From Storytelling to PR Trends: Katie Zeppieri's Branding Expertise

Brett: 00:00:00

And welcome to a new episode of Digital Coffee Marketing Brew,

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and I'm your host, Brett Deis.

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If you could please subscribe to this

podcast at all your favorite podcasting.

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Absolutely.

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Have a five star review.

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Really does help with the rankings.

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Let me know how I'm doing, but this

week we're gonna talk about branding.

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Mm, that's good.

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Brand strategies and brand, all

the things that brands need to

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understand to actually be well.

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Aware or people for, to be

aware of your brand because

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that's how we get some sales.

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If no one knows who you are and you

don't get any sales, but with me, I

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have Katie with me and she's a two time

TEDx speed speaker, author, social media

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influencer, media personality and founder

and chief brand strategist of the mic

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drop agency and award-winning agency.

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Fast growing boutique PR agency

and marketing firm specializing

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in brand amplification.

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For innovative companies and people.

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Mike Drops roster of clients range from

high growth tech startups to serial

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entrepreneurs to C-suite executives and

reality TV stars, including Netflix.

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Love is Blind Star, dip Beat,

I think I'm saying that right.

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And Kelly Chase, who together

have a combined total of over 1.4

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million followers.

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But welcome to the show, Katie.

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So much for having me, Brett.

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Yes.

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And the first question is, all my guests

is, are you a coffee or tea drinker?

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Katie Zeppieri: I am both, but I think

my first, cup in the morning is coffee.

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I.

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Brett: Any like specifics?

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Do you just do whatever's in front of

you or whatever's in the pot or you, are

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you like very specific on what you want?

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Katie Zeppieri: I am a big fan

of a company called Balza Coffee.

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It's big in Canada, Toronto area and

get that shipment direct to the door.

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So I'm particular about

this particular blend.

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I go back and forth.

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I'll drink my coffee black.

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If I'm out, I'll order a cappuccino.

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And then for tea, I'm a big fan of

matcha and love a good matcha latte.

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Brett: Nice.

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And I gave a brief

summary of your expertise.

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Can you give your listener my listers

a little bit more about what you do?

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I.

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Katie Zeppieri: I think it's really

important to know that I have come into

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the world of marketing and pr by accident.

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Like I, I did study radio and television

broadcasting in school, but I never

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thought that I would be a publicist.

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I never thought that

I would be a marketer.

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In fact, I was really pursuing on air

roles at the time, but I quickly realized

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that I had a, an entrepreneurial spirit.

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After university started my

first business worked in youth

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leadership for quite some time.

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That was where my first businesses were.

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But over the course of a decade, what

I was actually doing, and I didn't

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realize in addition to working on

these causes that I was passionate

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about, was building a personal brand.

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I was speaking, I, at 22 I submitted an

application for the TED Worldwide Talent

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search and got selected and flown out

to Vancouver to give my first TEDx talk.

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At 22 that was a pretty big deal.

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I self-published two books.

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I pitched myself for media opportunities.

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I became a regular on a

Toronto radio station.

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So all along the way I was

building a personal brand and I

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didn't recognize it, and it's only

been within the last few years.

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And that I realized that the

expertise that I had gained could

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be applied to brands and people.

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And so the Mic Drop agency was

started just in November,: 2021

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And it's been a fun, fun couple years.

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Brett: So you did the opposite of me.

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I actually got a PR degree and

was trying to actually do PR and

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then I switched to podcasting.

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And you did the opposite of what I

just did, which we switched Brett.

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Anyways.

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Can you explain the fundamental

differences between brand strategy

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and brand amplification and why both

are crucial for business success?

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Katie Zeppieri: Yes, so I recently

read a book called Good Strategy,

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bad Strategy, and it made me

realize that we think about strategy

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almost as the same thing as a goal.

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It's not, goals are where you wanna

be, strategy is how you get there.

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So the strategy is

almost like your roadmap.

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If I follow the strategic plan,

it's gonna help me achieve my goals.

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That's how you should

think about brand strategy.

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What are my goals for my brand is

one category, but just having goals

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for your brand is not a strategy.

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You need to actually say,

here's how I'm gonna get there.

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Here are the steps that I'm gonna take.

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Brand amplification.

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Is, how do you get people, ideally

your target market to know about

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you, to know about your brand?

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There's a wide variety of ways to do that.

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PR is so much more than just radio

and tv, although that's part of it.

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There's podcasts, there's blogs,

there's social media, there's

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so many different elements.

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Speaking.

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These are all ways that you

can build brand awareness.

