Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're creating content having your own special vocabulary for your audience,
using relatable terms that when they hear it, their senses
kind of tingle, like Spider Man like, oh wait a minute,
she said, that's you know, that's one of the words
from my industry. That's one of the words from my cars.
So make sure that you really map it out and
(00:21):
be intentional if you're creating content on where.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
You put those words.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Welcome back to Land the Talk. I am your host,
Robin Nathaniel. No guests today. We're doing another solo episode,
but I did want to point out that we only
have six episodes left before the end of the season.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
It's been an amazing ride.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
We've had some really interesting guests on and also had
some fun with our solo episodes. I really have enjoyed
the teaching part of doing this episode. So I have
another presentation for you today. We're going to really dig
into your digital brand, how you're going to approach social
media and just your overall presence online, and I want
(01:13):
to make sure you get value. So I laid out
a presentation for you. If you are listening to the
audio version of this episode, don't worry. I will walk
through it with you as well. Let's go ahead and
dig right in. So today's presentation. Today's episode is called
Digital Reputation, Branding and Social Media for Nonprofits, and this
(01:38):
is part one of this series. I'm not sure if
we're going to do three episodes or two, but I
definitely want to spread out the content a little bit
because it's actually pretty heavy. The first version of this
I had about i want to say, like twenty six
slides or something like that. It was very long and
I had to kind of trim it down and put
(01:59):
it into sections, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
So this is section one, Part one.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
So really what I want to do is have you
walk away from this episode with actionable tips for you
to bring to your team, for you to actually implement.
If you're running a small nonprofit, but if you have
a team, this is something you can share with your
team and they can put it into practice immediately. Honestly,
(02:26):
it's a conversation that we don't see happen enough in
the nonprofit or the mission driven space, and I'm just
excited to bring it to the table for you. And
if it's the first time you're hearing this kind of
language around your digital presence. I hope that we're going
to bring you some value. So first thing we want
to dig into is establishing your authentic brand voice. Now
(02:50):
make sure you stick around to the end because I'm
going to show you how you can grab yourself a
free resource that sums this all up in ebook form.
So we have a free reason that we're going to
share with you at the end of the episode, So
please stick around. So establishing your authentic brand voice. Your
brand voice is the heartbeat of your business. It's what
(03:11):
sets you apart and resonates with your target audience. So
here's how you can develop and implement your unique brand voice.
Step one, identify your core values and attributes. To do that,
you can brainstorm create a list of your businesses, core
values and non negotiable principles. If you're a solopreneur or
(03:33):
if you're a founder of a small nonprofit or mission
driven company, this is something you could do on your own,
but if you have a team, I would definitely bring
it to the table. The next thing you want to
do in step one is define how you want customers
or donor supporters to perceive your brand. Also, you want
to identify what makes your brand and what makes your
(03:56):
approach unique in the industry. What makes your brand you
need nique and what makes you stand out? What's your superpower?
What separates you from the rest of your competitors or
even your partners. If you're in a space where your
partnering with folks, here's an exercise for you. Create a
table listing your core values and corresponding brand voice characteristics.
(04:20):
You can break it down like this from my people
at home. Think about it like two columns. One column
you have core values and the second column you have
brand voice characteristics. So some examples, a core value could
be sustainability, innovation, luxury fit, you know, health fitness. Brand
(04:43):
voice characteristics will be something like this example forward thinking,
tech savvy. Another brand voice characteristic eco conscious, socially responsible,
and the next brand voice characteristic could be something like
find and sophisticated. I think this is something that gets
(05:04):
ignored where we really assume that our brand is what
it is naturally, when in fact you have the ability
to really build the world for your supporters, the people
you serve, your stakeholders right on down the line.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
So for me, this is crucial to make.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Sure you build a strong online brand and also, you know,
refine your digital presence. So the second step in this
process of establishing your authentic brand voice, I want you
to translate your values.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Into the voice.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
So develop a specific tone, a style, a vocabulary aligned with.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Your brand's personality.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
You can consider elements such as tone like let's say
serious or playful, a style like short, punch you, or descriptive.
