Meet Bobbi Baehne

Bobbi Baehne is the founder and CEO of Think Big Go Local, a digital marketing agency that helps small businesses succeed in their local communities by leveraging the power of online marketing. With over 15 years of experience in entrepreneurship, marketing, and small business development, Bobbi has a passion for helping small businesses grow and thrive, and has worked with hundreds of clients to develop successful marketing strategies. In her current role, Bobbi leads a team of digital marketing experts who provide personalized support to small businesses. She has done a TedX talk, has been featured in Inc. Magazine, Huffington Post, and more, and is a regular speaker at conferences and events, sharing her expertise and insights with audiences around the country.

What are the top three trends that small business owners should consider integrating into their marketing mix right now? 

So there are so many things and so many trends we could talk about, but there are a few that I think are top of the list.

So first is something we're hearing so much about, and that's artificial intelligence, right? How to use AI effectively. That that is definitely one of the things small businesses need to keep top of mind, because one of the challenges I hear so frequently from my customers is the bandwidth to do all the things that need to be done in their business.

And as a small business owner, sometimes you don't have a team built yet. And so figuring out how to make the most effective use of your time so that you can run your business and market it effectively is kind of top of the list for me. 

The second thing, which has been a thing for a while, but it's just not going away is video. For a while, we were all talking a lot about short-form video, reels, TikTok, and those are so relevant. But I also think business owners need to step back and notice a couple of things. 

There's still so many small businesses not leveraging the power of YouTube. And we're finding that a lot of people we talk to are using YouTube in such different ways that you have such a larger opportunity to leverage that. I can go to YouTube and get the small sound bites for the things I want to know and that I'm looking to learn so quickly, and it's opened up an entire new market for YouTube content. 

For a while there, we were talking about really short videos. So a TikTok video, eight to 15 seconds, right? These platforms are starting to incentivize creators to do longer videos, a minute or more. So in 2024, we're going to start to see the length of those shorter vertical videos start to shift a little more. Small business owners should be paying attention to those kinds of changes so they can kind of get in the favor of those algorithms, and just be putting out more content that the platforms wanna show to more people.

And then finally, a place that many small businesses aren't leveraging, and that's paid promotion. It is so difficult for a small business that doesn't have a ton of name recognition or brand recognition yet to get their content seen. Facebook doesn't show anything on a business page to anybody if they can help it. They're in the game of wanting a business to pay for that type of attention.

And yet so many business owners either aren't doing it or they're not doing it right because they've only extended their knowledge base to how to hit that blue button and boost a post versus getting into ad manager and learning to develop a variety of different types of campaigns, leverage different types of audiences and all the tools that Meta is offering.

What social media platform do you plan on using more right now? 

So, I have never been a big fan of LinkedIn. When it came out, I'd been doing this digital marketing thing for quite a while and it just was no fun. That was just the way it was. And I was having so much fun on the other platforms. And it's ridiculous, and shame on me, because I am a B2B organization. So that should be my place, but I just never enjoyed it. And over the last couple of years, it has expanded to be such a phenomenal platform with so many fantastic tools. Things like events and live streaming.

So, I tried to jump in a little bit last year and get more active, but this is the year I'm going all in on our LinkedIn marketing and pushing myself out of my comfort zone. My audience lives there and that's where we need to be. So we're going to be leveraging some of those great new tools that they've launched over the past couple of years and spending a lot more time there.

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Bobbi B's Social Media Clambake

That being said, LinkedIn is the channel that you can find me most active on. Just search for Lori Highby. You can simply click the follow button as I post daily information about marketing strategy, tips, all podcasts, episodes, and any upcoming events you might see me at. If you'd like to connect, make sure to send a note with your connection request that references Social Capital.

That being said, Social Capital podcast is sponsored by Keystone Click, a strategic digital marketing agency that believes in order to successfully market to your ideal customer, you first need to understand your customer. You can learn more at KeystoneClick. com.

The topic of relationships ties in very closely with marketing. That's why I'm bringing marketing experts with a variety of backgrounds onto this show for you to learn and grow from. Today's guest is Bobbi Baehne. Bobbi is the founder and CEO of Think Big, Go Local, a digital marketing agency that helps small businesses succeed in their local communities by leveraging the power of online marketing. With over 15 years of experience in entrepreneurship, marketing, and small business development, Bobbi has a passion for helping small businesses grow and thrive and has worked with hundreds of clients to develop successful marketing strategies. In her current role, Bobbi leads a team of digital marketing experts who provide personalized support to small businesses.

