Social Media |
Measuring brand growth is difficult but it can be done! Jacqui Jones, Founder and CEO of One Degree Marketing, wrote this blog post framing how we should think about our social media likes and follows as business owners.
Social media marketing has become the number one way to market a business.
Especially for small businesses, because social media is low-cost, often small business owners want to measure the success of their business on social media follows and likes.
Brand growth can include social media numbers. But, it should never be your full picture. Not sure if you’ve noticed, but banks don’t deposit “likes.”
So, how else can you measure business success?
Revenue
First things first, are you profitable? Notice the question wasn’t, “are you making money?”. But, instead, are you profitable? Even if you’re making lots of sales, that doesn’t mean that you’re turning a profit.
So, don’t hurry past this measurement. If you barely see a profit, it’s time to consider a different pricing strategy or cut cost. Pricing as a marketing strategy as well, making revenue, is a great way to measure success.
Finding that your social media presence is generating revenue is a wonderful feeling. But, not every brand is solely after revenue.
Engagement
It’s wonderful to have many likes and follows. However, proof that you’ve married the right audience with the right content is shown in engagement.
Don’t be disappointed by low audience numbers. If you have high engagement, you are doing well.
As social media platforms have evolved, we have learned that social media engagement is the epicenter of success.
Having high engagement means you have created community, likely through consistency and purposeful content.
Consider these two measurements as greater than likes and follows. They both prove that you are in the right place with the right audience providing the right content.
Social Media |
We all know that our screen time has gone up exponentially during this pandemic- no judgment from any of us at Forge! We’ve curated a list of (Birmingham centered) Instagram accounts that are definitely worth a follow while we’re all staying at home.
@styleblueprintbham
Recipes from local chefs, activity and gift ideas, real estate listings and much more. Follow @styleblueprintbham!
@woodfinforbham
He’s our fearless city leader and he even makes Spotify playlists- Quarantine Edition! You have to follow Randall Woodfin!
@thepopcast
A hilarious Birmingham based podcast hosted by Jamie Golden and Knox McCoy- they always share their favorite books, shows and movies. And they’ve started podcast episodes focused on recapping Tiger King for their Patreon supporters. Follow @thepopcast!
@house.peace
We’re all spending a lot of time at home so now is the time for home organization projects. Tara Bremer started House Peace and she shares super helpful tips to tidy up your closets, kitchen cabinets and much more. Follow @house.peace!
@bhamnow
Bham Now is full of resources like local business guides, a list of restaurants with pickup during quarantine and where to find handmade face masks. Check out @bhamnow and give them a follow!
@ignitecyclebhm
Even though Ignite Cycle is closed due to the pandemic, they are still holding virtual dance parties Monday through Friday at 5:15pm! Give @ignitecyclebhm a follow to join in on the exercise and fun.
@birminghammomcollective
Birmingham Moms Blog is sharing about anything from quarantine friendly Easter egg hunts to free printables for your kids. If you’re a Birmingham mom who needs encouragement and tips during this ‘stay at home’ phase, follow @birminghammomcollective.
@happeninsintheham
Happenins In The Ham usually focuses on events around Birmingham but since the pandemic, they’ve found ways to help local businesses and still provide fun activity ideas for you and your family. Follow @happeninsintheham here.
@true40bham_downtown
If you want to stay active during quarantine, True 40 can help! They have tons of at-home workout classes for free (donations are appreciated) so give @true40bham_downtown a follow!
@blueroot_co
Blueroot makes some delicious food and during this ‘stay at home’ order, they’ve started Sunday Supper Club where they go on Instagram Live and teach you how to cook up a family meal. Do yourself a favor and follow @blueroot_co!
@cityofbirmingham
Last but not least, you need to follow the official account for the City of Birmingham! Look out for updates from @cityofbirmingham.
Instagram Marketing |
We recently brought in Adelaide Matte of AMD Birmingham to teach us more about perfecting our Instagram accounts! If you haven’t heard of AMD Birmingham, you need to check them out. They do everything from branding, graphic design, photography, social media to web design! They have worked with brands like Urban Cookhouse, Farmbowl + Juice Co, Dreamland Barbecue, Vulcan Park & Museum and Alabama Ballet. Adelaide gave us 5 steps to Instagram perfection that we’re sharing with you!
Step One: Identify Your Brand
You need to take time to choose your colors and fonts. Also think about what you want the overall feel to be. Adelaide mentioned that Drybar is a great example of a company who has a very defined theme with specific colors and fonts that are recognizable to their audience.
Step Two: Determine Your Grid
What do you want the layout of your Instagram grind to look like? A mixture of photos and text?
If you don’t already have them, you need Instagram Highlights for your account! What do you want your target audience to know? As a restaurant you can choose highlights like food, location, hours and facts! Think about what is your aesthetic? Stick with the colors of your brand as much as possible.
Step Three: Gather Content
You need to take plenty of photos so you can go ahead and plan out your posts. Photos of landscapes, your products, projects and even personal photos are all great options! AMD always focuses on having blue in their photos- especially lots of blue sky if it’s a landscape! Blue is an integral part of their overall style and aesthetic.
Adelaide gave us her recommendations for her top 9 favorite apps for all things Instagram!
(in no particular order)
- Plann
- CapGenius
- Hashme
- VSCO (she REALLY loves this one!)
- Lightroom CC
- Facetune
- Repost
- Canva
- InstaCleaner
Step Four: Find Your Voice
You have to create captions that drive your audience to action! But you don’t want every single post to be advertising for your product or service. Make sure you throw in some inspiring or witty quotes too. Your audience values knowing that they can count on your messaging to provide them with what they’ve come to expect rather than it being a gamble every time.