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Brett: And talking a little bit

about data, how do you actually like.

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Tell your boss what you're doing,

because a lot of times PR is not

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really data driven or tries to be

data driven, but it's hard to actually

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quantify the data because if it's

just awareness, I can be aware of a

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brand, but do I care about a brand?

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Probably not most of the time.

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Katie Zeppieri: Yeah, It's so true.

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It's one of those industries

you see so many memes online of

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everybody thinks that they can tell.

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Marketers what to do.

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Everybody thinks that they have

expertise in marketing, right?

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It's oh, we just need to post

this, or have you tried this meme?

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So it's really easy, I think for a

marketing professional to sometimes feel

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like the job can be a bit thankless.

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And it's also something where I

think, if you start showing, oh,

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here are the impressions this

post got, or Here's what this got.

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People roll their eyes

at those metrics, right?

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It's okay, what does that mean?

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So my best advice.

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Is as best as you can possibly do.

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So always try to tie.

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Some of the metrics that you're

tracking to the fundamental goals

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of the company, fundamental goals

of the company is to make sales.

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That's period, right?

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So you're not always gonna be able to

have a direct path to showing that, but

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there's certain things that you can do.

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For instance, the day that you put out

a press release, what were the traffic

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numbers to your website on that day?

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What were the number of.

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Clicks to the book a demo button

or to the contact us button.

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There's certain things that you can

do in steps that you can take that

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can help try to tell a story of how

the various efforts that you're making

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are helping the brand stand out.

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And I really think it's a narrative play.

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You have some numbers, but I think in

your meetings and update conversations

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with your client or with your manager, I

think you also need to show, here's how

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we got here's how I think our efforts have

contributed to this sale or this success.

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Brett: So it's like thinking a little bit

about marketing, but also like specific

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things to the awareness tied to it,

because I think that's where we get stuck.

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It's how do I quantify awareness?

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And it's like you have to do

really specific things to quantify

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that part of the awareness,

or it's just what did you do?

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I brought awareness and your boss is okay.

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Did that help sales?

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Did that help bring me new,

more people to my newsletter?

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What is that?

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Katie Zeppieri: Yes.

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Track as much as you possibly can,

because sometimes marketers can

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get a reputation of maybe being,

it's, people say it's fluffy.

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Like it's fluffy what you're

doing, and we know it's not fluffy.

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It contributes and there's so many things

that you can't quantify that's like this.

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This essence of people talking about

your brand and having conversations

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that you're not even aware of about your

brand, but as much as you possibly can do.

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And there are so many different tools

that you can use, starting just with

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the analytics on your social pages,

starting with the analytics on, the press

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releases that you're sending, the blogs,

like who's reading it, who's clicking,

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like all of those are the details.

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Wherever you can pull a number,

Brett, you should, because it shows

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that you're paying attention to how

this is impacting fundamentally.

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Overall growth of the company.

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Brett: And what are some of the first

steps for startups should take when

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developing a brand strategy from scratch?

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Katie Zeppieri: So in order to create

a really good brand strategy, you

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first need to know where you're going.

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And look, it sounds simple but one of the

first things that we'll do with some of

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the startup clients that we work with is

what is the problem that you are solving?

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Fundamentally, what is the problem

that you are solving and who is

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going to benefit from this solution?

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Like you need to go right down to the very

basics to help understand who's the target

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market for this, because you can't start

to set some goals for your brand until

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you know what's the problem I'm solving.

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Who's gonna benefit from this solution?

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Who's gonna be willing

to pay for this solution?

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Then from there you can

set some brand goals.

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Okay, what do we wanna achieve

in the next year for startups?

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Maybe you're thinking about

your next investment raise.

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You're thinking about hitting your

first 50 customers, you're thinking

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about so many different things for

larger brands, maybe it's like a

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sales figure number, like what are

some of the brand goals that we have?

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And then from there you can.

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Start to put together a strategy.

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So from like a marketing perspective,

looking at the channels that you're

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going to use that are gonna help

you make progress on those goals.

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And those channels are

different for everybody.

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Whether you're B2B or B2C, there's

different channels that you

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should look at, consider and use.

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So you wanna make sure that it's really

specific on who you're targeting.

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What do they care about?

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What platforms are they on?

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What are they reading?

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Where do they go?

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What kind of form of content do they like?

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Long form, short

combination, like what is it?

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Help understand that

target market really well.

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Only then can you really start to

break down here are the strategic

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steps we're gonna take this year.

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Brett: And for the difference

is for like B2B, would it be

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like LinkedIn and maybe X?