She's done a TEDx Talk, has been featured in Inc. Magazine, Huffington Post, and more, and is a regular speaker at conferences and events sharing her expertise and insights with audiences around the country.

Bobbi, welcome to the show.

[00:02:45] Lori Highby: I'm excited to have you here, especially because you and I are in the same space. Which is fun because it's going to be a meaty conversation, I have a feeling.

[00:02:56] Lori Highby: So let's dive in. From your perspective, what are the top three trends that small business owners should consider integrating into their marketing mix right now?

So first is something we're hearing so much about, and that's artificial intelligence, right? How to use AI effectively. And I think we'll talk a little bit more about that as we dive into some other questions. But I think that that is definitely one of the things small businesses need to keep top of mind because one of the challenges I hear so frequently from my customers is the bandwidth to do all the things that need to be done in their business.

And as a small business owner, sometimes you don't have a team built yet. And so really figuring out how to make the most effective use of your time so that you can run your business and market it effectively is really kind of top of the list for me.

The second thing, which has been a thing for a while, but it's just not going away is video. So I think for a while we were all really talking a lot about short form vertical video, reels, TikTok, and those are so relevant. But I also think business owners need to definitely step back and notice a couple of things. One, there's still so many small businesses not leveraging the power of YouTube.

For whatever things are holding them back, it is still such a prominent platform. And we're finding that a lot of people we talk to are using YouTube in such different ways that you have such a larger opportunity to leverage that. So as an example. My attention span has gotten so small because I pretty much only watch YouTube on my smart TV.

I've kind of forsaken regular television because I can go to YouTube and get the small sound bites for the things I want to know and that I'm looking to learn so quickly, and it's opened up an entire new market for YouTube content.

So instead of just those little bite size, they're looking to give their audience a little more robust content. So small business owners should be paying attention to those kinds of changes so they can kind of get in the favor of those algorithms, and actually just be putting out more content that the platforms wanna show to more people.

And then finally, and this is a place that I think too many small businesses aren't leveraging, and that's paid promotion. It is so difficult for a small business that doesn't have a ton of name recognition or brand recognition yet to actually get their content seen. So it's marketers, you and I know, Facebook doesn't show anything on a business page to anybody, if they can help it. They're in the game of wanting a business to pay for that type of attention.

And yet so many business owners either aren't doing it or they're not doing it right because they've only extended their knowledge base to how to hit that blue button and boost a post versus getting into ad manager and actually learning to develop a variety of different types of campaigns, leverage different types of audiences and all the tools that Meta is offering.

And the same goes, you know, in other platforms as well, depending who your audience is. So I think AI, video and paid promotion are things that every small business really needs to incorporate into their strategy going forward. Just to maximize their opportunity for visibility, reach, exposure and to grow that audience that they're all looking for.

Extremely valuable piece of advice there. Totally agree with that. Yeah, video. I love that you took the approach of like what's happening from a short term versus short snippets versus long form content. I've always been a fan of the long form content approach because it's so much easier to slice and dice into the smaller chunks. But you're right, so many businesses aren't really taking advantage of YouTube. YouTube is owned by Google. Leverage the tools that Google is giving you to get found in their platform.

And it was a really mixed response. So some people are like, well, I love that. I can watch 10 short videos in a minute. Okay. It would really change my interaction on there if the videos were longer. But at the same time, if they're entertaining, you know, if they're educating you on something, then they're, they're going to stay connected.

So it'll be really interesting to watch how creators kind of adopt this new trend that some of these platforms are really kind of pushing us into.

[00:09:21] Bobbi Baehne: Exactly.

[00:09:25] Bobbi Baehne: Exactly. I know. And I, I'm always telling clients the same thing. And you know, even LinkedIn, as an example, I think their advertising is a lot more expensive than others, but it's really all about like knowing your audience and where they live, right?

And, you know, a big investment in a platform like LinkedIn for advertising, knowing exactly who you're talking to could have such a huge payoff. So I really think everybody needs to really think about where are my people at? Who am I trying to reach out to? And then not even thinking about investing into marketing if you're not really ready to do that.

