Marketing TRICKS & TREATS

[00:00:00] I don't know why I can't watch this, but it's just not doing it for me. I think it was the fact that she was making some type of homemade recipe and trying to tell you how to make this dish while she's talking about someone that got murdered. I was like, I just don't think that in my head it feels right to mix cooking with murder.

[00:00:23] Hey everyone, welcome to the S.O.B. Marketing Podcast where we celebrate the S.O.B. that you are and if you haven't figured it out yet, we mean small owned business. We don't mean S.O.B.

[00:00:35] Listen, we know that as a small business owner, you are working hard on the daily to keep your business fully operational while trying to promote it. And while some days it may feel like the business is owning you, if we're being honest with each other, I bet you would admit that you wouldn't give up the information.

[00:00:53] We don't have a lot of insanity for anything. Our commitment here at the S.O.B. Marketing Podcast is to give you the real talk, what works when it comes to advertising, marketing, promoting your business, and then what doesn't really work.

[00:01:06] And Chelsea and I promise to always keep the conversation real.

[00:01:09] Welcome back, y'all, to another episode of the S.O.B. Small Owned Business Marketing Podcast.

[00:01:15] Y'all know already we ain't out here calling you names.

[00:01:18] So I'm here with my beautiful sister, Chelsea.

[00:01:21] Quick reminder before we get started on today's special Halloween spooky episode is if you have not already left us a review, please, please, please do so.

[00:01:35] That helps us tremendously.

[00:01:36] It helps to get this type of marketing content and information in front of other S.O.B.s, other small owned businesses that potentially need it.

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[00:01:54] Chelsea, what are we talking about today?

[00:01:57] Okay, Vivian.

[00:01:58] Well, we had a little fun with this week's episode since it is Halloween.

[00:02:03] We are doing a trick or a treat when it comes to marketing.

[00:02:10] Before we get started, I do have to say, check out our costumes.

[00:02:14] If you're not watching on YouTube, then you might want to do it.

[00:02:18] I am, I don't know, maybe like a metal fairy because I have ACDC on.

[00:02:22] Is ACDC metal?

[00:02:23] I don't know.

[00:02:25] Fairy wings.

[00:02:26] Vivian, what are you?

[00:02:27] I'm a chicken farmer.

[00:02:28] I got my little chicken and I got my little overalls on.

[00:02:32] I don't know if you guys can see it.

[00:02:33] If it looks very poofy, it's because I put them on over my pants.

[00:02:38] It's not because I gained a bunch of weight.

[00:02:41] I just, I'm working here with basics.

[00:02:45] So I got lazy.

[00:02:47] Didn't want to have to, you know, change everything else.

[00:02:50] You know what?

[00:02:51] That's fair.

[00:02:52] So a trick or a treat in marketing, what we mean by this is we're going to go through

[00:02:59] some topics, some examples, and we're going to explain why it's a trick or a treat.

[00:03:06] Yeah, simple as that.

[00:03:08] So Chelsea, do you want to go ahead and get us started?

[00:03:10] Okay, Vivian.

[00:03:11] So I'm going to start with a trick.

[00:03:13] We're going to do, we're going to talk about big brands doing meme marketing.

[00:03:20] I want to preface this by saying, you know, not all big brands do meme marketing wrong.

[00:03:27] Great example will be Duolingo, right?

[00:03:30] Like we've seen them really master meme marketing and really capture the Gen Z audience.

[00:03:40] However, other brands will do this and it's not good, right?

[00:03:46] Especially, I personally especially hate when big brands try to do the Gen Z talk, but they're

[00:03:53] not doing it right or it feels very forced.

[00:03:55] It doesn't relate to their brand.

[00:03:58] It feels very cringy, very fake, and it's just poorly executed, right?

[00:04:05] Because they're trying so hard to be relatable.

[00:04:07] So my example of this, my specific example of this is going to be, Vivian, do you remember

[00:04:13] in 2014 the whole Doge meme?

[00:04:16] No.

[00:04:17] What's Doge?

[00:04:19] Okay.

[00:04:20] Or maybe it's dog, but it's spelled D-O-G-E.

[00:04:25] Okay.

[00:04:25] But it's spelled D-O-G-E, okay?

[00:04:28] So it's not just dog, right?

[00:04:30] Right.

[00:04:30] Right.

[00:04:30] Okay.

[00:04:31] And it's the memes where it's like the dog and it's all like cutesy and the weird speak,

[00:04:38] like the very wow sort of thing.

[00:04:41] Do you know what I'm talking about?

[00:04:43] Vaguely.

[00:04:43] I kind of know what you're talking about.

[00:04:45] Yeah.

[00:04:46] Okay.

[00:04:47] If you're not watching on YouTube, maybe go do that because I'm going to add a picture

[00:04:52] of my specific example.

[00:04:54] But in 2014, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services shared this meme and they

[00:05:06] tried to make it about health insurance.

[00:05:08] And it was weird and it really pissed off their audience, right?

[00:05:13] Because for one, healthcare is such like a hot ticket item in the United States.

[00:05:20] And for the U.S. Health Department to post this, it's a Sheba, right?

[00:05:28] It's a Sheba in the snow.

[00:05:30] And it says, wow, very benefits.

[00:05:33] What else does it say?

[00:05:35] Many coverage, much affordable.

[00:05:37] Like it just, it's so bad.

[00:05:42] It's so bad.

[00:05:44] So that's a trick.

[00:05:44] That's a fail.

[00:05:45] That's a, let's not do that.

[00:05:47] What I want to know is I want to know if the intern that suggested or recommended that

[00:05:53] got fired or hired.