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'cause X does have some value to it,

but would it be that for those brand

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channels for you to communicate?

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Because B2B, Facebook, you could do

it depending on your customers, but a

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lot of that is more B2C and LinkedIn

is very focused on the B2B aspect.

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Most of their, I think I recently saw the

hat an ad for them, and it was about B2B.

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Katie Zeppieri: Yeah, exactly.

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That's exactly right.

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B2B, you need to pay

attention to your industry.

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For instance, we have some clients

in the construction tech space.

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LinkedIn is one of the most popular

channels that they're using.

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We look at what.

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Publications they're reading, what

do people in the construction space

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care about and wanna read to stay

up to date on future transits?

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All of those things for our reality

TV star clients, one of which wrote a

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book, was selling direct to consumer.

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She's using Instagram and TikTok.

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Those are her primary channels,

and there's a little bit of a

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different approach that you're

gonna have to each of those with

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B2B, it's very thought leadership

heavy, and what I mean by that is.

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You have to often educate, especially

if you're creating like a new tech

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that people don't know what it

is or how this is gonna help me.

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You're creating a new category.

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There's a certain amount of explanation

that you're gonna need to do in

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educating as part of your marketing.

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So that's one, approach.

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Whereas direct to consumer, it's I.

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How do I create a FOMO effect in

the case of this book launch where

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everybody's gonna wanna read this

book, there's juicy details, other

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influencers that people look up to

and admire in this target market are

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posting about the book, sharing about it.

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There's, really glitzy glam launch events.

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You have different goals for

different groups and you need to

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pick the platforms that matter.

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Brett: And for me, with using LinkedIn,

I've had people come to me for.

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Testing out their products.

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So is it good to find

those first adopters?

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Because the first adopters,

especially when you're talking

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about tech, is everything.

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'cause if you don't have those

first adopters, it's hard to

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get moving in the direction.

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Obviously you have to go eventually

beyond the first adopters, but.

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Is it better to find those through

LinkedIn than anywhere else?

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If you're, if we're speaking

about tech specifically,

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Katie Zeppieri: so tech specifically, I

think look, yeah, you're exactly right.

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Finding those first couple early

adopters users are key because

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what that's gonna help do for you

is validate product market fit.

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What that means is the product

that you are offering is a fit

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for the market need, and they are

willing to pay for said thing.

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This again, sounds simple, but it's not.

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It's actually really

difficult to try to find that.

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Sometimes companies will build this

really cool tech and they think, oh,

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this is perfect for one industry.

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But when they actually go start

testing and having these conversations,

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they're like no, actually,

like we wouldn't pay for this.

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And they realize actually maybe

their tech could just be adjusted

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to solve a problem, a similar

problem for a different industry.

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So there's like a whole back

and forth thing that happens,

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but I think the best place.

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To actually get your early

adopters is through picking up

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the phone and or attending events

where the crowd is going to be.

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I, I'm a huge advocate for

experiences, live events.

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You need to have

conversations with people.

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You need to hear an interview.

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A big part of what we'll do,

even at our agency is helping

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companies do discovery calls.

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With their target market, you

have to ask them questions.

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What does their daily workflow look like?

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What are the tools that

should they're using?

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How do they, how does their company

make decisions about what new IT

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products they're gonna bring on board?

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Like all of those sorts of

pieces are critical to understand

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you can make better decisions.

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And you need that real time feedback.

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So I think.

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You would do all of those steps before

you start scaling, which I'd consider like

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sure, maybe LinkedIn you use to connect

with people and book call with them.

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But you're gonna learn so much

more from those conversations.

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And then you can scale with some of

your other content, ma marketing and

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other marketing efforts beyond that.

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Brett: Yeah.

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And specifically if you go to

events, you're actually going to

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events where people care about the

industry you're in for the most part.

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There's always a few of 'em that don't

really care, but Mo, for the majority

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of them, they actually do care.

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Katie Zeppieri: Yeah.

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They're there to learn.

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And especially like a lot of these

like industry tech conferences, I.

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People wanna know what's next,

what's the latest in InsureTech?

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What's the latest in climate tech like?

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They're there to see what's cutting

edge, and it can be a really good spot

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to talk to people who can give you

feedback and insights that'll help you

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grow and market your product better.

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Brett: And what does the

role of storytelling play in

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effective brand amplification?

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Because we've all heard

about tell your story.

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It's a story.

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I think for the past, like 10 years,

I think I've gotten tired of hearing

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about telling your story, but I get the

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Katie Zeppieri: power

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Brett: of it.