[00:10:12] Bobbi Baehne: Yes, absolutely. Nobody really cares about the logo, right? Like they want to know who the people are and feel connection. I think that a lot of times in social media marketing, especially business owners are thinking about their bottom line and what their goals are in the platform, instead of thinking about building those relationships and having people remember you when they have the need to hire you because you've offered so much value to them in the past or whatever that value may be.

But yeah, I agree with you a hundred percent.

[00:10:48] Bobbi Baehne: So I have never been a big fan of LinkedIn. When it came out, I've been doing this digital marketing thing for quite a while and it just was no fun. That was just the way it was.

And I was having so much fun in the other platforms and it's ridiculous, and shame on me, because I am a B2B organization. So that should be my place, but I just never enjoyed it. And over the last couple of years, it has expanded to be such a phenomenal platform with so many fantastic tools. Things like events and live streaming and just really wonderful.

And so I tried to jump in a little bit last year and get more active, but this is the year I'm going all in on our LinkedIn marketing and pushing myself out of my comfort zone into a platform that I didn't always enjoy and didn't adopt quite the same way as I did the others.

My audience lives there and that's where we need to be. So we're going to be leveraging some of those great new tools that they've launched over the past couple of years and spending a lot more time there.

[00:11:59] Bobbi Baehne: And that's where I found you, so it works.

But a hundred percent. If B2B is your space, LinkedIn is the obvious channel to be on.

And inevitably your LinkedIn is going to show up first. That is almost, I would say, 80 percent of the time. And so even if you, you know, if you're looking to build a brand, build a business, have some credibility, you need to be in that platform and make sure that it's always current, always optimized. Because if somebody in the digital age we live in, before your phone rings, someone's already looked you up and probably already made a decision whether they want to work with you or not. And if your LinkedIn just isn't really where it should be, it could be a huge missed opportunity just from the perspective of search, when someone's looking to learn something more about you.

[00:13:28] Bobbi Baehne: Absolutely. That was very well put.

[00:13:39] Bobbi Baehne: Okay, so this one is a little bit twofold I think for me. So I think for getting that attention right like that piece of it. I think my biggest piece of advice, especially for small business owners, is you have to show up consistently and be authentically yourself.

So I have heard every excuse from every different vertical of business owner as to why they can't do live streaming, why they don't want to make videos on YouTube. You know, a lot of it has to do with fear. Maybe a little bit of self doubt you know, creating this kind of hesitation. And I would say that people are desperately seeking authenticity and connection, especially in social media. When it first launched, we were just all in to communicate with people, you know, through all these different platforms. And over time, I think we've all kind of started to miss the true connection and have all become pretty aware of some of the inauthenticities that happen in social media, right?

The filters and the, Oh, life is beautiful when, you know, we're all facing a lot of the same challenges. So I would say if you're really trying to build up that audience and increase visibility, you've got to show up, you've got to be authentically you and you've got to do it in a consistent way.

And the more people can see your face, hear your voice, especially in a small business where you may not have a huge workforce, I think the more connected they're going to feel. And so to me, that is really probably one of the most important things. But then kind of secondary to kind of working more efficiently in the growth piece of it, I'm going to go back to AI a little bit, because I think it's so important, as you mentioned, for business owners to really learn what are its capabilities? How can I use it even at a basic level to help me grow my business or to take things off my plate that this tool could literally help me to create. So some of my favorite ways to use AI on a daily basis is I love brainstorming on AI. No matter what I'm doing, like I could be doing an event and it'll give me a list of 20 potential event names. There's so many different ways when a question pops in your mind to go in there and ask it.

I also love to start there when I'm creating copy. And I say start there because there's a couple things I'm going to talk about in terms of things that I get a little bit concerned about. So I never copy what AI gives me and paste it right into a post because I'm afraid we'll lose our voice if we do that. But it's a great place to start for copy, whether it's for a social media post, a blog post, a script for a reel or YouTube.

So you can go in and do a little editing versus creating things completely from scratch, which is really time consuming. And then we've been using it for graphics as well. And sometimes they're fantastic. Sometimes they're horrible. Again, you have to be pretty conscious about maintaining your brand, but there's just some really easy ways to use these tools.

Like I said, at the entry level, and then as you get more comfortable, you can do more research and kind of level it up.