And your vocabulary ensure consistency across all platforms and communications,
so especially if you guys are out there, especially if
you're creating content. Right, So if you're creating content, having
(06:15):
your own special vocabulary for your audience, using relatable terms
that when they hear it, their senses kind of tingle,
like Spider Man like, oh wait a minute.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
She said.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
You know, that's one of the words from my industry.
That's one of the words from my cause. So make
sure that you really map it out and be intentional
if you're creating content on where you put those words.
So I just wanted to make sure I added that
piece there. So step three. You already went through these
steps of translating your values into voice and identifying your
(06:51):
core values and attributes. Next up, you want to step
out from the crowd, This is my favorite part. First
step b bold, take a step on relevant industry issues. Second,
share your business journey. This is something especially for founders
that you could really really leverage build in public like
(07:11):
talk about the struggles that you're experiencing as a nonprofit
leader or as a mission driven, purpose driven professional, whatever
laying you're in. It's okay to publicly talk about the good,
the bad, the ugly, the wins and the losses.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
People relate to that stuff.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
You'd be surprised people might be in a similar position
as you, or be a step or two behind you
in the journey, and they might be watching you, looking
at you for influence and for knowledge. So keep that
in mind. Use humor if it fits your brand's personality.
(07:49):
This is something that's huge, and I think some of
the brands that you don't expect it from that's when
it hits the hardest. And last, create a unique lexicon
of brand specific terms or phrases. This is kind of
a play on part two when you talk about your vocabulary.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
You really want to think this through. This is something
for our.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Actual NBA channel, my believe in Fantasy Basketball NBA channel,
where we have a list of our terms.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
That we use constantly.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
I have them up on the wall and sometimes I
even have to pick you know, it's little slang terms
and relatable terms for NBA that we use. You can
do the same thing for any business. Just kind of
map them out and just make sure in your communication
with your clients, with your advocates, with your major donors,
that you're continuing to have those words and those terms
(08:42):
pop up in the conversation. And number four, what you
want to do is refine your brand messaging. Know your audience,
pain points, desires, and values. Huge, huge focus on benefits
rather than just the features. Use power words that evoke
(09:02):
emotion and drive action, be concise, and incorporate storytelling. We
recently had you know, well not recently. We had a
bunch of different storytellers on the show. But I think
the biggest takeaway for me in having some of these
amazing storytellers on our show is realizing that you can
(09:25):
dig deep to pull out your own story, or you
can tell people's stories. You can like look at public figures,
you can look at historical figures.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
You could do.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
Case studies on your clients, donors, supporters, the people you serve.
This is a huge opportunity, something I'm doing constantly with
my clients.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
And I encourage you to do the same.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Last thing, include clear call to actions in your messaging.
Now I would say this if you are trying to
get donations, for example, like I wouldn't make every post
have the call to action please donate here and leave
a link. Depending on what platform you're operating on. If
it's social media, sometimes leaving a link could actually work
(10:13):
against you, so you want to be really mindful of that,
making sure you're not overdoing it when it comes to
the amount of links to direct people off of the
platform that you're operating on. So think about it like this.
There are different types of calls to action. What I
would recommend for you is making sure that you have
a balance. So one call to action could be simply
(10:35):
to get people to respond in the comments about the
topic that you're talking about, or get them to take
some type of an action in terms of writing in
the comments, like whatever it is, hey, give me an
emoji if you agree or disagree. You could also encourage
one word answers. That's something that is kind of low
(10:57):
hanging fruit, like give them a yes or no question.
Then times with comments in a digital space, on social media, etc.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
We over complicate the call to action.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Hey tell me about a time when you blank and
now it's like I got to think about writing a
dagon story. I'm like, well, when did it happen? What
year was it? Who is the people? I forget it.
I won't leave a comment where if you're okay with
testing it, I would even encourage them. Hey, you know
what's your favorite? You know, pizza, topping, pepperoni, or mushrooms.