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Katie Zeppieri: Storytelling is

essential and it's interesting

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because this has been a part of.

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Human experience since

the donna time, right?

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We tell stories, we learn about

the world through storytelling and

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marketing and PR and comms are a

way to channel that for brands.

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And what I mean by that is I.

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People aren't just going to care about

your product or service, you're going to

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have to bring them into a story that they

can care about and get excited about.

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And that's the story of perhaps

why the company was created, why

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it was founded, why it matters.

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For instance, some of

our clients who like.

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Have been in the industry themselves,

experienced a pain firsthand.

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It's not like they're just

like, some person outta college

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who just had an idea of tech.

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They've actually been in the

industry, experienced a problem

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and built the solution for it.

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That's a compelling story.

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When that person gets on a stage to

talk to their peers, they have so

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much credibility because it's like.

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They have experienced this, so that's

why they're creating the solution.

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So yeah, I think like

storytelling and approach.

316

: 00:15:15

And there's a really great book.

317

: 00:15:17

It's a podcast all about

building a story brand.

318

: 00:15:21

And that's what the book's

called by Donald Miller.

319

: 00:15:23

And the idea here is you as

the business are not the hero.

320

: 00:15:28

Of the story.

321

: 00:15:29

You're not, the customer

is the hero of the story.

322

: 00:15:32

You're the guide.

323

: 00:15:34

So the hero goes about their journey.

324

: 00:15:36

They have a place that they wanna be.

325

: 00:15:38

They wanna do work faster, they wanna

be more efficient, they whatever

326

: 00:15:41

their goal is, somewhere along the

way, they experience a problem.

327

: 00:15:44

Too many manual tasks,

whatever it might be.

328

: 00:15:46

You're the guide.

329

: 00:15:48

You're the wizard who shows up

partway through on this hero's

330

: 00:15:52

journey, and you help that person

get to where they want to go.

331

: 00:15:56

That's how we should

think about storytelling.

332

: 00:15:58

How do we pull in our customers?

333

: 00:16:00

Make them feel like they

are the hero of this story.

334

: 00:16:03

We have built this solution.

335

: 00:16:04

We have done this thing for them to

help them get to where they wanna be.

336

: 00:16:09

Brett: And how can businesses

leverage this podcast?

337

: 00:16:12

Because, from my understanding of

being a PR person and being a podcaster

338

: 00:16:16

myself, a lot of marketers don't really

understand the power of podcasting

339

: 00:16:20

or even the metrics themselves.

340

: 00:16:22

To be fair, podcast

metrics are pretty awful.

341

: 00:16:24

So they're not wrong about it.

342

: 00:16:26

They're not that great yet, but.

343

: 00:16:28

How can they leverage all of the

opportunities that podcasting gives?

344

: 00:16:32

'cause you can turn your podcast

into a blog, into video, into

345

: 00:16:35

audiograms, and a lot more.

346

: 00:16:38

Katie Zeppieri: Yeah.

347

: 00:16:39

A few things I'll say about podcasts.

348

: 00:16:40

Podcasts are.

349

: 00:16:42

Essential to a good PR strategy.

350

: 00:16:44

We have had clients that we have booked

on podcasts who have gotten a seven figure

351

: 00:16:49

deal from that podcast that they were on,

and we've been able to point back to that.

352

: 00:16:54

Why?

353

: 00:16:55

Because they need to be

on the right podcast.

354

: 00:16:57

They need to be on the podcast that

their target audience is listening to.

355

: 00:17:00

It's not just any podcast, right?

356

: 00:17:02

So for instance, if we book a client

on a general entrepreneurship podcast.

357

: 00:17:06

We're not expecting that to turn

into sales if they're building

358

: 00:17:09

like a climate tech product, right?

359

: 00:17:11

Because it's an entrepreneur podcast,

people are listening for advice

360

: 00:17:13

about entrepreneurship, but it

might help with some other marketing

361

: 00:17:16

goals, general brand awareness.

362

: 00:17:19

But fundamentally, if we want them to sell

that product, we're gonna need to book

363

: 00:17:22

them on the types of podcasts that people

that they're selling to would listen to.

364

: 00:17:28

So there's like a real strategy to picking

the right podcasts based on your goals.

365

: 00:17:32

The second thing, which you brought

up, Brett, is an excellent point.

366

: 00:17:35

It's so much more than

just this interview.

367

: 00:17:38

This interview on a podcast is the long

form content, but from this, you're

368

: 00:17:42

gonna get bite-sized videos, clips,

audiograms, photos, so much more.