[00:05:55] Like was this like a test to get hired into the U.S. Department of Health Services?

[00:06:02] I love that you think an intern suggested this because I see this and I think a higher

[00:06:09] up was like, oh, we should totally do this.

[00:06:11] An intern's like, are you sure?

[00:06:14] And they're like, no, no, no.

[00:06:15] It's totally going to work.

[00:06:16] It's really popular right now.

[00:06:17] And they're like, I don't know.

[00:06:20] Now, I mean, it could go both ways, right?

[00:06:23] Either way, I agree with you on the assessment that it missed the mark.

[00:06:27] I see where they thought, let's do something relatable.

[00:06:32] Let's do something that's trending and let's just convert it over to something specific

[00:06:39] to us, right?

[00:06:41] But so here's the thing is I'm looking at the, at the meme and what I'm wondering is, so

[00:06:48] were they trying, you're right.

[00:06:51] It's a dog in the snow, a little, did you call it a Sheba dog?

[00:06:54] I'm not good with like.

[00:06:56] I think it's a Sheba.

[00:06:57] Okay.

[00:06:57] So very cute dog jumping in the snow and it says, wow, very benefits, many coverage,

[00:07:04] much affordable, such healthcare.gov.

[00:07:07] So it even included their website.

[00:07:12] And the other thing I'm kind of not getting to, which also it's kind of like these trending

[00:07:20] things.

[00:07:21] It makes sense at the time because everybody's doing it right.

[00:07:24] Kind of like the Barbie trend.

[00:07:25] And when we look back on this Barbie trend, like 20 years from now, we're going to be

[00:07:29] like, what were people doing?

[00:07:30] Like, why were they doing that?

[00:07:31] But it made sense because the Barbie movie was out, right?

[00:07:34] So I guess this is also one of those memes that when you're looking back at it, because

[00:07:38] you said this was back in what?

[00:07:40] 20?

[00:07:41] Yeah.

[00:07:42] When you're looking at it 10 years later, you're like, first of all, the sentences aren't complete.

[00:07:48] Right?

[00:07:49] Much affordable.

[00:07:50] It doesn't even make sense.

[00:07:52] So why?

[00:07:53] Yeah.

[00:07:54] Yeah.

[00:07:55] And I will say like the, they executed it correctly because that was the trend at the

[00:08:01] time with that format, with that meme specifically.

[00:08:05] So execution, yes.

[00:08:07] It's just that.

[00:08:09] Why?

[00:08:11] Like it didn't bring any meaning.

[00:08:13] There was no substance behind it.

[00:08:15] And it kind of, if you look at the comments on this post, like it just made people mad.

[00:08:21] Like, so what were the comments on the post?

[00:08:23] Was it just like, this is so insensitive?

[00:08:27] Yeah, basically.

[00:08:28] Because what you're doing is in, and let this be a lesson learned, you know, let me do the

[00:08:34] ding dong trick or treat.

[00:08:37] Which one was it, Chelsea?

[00:08:38] A trick.

[00:08:39] This one was a trick.

[00:08:40] And the trick here is I think because they, they overlook the fact that when it comes to

[00:08:47] healthcare, especially when it's, you know, expensive and we feel like, you know, we're

[00:08:53] not getting enough coverage and this and that.

[00:08:56] Probably not a place where you want to be, you know, trying to encourage people to do anything

[00:09:03] through a meme.

[00:09:04] Yeah.

[00:09:05] You know, just because there, it is so, and, and also because it's a government office.

[00:09:10] Like, listen.

[00:09:11] Yes, that's what I was going to say.

[00:09:12] Yeah, it's, it's different if like, I don't know if a local hospital maybe uses memes and

[00:09:17] stuff, but you know, the fact that like a government office is doing this just kind of

[00:09:25] feels a little weird.

[00:09:26] Yeah.

[00:09:27] I do want to say you can, you can execute this correctly.

[00:09:32] Even government offices can execute it correctly because I've seen an increase in government,

[00:09:42] I guess, officials doing meme marketing, but doing it well.

[00:09:49] It's just knowing your target audience, very important.

[00:09:53] Knowing if it's going to be relatable in a way that doesn't anger people.

[00:10:00] Like, I think really because this is healthcare, it really, really missed the mark because

[00:10:05] healthcare is, again, hot topic here in the United States.

[00:10:10] I do want to say we can turn this into a treat.

[00:10:14] Okay, what's the treat?

[00:10:15] What's the treat?

[00:10:16] Small business owners.

[00:10:18] Small business owners can do meme marketing really well.

[00:10:21] Again, if you know what you're doing.

[00:10:24] If you know the meme, if you know your target audience, you know that there's going to be

[00:10:30] an overlap, that they're going to understand it.

[00:10:32] If you don't really understand the meme, please don't try it.

[00:10:35] Like, please don't.

[00:10:38] I have a great example of this too.

[00:10:40] Vivian, have you seen the videos right now, the trend where people are like, oh, my Gen

[00:10:49] Z employee wrote my script?

[00:10:51] Yes.

[00:10:52] Yes.

[00:10:53] Yes.

[00:10:54] So well done.

[00:10:54] That is a great example of doing this correctly.

[00:10:59] So the videos are people using Gen Z lingo to talk about their business, but it actually

[00:11:07] makes sense, right?

[00:11:08] Like, this room in our bed and breakfast understood the assignment.

[00:11:12] Very demure, very mindful.

[00:11:14] Like, that's a very specific example.

[00:11:16] But they know the meme and they know the term so that it works.

