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By pushing the boundaries of how and where we can do business, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced entrepreneurs to look at digital media in a new light.

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September18, 20203 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

I think we can all agree that Covid-19 has been a defining moment of this year as it has shifted everything from how we live our lives to how we do business. The transformation has been far-reaching, but it's mostly impacted the way small and medium-sized businesses operate online. When regulations shifted, and measures had to be put in place to contain the spread and protect public health, the environment changed, accelerating a digital transformation and pushing businesses to go online even if it was something they hadn't previously considered.

Related:5 Simple Steps to Digitally Transform Your Business

By pushing the boundaries of how and where we can do business, the Covid-19 pandemic has forced entrepreneurs to look at digital media in a new light. It proved that digital media isn't only for social media brands and influencers. It is for everyone, and whether or not you are physically doing business with your audience online, that is where they are looking for you, and that is where you need to be.

Entrepreneurs relying on a brick and mortar location open to the public were hit particularly hard during this pandemic. As regulations forced many locations to close and limit their activities, businesses quickly turned to online platforms to keep going. Kendall Shaw of Maybach Media explains, "If you can't go to your store or your location to do business, you have to find another outlet to stay afloat. The limits of online businesses were stretched to include everyone as delivery, curbside pick-up, and reservation-only business models were the only offerings allowed." Going online meant meeting customer demands in a new way.

Social media practically exploded during the coronavirus outbreak. Usage went up, engagement shot up, and everyone was spending a lot more time on social media during this pandemic. Businesses knew that to keep their customers, they had to begin interacting with them online if they weren't already. Social media is expanding the frontier for doing business in challenging times and it cannot be an afterthought anymore. It's all about staying connected.

Related:Free Webinar: Using Digital Transformation To Adapt To Today's New Normal

Small to medium-sized businesses keen on adopting strategies to face this new normal understood that a strong following translates to a healthy bottom-line. "Your following is your repeat business," explains social media expert and CEO of Icon Social Marketing, Alex Shue. "As you concentrate on building your following pull that into a strategy that fills your pipeline and delivers increased sales." Alex believes that if you have a following, you have customers, and in 2020 businesses are finding their following online.

Related:How to Push Your Company to Digital Maturity

COVID-19 has certainly shifted the way we think about marketing, and with that in mind, the landscape is changing for small and medium-sized businesses as the post-pandemic world takes shape. With online strategies on everyone's mind, the power of digital is pushing businesses towards a brighter future where sudden regulatory changes don't inhibit opportunity.

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How Covid-19 Is Accelerating Digital Transformation for Small and Medium Businesses - Entrepreneur

If you havent heard of it yet, The Social Dilemma is the new Netflix documentary that launched this August 2020 to an eager audience, after being selected for the Sundance Film Festival 2020.

You probably think that youve heard it all before when it comes to the subjects of social media addiction, personal data protection and fake news, but this documentary offers something different. Its led by interviews with the great minds of Silicon Valley that actually created Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest, such as the co-inventor of the Facebook Like button, Justin Rosenstein, and the former President of Pinterest and former Director of Monetization at Facebook, Tim Kendall, to name just a few. Its this element that makes us sit up and listen.

The world has long recognised the benefits of social media, from connecting families across borders, to acting as an organisational tool for activists. However, the dark side of social media has also reared its ugly head, exasperating issues such as mental health, bullying, political polarization, fake news and misinformation, and even riots and conflict.

Lets go back to how social media platforms work. Its clear that by being free for users, social media platforms are built to treat our attention as the product, which is then sold to advertisers. Its the goal, therefore, of social media platforms to take the most addictive elements of human psychology and pair them with deep personalisation technologies, in order to present us with exactly what we want to see, cause us to use up more and more of our time, and sell our attention to advertisers.

However, what this documentary also highlights is that fake news spreads 6 times faster than true news, making this the king of online content. What this means is that social media platforms are perpetuating an online (and now offline) world where truth is irrelevant, as long asthe content getsas many views and likes as possible. When you add to the mix the fact that Facebook has found that they can actually affect real-world behaviours and emotions, without users even being aware of it, this all results in real-life (offline) effects such as governments and other organisations weaponising social media to incite political polarisation, conflicts, riots, and even violence.

What we also learn through this documentary is that even the people that created these social media platforms are not immune to the negative side effects of these apps, and feel powerless as they watch them not only suck away hours of our personal lives for profit, but on a wider level cause mass conflict and political unrest.

But what does this have to do with startups? Well, a lot, actually. Lets jump into it.