(11:30):
And it doesn't have to be pizza obviously, but think
about something in your space and your niche. That's very
simple for people to respond to. Give them a two option,
multiple choice deal, or you could ask them a yes
or no question.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Now.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Step five, implement your brand's voice across digital platforms. Create
a brand voice guide, documenting characteristics, dudes and don'ts, and
example phrases. Two or Next, train your team to ensure
consistent implementation.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Next, audit existing.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Content and update it to align your brand voice. This
is huge, especially if you're operating on YouTube, especially if
you're operating on LinkedIn. These are platforms that adjusting your
captions and copy or even you know, tweaking it slightly
(12:28):
adding a call to action to an existing post. You'd
be surprised how much of an impact this has. So
if you have time, or if you could delegate this
to someone on your team, I would suggest strongly to
do a deep dive audit, maybe a ninety days you know,
backlog of your content. Go back and look at ninety
days of your content and identify the posts that performed
(12:52):
extremely well and maybe go in and touch them up
a little bit. Some of those posts that perform really bad,
you might want to just save yourself the time, just
leave it where it is. But if you have the bandwidth,
you could also do a full on audit of all
of the content. After that, regularly review and adjust based
(13:12):
on your audience feedback and results. You be so surprised.
You'd be so surprised to see how many people will respond.
If you have an email list, for example, and you
ask them a simple question, you could even put in.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
The headline or in the subject line.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
I should say help, you know, help please open, or
something like that to kind of get them to like
look at the.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Subject line like does Robin really need help? Like what's
happening here?
Speaker 1 (13:38):
So that's something you don't want to neglect that your
audience is waiting to take action. Sometimes they just need
that little bit of a nudge. They just need a nudge. Now,
let's take a look at this float chart because this
really really sums everything up.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
It ties it up really nicely. So implementing your brand voice.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
First thing, you want to create your brand voice God,
share the guide with your team. Train the team, which
is really important. If you need help with that, you
can reach out to me and I can support with that.
Audit existing content. Update the content very important, especially on
LinkedIn and on YouTube.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Adjust for the platforms.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Remember what you do on TikTok might not work on LinkedIn,
what you do on Instagram might not work on x
So make sure you're really mindful of the platform you're
on and adjust the content accordingly. After adjusting for the platforms,
review audience reception, make adjustments, and then repeat the cycle,
(14:43):
repeat the cycle.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Okay, so I'm gonna give you some homework. I'm gonna
give you some brand voice action items.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
First, conduct a brand voice workshop with your team. If
you need help with that, let me know. I can support.
Create your brand voice God, no problem, gotcha. Next, audit
and update your existing content. This is my favorite one.
I love that and I love doing it with clients.
(15:12):
That sounded wrong anyway, Schedule regular reviews of your brand
voice implementation. Now, not what you're thinking, Robin, this is
too much. It's too much. I can't do all of this.
I don't have a team. Whatever, whatever, whatever, This is
what I want to do. I told you if you
stick around today and I have something free for you,
a free gift. What I'd like to do is givet
(15:33):
you with an ebook that will summarize all of this
content for you. It'll even it'll even give you a
sneak peek into part two and possibly part three of
this series. If you want access to that, all you
have to do is visit landththtalk dot com absolutely free.
(15:55):
You put in your email, it's gonna ask you're putting
you click on the web dred, We'll ask for your email.
You enter your email, and just like that, in your inbox,
you will receive an email from me that has a
link to a wide variety of free resources, including this ebook.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Also, I'm going to be shooting.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
I'm gonna be sending out an email blast very soon
to our community and share the link with them for
this ebook, so I want to make sure you're getting value.
So do me a favor. We have six episodes left.
I can invite the guests that you want, or I
(16:39):
can cover the topic that you're interested in hearing me cover.
So let me know in the comments of a YouTube
version of this episode. In the YouTube version of this episode,
please in the comments let me know what you want
these last six episodes to be about until the next
time we meet.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
I'm Robin Nathaniel and This is Land the Talk