[00:11:21] Again, if you don't know what you're talking about, then it's just going to be uncomfy.

[00:11:26] And as a 40-something-year-old, y'all, I'm just going to admit I am uncomfy with the whole

[00:11:33] lingo, the whole meme stuff.

[00:11:36] Like, I get some of it, but other ones I'm just like, that's weird.

[00:11:41] I don't really understand it.

[00:11:43] And I would never be able to apply it to something I'm personally doing.

[00:11:46] So I just stay away from it.

[00:11:49] Not going to be doing meme marketing anytime soon.

[00:11:52] So Chelsea, though, you did say that for most small business owners, it is something that

[00:11:58] it's just looked at a little differently because, and you can leverage because for one, you have

[00:12:03] a brand that is super personable.

[00:12:05] Yes.

[00:12:06] And so I think it translates a little differently whenever it's a local or small business that's

[00:12:12] doing it just because you are a little, you have that connection with your followers or

[00:12:19] your audience a little better than a big brand like the Department of Health.

[00:12:27] So it just feels a little different.

[00:12:29] So knock, knock, trick or treat.

[00:12:31] That was a...

[00:12:32] It was a treat if you're a small business.

[00:12:36] Perfect.

[00:12:36] And if you do it correctly.

[00:12:38] Awesome.

[00:12:39] All right.

[00:12:39] So let me, can I share one of mine?

[00:12:42] Yes.

[00:12:42] I want to hear yours.

[00:12:43] Okay.

[00:12:44] All right.

[00:12:44] So I'm going to start with the trick because it's always easier just to give the bad news first,

[00:12:48] right?

[00:12:49] So let me tell you it.

[00:12:50] My trick is I really do not like when brands try to share information or experience and

[00:12:57] combine it with menial tasks.

[00:12:59] I get why people do this because we say, hey, if you're going to show up on social media,

[00:13:04] like share information or education while you're doing something, right?

[00:13:09] Like the action is important because it gives people something to watch, right?

[00:13:14] Instead of just doing like a head, floating head video.

[00:13:18] All right.

[00:13:18] But there is somebody locally and I'm not going to name names.

[00:13:23] She's an investigative crime reporter and she does these segments where she meshes it

[00:13:30] with a recipe and cooking.

[00:13:34] And I don't know what it is.

[00:13:36] It came across my feed.

[00:13:37] I saw it the first time and I was like, I don't know like why I can't watch this, but it's just

[00:13:44] not doing it for me.

[00:13:45] Okay.

[00:13:46] And I think it was the fact that she was, I don't know, making some type of homemade recipe

[00:13:51] and trying to tell you how to make this dish while she's talking about someone that got

[00:13:55] murdered.

[00:13:55] And I was like, I just don't think that in my head it feels right to mix cooking with murder.

[00:14:03] I don't know what it is.

[00:14:05] Well, I have a question.

[00:14:07] So, and this is a, can I tell you, this is our big popular newspaper around here.

[00:14:13] Okay.

[00:14:14] Is she like, like, oh, this person got murdered.

[00:14:19] Anyways, you're going to add flour to this.

[00:14:21] Like how, or is she just like, is it like a voiceover and she's doing it?

[00:14:27] No, it's not a voiceover.

[00:14:28] It is.

[00:14:29] She is doing.

[00:14:31] So like, let's say she's baking cookies.

[00:14:33] She's, she's getting the ingredients and she's talking about the crime case.

[00:14:40] And then she's like, okay, so here I have, I'm going to mix in this, this, and this.

[00:14:44] And then she continues talking about the case.

[00:14:46] So she actually switches back and forth from.

[00:14:50] Yeah.

[00:14:50] Okay.

[00:14:51] Now I see the problem.

[00:14:52] Like if it was just, cause a lot of people do like the videos where they're doing a menial

[00:14:58] task, but it's like a voiceover, but you're not paying attention to the task.

[00:15:03] Yes.

[00:15:04] Yes.

[00:15:05] That, I mean, I still think that would be uncomfy just because she is a crime reporter.

[00:15:11] I think that's what I can't, and y'all please leave us a comment about this.

[00:15:15] Is this just a Vivian and Chelsea thing?

[00:15:18] Like, is this just something that we're icky about or do you get the same feeling?

[00:15:22] Like it, there's some.

[00:15:24] Do you get the ick?

[00:15:24] Yes.

[00:15:25] Yeah.

[00:15:25] There's something uncomfortable.

[00:15:26] And I think what it is, is it confuses my brain because what I'm watching on the screen

[00:15:31] is something that's very menial.

[00:15:33] Okay.

[00:15:34] And there's a part of me that's like, oh, I'm interested in the dip she's making.

[00:15:38] And then there's a part of me that's like, wait, I feel conflicted because she's talking

[00:15:42] about something so serious.

[00:15:45] Right.

[00:15:46] And so I almost feel like my brain can't compute doing something that's just not important with

[00:15:52] then pairing it with information that's super important.

[00:15:56] Like, and that may just be an old school thing of me because I did grow up in a time, you

[00:16:02] know, we grew up with daddy having, um, you know, NBC nightly news every single night we

[00:16:09] would sit down and watch it.

[00:16:10] And so I still understand that maybe my brain hasn't caught up with the times and maybe

[00:16:15] I'm just so used to having my news.

[00:16:18] So formal that it's coming from behind a news desk and that's not going to work anymore because

[00:16:24] we have that 24 seven news cycle.

[00:16:26] I see the problem and I see what you're saying and I understand why she's doing this.

[00:16:34] I feel like it's not executed well, just because, you know, again, you are covering these serious

[00:16:42] crimes and then cooking at the same time or baking.

