How do you stay top of mind with your audience?

Pic from CafeMom

This is a question all small business people should be asking all the time.  In this world of social media everything moves more quickly than ever and it seems we have only seconds to catch someones attention and get them to take some action.  But before they can do that we need to get out in front.

It was almost impossible the past couple of weeks not to hear about the shocking performance by Miley Cyrus at the MTV video music awards where she stripped down to nude colored underwear and danced or “Twerked” on stage all while doing some lewd gestures with a foam finger.  Despite how any of us would judge her, she sure has staying top of mind for the past two weeks!   Has this hurt her career – I think not.  She will recover and continue to stay top of mind because she know how to do just that!  Lady Gaga is another celebrity example of knowing hot to stay top of mind with her tweets, posts and other awe inspiring efforts to be memorable.

Consistency – Consistency – Consistency

We aren’t rock stars, but there are some takeaways we can learn from these examples?

1. – They are consistent with their media exposure

2. – They are pushing their message out to their audience all the time

So how can you be consistent in your brand messaging?  Well, to start with if you are using social media you need a plan.  Having a plan forces you to be consistent such as knowing what you are blogging about this week, the tweets you are planning to share as well as the posts to your other social sites. All of your activities can be organized on a simple calendar so you know messaging is being put out every day.

The more your audience sees you, the more they become familiar with you and your brand message.

Tips for putting out good content people will read and follow

1. Mix up the content of your posts

2. Content should educate first

3.  Share other people’s articles that support your brand ie; news articles

4. Rule of thumb 2 out of 3 posts should educate vs self-promote

So Miley Cyrus’  outrageous  routine might have gotten her negative press, but think about it this way…. it also put her back in the spotlight in the way few other things could.  Her performance that evening quickly became the most tweeted event ever, with a reported  360,000 tweets a minute.

Want to weigh in on this?  I’d love your comments below: