Speaking 101: Using Social Media to Leverage Your Brand

“Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.”

- Jeff Bezos, Founder of Amazon

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Building awareness—for your company as well as for your personal brand—is key to any successful marketing strategy.

According to recent research published by the Harvard Business Review (HBR), 64% of people cite shared values as the main reason they choose to have a relationship with a brand. In other words, when it comes to establishing brand loyalty, it isn’t solely about increasing consumer interactions. Part of it stems from a belief in the purpose of a company's product or service.

So how can you make sure your brand’s values are known? 

Sabrina Horn of Entrepreneur.com recommends developing a social media strategy plan, while considering the following:

• Audience - Who do you need to reach? Each social media platform garners a different segment of the population, and a little research beforehand ensures you are sharing your message with the right people at the right time.

• Visual Elements - 95% of marketers say visual content is more effective than text-only content. What can you incorporate to make your content “come to life” and engage your audience?

• Preparation - Are you ready to begin your foray into the world of social media? Do you fully understand how each social channel works? Don’t sweat it if you’re not there yet. “Sometimes a simple profile on LinkedIn will suffice until the timing is right to launch a broader communications program.”

Interested in learning more about The Importance of Entrepreneurs Building Their Personal Brand? Check out Horn’s article here.

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Do you believe in OUR brand? We’d love to hear how cred PR can help position you and your brand as thought leaders within your space.

Get in touch at hello@credpr.com,

or send us a tweet: @credpr!

RampUp 2016 Recap

One of the 17 panel discussions at #RampUp16.

On Tuesday, February 23, 2016, cred PR helped LiveRamp, an Acxiom company, coordinate their 4th annual RampUp—the Premier Conference for data-driven marketers and AdTech industry leaders.

RampUp 2016 took place at The Fairmont, atop Nob Hill in the beautiful city of San Francisco. The day began bright and early with registration, breakfast on the terrace, and an inspiring morning fireside chat with Legendary Entertainment’s Matthew Marolda. The 1,400+ attendees then split into three tracks for a full day of compelling panels and keynotes.

credPR team in action (left to right: Stephanie B., Stephanie W., Caitlin, Margaret, Leah, and Laura)

Since 2012, RampUp has gathered the top innovative minds in the digital space to discuss today’s data and marketing opportunities and challenges. This year was the largest event yet, both in terms of content and audience, with 17 panels and topics ranging from “What Senior Leaders Are Looking For in 2016” to “Data As An Asset.”

Some dynamic speakers that added to this year’s agenda included: Dean of Global Innovation from Gap, GM of IBM, Head of Programmatic at LiveNation, Founder & CEO at MediaMath, Vice President of MasterCard, CMO of Citi Bank, and GVP, Marketing from Macy's, to name a few. In total, 15 of our clients participated in the event, both as speakers and participants.

Author of Freakonomics Stephen Dubner connected the day’s themes in his closing keynote, entitled "How To Think Like A Freak in Advertising.” An entertaining take on incentivization and human behavior, Dubner incorporated stories of post-bathroom hand hygiene (or lack thereof) and turkey reproduction (I kid you not) to discuss how “circumstances under which data is created impacts the end value of data” and our tendency to choose data that confirms decisions we’ve already made. Just a little insight for us all to ponder...

Stephen Dubner, author of Freakonomics - a true crowd pleaser!

All in all, the event was a success. Couldn’t attend yourself? Find content-related recaps of events below (and mark your calendars for next year!):

• Four Takeaways from #RampUp16 by Rebecca Stone of LiveRamp

• RampUp 2016 Recap: Data As An Asset by Esther Burgeson of TruSignal

• 2016 RampUp: Event Recap by Michael Hans of DataXu

• 5 Takeaways from LiveRamp’s 2016 “RampUp” Event by Tim Abraham of Adbrain

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Want your #RampUp16 recap added to our list? Send your article to kayla@credpr.com to be featured!

For more credPR news, subscribe to our bi-monthly newsletter. Or if you’re interested in having the cred team help with speaker management and speaking opportunities, get in touch at hello@credpr.com.

And don’t forget to follow @LiveRamp on Twitter for news on #RampUp17!

Welcome to cred.

cred | n.  1. The quality of being trusted or believed in.

2. Commanding a level of respect due to experience or knowledge.

Welcome to cred's first ever blog post. We've been behind the scenes working hard on building both our brand but more importantly the brands of those we're working with, and we've now decided to share some of our thoughts and learnings with you. Be on the lookout for articles on how to become a better speaker, recapping recent events and conferences, and tips that we've learned along the way.

Here's a bit more about us:

What We Do. We connect individuals to speaking opportunities. We like to think of ourselves as a nonconventional PR firm; we supplement and enhance – rather than replace – any existing efforts. It’s pretty simple.

I was always taught to focus on one thing and do it really well. Here at cred, we chose to focus on something we don’t think others prioritize enough: speaking & events. Our hyper-focus allows us to be masters at matchmaking events with speakers; and because we do it all day long, we've gotten to be pretty darn good at it.

We also help people run and manage better events, from sourcing engaging speakers to creating content to onsite execution. Since we see firsthand the insides of event organization, communication (and what can be done better), we thought naturally, we could do it ourselves.

Why We Do It. This brings us to the core of what we do - the why. Successful companies are built on solid foundations, and here’s ours: We believe that bringing knowledgeable, passionate speakers to engaged audiences builds awareness and excitement for you and your brand. It raises your profile and positions you and your brand as thought leaders in whatever industry you operate in. We thrive on working with quality, passionate speakers that tell a story. Long-term, we’re on a mission to become the most valued, recognized and respected source for events and speaking opportunities.

In less than 10 months, we’ve created an amazing team of 9 individuals and over 60 clients who see that value too. Most of the clients we work with understand how the power of speaking can strengthen and generate business opportunities. Our clients acknowledge that speaking is:

• An efficient way to increase brand awareness - whether it’s for potential business partners, customers, financiers, employees, recruiters, investors or all of the above.

• Visibility into the company, the individual, and their credibility.

• Most importantly, a means to drive business growth. The majority of successful conversations happen face-to-face (this is why VCs tend to meet in-person). Taking advantage of speaking opportunities can accelerate conversations and get things moving.

What We Don’t Do. We’re not a speakers bureau. We don’t seek placements for the sake of it, and we don’t get paid per placement. We believe in earning speaking opportunities based on your knowledge, insight and experience. We serve as an extension of your Marketing and Comms Teams.

One-offs. We won’t help you ‘slip’ into just a single event. We create a comprehensive and all encompassing speaking program so we can help you move the marketing needle - not just once, but time and time again.
 

We want to work with people who believe in the power of their personal brand. If this sounds like you, come and chat with us, and let’s build your cred together.

-Caitlin

p.s. I would love to hear your thoughts and feedback: caitlin@credpr.com.