But a couple of things I do want to say about that, just because I think that there's some real concerns about it, and because this podcast is all about building relationships and trust, you need to make sure that you are, one, keeping your voice. So, a couple ways to do that is, one, just going in and editing whatever they provide to you to make sure that it sounds like the other content that you've created. The voice that you're using when you're talking with customers. A little bit more advanced is you can actually train your AI tools by really describing to them in detail who you are, what you do, who your ideal client is, what your brand is, and they may be more accurate when they give you results based on that but definitely making sure that you're really cautious to maintain your brand through the process.

Because if it seems inauthentic, and I've seen this happen a lot, I've started to realize I'm getting pretty good at identifying not just in social media, but from my students as well. What sounds inauthentic or when all of a sudden you see that shift from what you're used to hearing to kind of a new way of saying things that doesn't feel like that person anymore.

The last thing we want to do is create connection and then have people pull away from us because it doesn't feel authentic.

[00:18:09] Bobbi Baehne: And then finally, and I've even put myself in this situation, is always remembering that it's not always accurate. So you may ask it questions, it may give you answers, and that doesn't mean they're right.

So I had kind of a funny situation once I was doing a trivia question and it gave me a list of trivia questions. And of course I picked the one that actually wasn't even true. And I had to go back and, you know, and get rid of that, but be really cautious because it's pulling from a variety of different tools to provide you with information and they're not always right.

So I think that's important for people to think about as well.

And unless you're manipulating that tone with your prompts within the tools itself, it's going to have that same voice. So I can see on social media, what posts were crafted by AI. And it's very obvious to me. And I think the more that people are using this, the less that it's that type of content is going to connect and resonate with us, right?

And that goes back to your first point of be your authentic self, be true to who you are, and that personality is what's going to connect and resonate with that ideal audience that you want to be working with.

[00:20:12] Lori Highby: Yeah, a hundred percent. And I wanted to share with you the, on the comment of it's not always right. Cause that's so true. I asked her to write a bio about me, which I thought was kind of fun to do just playing with the tool, which I advocate everyone does. It made me sound freaking amazing, but a third of it was inaccurate information.

[00:20:46] Lori Highby: Yeah, it said that I won all these major awards. I'm like, yeah, I didn't, but...

[00:21:06] Lori Highby: Sure. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So here's a fun one. If you could go back to your 20 year old self, what would you tell yourself to do more of, less of or differently with regards to your professional career?

As soon as they launched, jump in, make a profile, figure it out, test it out. When YouTube launched, had I done that, instead of watching and waiting, the size of the audience I would have built when there wasn't all that competition and other distractions, right?

Same with TikTok. I watched that for a long time, not as long as other people who still haven't gotten in. I think early adoption of a platform, whether it's sustainable or not, but if it is, you may have a gold mine because you have attracted an audience while you didn't have other people vying for their attention.

So I think had I looked earlier, that would have probably been the biggest change I would have made was just no hesitation. Just deciding if this is the path I'm going down, this is what I want to do. I'm going to go all in. I'm not going to let fear guide me. I'm not going to let self doubt guide me. I'm going to jump in and figure this out because I think the rewards for that are huge.

That gets in the way, right? It's just an interesting. We're not good enough, you know, to, to do the thing that everyone else is just learning at this very same time, right? Like that doesn't even make sense.

By the time they decided that this platform made sense, that audience has moved on to something else. And now they had to completely rethink, well, who are we reaching out to here? What's our goal with them? Where they really would have gotten a lot of traction early had they just dove in. If it didn't work, it doesn't work. But if it does, it can make a big difference.

[00:24:04] Bobbi Baehne: Oh, so being that LinkedIn is really on my list this year, I would love to hear your thoughts on what some of the most important best practices in that platform are.

But really setting yourself up to be perceived the way you want to be perceived. So if you have past jobs that don't really resonate with what you're trying to do now, it doesn't make sense to add them to your profile or even talk about them. Focus on where you want to be known.

And make it personal. It's not a resume. My profile talks about my Batman collection and that I play hockey. You'd be surprised how many people have commented like, oh, you play hockey, that's so fun. And so tell me about your Batman collection. Like people read these. Okay. And it's an easy opener for a conversation then. So definitely making it personal.