[00:16:48] Like it kind of also for me personally, like the victim's family, you're kind of being like,

[00:16:55] oh, you know, I'm just baking while also talking about my family.

[00:16:59] Yeah.

[00:17:00] Well, and I do want to give her credit in this way.

[00:17:02] If at the end of the day, it gets more eyeballs on the actual case, like what difference does

[00:17:08] it make?

[00:17:08] I respect that.

[00:17:09] Okay.

[00:17:10] I think she's not doing it ill intentioned.

[00:17:13] Okay.

[00:17:14] So I get it, but I think I've had this issue with also, um, I don't know about you guys,

[00:17:21] but you've noticed that news stations or like I said, our big newspaper here in the area,

[00:17:28] they actually have now told their reporters to start making reels about stuff.

[00:17:34] So for example, and, and I think maybe I'm just having a hard time with all of this in

[00:17:39] general, because I'm like social, like news to me is so important.

[00:17:44] Like, I'm like, you're supposed to be an unbiased source of information.

[00:17:47] Like you are just supposed to give me facts and then I am supposed to decide what is,

[00:17:52] what to make of those facts.

[00:17:54] Right.

[00:17:55] And the news is also becoming more of like how we are now as small business owners where

[00:17:59] they're like, I have to have a hook in the first three seconds.

[00:18:02] I have to be sure that, which is why she's making recipes while she's delivering this news.

[00:18:06] But there was another instance where same, um, newspaper did this.

[00:18:11] Okay.

[00:18:12] There were some, we live in a historical town.

[00:18:16] Well, Charleston, South Carolina, they have a lot of graveyards, grave sites, and they've

[00:18:22] been there for hundreds of years, like a long time.

[00:18:25] Well, I guess there was some dispute going on with a homeowner who had a house in downtown

[00:18:32] Charleston.

[00:18:33] Well, they sold it.

[00:18:34] The new homeowner was removing these graves.

[00:18:39] They were, these, these tomb, tombstones.

[00:18:42] Isn't that illegal?

[00:18:43] Well, that was the whole thing is they're like, wait, wait, wait, wait.

[00:18:47] These are considered historical because they've been here since the 1800s.

[00:18:50] Are you, isn't it illegal just period?

[00:18:54] I don't know, girl.

[00:18:55] I don't know.

[00:18:55] I've never tried digging anything, a corpse up.

[00:18:57] That's more of a, okay, perfect.

[00:18:59] It's good to know that you've never tried to grave rob.

[00:19:03] Yeah.

[00:19:04] Wonderful.

[00:19:04] I mean, now if I knew that someone was buried with some like huge diamonds, maybe, but no.

[00:19:10] All I'm saying is like, okay, so there was some contention with this.

[00:19:16] Well, the news clip, instead of it just being like a headline and an article on their website,

[00:19:23] they actually got the reporter to go out filming this person's backyard.

[00:19:29] Like they're like, oh, look, here are all of the tombstones.

[00:19:33] Yeah.

[00:19:34] And then they were talking about the thing and I'm like, I get it because you want to make a real out of it, but it just felt really weird too.

[00:19:42] I feel like I could understand why you would feel weird by that.

[00:19:50] And I can also understand why a younger generation wouldn't feel weird by that.

[00:19:55] Yeah.

[00:19:55] I just think the news is going through a drastic change right now and they've got to fail until they figure it out, you know?

[00:20:06] Yeah.

[00:20:06] Yeah.

[00:20:06] Well, so knock, knock.

[00:20:08] Well, you do it to me.

[00:20:09] Okay.

[00:20:10] Yes, I'll do it to you.

[00:20:11] So knock, knock.

[00:20:13] You have to say trick or treat.

[00:20:14] Oh, I'm sorry.

[00:20:17] I haven't trick or treated in a long time.

[00:20:19] Okay.

[00:20:20] Knock, knock.

[00:20:21] Trick or treat.

[00:20:23] This one's a trick.

[00:20:24] Okay.

[00:20:24] I did not like that one.

[00:20:26] Yeah.

[00:20:26] So let me give you the treat though.

[00:20:28] Okay.

[00:20:28] Uh, I was scrolling through social media the other day and a example of this would be a creator or a small business owner that's doing the same thing, but they're flexing their creativity to take something that's happened and turn it into a positive or a shared experience.

[00:20:52] Okay.

[00:20:52] Cause I'm not even going to say positive cause she was still a tour up about this.

[00:20:55] So the example was there's a, um, she's a musician.

[00:20:59] I had scrolled through her account and I guess she, she does maybe a little theater, a little music here and there, but her account was very, very small.

[00:21:09] And then she had her boyfriend, her boyfriend broke up with her.

[00:21:12] She was living out in LA.

[00:21:14] He was like, everything was going good.

[00:21:16] And then he was like, Hey, let's move to Texas.

[00:21:19] And then I know exactly who you're talking about.

[00:21:22] Okay.

[00:21:23] So you saw the viral video in the video that went viral y'all.

[00:21:28] Let me try to explain it.

[00:21:29] She basically used her creativity and her knowledge of being able to write songs and she translated it and turned this terrible experience that she had into a song.

[00:21:40] But the song was kind of, it was kind of like a comedy.

[00:21:42] Okay.

[00:21:43] It was not meant to be like a song that I want to play.

[00:21:45] It was like a, Oh crap, this is terrible, but she's somehow found humor in it.

[00:21:51] And it's funny.

[00:21:52] So basically the lyrics of the song with something like, you know, I was living out in LA with my boyfriend for four years.

