Business Reflections Podcast Episode #30 - Digital Marketing Strategy Basics with Creativiti Custom Design and Events

Episode Transcript

Meredith Matics: Welcome to Business Reflections with your host Meredith Matics, and we are here to reflect on the business topics that are affecting you today and how you can better run your business.  

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Today, I have Ticina Williams, owner of Creativiti Custom Designs and Events. 

Ticina Williams: Hi, I'm happy to be here.  

Meredith Matics: I'm happy to have you. By the way I have to say I was taking a look at your website and I love your pandemic blog post with the blow up. It was so creative and cute.  

Ticina Williams: Thank you. Thank you. I think we all are, we're trying to do life as usual, but we feel had  now protective equipment that we must incorporate into what we do.  

Meredith Matics: And you're incorporating it into art.  

Ticina Williams: Absolutely. Absolutely.  

Meredith Matics: Could you tell us more about what inspired you to create Creativiti Custom Designs and Events? 

Ticina Williams: Yeah. I am by profession, I was actually in health care. I've been in healthcare for 15 years working in-patient pharmacy and some retail.  Then simultaneously, I was also in school to obtain my Bachelor's in Business. 

I found myself with some free time during the summer. I had a conference with a coworker and she was a cake decorator. 

She said, you can take a couple of classes and they do these baking classes and crafting classes and I was looking at her work and I'm like, man, you don't want to register for that stuff, cause it's free. My sister was home from college as well for the summer, so I'm drug her. I'm like, listen, I'll buy your stuff. Can you come to the class with me?  We took a paper crafting class and when I came home, I was just like obsessed with the idea of being able to create from paper. Literally from that point, my creative side is unlocked. I've always liked to throw parties. I've always liked to throw themed events. With this new skill, I can create all sorts of stuff and it'll be custom.   

I have a business background already. In 2015, I just started to professionally plan parties for other people. I started to do some community events and some other things, and that is what got me to this point. 

Meredith Matics: It sounds like you had such a passionate reason behind starting it. 

Ticina Williams: I wouldn't have characterized myself as creative, if you would've told me that I would've been designing and doing that kind of thing. I would have been like no, I can't even cut. At that time, about five years ago, people weren't really throwing a lot of custom events. The party industry was just really starting to boom. 

When you wanted something like customized, you either had to go to Party City online or you would do Etsy or something of that nature because there really was no source to buy these customized party supplies.  

Meredith Matics: I even remember when like I was a kid and there wasn't really like customized stuff. I remember one time my sister wanted at Pocahontas birthday and my mom had to draw out a Pocahontas picture on a giant piece of cardboard so like the kids would have a Pocahontas to take a picture with because there wasn't that kind of like customized thing back then. 

Ticina Williams: Exactly. Now, things are so popular with the party favors and different things because that's what's happening. Moms are like, Hey, I got to make this happen.  

Meredith Matics: So we're excited to have you on the podcast today. We're going to discuss a little bit about digital marketing. To start off, why do you think digital marketing is so important?  

Ticina Williams: Well, so I am an event planner which is what my company initially started and then during the pandemic, it really started before the pandemic, but the pandemic actually like lit it on fire where I noticed the need. 

A lot of the business I work with are most of the time are like nonprofits, community organizations, maybe even small businesses. And when you were not able to do in-person transactions, people were trying to figure out, how do I stay connected to my customer? 

How do I still sell to my customer? How do I communicate? And so then  if you did not have a digital presence or an online presence, you were scrambling to find one. Those businesses that had already started those digital marketing strategies had an advantage. People are looking on your Facebook. They want to Google you and see. In some cases, if they don't find you online, that can affect your credibility. You could be very well actual business, living, breathing, and doing transactions. 

But sometimes people are like, I don't see a website. I don't see a Facebook. I don't see any reviews. Now it is more so important than ever. Now that things are transitioning from a lot of in-person to either virtual or what's called a hybrid event, so you want to have a digital strategy, because you want that advantage.  

Meredith Matics: In your experience, what has been the most successful digital marketing approaches or even strategies that you've implemented in your business?  

Ticina Williams: For me, content marketing. Content marketing is a digital marketing strategy. Basically, content marketing is connecting and sharing content. That could be blogs, videos, e-books and social media posts. They are content that relates to your customer. 