369

: 00:17:46

Content Marketing is king, right?

370

: 00:17:49

Content marketing is how brands

get to tell their story again

371

: 00:17:55

and again in different ways.

372

: 00:17:57

So you showing up and keeping top of

mind in people's feeds and online.

373

: 00:18:01

If they search your company, they

could maybe watch these clips to

374

: 00:18:04

learn a little bit more about you.

375

: 00:18:05

So it can help in the

buying process that way.

376

: 00:18:07

Huge value.

377

: 00:18:08

And the last thing I'll

say, I'm a podcaster myself.

378

: 00:18:11

I have a marketing podcast.

379

: 00:18:12

I interview people who

have built notable brands.

380

: 00:18:14

One of my latest clients that

we just signed at Mic Drop

381

: 00:18:17

was a guest on my podcast.

382

: 00:18:19

So there's another way of

thinking about podcast too.

383

: 00:18:21

It's not always about having a million

impressions, but or listeners, but it's

384

: 00:18:26

also, who am I interviewing on this

podcast that I wanna add to my network?

385

: 00:18:30

That's a really strategic way of

thinking about podcasting too, is

386

: 00:18:33

building your network with the types

of people that you wanna engage with.

387

: 00:18:38

Brett: And what are some of the

common mistakes companies make when

388

: 00:18:41

trying to amplify their brands?

389

: 00:18:42

We talked about the positives about it,

but what can they avoid with doing it?

390

: 00:18:46

'cause everybody has that idea, that

goal or that strategy of I'm gonna

391

: 00:18:50

do this, then all of a sudden it's

that didn't work out very well.

392

: 00:18:54

Katie Zeppieri: Ah, a couple

mistakes that come to mind.

393

: 00:18:56

I think expecting immediate

results is probably one of them.

394

: 00:18:59

Like organic marketing takes.

395

: 00:19:02

Time and not everybody wants to hear that.

396

: 00:19:06

It's not like you're gonna post

two blog posts this month and

397

: 00:19:09

you're gonna skyrocket your website

traffic and get, 40 book demos.

398

: 00:19:13

It's just not gonna happen from that.

399

: 00:19:15

Is it important to do though?

400

: 00:19:16

Yes, because it ties to

this larger strategy.

401

: 00:19:20

It's building your digital

footprint, building brand awareness.

402

: 00:19:23

It's like compounding interest.

403

: 00:19:25

It take, it takes time, right?

404

: 00:19:27

You have to start building with the root

and then it builds and grows from there.

405

: 00:19:31

So that's a big mistake that I've

seen and I think as marketers.

406

: 00:19:34

We need to be very honest

with clients about this.

407

: 00:19:37

We need to say Hey, here are the things

that are really important for us to

408

: 00:19:40

do right now that are foundational

pieces, but they're gonna take time

409

: 00:19:44

to see full results from, it's gonna

take 12 to 24 plus months to start

410

: 00:19:48

seeing some real results from this.

411

: 00:19:49

But here are some other.

412

: 00:19:51

Marketing tactics that we could

do that's gonna help provide

413

: 00:19:56

quick short term results.

414

: 00:19:58

And for instance, that could be

things like paid ads or events, right?

415

: 00:20:03

Getting in at events, at trade shows,

and actually meeting you can walk away

416

: 00:20:06

with a great leads list from that.

417

: 00:20:08

Much more quickly than you

can from building a leads

418

: 00:20:11

list, just from posting blogs.

419

: 00:20:13

So I think breaking it down for the

client to help them understand why

420

: 00:20:16

they're doing certain activities and

giving them, the one two punch, something

421

: 00:20:21

that's like long-term and sustaining

for growth, but also the things that

422

: 00:20:25

are gonna offer immediate value.

423

: 00:20:28

Brett: And how can you do that

with being budget conscious?

424

: 00:20:31

Because right now, I mean we all

know everything is expensive.

425

: 00:20:34

So when businesses are like really

starting to tighten the belt,

426

: 00:20:37

and unfortunately when businesses

do that, guess what goes first?

427

: 00:20:40

It's always the marketing and PR

budgets that gets slashed pretty hard.

428

: 00:20:44

So how can you do that with being

like really cost effective with.

429

: 00:20:49

Showing results.

430

: 00:20:50

Katie Zeppieri: You're right.

431

: 00:20:51

And some of the startups that we work

with are bootstrapped many of them are

432

: 00:20:55

venture funded, but some are bootstrapped.

433

: 00:20:56

They're just operating with kind

of what they have coming in the

434

: 00:20:59

door and building upon that.