[00:21:59] Everything was growing fine.

[00:22:01] He then asked if we can move to Texas because he wanted to be closer to his dad.

[00:22:05] I said, yes, we get to Texas.

[00:22:07] We move into a house.

[00:22:09] I've basically sold everything because the move was expensive.

[00:22:12] We get settled into this house.

[00:22:14] We're making it our own.

[00:22:15] And then he basically comes to me and says, I don't want to be with you any longer.

[00:22:18] And then I literally have nothing and I have to go live with my mom again.

[00:22:22] Okay.

[00:22:23] That's the synopsis of the story.

[00:22:24] But that is such a treat, I think, because what it is, is in the same vein as what the reporter's doing, where they're delivering some type of information.

[00:22:35] She did the same exact thing, except she flexed her creativity and she packaged it in a way where people were like, literally when you read the comments, they were like, oh crap, are you okay?

[00:22:46] Like, girl, take some time, right?

[00:22:47] Because that was a lot.

[00:22:49] But it was, I think, only in a way that a creator and a small business owner can do.

[00:22:56] Yeah.

[00:22:57] I love that.

[00:22:58] Okay.

[00:22:59] Knock, knock.

[00:23:00] Trick or treat.

[00:23:01] That was a treat.

[00:23:02] That was a treat.

[00:23:03] That was a really good treat.

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[00:23:40] Okay, y'all.

[00:23:41] So I have a trick.

[00:23:43] And it is going to be big brands trying too hard to make a grand statement to, I don't want

[00:23:51] to say to be political, but to make that kind of statement.

[00:23:57] Okay.

[00:23:58] It will make sense when I explain the examples I have.

[00:24:01] Vivian, do you remember the Pepsi and Kendall Jenner fiasco?

[00:24:07] I do not have a clue what you're talking about.

[00:24:11] You do not?

[00:24:11] Oh my God.

[00:24:12] Okay.

[00:24:13] So in 2017, Pepsi released this ad, this commercial with Kendall Jenner in it.

[00:24:20] And so it was a protest.

[00:24:22] People are protesting.

[00:24:24] And then there's Kendall Jenner.

[00:24:26] And she comes in and she hands a cop a Pepsi.

[00:24:31] Okay.

[00:24:32] And then everything's fine.

[00:24:34] Because a Pepsi fixes everything.

[00:24:36] Yeah.

[00:24:37] And people were like, what the fuck is this?

[00:24:42] Pepsi was trying to say, oh, their product is, you know, like a unifying force.

[00:24:49] But to do it with a protest and to try to use movements.

[00:24:54] And it just, it fell very flat.

[00:24:57] It was, I don't want to say disrespectful again.

[00:25:00] Was that pun intended?

[00:25:01] Because soda can fall flat.

[00:25:03] Oh my God.

[00:25:05] I'm going to say yes, it was.

[00:25:07] I'm going to say it was.

[00:25:09] Okay.

[00:25:09] It wasn't though.

[00:25:11] But I hope you guys are following with me.

[00:25:14] I hope this makes sense.

[00:25:15] I have another example and that, this one's more recent.

[00:25:19] Target trying to capitalize on Pride Month.

[00:25:22] And then they back down because people were mad about Pride Month.

[00:25:29] You're being wishy-washy.

[00:25:31] If you are going to make a statement like that, if you're going to say happy Pride,

[00:25:37] you got to stick with it.

[00:25:39] Because now everyone knows, I mean, everyone knew to begin with,

[00:25:43] but everyone knows you were just trying to do a cash grab.

[00:25:46] Yeah.

[00:25:47] And now you just look greedy.

[00:25:50] Well, so I also wonder too how much of that is, you know, with all this stuff with like

[00:25:55] Palestine and all that going on.

[00:25:58] Mm-hmm.

[00:25:59] I see a lot of people on social media that will go and comment on accounts,

[00:26:05] whether they be business accounts or creator accounts.

[00:26:09] And they basically are like, why have you not posted anything about Palestine or whatever?

[00:26:15] And I'm sitting there thinking, I'm like, can we not just decide not to post stuff like that?

[00:26:20] I understand from the perspective of like, people think it's important and they think

[00:26:25] there needs to be attention on certain things.

[00:26:28] But I wonder if in defense of these big brands trying to make a statement of some type,

[00:26:35] if maybe the reason it comes off wishy-washy is because they would rather not make a statement,

[00:26:40] but they feel pressured to, you know, do something because they feel like if they don't,

[00:26:47] they're going to get a backlash.

[00:26:48] And then when they do, they get a backlash.

[00:26:50] And so either way, they're getting a backlash.

[00:26:52] They're like, I don't, you know.

[00:26:54] So yeah, no, that's exactly it.

[00:26:57] And that's why this is a trick for big brands, but it's going to be a treat for small business

[00:27:02] owners.

[00:27:03] Okay.

[00:27:03] So let me knock, knock trick or treat.

[00:27:07] Hello, Vivian.

[00:27:08] This one is a trick when it comes to big brands.

[00:27:11] Let me explain why it's a treat for small business owners, small business owners.

[00:27:15] You are your business, right?

[00:27:18] If you want to make a statement, if you want to say, I am pro-choice, I am.

[00:27:23] I am LGBTQ friendly.

[00:27:25] I am supporting Palestine.

[00:27:27] Whatever you want to do, you can make that statement.

[00:27:31] Remember, you need to stick with it.

[00:27:34] You need to actually believe in that.

[00:27:37] You don't want to look wishy-washy, but it's easier for you to do that because you're not

[00:27:42] representing a big corporation.