But it's not necessarily salesy per se. It's just content that connects. And so for me, it started with my Facebook, I originally started my Facebook like as an online portfolio. 

Meredith Matics: Right.  

Ticina Williams: So for this I would show sometimes the behind the scenes of what I'm doing, how I put these together - so those kinds of things be successful and connect with my audience because that also provides a value. 

It's not just come and purchase a service or the product. The content marketing is definitely what has helped me connect and stay relevant across all platforms as well.  

Meredith Matics: What kind of content do you think people are looking for mostly? 

Ticina Williams: Well, it does depend, but what I do know that is the be all end all now is, video. One minute video, three minutes, it doesn't really have to be anything but video. People are scrolling all day and they want to click it, hear it. 

If that content is valuable and engaging enough, then that is valuable to the customer.  Dependent upon what industry you're in, you're an expert in that industry. You have some knowledge of something that is valuable, that you could share with your audience and connect with them in some sort in a way. The articles and the eBooks, those things are nice, but like, video is what's trending. And on some social media platforms, if you use the video, you actually get a higher boost, as opposed to the yeah. As opposed to the text.  

Meredith Matics: Yeah. We've seen the rise of like Tik Tok lately. I had a friend of mine who is in marketing and she was like, you need to get on Tik Tok and, go on there and advertise. And I was like, I'm a medical biller, what am I going to be like, use this code and dance around. Like, I mean, there's not really much, I think, but it's true. It's what everybody expects you to be doing.  

Ticina Williams: Exactly. You don't have to use every platform, every social media platform.  Dependent upon your technology level, you may not be able to efficiently run all those platforms. But if you know who your target audience is and where are they. They may not be on Tik Tok. They may be on Facebook. They may be on Twitter. They may be on Pinterest even. So when you know exactly who you're trying to reach, know their demographics, know what they're interested in, where they shop, who they like, who they talk to. Then you'll have a better idea of where they are, where you can reach them. 

Meredith Matics: How do you think business owners should keep up with what these new platforms are and when it's time to know, to know about them? I feel like there's so many and they're always coming out. How do you know when they're real or relevant??  

Ticina Williams: Again, it just goes back to knowing who your audience is. One of the main challenges of marketing is that a lot of business owners are not sure who, who, who are you marketing to? They think, well, I'm marketing to everybody, I want everybody to buy it. That's great. When you created this, you had a specific individual in mind. You set out to solve a specific problem. 

When you know that, again, if you know that your audience is between 18 to 34, they like Beyonce. They shop at Nordstrom. They do this and that. Then you get a better idea of that person and then you know, okay, well that person probably wouldn't be on the Next Door community. They probably would be cruising Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and then  you use your strategy for those platforms. You don't really have to get on everything because you'll just break yourself to thin at that point. It's just about being targeted and knowing your objective. What are you trying to do? Are you trying to increase the awareness? Are you trying to increase your leads? 

What exactly are you trying to do? Who are you trying to reach? And then at that point you can figure out where are they and how do you feel about that?  

Meredith Matics: It's true. Everybody thinks that their product is for everyone, but really? You had a target problem that you were trying to solve and not everybody has that problem. You also don't want to spread your energy everywhere. You want to spread it to people who actually are going to buy your product. 

It's important to remember that just because you're targeting somebody doesn't mean you're excluding others. Say are some mistakes that you think small businesses make in their digital marketing?  

Ticina Williams: Not having that marketing plan. Just really thinking, I'm just ready to get out here and sell. Sometimes that can be an issue because if you don't have specific measurable goals, like smart goals and an objective to your marketing, then how do you determine if you're successful? 

How do you determine what works, what doesn't work? A lot of times people have, they may even have a business plan, but they don't really have that marketing plan nailed down as to how they're going to communicate to their customers, how they will reach their customers and actually how they're going to fulfill their objectives. 

And that is just as important as the other things in the business plan, because an investor wants to know that. How am I going to get my money back? How do you plan to sell this? What is your strategy? 

Meredith Matics: You bring up a really excellent point there about how, if you don't have a plan, then you don't know if it's working.  

Ticina Williams: Right. 

Meredith Matics: If you don't know that it's working, you could be wasting a lot of money.  