Paying for reach

If you didnt know that the monetisation strategy of Facebook is to sell advertising to companies, then this may explain why your startups business accounts are not reaching many people when you post free (organic) posts. Increasingly, companies like Facebook are reducing the reach of organic postings made by business accounts, in order to entice companies like yours to spend money on promotions. What can you do about it? Set aside a paid media budget for the future. A well-timed piece of content sent to the right audience can be incredibly effective, but make sure that you have a strategy to avoid wasting your cents.

Market dominance

What this documentary also highlights is that big tech companies simply have too much market power. A power imbalance such as this means that large tech companies are not only influencing our personal and political environments, but also single handedly determining how the internet of the future is being shaped. This is restricting innovation across areas such as news, visual media, cloud storage, communication like calls and messaging, and more. A fairer competitive environment would see more opportunity for Europes startups to develop and grow their innovations. How could this be achieved? Regulations. The challenge is that, with national and supranational bodies (like the EU) adhering to lengthy approval processes, oftentimes technology out-innovates any new regulation that comes in.

Reduced productivity at work

As explained in the documentary, social mediainherently turns your psychology against you so that you stay stuck to the screen,and is now classed as anaddictive activity. While will power has a large part to play in staying focused at work, founders and team leaders at work should recognise that users are battling some pretty powerful forces here. If youre leading a team in your startup, it could be worth having a think about starting an open and non-judgmental dialogue with the team to share useful tips (such as downloading an app that restricts your daily use), or agree on any measures like turning off notifications on desktop. The challenge here is to not assume the worst (as many team members may have already got it under control) and to focus on mental health where appropriate.

Founder and startup profiles

While its tempting to panic and just delete all of your accounts having watched the documentary, its worth remembering that businesses nowadays need to have a presence on social media to maintain visibility in front of customers and partners. For your startup, think about whether you really need all of your accounts and where your customers are hanging out online. For instance, a B2C foodtech startup might require an Instagram account to promote their product to customers, however a B2B AI startup might not find their target on this platform. Founders could consider whether its worth it to have personal and professional accounts on all platforms, and where they lose the most time scrolling.

Opportunity for fake news startups

Finally, a silver lining. With big tech companies like Facebook failing to curb fake news and misinformation, a market opportunity has popped up for startups to fill the gap. Whether its fake news, deep fakes, disinformation or the deliberate spreading of false information, European startups are already at the forefront of the fight. Check out this list that we published recently to meet the rising stars of this sector and even use some of their products yourself: 10 European startups fighting fake news and disinformation.

Will you watch the documentary? Let us know how your startup manages the opportunities and challenges presented by social media, and check out these articles for more tips: 10 useful social media tips for early-stage startups and 10 steps to your startups first influencer marketing campaign.

Original post:
'The Social Dilemma': Netflix's documentary and what it means for startups - EU-Startups

The Clinton County Foundation is presenting three free seminars through Zoom this fall with a series called Outside the Box: Fundraising on Social Media.

Social media experts Sue Reynolds and Kristi Fickert will share their knowledge and provide solutions to support charitable organizations through challenging fundraising times.

Reynolds manages the social media platforms for R+L Carriers and Fickert is Senior Vice President of Engagement and Growth for 30 Lines Marketing.

The Clinton County community has amazing people with deep knowledge of marketing and social media, said Jan Blohm, executive director for the Clinton County Foundation. Sue and Kristi offered to share what they know and help charitable organizations make the pivot to support so many worthy valuable causes.

Our local nonprofits have suffered because of cancelled and postponed premier events, due to COVID-19. Donations to our funds are down and they need these funds to operate.

Anyone may attend businesses, nonprofits, or individuals interested in learning more about fundraising in a challenging time. The seminars are set for 7 p.m. on Sept. 24, Oct. 22, and Nov. 17.

To register and receive the Zoom link, email the Clinton County Foundation at clintoncountyohiofoundation@gmail.com .

Free advice from local experts via Zoom

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Local experts to share knowledge in free Zoom seminars: 'Outside the Box: Fundraising on Social Media' - Wilmington News Journal, OH

ST. CLOUD St. Cloud-area businesses have a new tool forrecruiting new people to the community.

StCloudShines.com, a website launched this month by Greater St. Cloud Development Corp., is all about marketing the region, GSDC President Patti Gartland said this week.

"This is really kind of art the heart and soul of talent attraction," Gartland said.

St. Cloud Shines started as a social media campaign in January 2019 focused on showcasing positive stories and features of the region, Gartland said. It's been "wildly successful' garnering more than 100 million impressions since its debuton Facebook and Instagram.

StCloudShines.com is a rebrand and refresh of some existing resources provided on GSDC's website, and one that groups many of the region's information from different sources into one place to help share about the area. Much of the information was already on the website, Gartland said; it was a matter of putting it into one place.