[00:27:46] You're just you.

[00:27:47] You can make that statement.

[00:27:48] Don't forget, though.

[00:27:50] You will most likely get backlash and you might get some negative feedback.

[00:27:59] I want to say at the end of the day, as long as your target audience aligns with your ideals,

[00:28:07] you should be fine.

[00:28:08] I think let's stick with the it's your small business.

[00:28:12] You can do what you wish.

[00:28:13] Same token, though.

[00:28:15] It's your small business.

[00:28:16] Please don't feel pressured to do anything.

[00:28:19] The thing is, I'm sorry.

[00:28:20] I am.

[00:28:21] I'm an old 40 something year old lady, Chelsea.

[00:28:23] I'm in the camp of like sometimes I just don't want to speak about things.

[00:28:29] Sometimes I don't want to.

[00:28:31] That is a right in itself where I don't have to make this grandiose gesture or make everything

[00:28:42] seem polished or curated.

[00:28:45] The thing is, you should have the full authority to do whatever you want with your small business.

[00:28:52] Either way, whether that is to commentary on movements.

[00:28:56] Yeah.

[00:28:56] And, you know, all of that.

[00:28:59] That's your choice.

[00:28:59] But also, please don't if you don't feel like you have a say.

[00:29:03] And I'll just be honest with you.

[00:29:05] With me, I'm always up front when people when they say like, well, what do you think about?

[00:29:10] I just don't know enough.

[00:29:12] I don't know enough.

[00:29:13] I haven't read up.

[00:29:13] I don't know enough to actually have an opinion either way.

[00:29:17] And maybe that's shame on me that I need to get caught up and do that.

[00:29:21] But it's just that's just where I'm at at the moment.

[00:29:24] And I have no qualms about telling someone I'm not going to say either way.

[00:29:29] Plus, also, there's this part of me, too, where I'm like, opinions are just opinions.

[00:29:34] Like, what are y'all changing with opinions?

[00:29:37] Unless like there's movement on an opinion, like what changes, right?

[00:29:41] You're just kind of like speaking things into the air and that's it.

[00:29:46] Now, if you have a big audience and that audience follows you and you're a leader, then it changes

[00:29:52] things, right?

[00:29:53] But anyways.

[00:29:55] All right.

[00:29:56] So knock, knock.

[00:29:58] Trick or treat.

[00:30:00] That is a treat if you are a small business.

[00:30:02] Awesome.

[00:30:03] All right.

[00:30:04] So then can I share my next one?

[00:30:05] Yes.

[00:30:06] Share your next one.

[00:30:07] Very please.

[00:30:08] All right.

[00:30:08] So mine is going to be this next one's a trick.

[00:30:12] Trick or treat.

[00:30:12] And it is sharing advice, but leaving out key elements in a story.

[00:30:19] Okay.

[00:30:20] And the reason I say this is you and I, Chelsea, have talked at length here on this podcast

[00:30:26] about let's not compare ourselves.

[00:30:30] Y'all are never going to have all of the elements to a story to be able to appropriately compare

[00:30:35] your situation or your small business to somebody else's, right?

[00:30:39] Because there's just too much there.

[00:30:42] I saw recently, I'm not going to share the name of the business, but it was a small business

[00:30:48] that not too long ago was sharing a success of theirs.

[00:30:52] Okay.

[00:30:53] And they were like, hey, huge success for us.

[00:30:56] We, you know, we got this signage in this and that, and it's converted already to phone

[00:31:01] calls.

[00:31:02] People, you know, are scheduling appointments, this and that.

[00:31:04] It was great.

[00:31:05] I understand the reason she was sharing that and that was fabulous.

[00:31:09] However, I think that when small business owners, so maybe the trick here isn't on the

[00:31:17] small business owner that shared her success.

[00:31:20] Maybe the trick here is you as small business owners, if you are listening to this and you

[00:31:26] take advice from people online that you do not know, that you've never met, and you just

[00:31:34] take it for what it is.

[00:31:35] And then you feel bad about yourself because you can't get the same results.

[00:31:39] Well, then that's the trick because you're comparing yourself to something that you don't

[00:31:43] have all the information about.

[00:31:45] And the key point there was I also felt like she left out.

[00:31:51] She was sharing advice.

[00:31:52] It wasn't bad advice.

[00:31:54] It was good advice.

[00:31:55] However, it's not advice that would translate to everybody because she forgot to share the

[00:32:01] fact that she's located on a very busy street with high traffic, you know, coming through

[00:32:07] there.

[00:32:08] It's going to be very different.

[00:32:10] And she did spend a pretty penny on new signage.

[00:32:13] There also happens to be a stoplight that's located right in front of her building, right?

[00:32:19] And so when someone is sitting there looking around, they're naturally going to see the

[00:32:24] sign.

[00:32:25] And so I think that's where I was like, I feel like she could have added a couple more

[00:32:29] elements in there to accurately portray what was actually occurring, which was like, hey,

[00:32:35] I have a brick and mortar store that's in a highly visible and prime location.

[00:32:41] And therefore, when I upgraded my signage, it made a big improvement in my business and it

[00:32:47] translated to more sales.

[00:32:49] Just saying, hey, I got new signage and it translated to sales isn't going to work for

[00:32:54] someone who's located off the beaten path and doesn't get high traffic volume.

[00:32:59] I mean, it's going to help people knowing that your business is there, but it may not

[00:33:05] translate monetarily to what she was trying to make it seem like it would for everybody.

[00:33:11] Yeah.

[00:33:11] I love that one.

[00:33:12] That was a good one.

[00:33:13] Okay.

