Whether you’re a small business or an entrepreneur, there’s probably one thing you really need. And according to Sive O’Brien, it’s not a blockbuster budget, meticulous content plan, or even an extra 10 sets of hands (although none of us would say no to that). “They need a fresh pair of eyes on the business”, Sive says. And that’s exactly what she offers...

It’s no ordinary pair of eyes, either. Sive is a brand strategist and mentor with over 20 years experience in marketing, management, and consulting. She has a deep understanding of the daily struggle that is building a brand from the ground up. “The juggle is real”, she says, “and the lines between on-and-off-duty are blurred”. But more than anything, she believes in magic – brand magic, that is. “You need to get your brand story right. If you create a clear and compelling brand message, stories that grab your audience’s attention, words that move them to buy from you, your sales funnel will work, and your marketing will get results.” And how to do that? Well, that’s some magic in itself. We spoke to Sive about how to wave the wand over everything from your social media feed to your brand identity…

Go to www.siveob.com

Sive O’Brien

As a brand mentor and consultant, what are the biggest challenges you find SMEs come up against?

It always amazes me how similar the conversations go with brand owners at the start of our journey together. As entrepreneurs, the juggle is real, and the lines between on-and-off-duty are blurred, but that's not what they disclose as their biggest challenge; instead, it's that they can't see outside the bubble of their brand. In simplistic terms, they need a fresh pair of eyes on the business. The one thing I hear most is that they are simply stuck - with so many digital channels to navigate now, marketing and brand tactics pushed under their noses daily, brand owners and their teams can't determine which ones are relevant or how to communicate effectively. They know the brand isn't quite resonating, they know there's no proper grasp on who the audience is, and worst of all, the money they are spending on marketing is not generating demand or driving sales. That's why mentoring works so well for small brands; it's not a one-size-fits-all approach. The frameworks and formulas I've spent years developing allow this clarity they so desperately need before they haemorrhage more money. And because each session is tailored to their specific audience and business, they get insights into their market combined with my expertise and experience to help future-proof their brand. 

For businesses, how important is content in growing your brand? And do you think content is something a lot of brands overlook?

There's no getting around it; as a brand, you need content. But, the most successful content marketers don't think marketing; they think stories. It's not about content volume; it's about creating high-performing content, and to do this, you need to get your brand story right. If you create a clear and compelling brand message, stories that grab your audience’s attention, words that move them to buy from you, your sales funnel will work, and your marketing will get results. But before you spread the gospel, you need to create the words, so learning about the psychographics of your audience, what makes them tick, what motivates them to respond and buy, and how you can communicate in a magnetic way is vital. I see so much wasted content, brands churning out videos, podcasts, ebooks, blogs, social media posts and infographics, all without understanding the story they are telling about their brand and to whom they are telling it. Because if you create all your marketing collateral without nailing your messaging, it adds up to one big waste of time - and money, all you'll get are vanity metrics on social media, zero site visits, a trickle of sales, no connection or trust, no value for the audience. Brands might as well be jumping up and down, waving their hands in the air, trying to get noticed. My advice is to create a content strategy, produce less content aimed at the right audience with purposeful messaging, then learn how to repurpose it into many smaller pieces of content. 

Twenty years ago, you spent six months writing 20,000 words about how consumers connect and react to brands for a Masters in Marketing on 'The Effects Of Advertising On Consumer Behaviour.' What were the biggest messages you shared two decades ago?

It doesn't matter how good your product is if you can't communicate what you are trying to sell or know with whom you are communicating. The thesis was based on fashion advertising, which is a great example of this - people don't always buy the clothes they like the best; they buy the brand they understand the fastest. I studied the consumer psychology behind communication, learning that 95% of decision making is unconscious, so if your message - visual or written - is too difficult to understand, our reptilian brain has a primitive inbuilt defence mechanism that will kill your brand message. It's a subconscious dismissal. So we buy our clothes based on the emotional & gut feelings happening without us even knowing. Emotions equal attraction. So knowing your audience, using the desires and characteristics of your audience to shape a personality for your brand is crucial, so your brand can make a more human connection with the audience. 

And how have these messages changed?

The overall message hasn't changed, but marketing to women has in some ways. I work mainly with brands that market to female audiences, but there still exists a monumental gap in how women are portrayed and marketed to. Brands profit by telling women who they are or how they should be instead of learning more about the audience and making a more authentic connection based on the alignment of the brand personality and the audience personality. 

