven’t delved into the world of content it’s about time you did.

The post C is for Content appeared first on Switch - Digital & Brand.

1. Be eye-catching

Perhaps one of the easiest ways to refresh your company page is through the use of some new images. Go through your website and change round some of your featured images so as to give the posts a new appearance, making them more appealing to visitors. Don’t be afraid to recycle posts and share them on social media (a perfect way to keep an active social media account if you’re low on new posts).

2. Take a look back

April brings the end of Q2 – the perfect chance to assess your work so far. Did you stick to your goals? Perhaps you need to try something new or make small changes. You can only plan for the future if you look back at previous work and evaluate what worked and what didn’t.

3. Spring time SEO

Go through your website’s SEO – are the keywords you used still relevant? Perhaps some of your posts introduce a different angle. It’s important to make sure that your SEO is an accurate representative of your work. It may be time consuming to ensure that all your pages have good SEO but it will help boost your page to the top of Google – bringing in more business!

4. Unfollow people

We’d normally tell you to engage with your audience and follow people – but let’s be honest, sometimes you need to remove a couple of people from your lists. Perhaps they’re inactive, or maybe you just want to make sure that the people you’re following are important to your company. Either way your feed will benefit from a spring clean – and so will your follower to following ratio!

5. Who are you?

Go through your social media accounts and check the ‘about’ section – does this accurately represent your company? Perhaps you’ve taken a new tone of voice or a new direction. Let your ‘about’ section represent your company’s branding. Also, make sure that the ‘about’ is universal throughout all of your social media accounts so that you’re presenting the same message throughout.

6. So social

Speaking about social media accounts – go through your social media accounts ensuring that they’re all giving off the same message. Check your social media strategy (or come up with one!) in order to ensure that all accounts are getting the same amount of love- there’s nothing worse than a neglected account!

7. Protect your passwords

That’s right – it’s important to update your passwords regularly. Try to change them at least every 3 months even though it’s very tedious- better safe than sorry after all.

8. Explore new options

Don’t be afraid to delve into new social media channels. Take a look at what’s hot and evaluate whether these are relevant to your company – and more importantly, your audience. Maybe try Pinterest or Instagram just to start off with.

9. Social sharer

Is your site social sharing friendly? Take a look through your posts and see whether you’ve made it easy for people to share your posts. Are social media buttons easy to find or do people have to search the whole page just to find your Twitter handle?

10. Your milestones

A lot can happen in a year – especially if you’ve worked hard. Do you have any milestones you’d like to share on social media – what have you achieved and how can that improve your business? Go ahead, show off!
Obviously there’s always going to be a lot that you can do in order to improve your online presence and your digital marketing skills, but these are a few of the basics that you should have covered in order to ensure success. If you’d like to do more and want some help why not drop us a line or subscribe to our newsletter? 

The post Spring cleaning your social media appeared first on Switch - Digital & Brand.