[00:33:13] So knock, knock.

[00:33:14] Oh, trick or treat.

[00:33:16] You really haven't been trick or treating in a while.

[00:33:19] Yeah.

[00:33:19] That one is a trick.

[00:33:21] Okay.

[00:33:21] Now let me give you the treat version of that, which is going to be when people show you their

[00:33:27] true journey and you can see all of the elements and then you could decide on your

[00:33:32] own whether or not that's going to translate to your business.

[00:33:35] And there is a business that does this now.

[00:33:39] He's grown a pretty big following on Instagram.

[00:33:42] So he's no longer like, I mean, he's a small business owner in his own sense because it's

[00:33:48] just him running the agency, but he's got a massive following.

[00:33:52] And his name is heytony.agency.

[00:33:55] That's what he goes by under his Instagram handle.

[00:33:59] The reason I love what he's doing is because he gets on there, no fluff videos, and he literally

[00:34:08] shows you he's a search engine optimization guy.

[00:34:12] He's an SEO guy.

[00:34:13] So he basically tells you how to get more people onto your website.

[00:34:17] All right.

[00:34:18] Or onto your blog post.

[00:34:19] He will get on there and he will share stories like, hey, I, what was one of them?

[00:34:28] It was like, I lost $6,000 for this client or something.

[00:34:32] Like he shared the bad part of the journey.

[00:34:35] But then he showed you how he kind of redeemed himself within the next month because what it

[00:34:42] did was this new SEO strategy that he had, he made them pare down what they were doing,

[00:34:49] okay, which made them take a step back, but then more than compensated in the next two months.

[00:34:56] And so what he was showing was that basically SEO is a long-term game and that sometimes

[00:35:01] you can't see the positive impacts of an SEO strategy for months on out.

[00:35:07] And so that's what I really love is that he will show you every part of his journey, good,

[00:35:13] bad, or indifferent, because then it's like, okay, well, good.

[00:35:16] If you want to do this SEO strategy, just be sure that you know that in the next like month,

[00:35:21] your numbers are going to go down, but then they're more than going to, you know, triple

[00:35:26] or whatever else.

[00:35:28] Yeah.

[00:35:28] Okay.

[00:35:29] Okay.

[00:35:29] I love that.

[00:35:30] So knock, knock, trick or treat.

[00:35:32] That's a treat.

[00:35:34] Okay.

[00:35:34] So my next example can be a trick or treat, not only for small businesses, but also larger

[00:35:42] businesses and corporations, just judging by how well it is executed and how well the brand

[00:35:51] is liked.

[00:35:52] Okay.

[00:35:53] Okay.

[00:35:54] Hashtag campaigns.

[00:35:55] Whether you decide to create one or you try to capitalize on a trending hashtag, it can go

[00:36:02] really well.

[00:36:03] It can be a treat or it can go really poorly and it can be a trick.

[00:36:07] So I have an example of hashtag going wrong.

[00:36:11] This is a trick.

[00:36:14] Vivian, did you hear about the DiGiorno why I stayed hashtag?

[00:36:19] I think you had mentioned this to me before.

[00:36:22] Yeah.

[00:36:22] Okay.

[00:36:23] Okay.

[00:36:23] So DiGiorno tried to capitalize on the trending hashtag, hashtag why I stayed.

[00:36:29] They did not do the research on what the hashtag was about.

[00:36:35] And they did not understand that the hashtag was about victims of domestic abuse sharing

[00:36:41] their stories on, you know, how difficult it is to leave an abusive situation.

[00:36:48] Yeah.

[00:36:49] So they had shared a tweet that said, you had pizza, hashtag why I stayed.

[00:36:57] Ooh.

[00:36:59] Ooh.

[00:36:59] Was that a mistake?

[00:37:02] It went so poorly because everyone was obviously so upset.

[00:37:07] And for good reason, it made it feel like they were making fun of the whole situation, right?

[00:37:14] Like making it a joke.

[00:37:15] It was a very serious situation that if they had taken the time to research what the hashtag

[00:37:23] was about, instead of just seeing the hashtag and going, oh, I can make something out of this.

[00:37:27] You need to know what the hashtag is about.

[00:37:31] This is so important.

[00:37:33] Let this be a cautionary tale to everybody out there who is thinking about starting a hashtag trend

[00:37:39] for their small business.

[00:37:41] Please, please, please, please do some research.

[00:37:44] Okay.

[00:37:44] Type in the hashtag and see what populates for you.

[00:37:49] Because you're right, Chelsea.

[00:37:51] The thing is, hashtags can be very, what are some of the ones that are like banned that

[00:37:57] are super generic?

[00:37:59] They're like, at some point I had a list of all of these, but it's just super generic,

[00:38:07] like hashtag love.

[00:38:09] Yeah.

[00:38:10] Well, and you just don't know in what way people can be using them.

[00:38:14] And I think that's definitely the trick part of this thing.

[00:38:20] I mean, unfortunately for DiGiorno, because now think about this.

[00:38:24] It's not just, and if you guys are thinking, well, all they have to do is delete the post.

[00:38:29] You've now come off looking very insensitive to a topic that is very serious for a lot of people,

[00:38:36] especially for people that are going through it and people that are advocates.

[00:38:40] Well, and here's the thing.

[00:38:41] You can't delete it because people have already seen it.

[00:38:45] So now if you delete it, that's even more insensitive.

[00:38:47] I think what DiGiorno did is they released, like they added to the thread and they're like,

[00:38:53] we're so sorry.

[00:38:54] You know, we didn't do the due diligence.

[00:38:57] Oh, so they admitted to it.