For small business owners that are listening to our podcasts and are just getting started with their digital marketing, maybe they're a little bit behind, or maybe they don't know where to start. What would you say are the first steps that someone should take?  

Ticina Williams: You can always use what you have available to you. Social media is free. Social media as if they is a digital marketing tool and, and what the right strategy can be very successful. That's something that you can use free. You can also make, make sure that your website is up to date and easy for customers like the buying process is easy. Are your fonts and things readable? Is it clear how to purchase? Is the flow of your website, is it easy to navigate for customers? Will they come on your home page? 

And they can't figure out how to get to the products or other things they just bounce off of it. Using those kinds of tools, listing yourself, you can list yourself free on Google My Business. Google has a platform for small business owners called Google My Business. You create an account and you can actually connect it to maps. 

So if you have a physical location and let's say you're at 100 West Main Street. Well, if you have that Google business profile and you put in your information and your address, on Google maps, when someone is searching " event planners near me". If you're there, then you'll pop up on that Google map. 

And then Google also has where you can post pictures. You can build a website. They have a free website builder that you can build through Google my business and so you can just add your work right there. That is something that worked tremendously for me because when people are Googling things, they don't have to leave Google to get their answer. 

They didn't even have to go to my website. They don't want to, they can click it, find my website, but they can literally just Google " event planners near me". And if I'm in their domain, my profile, which is pop up right on the side of the search results and they can find what I'm open. They can find information about how do I provide deliveries, those kinds of things.  

Another good strategy is your email marketing list, your email lists. Invaluable. Your email list is the opportunity for you to engage with people who have already shown interest in your products and your services. 

When they sign up for your email list, you now have that where you can market. So if Facebook goes down. If Twitter, they shut them down tomorrow. You still have a direct connection right to your audience and this is not just a broader audience, these are people who've already shown interest in you. 

Those kinds of tools are all free things that can be used to start to build that digital marketing strategy. 

Meredith Matics: You bring up some really excellent points and some really good things that anybody could just start today with their business just to start getting their foot in the water.  

Ticina Williams: Yes, yes.  

Meredith Matics: Well, Ticina, yeah. I'm so glad you came on with us. Can I ask you two quick questions before we get going? 

All right. What is one piece of advice that you personally have received that you want to share with another small business owner?  

Ticina Williams: I would say trust the process. And I know that sounds very cliche, but with building a business and this entrepreneurship journey in general,  it is that there is a process.  I know that it just, you get to the point where you're like, I just want to sell. I want to be rich already. I just get out here, find my people and sell to them and, you just want to skip over all this up the... behind the scenes and the planning and the consulting and getting sought business advice and those things are kind of, you really they're boring. 

They really, people don't really want to do them. And including myself and I'm in the business for it. But. They are very necessary to just go along with that process because you will learn different, you never lose anything for one, you'll learn something and then, you just want to stay committed to, to the journey because again, lessons and, your strength and is built in that struggle in that journey. Just trust that process. It gets difficult, but just to see it through everyday, get up and show up.  

Meredith Matics: Definitely. Where can our listeners find you on social media?  

Ticina Williams: Listen, I was gonna tell you that I've been talking all about Google, Google's gonna have to cut me a check. But, I'm open. You can actually Google me Creativiti Customs Designs and Events. You'll pull up my Facebook, you'll pull up my Pinterest and you'll pull up everywhere on the internet that I have listed myself in my business, which is everywhere. 

But I am also on Facebook and Instagram as Creativiti Custom Designs and Events, as well as people can find me at my personal page at Ticina Williams.  

Meredith Matics: Wonderful. Well, thank you so much for coming on and taking a little bit of time to go over all this with us.  

Ticina Williams: Thank you for having me. I really, really enjoyed this time. Thank you for having me. This my first time talking on a podcast, so very, yes, so I'm very honored and pleased. Thank you for having me in allowing me to share my knowledge. 

Meredith Matics: Oh well, thank you so much for coming on.  

Business Reflections Closing: Please note that these are thoughts and opinions alone. For tax advice, please see your CPA or tax advisor, tax professional for business advice and legal entities. Please see your local business, lawyer, or attorney for advice. And if you'd like to reach out to us for any topics or questions about. Any subject, any episode you can reach us podcast@maticsbilling.com. That's podcast@maticsbilling.com.    

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