You describe yourself as "obsessed with how people respond to visual and written messaging" – what do you teach the businesses you work with on how to get an engaging reaction from their consumers/audience?

It's all about the audience. If you know your audience deeply, their desires, what problems they need solving, and what is stopping them from getting what they want, you can learn how to communicate the purpose and value of your brand and speak to their hearts. Questions I tell my clients to use as a checklist before communicating: Do you connect emotionally? Are you trustworthy - authentic? What problems or conflicts do you solve? Where can you take the customer? What's so special about you anyway? Really, in a crude way, every time their customer sees or reads something from this brand, they are thinking: 'What's in it for me?' 

You spent 14 years in the Irish Print Publishing industry – what did your years in publishing teach you?

The importance of collaboration and teamwork. I believe in surrounding yourself with uplifting people who inspire you, and in an industry that is often rife with ego, I forged female friendships for life during this time. My sisterhood in print and digital publishing was everything. In publishing, there was pressure, early starts and late nights, deadlines and never-ending content production, but we never worked alone - constantly bouncing ideas, wording, creative ideas, fears and failings off one another. It also teaches you to adapt and feel at ease in anyone's company – every day is different in publishing, you travel a lot, interview so many interesting and talented people, collaborate with fashion shoot crews each month, and work with some of the world's leading luxury brands. The best learning was working with so many prestigious brands and seeing how they work up-close; It meant side-stepping from publishing into consulting was a natural progression for me. 

Sive O’Brien

Growing a social following is one of the most challenging things a brand can do – and for some, it takes years. How do you advise your clients to grow their social following? Where do they begin?

An Instagram following is the Holy Grail, especially for lifestyle brands I work with, but I'm not concerned with mentoring brands about the tricks and tips to play to the algorithm or about how to present their product or service, I do the opposite, I advise brands to stop blasting people with their products day in, day out. Thousands of free pages and influencers on Instagram offer all the latest tips, tactics, and shortcuts. What I guide clients through is how to tell their brand story on social. I believe an overarching brand message on your social platforms will springboard the growth of your business. It's no longer about follower count; in fact, that doesn't reflect your influence; it's about niching down, nurturing the right audience, showing up for them, and using the right content to speak with them, not to them. Ultimately leading them from the social platform through a funnel to your ultimate goal, whether it's a sign-up, a buy now button or a page on your website. 

Because of platforms such as Instagram, anyone can have an audience and launch a business – yet because the barriers to entry are lower, there is more competition. What is your approach to the ​competition? Is it healthy? Should we drown it out?

There are over 25 million businesses on Instagram. It's a sobering thought if you're an online retailer with a potential global market. But there is plenty of room for everyone. No two brands are the same; it's about learning what distinguishes you, separates you from the bunch, makes your prospects sit up and take notice & competitors sit down in despair. 

Many women suffer from a lack of confidence in the workplace – why do you think this is, and how can we overcome a confidence crisis?

I have two daughters, so I am all-too-aware of nurturing self-confidence and teaching them how to accept and believe in themselves. With the benefit of hindsight, I can see how a lack of confidence in my early career affected me and slowed me from growing and progressing. There is a big problem in small companies that put people in positions of power with no proper people management or human resource structure in place. I have seen careers destroyed and confidence shattered over the years; oftentimes, women don’t support one another in the workplace, and there is the opposite of ‘Sisterhood’ at play. What’s really needed is a culture of mentorship, training, up-skilling and support to foster and guide young women towards success. At present, practices like this are the reserve of the larger corporations. 

Finally, how has sisterhood influenced your career path?

Working in women's print magazines and then, later as the founding editor of an online parenting magazine, has meant for seventeen years, I worked almost solely with female-only teams. For me, the energy of publishing was addictive, but it was having a support system of inspirational women around me that motivated me in the early years. Unfortunately, the punishing schedule as a mother in publishing was not. And so, it was my daughters, my ‘mini sisters,’ I like to call them, who influenced my career path in my thirties and beyond. One day soon after returning from my second maternity leave, I had a bit of an awakening. My career was no longer in sync with the 'new me.' Who did I want to be for my daughters? My purpose and passions had shifted. I had compromised on many things during my time in publishing, but I knew I couldn't live on prestige forever, so I made a very definite plan to forge my own career path. I could quit the juggling act for someone else and do it for myself! I made myself and my mini sisters a promise, and here I am.