[00:38:59] Yes, they did.

[00:39:01] People were still upset.

[00:39:03] Well.

[00:39:04] There's only so much you can do when something has happened, you know.

[00:39:08] Can we give them a little kudos then though?

[00:39:10] Yes.

[00:39:11] And I get it.

[00:39:12] It was a super insensitive and it should never happen.

[00:39:15] However, for them to go back and try to at least apologize.

[00:39:21] To admit that there was a mistake that was made, okay?

[00:39:23] It would have been different had they ignored it, not done it.

[00:39:26] But if they did address it, then at least it showed up on their radar.

[00:39:30] Yeah.

[00:39:30] I have another example too of creating a hashtag campaign and then it's still going wrong.

[00:39:40] Specifically McDonald's, they wanted to create a hashtag for their audience so that they could

[00:39:46] share all the good experience they've had with, all the good experiences people have

[00:39:51] had with McDonald's, right?

[00:39:53] Not realizing that they actually had a lot more negative experiences and negative stories at the time.

[00:40:01] So all of the negative just took over the hashtag.

[00:40:05] Was the hashtag, hashtag McFlurry machine working?

[00:40:13] Because it never is.

[00:40:15] Yeah, exactly.

[00:40:16] Exactly.

[00:40:16] I didn't write down specifically what the hashtag was.

[00:40:20] I don't remember seeing that.

[00:40:23] I just remember seeing that like they tried to do a hashtag campaign and they just got a lot more negative feedback

[00:40:29] than they got positive, which y'all, that's, if you're asking for feedback, that could happen.

[00:40:38] Yeah.

[00:40:38] Just be prepared, right?

[00:40:40] All right.

[00:40:41] So knock, knock, trick or treat.

[00:40:43] It's both.

[00:40:46] I feel like all of mine are, it's a treat if you do it correctly, you know?

[00:40:55] All right.

[00:40:55] So sticking to that similar sentiment, Chelsea, my number three trick was actually the Gen Z lingo done wrong.

[00:41:06] Okay.

[00:41:06] That thing that you actually started the beginning of this conversation with, that's the one thing that I feel for me is so cringeworthy is when businesses try to take that and basically it just falls flat.

[00:41:20] Right?

[00:41:21] It doesn't do it.

[00:41:22] They don't do it well for whatever reason.

[00:41:25] But then the treat part of that is when the businesses actually do get into it and do it well.

[00:41:31] For me, I saw one there was actually, if you guys are listening, please, please, please go on to Instagram and follow the Seminole Classic Casino in Hollywood, Florida.

[00:41:43] Okay.

[00:41:45] They nailed this.

[00:41:46] They had an older gentleman.

[00:41:48] It's an older casino and it looks a little older.

[00:41:51] Okay.

[00:41:51] They had a older gentleman that basically was like when your Gen Z person writes the script and he is executing it so great that like everyone was like, basically he's allowed in.

[00:42:05] Like he's actually a Gen Z, but like undercover.

[00:42:08] Right?

[00:42:09] So go check it out.

[00:42:11] So I do think that what makes it interesting for me is if you're going to try to kind of like what you were talking about with the big brands, the reason for big brands, the reason things fall flat for them is because it's like they want to ride the train, but they're not fully on board.

[00:42:30] Okay.

[00:42:30] So they're just kind of like riding the coattails of this trend because they think it's going to get them a lot of eyeballs, but they're not committed to the part.

[00:42:37] And so if you are going to try a trend like that, please just make the, you know, you're putting effort into it.

[00:42:45] So just make it a priority to try to execute it well.

[00:42:48] Okay.

[00:42:49] Well, knock, knock Vivian, trick or treat?

[00:42:51] Trick and treat.

[00:42:53] Both in the way.

[00:42:54] I feel like all of these were tricks and or treats, you know.

[00:42:59] Y'all, it's all about execution.

[00:43:01] If you're going to try to execute any marketing initiative, anything you try to do, you need to try to do it well.

[00:43:11] It's okay if you make mistakes.

[00:43:13] And I want to make that very clear.

[00:43:17] But giving like 80%, putting in 80% of the effort, not taking the time to actually figure something out could really hurt you.

[00:43:30] I mean, just look at DiGiorno.

[00:43:31] I'm never going to forget about that.

[00:43:32] I'm always going to think about that.

[00:43:34] You know what it, you know, I love using like analogies, right?

[00:43:37] Especially old school ones.

[00:43:39] It kind of be like you deciding to take a billboard out and spend all that money on a billboard.

[00:43:44] And then you're like, I'm just going to make my ad in clip art.

[00:43:48] Okay.

[00:43:49] There are examples of people doing that well.

[00:43:51] I mean, it could work.

[00:43:53] You do stand out if you do something like that.

[00:43:56] Well, no, they were looking for a graphic designer.

[00:43:58] Oh, and that's, I mean, well, there you go, right?

[00:44:01] It made sense for them.

[00:44:03] But to your point, I think for me, that's just like, if you're going to decide to do any type of marketing initiative, like you said, you're spending time on it.

[00:44:13] You might as well just try to execute it the best that you can.

[00:44:16] Okay, y'all.

[00:44:16] So this is a little bit of a different episode, but we hope you enjoyed it.

[00:44:20] I hope it made sense.

[00:44:21] I'm pretty sure it did.

[00:44:23] If you guys are listening on Apple Podcasts or any of those other places, if you're listening, please make sure that you are following us, that you're subscribed, that you've left a five-star review.

[00:44:37] All of that stuff really helps us get in front of other small business owners and go be the best SOB you can be.