When it comes to building your engagement and following, it's not just about you posting information, but it's about you actually being part of the community. And that includes commenting on other people's posts and then commenting on other people's comments as well. And acknowledging that you agree or disagree.

I mean, you don't want to start a fight and make it ugly, but just really kind of sharing your opinion from a professional standpoint. When you're connecting with individuals, don't just hit the connect button, but always add a message. And I even said that in the introduction, if you're reaching out to connect, just mentioned that you've heard me on Social Capital. It gives me some insight as to why you're interested in connecting, but it also makes me more interested into following through and accepting that connection request.

So I think it's important to post on a consistent schedule and focus on adding value in your posting. I have a very specific, like, this is what I post on Mondays. This is what I post on Tuesdays. This is what I post on Wednesdays. And I, for the most part, have the entire year planned already for content.

I mean, there's room to make adjustments, but you know, I'm a big fan of planning in advance. So that it's easy to focus on the execution when the time comes. But consistency is going to be where you're really gonna build your audience from there.

[00:26:56] Lori Highby: Yeah, thank you. I mean, I've got other roles before I started my agency and I only focus within like the description of those roles, things that relate and pertain to what I'm doing today. I don't put that I was the administrative assistant at a marketing agency way back when and I used to answer the phones and do the billing. No one cares about that. I talk about the stuff that makes sense, like, Oh, well, I did SEO before SEO was even an acronym that anyone knew. You know, so that put the stuff that adds value and really you have control over how you're being perceived. And that's a great place to maximize that percentage of control that you have.

So, I think a lot of people feel like they have to keep it so high level professional, and then you kind of miss out on those opportunities to say what are the daily, day to day things in my life that connect us together, you know, that would help us to understand each other or have something else to talk about. So I think that's really important too.

[00:28:35] Bobbi Baehne: You know, I think this also goes back to authenticity a lot, but I think that one thing a lot of business owners do is they want to be all things to all people, right? And we can't be. And I think really finding your niche, which we hear that all the time, almost to the point where it becomes kind of a cliche, but figuring out who are those and knowing that you can show up authentically you. Just an example, maybe it's a bad one, but I swear a lot sometimes, and that's how I would show up. And I know that not everybody maybe appreciates that, but some people are like, this is the chick I want to work with, she gets me, she's just being herself, and that's okay.

I do a lot of public speaking and the person who was booking some things for me said I want to put you in front of, it was a big national legal conference, but you're going to have to get rid of the videos that you maybe have dropped a swear word in here and there. And as much as I wanted to speak at that conference, my response was, maybe those really aren't my people.

And if that's the case and I have to go delete things or be someone else, it might not be the right stage for me. And I think that as people start to learn that they can say no to certain things and then show up as themselves for the right audience that they're really going to resonate with, they're going to see that audience grow faster.

But I think that audience is going to be far more loyal and far more connected. So, our goal in getting in front of people and then making an impact for their business which is one thing that's important to me. But also for ours is making sure that you're being authentic, that you're building credibility.

So whatever your personality or your little quirks are, you're really expressing to people that they should be listening to you because you know what you're talking about. And here's my expertise. And then really being able to fulfill their needs and spending time knowing what they are so you can talk directly to those pain points. Or maybe they're looking to you for entertainment, education, inspiration, whatever it is being yourself and knowing exactly who you're speaking to is just so, so important.

So of all the advice I would give to somebody, I would say, that's the way you bring in your audience and you keep them, you keep them close. You turn them into super fans that want to tell everybody how great you are, go follow them here, go join this group, go listen to this podcast. Those are the people that are going to elevate you because they feel so connected.

[00:31:18] Bobbi Baehne: Our website is the easiest way. It's Think Big, Go Local. com. But we also use at Think Big, Go Local and every one of our social channels. So you could pop over to any one of those.

We do have a private group on Facebook where we just offer up small social media tips as things are changing social media news. The invitation to join that's right on our Think Big, Go Local Facebook page.

Thank you so much for being on the show today.

[00:31:53] Lori Highby: Most definitely. All right. This wraps up our episode of Social Capital. A huge thank you to Bobbi for taking the time to connect with us.

If you have a burning marketing or relationship question, just reach out. I'd love to answer it on the show. As mentioned before, let's connect on LinkedIn. I'm looking forward to hearing from you. I hope you enjoyed today's show, and I want you to go out there and get noticed.