I'm Lisa.👋 Every two weeks, I write to you about marketing, brand, and the messy middle where they intersect. It’s a love letter of sorts. If this was forwarded to you, subscribe here.

January 13, 2023

When I set my intentions for 2023, I knew I needed help and to surround myself with smart people. So, I joined a new community. 

And that's when I remembered that being the new person is intimidating.

Sure, you join over a common goal, but there’s an initial language barrier. An accent of familiarity exists in the stories you weren’t around for and the jargon you don’t yet understand. 

Into & Overit is its own kind of group.

Maybe you’ve been here since the beginning. Perhaps you’ve just joined. If you’re new, you don't know our inside jokes, the campaigns we’ve loved, and all the times we've talked about Monopoly. 

[The Into & Overit archives make it easy to get caught up.] 

But that’s the thing with audiences. People jump in and out unnoticed. We don't know who walks alongside us and how long they've been there. We can’t assume they have our historical knowledge. 

Reintroduce yourself to your audience. Today. And again in a few months.

Remind people what you do.

Your audience isn't thinking about you until they need you. That's the brutal truth. Remind them who you are, whom you help, and how. Do this regularly so that when they need you, they remember.  

• Incorporate your brand story into everyday messaging.
• Talk about your products and new offerings without assuming they know. 
• Highlight your expertise by sharing past wins.
• Revisit fun brand moments they may have missed.
• Remind them of the rules of your community. What you allow and what you do not. 

Starting the year with reintroductions is helpful for people just hopping on and for longtime friends who could use a reminder. Do it as 2023 gets underway AND throughout the year, so they don't forget. 

⚡If you’re unsure what to say when introducing yourself, start the year with a brand positioning workshop. 

Reshare your best practices.

Best practice content gets a bad rap. We let them sit in our archives to collect dust because we think it’s too basic or not interesting enough for anyone to care. 

But we're not all experts. Many of us are just starting. We are jumping into AI, photography or are looking to improve our health and are still determining where to begin. Reshare your 101 and best practice content to make that start easier. 

Your best practice content provides a proven way to achieve a desired outcome. It might not be the latest tips and tricks, but if you follow the recipe, you’ll get an edible muffin.

Regularly reshare this content to keep it visible to those who may have missed it the first time or would benefit from a refresher. 

Update it to include new findings and developments. Repackage whitepapers into blogs and blogs into infographics and videos to make them as consumable and digestible as possible. There will always be more beginners than experts.

Reignite your most provocative content.

I don’t form new friends often (is it me? 😬), but in those moments when I meet someone made from my same ingredients, I wish I had a highlight reel of my life. 

A concise compilation of my highest highs and my lowest lows. An ICYMI to know someone better and faster. 

Go into your archives and reignite your most popular content, most controversial posts, and the flagship pieces that put your brand on the map. Build your brand's highlight reel to help new customers feel like long-time fans. 

We used to call this a Sneeze Page. Position it prominently on your site and build campaigns around it to act as a jumping-off point for new eyes.

Remind people how else they can connect.

You are a credit union that hosts a financial literacy podcast. You are a healthcare organization that holds wellness events. You’re an online education platform with new programming coming out this year. 

Make sure people know all the ways they can connect with you.

We shy away from this. Either because we don’t want to “oversell,” or we assume people saw the one email we sent three years ago when we launched that podcast or new pest service.  

Maybe they did. But do you know how much other stuff is clogging their brains after the last three years? 

Talk about it again. Remind them.

                                                      * * * *

Your audience is a living, breathing, and growing entity. It changes every day, and so does your brand. 

Get comfortable reintroducing yourself to ensure your audience knows who you are, how you can help them, and how they can take it further.

Repeating it helps you remember, too.

How can you support Into & Overit?

If you like the content in this newsletter:

• Forward it to a friend and ask them to sign up.
• Share it on social media and tag me!
• Say hello by hitting reply. I love it when you do that.

Here are some interesting reads for the week:

• "Maybe I'll never feel that motivated again": Sarah Wachter-Boettcher discusses how our relationship with work has changed and how we must find new goals to break us out of our malaise. 
• Overit’s 2023 Marketing Predictions: We've rounded up our top marketing predictions from the Overit team to share what you can expect in the year ahead. No one mentions AI. Just kidding. Of course, we do.
• "We don’t speak January": Luxury fitness company Equinox snubbed those seeking a Jan 1 gym membership, claiming, "We don't speak January." Some thought it was bold and creative. I found it exclusionary and weak.
• 20 Things You Didn't Know About Me: The Times Union in Albany published 20 things you don’t know about me. Yes, me. It was fun to look back and remember when I poured a 2010-gallon cup of coffee on the Las Vegas Convention Center floor. 

• SEO Brief, Episode Two: We recently published Episode Two of our Overit SEO Brief. Join Senior SEO Strategist Dan O’Leary as he covers some notes and updates from Google, gives you a few tips for SEO reporting, and offers some SEO predictions for 2023.  

   

💌 Thanks for subscribing to Into & Overit.

If you enjoy this letter, please consider sharing it using the links below. I appreciate every bit of support.