Boosting Your Brand Through Engagement: Eight Key Takeaways

We hope you were able to join CC’s Robert Fowler and Nelam Patel, plus special guest Kirsten Jordan and amazing facilitator Cindy Scholz (both from Compass’s prestigious Hudson Advisory) for our webinar on digital branding and audience engagement! 

But if not—or even if you just want to revisit any of it—you can watch the entire session here. 

Short on time? We tried our best to pluck out and paraphrase some of our favorite takeaways from the hour-long discussion below:

Don’t let perfection be the enemy of good.

Not everyone is well-versed or comfortable with social media, but Robert reminds us that making an effort is better than letting your concerns hold you back. It’s an essential part of modern business! Start small or on just one or two platforms, become more familiar with what works for you, and be persistent.

And be persistent beyond your post.

Kirsten suggests you “be your own bot.” Like other people’s posts. Comment on them. Get active on relevant hashtags. Respond to people. And do it all often. Community management can be time consuming, but it’s how connections are made and strengthened.

Use your missteps to hone in your voice and find your dream audience.

You aren’t going to hit it out of the park with a viral post every time, which can be discouraging—after all, you’re pouring time and resources into your online presence as a means of business development. But make note of what works and what doesn’t, as well as who’s responding to what you’re saying, and over time, you’ll have your voice and audience down pat.

Invest in what you’re doing.

Take a short class on iPhone photography or hire a photographer when you can. Have a friend proofread your posts, or contract a content writer for lengthier posts or blogs. (And as a not-so-subtle reminder, CatalystCreativ is a preferred vendor for Compass, and we offer special rates—to set up a call with Nelam to see what we can help you with, click here!)

People can detect authenticity.

Nelam says people’s brands should represent who they are, authentically. Don’t fake it. You can be choosy about what you share, but if you share something, it should be something that’s true to who you are. 

You are your brand.

The quickest, surest way to cement yourself as an expert, thought leader, or someone people want to work with, is to invite people into your world. Show them what makes you unique, and show off your expertise in your field. Robert and Cindy advise sprinkling posts about yourself in with your posts about your business.

Google yourself.

Cindy shares a bit of always relevant advice: Google yourself to see what comes up. This can be helpful in determining if your branding is consistent, but it’s also valuable as a reminder to delete any old, out-of-use, or embarrassing social media accounts you may have forgotten about!

And remember why you’re putting time into social in the first place.

Nelam suggests measuring ROI as return on investment but also ripple of impact—how many relationships are you forming directly and indirectly through digital efforts? A listing might only get 10 likes but if it directly leads to two influential people sharing it and you get two offers out of it, that’s a bigger win than a viral post with nothing material to show for it!

Thanks again to our wonderful panelists, our awesome attendees, and everyone who made a donation to Women of Compass’s charity of choice, Women in Need (WIN).

Any questions or comments about the session? Want a quick consult on ways CatalystCreativ can help take your branding to the next level? Don’t hesitate to reach out.