435

: 00:21:00

So I think, look, as a marketer to

be a good marketer, you need to be

436

: 00:21:04

scrappy and you need to be nimble.

437

: 00:21:06

And you need to understand

where your company is, where

438

: 00:21:09

your client is in the process.

439

: 00:21:11

If they're in a position where the budget

is so tight that they can only really

440

: 00:21:15

invest in one to two marketing channels,

then I would not start with the long.

441

: 00:21:20

Term build for 12 to 24 months because

the company might not have 24 months,

442

: 00:21:26

they might run out of runway by that.

443

: 00:21:28

That point they might

not have reached sales.

444

: 00:21:31

I would instead focus on

those quick turnaround.

445

: 00:21:34

How can I get as many leads as possible

top of funnel and just pick one to two

446

: 00:21:39

marketing strategies that you feel.

447

: 00:21:41

Confident, everything's a bit of a

hypothesis, but that you feel confident

448

: 00:21:45

is going to drive leads to top of

funnel so that they can make sales so

449

: 00:21:50

that they can invest then in, in the

marketing, larger marketing budget.

450

: 00:21:54

Brett: And how can personal branding

strategies be integrated into a company's

451

: 00:21:58

overall brand amplification efforts?

452

: 00:22:00

And especially for thought

leaders and executives?

453

: 00:22:03

Because, it goes hand in hand,

even though, like you said,

454

: 00:22:06

we're not the hero of the story.

455

: 00:22:08

We have to interject ourselves

into it a lot of times.

456

: 00:22:10

Especially if you are the

founder of the company,

457

: 00:22:12

Katie Zeppieri: right?

458

: 00:22:13

Yes.

459

: 00:22:13

Personal branding.

460

: 00:22:15

Is essential for companies to be leaning

into because you don't just connect with.

461

: 00:22:21

A brand in and of itself anymore, you

wanna know the person behind it, the

462

: 00:22:26

founder behind it, the story behind it,

the people behind it there's other ways

463

: 00:22:30

of doing this too, for direct to consumer.

464

: 00:22:32

They'll pick influencers.

465

: 00:22:33

Oftentimes, sometimes you'll see

the face of the company, but they'll

466

: 00:22:36

also pick the influencers who they

feel tell the right story about

467

: 00:22:39

their particular product or brand.

468

: 00:22:41

So personal branding, every single person.

469

: 00:22:44

Who has a job and is working

on building their career

470

: 00:22:48

business, has a personal brand.

471

: 00:22:50

And essentially how I define it

is what someone would say about

472

: 00:22:54

you if you weren't in the room.

473

: 00:22:56

So what are the skills that you have?

474

: 00:22:59

What are your talents?

475

: 00:23:00

What's your work ethic?

476

: 00:23:02

What's your style?

477

: 00:23:03

All of those things are

your personal brand.

478

: 00:23:05

And so I really think we wanna

encourage everyone to lean into that.

479

: 00:23:10

The clients that we work with.

480

: 00:23:11

We'll profile their founders.

481

: 00:23:13

We wanna know about their story, their

why, how they got here, how they found

482

: 00:23:17

this problem that they wanted to solve.

483

: 00:23:19

Why they feel like their

solution is the right one.

484

: 00:23:21

We profile that founder and

we don't only post about their

485

: 00:23:25

career and their business, we also

profile them as people 'cause.

486

: 00:23:29

People wanna connect with other people.

487

: 00:23:30

So one of our clients, for instance,

who's built several tech companies he also

488

: 00:23:34

flies planes and, flies himself to events.

489

: 00:23:38

Super cool.

490

: 00:23:39

We put up lots of content of him in

his plane views from out the window,

491

: 00:23:44

talking about his journey as a pilot,

lessons that he is learned from

492

: 00:23:46

being a pilot that could tie to his.

493

: 00:23:49

Tied to his business and entrepreneurship

mindset, those are the interesting

494

: 00:23:53

stories that help add so much color

and texture to who you are and

495

: 00:23:56

fundamentally make people connect with

you and wanna do business with you.

496

: 00:24:00

Brett: And how do pr pros like

guide those founders that want

497

: 00:24:05

to be thought leaders or are risk

aversions so they don't wanna do it?

498

: 00:24:09

Because unfortunately in this climate,

sometimes if you say the wrong thing.

499

: 00:24:14

There goes your business sometimes,

or at least you lose a lot of,

500

: 00:24:17

you could lose a lot of sales.

501

: 00:24:18

So how do you guide them through that?

502

: 00:24:20

Because it is a little scary

if you put yourself out there.