The website is intended to help those considering moving to the community to find a range of information in one place.(Photo: stcloudshines.com)

It focuses on the greater St. Cloud area, including surrounding communities, but retained the St. Cloud name for recognition marketability, Gartland said.

"St. Cloud Shines provides a stronger geographic focus than Greater St. Cloud Shines or Central Minnesota Shines, and thats an important aspect of a memorable marketing effort, GSDC board Chair Brian Myres said in a press release. Just as there are more communities in the Twin Cities than Minneapolis and St. Paul, St. Cloud Shines encompasses and highlights our nearby cities and counties.

Gartland said GSDC began this work several years ago after conversations with local businesses. It was easy to share information about the company.

"But when it came time to share information about the community ... they were having to send them to a lot of different resources," Gartland said.

StCloudShines.com's homepage allows the visitor to navigate through different aspects of community life, from childcare to transportation to recreation and more. The website includes links to local organizations' pages in their respective sections.

It also populates some of the St. Cloud Shines stories from social media. StCloudShines.com had several sponsors funding its creation.

The website also has a specific page for people trying to access the site in five languages other than English, directing readers in other languages to email Greater St. Cloud Development Corporation with questions.

Sarah Kocher is thebusiness reporter for the St. Cloud Times. Reach her at 320-255-8799or skocher@stcloudtimes.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahAKocher.

Support local journalism. Subscribe to sctimes.com today.

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St. Cloud Shines now has a website designed to market the area to newcomers - SC Times

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I interviewed Elisabeth Charles and was intrigued by her career. She has worked at Victorias Secret, Athleta, Petco, Old Navy, Rodan + Fields, and Taco Bell, among others. During the interview, it was interesting how she was able to weave a story that connected all of these experiences. Since I work with a number of marketers at every level of the organizational spectrum, I often get questions regarding the right next career move. People want to learn about different career paths and understand the best way. At the heart of a lot of the questioning is a desire to understand whether staying in a single industry is better than exploring different industries. I posed this question to Charles.

Kimberly A. Whitler: Youve had a lot of terrific, blue chip company experiences. However, interestingly, they cut across a number of different industries. Did you find this beneficial as you progressed throughout your career?

Elisabeth Charles: I found that across my career, when you are a brand marketer, you are trying to create a vision for the brand and then determine your unique selling proposition. The skill of being able to develop a vision to create more value for more consumers (so that you grow your business) transcends all industries. The methodology, approach, thinking and skill is universally applicable. However, it needs to be adapted to the specific business context. One thing that you can see about my career is that all of the companies are B2C, in highly competitive, crowded marketplaces. Many are market leaders who are being attacked by big and small competitors. The job of figuring out how to win in this context is what is transferrable and universal. Many people think that you need to deeply know the industry, but what matters more than this is to have the skill to figure out how to generate growthbecause you apply core principles.

Whitler: Is there any advice or learning youd have about navigating such a career?

Charles: One important thing Ive learned is to make sure that I have the right people and the right capabilities around me. In many cases, even with strong brands, they havent fully exploited what makes the brand special or strong. They tend to rely too much on their functional benefits and not enough tapping into their emotional benefits. Many big companies are still getting their toes wet in social or they havent exploited CRM.

So, when I land at a company, I assess the tools, methods, people, and look for opportunities to quickly have an impact by taking advantage of low-hanging fruit. By company, there is a vast difference in the tools and processes. I try to quickly find untapped value in the business and unlock it to help drive the business. Ive seen a lot of growth come from the basics: 1) what strengths do we have? 2)what do we need, and 3) how can we drive growth. Even in what appear to be well run companies youd be surprised there is always more that you can do to up your game to accelerate the business. Its about a quick assessment, get a lay of the land, and move quickly on the things that will make the biggest difference.

Whitler: I run into a number of young professionals who would love to work in beauty. Any advice?

Charles: Its more about your passion to make a difference, to add value, to be a creative thinker. The beauty business is an emotional business. It is about storytelling and creating excitement and belief in your products. You can do that without having a beauty background. But you would have to take what you have done and connect it to the beauty spaceexplain how it relates. I worked in the pet space and the lingerie space, both of which are emotional, and so I can link those experiences with what is needed in beauty.

If you want a crazy idea, go work at a beauty counter for a summer. My daughter worked in retail and the next summer, she was able to convert that into a job at Sephora headquarters. They loved that she had retaildirect consumer experience and knew how to sell to consumers. There are other clever ways you can both show how you belong and how passionate you are. My son wants to be in sportscasting. He started a blog a few years ago and writes about sports every week he is demonstrating his commitment, time, and passion. At some point, this will benefit him in the future.

Join the Discussion: @KimWhitler

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The Benefits Of A Multi-Industry Marketing Career (Spanning Pet, Beauty, Fashion, And Food) - Forbes