503

: 00:24:24

Something could happen.

504

: 00:24:25

Unfortunately,

505

: 00:24:26

Katie Zeppieri: it's true.

506

: 00:24:26

And I think, look, it's

important to remember.

507

: 00:24:29

So on the one hand, we'll sometimes come

across executives, founders who just don't

508

: 00:24:34

feel comfortable being in the spotlight.

509

: 00:24:35

And there's kind of two

ways to address that.

510

: 00:24:37

Like either one, we pick someone

else in the company who's gonna

511

: 00:24:41

be more of the spokesperson and

who we feel can help really tell

512

: 00:24:44

the story of and brand message.

513

: 00:24:46

But two, the other thing, another

way to look at it is it's not.

514

: 00:24:50

Just about look at me.

515

: 00:24:52

In fact, good personal branding

shouldn't be, look at me.

516

: 00:24:55

It should be you pointing

to something else.

517

: 00:24:58

So when you start to think about

personal branding as idea sharing, I.

518

: 00:25:02

It's not, Hey, look at me.

519

: 00:25:04

I'm so great.

520

: 00:25:04

No.

521

: 00:25:05

It's like I'm gonna share something

with you that might have the ability

522

: 00:25:08

to impact the future of your business.

523

: 00:25:10

I'm gonna share something that I learned

that helped me, that could help you.

524

: 00:25:13

Now it's like idea sharing.

525

: 00:25:14

So it starts to pull it away

from, I'm this star, to no, I'm

526

: 00:25:18

just a person showing up as me.

527

: 00:25:20

They should be as, fun, authentic

as possible and offering new

528

: 00:25:24

ideas for other individuals who.

529

: 00:25:28

Just feel a bit nervous about putting

themselves out there for fear of

530

: 00:25:31

criticism or saying the wrong thing.

531

: 00:25:33

I think it's really important to have

somebody on your team that you do.

532

: 00:25:37

Run by some of the content

that you're hoping to post.

533

: 00:25:40

Like ideally it's a comms

marketing professional.

534

: 00:25:43

But even just having another set of

eyes on the content that you're posting.

535

: 00:25:46

And that's why I think it's important,

the work that we're doing with startups

536

: 00:25:49

not that the founders couldn't be doing

this themselves, but one, it takes time.

537

: 00:25:54

Two, you need to build a good strategy for

what personal branding is gonna look like.

538

: 00:25:57

And three, you wanna make sure that

somebody's looking at the messaging that's

539

: 00:26:00

going out with a bit of a critical eye.

540

: 00:26:02

And trying to see it from the

aspect of, okay, like what

541

: 00:26:05

messages are we communicating here?

542

: 00:26:07

Is that in alignment with what we want

people to know about our brand and

543

: 00:26:09

making recommendations based on that.

544

: 00:26:13

Brett: And what should PR pros be looking

at for the emerging trends on brand

545

: 00:26:16

strategies and brand amplifications?

546

: 00:26:19

Because there's always

new trends coming out.

547

: 00:26:22

And should they just stick to the

basics or should they be on the

548

: 00:26:25

lookout for these new emerging

trends that could actually, I.

549

: 00:26:29

Be worthwhile,

550

: 00:26:30

Katie Zeppieri: I think to be a good

marketer, you want to leverage your

551

: 00:26:34

past experience of what has worked

well, but you should also be keeping

552

: 00:26:38

an eye to what's new and coming

because things change overnight.

553

: 00:26:43

Algorithms change.

554

: 00:26:44

Google recently deprioritized

generative AI content.

555

: 00:26:48

That was a big change.

556

: 00:26:49

For the first advent of chat, GPT.

557

: 00:26:51

There were companies just pumping out,

50 blogs a month that were completely

558

: 00:26:55

AI generated and putting them up on

their website and, oh, this is perfect.

559

: 00:26:58

This is gonna help us with our SEO.

560

: 00:26:59

Now like Google and other search

engines are deprioritizing that content.

561

: 00:27:03

They can actually tell this

is completely AI generated.

562

: 00:27:05

They're pushing you lower on the results.

563

: 00:27:07

So there's things like that.

564

: 00:27:08

There's things happening big changes

that happen to platforms, new

565

: 00:27:13

features, new ways to use tools, right?

566

: 00:27:16

LinkedIn went from being.

567

: 00:27:18

Pretty basic in terms of what they

offered from a posting strategy.

568

: 00:27:21

Now they've got some form of almost

like an Instagram reels, where

569

: 00:27:24

it's a lot of vertical video.

570

: 00:27:26

You can click on a specific tab and you

can actually scroll through a bunch of

571

: 00:27:29

video after video, which is something new.

572

: 00:27:31

They've got their carousel

posts, the swipe throughs, but

573

: 00:27:34

it's different from Instagram.

574

: 00:27:36

In the sense that on LinkedIn you upload

it as a PDF and if somebody's looking

575

: 00:27:41

at that document on their desktop, they

can actually click to download that PDF.

576

: 00:27:45

So it's like a really

good lead magnet tool.

577

: 00:27:47

These are things to be aware.

578

: 00:27:48

So I recommend spending a

little bit of time setting up.

579

: 00:27:53

Sort of your notifications.

580

: 00:27:55

I think setting relevant Google

alerts first for your clients, the

581

: 00:27:58

customers, their industries, but

two, just like digital marketing

582

: 00:28:01

trends and other kind of key terms

that'll help you stay up to date.

583

: 00:28:05

I think do some searching on these

social platforms to see who are

584

: 00:28:10

some really important thought

leaders about marketing, pr.

585

: 00:28:14

Maybe they have newsletters,

maybe they have podcasts, right?

586

: 00:28:16

These are places that you should.

587

: 00:28:18

Dial into, subscribe to follow

along so that you're always

588

: 00:28:22

hearing about new upcoming things.

589

: 00:28:24

And then really it's up to you.

590

: 00:28:26

Like not every new thing is gonna be a

fit for your client or for what you're

591

: 00:28:30

working on, but you should at least

know what's out there and be making, key

592

: 00:28:34

decisions around what you're choosing and

what you're recommending to do and why.

593

: 00:28:40

Brett: Got you.

594

: 00:28:40

And people are listening to this

episode and wondering where can

595

: 00:28:43

they find you online to learn more?

596

: 00:28:45

Katie Zeppieri: Yes.

597

: 00:28:46

So the mic drop agency.com

598

: 00:28:48

is our site.

599

: 00:28:49

You can also find me on social.

600

: 00:28:51

I'm on LinkedIn and Instagram the most.

601

: 00:28:53

Also starting up TikTok

and getting back onto X.

602

: 00:28:56

It's just my first and

last name, Katie, Zapier.

603

: 00:29:00

Brett: Gotcha.

604

: 00:29:00

Any final thoughts for the listeners?

605

: 00:29:02

Katie Zeppieri: Thanks so much

for this conversation, Brett.

606

: 00:29:04

My encouragement to marketing and PR pros

and comms professionals out there is just

607

: 00:29:09

to say kudos for the work that you do.

608

: 00:29:11

I know that sometimes it can feel

thankless and it's hard to maybe always,

609

: 00:29:17

remember the successes that you're

having and things are always moving a

610

: 00:29:20

mile a minute, so it's hard to keep up.

611

: 00:29:23

My recommendation to you is to keep

a little folder or a little document

612

: 00:29:26

of your wins moments where you've

had good wins for a client, something

613

: 00:29:31

that was very successful, a campaign.

614

: 00:29:32

That was great.

615

: 00:29:33

Have a little folder of wins.

616

: 00:29:35

A document where you create hyperlinks

of stuff that you're really proud of,

617

: 00:29:38

that you can go back to, you can go

back to for future job interviews,

618

: 00:29:41

you can go back to on a bad day.

619

: 00:29:43

And you can reference in future

client conversations when you're

620

: 00:29:47

looking for experience based on

what's worked well in the past.

621

: 00:29:51

Brett: Alright.

622

: 00:29:51

Thank you Kitty for joining Digital Coffee

Marketing Brew, and sharing your knowledge

623

: 00:29:55

on brand strategy and brand amplification.

624

: 00:29:59

Katie Zeppieri: This was awesome,

625

: 00:29:59

Brett: Brett.

626

: 00:30:00

Katie Zeppieri: Thanks for having

627

: 00:30:00

Brett: me, and thank you for listening.

628

: 00:30:02

As always, please subscribe to this

podcast on all your favorite podcasting

629

: 00:30:05

through the five star review.

630

: 00:30:06

It really does help with the rankings.

631

: 00:30:08

Let me know how I'm doing.

632

: 00:30:10

And join me next week as I talk

to another great thought leader

633

: 00:30:13

in the PR and marketing industry.

634

: 00:30:15

All right, guys.

635

: 00:30:16

Stay safe, get to understanding your

brand strategy and brand amplification

636

: 00:30:20

and get rolling on that if you can.

637

: 00:30:22

And see you next week later.