Brands that accurately hone in on a consistent brand voice for their social media accounts quickly build followers, establish trust, and have stellar engagement rates. Be consistent with your voice!
Step Five: Plug and Chug
Now that you have all of your content stored up, you have all of the tools you need! Go ahead and post! Or better yet, plan out your posts through Plann app and you can see exactly what your grid will look like.
Thanks for all the tips Adelaide!
Social Media |
We follow these local influencers on Instagram, and think you should too! Check them out below.
Jim Cavale was named a 3-Time INC. 5000 Entrepreneur for his leadership at Iron Tribe, after growing the company from one gym to more than 45 across the country. He is also the CEO and Founder of INFLCR and is currently filming a DocuSeries that gives a behind-the-scenes look at the company’s success. Along with these impressive titles, he also co-founded @theGLOWapp, an on demand beauty app that brings its services to you.
His extensive experience has taught him a lot – and he shares so much of that through his Instagram! If you are an entrepreneur or small business owner, Jim’s advice and leadership could be very beneficial to your business.
Because of his influence on the city, Jim’s involved in some pretty cool things around Birmingham. He posts lots of behind-the-scenes videos, clips from certain events, podcasts, you name it. If you’re interested following an inspiring entrepreneur and love seeing clips from big events (like, Super Bowl big), go follow @jimcavale!
If you’re looking for ways to best market your business, Jacqui should be your new go-to. As a marketing and branding specialist, she knows the ins and outs of how to make your business stand out.
Jacqui’s Instagram is full of helpful hints, inspiring quotes, and great blog posts (check out our favorite about Instagram pet peeves here!) Her posts range from tips to prepare for brand growth to shutting out fear that comes with being an entrepreneur.
Not only is her account visually pleasing, but she’s always providing helpful content for entrepreneurs. Not to mention she maintains an impressive (and sometimes hilarious) balance of motherhood.
Go follow along!
If you’re a writer, this account is a must-follow.
Javacia is the Founder of See Jane Write, a website and community for female writers, bloggers, and entrepreneurs. Her work empowers women to write and coaches on how to transform a blog into a business.
Javacia recently gave a Ted Talk in March and got to speak on her success of See Jane Write. Her talk focused on the idea of writing being a feminist act. By sharing her story, a woman can discover why she deserves equality and love herself. Because in a world that constantly tells women they are not enough, “self-love is a revolutionary act.” Javacia believes there is power in sharing one’s story and has devoted her life to helping others share theirs.
There’s no doubt Javacia will help you grow your writing into a profitable platform. She’s got great webinars, virtual workshops, and inspiring posts. If you’ve been looking for a community of women writers who encourage and support each other, check out her page.
Deon is the CEO and President of TechBirmingham. This nonprofit’s mission is to support and provide training and education to tech companies in order to grow the technology ecosystem. He has a passion for supporting small businesses and has been instrumental in making Birmingham a better place.
Deon was also just recently selected as BBJ top 40 under 40, chosen among some of the most outstanding servant leaders in the city.
Deon goes to lots of events around Birmingham and constantly posts about new and exciting projects. He does a great job of promoting growing businesses and highlighting leaders all across the city. If you are interested in growing tech companies or looking to support a new business, Deon’s got you covered! His work is inspiring and you won’t want to miss out.
Wanting to follow a leader making a big impact on the city? This just may be your new favorite account!
Who’s your favorite Instagram account to follow? Let us know in the comments below!
Lunch & Learn |
Social Media posting… We all know we need to be doing it. And so we post.
But is your posting effective?
Is anyone seeing your posts?
Is the audience you are reaching the audience that can actually be converted to customers?
There is so much more to posting on social media than just shooting a picture on your phone and then putting it on instagram with a catchy caption. That is, if you want social media to be a vehicle to grow your business (HINT HINT: as business owners this should be your goal!)
Jacqueline Jones of One Degree MMM shared with Forge the Must Do’s for creating a plan before you post anything on social media.
1. Who
Build a Customer Avatar!!
You must know everything you can know about about your customer. Everything…
Age. Gender. Family Life. Where they live. What they do for a living. When they drive to work. What they listen to while driving. How much they spend…
Gather as much data as you can. Then use that data to inform all decision making.
Do not assume that you are your target customer! Marketing can often break down when that happens. Look at your data, see who is buying your product or using your service. See who is spending the most with you and how often. This information is going to guide every decision you make for your social media and marketing strategy.
It is possible that you will have a few different avatars. Know them each and market to them each.
2. What
What is the goal you are trying to achieve with your marketing efforts. Pick a goal and then stick with it for a quarter so you can see realistic results. Now there is always the case where you determine a goal and realize quickly you need to change directions. But generally speaking, it is best practice to choose a goal, build your strategy and then give your efforts time to perform. When you do this, you get more QUALIFIED DATA about who your customer really is!
3. How
How are you going to get in touch with your customer? How are you going to get your information to your perfect customer. If you just put out a blanket post (on any platform), you will not be able to reach the people that you really want to reach. Each post must be intentional. Your tone and voice must reflect who you want to reach and why you want to reach them. Speaking of tone… always communicate on your posts the way that you would communicate in person.
4. Where
Which platform should you use? The best way to answer this question is to figure out which platforms your customers are on. And then kill it on those platforms! Don’t try to be everywhere, you simply cannot do. Or at least you cannot do it well.
As you are planning out your Social Media strategy, here are a few things that you should CHOOSE NOT to do:
- Choose Not To get caught up in frequency suggestions. Do not be lured in to believe you must follow all the advice out there. The best thing to do is be consistent. Consistency for you could mean once a week, once a day or five times a day. Determine the capacity that you have to create and post meaningful, strategic posts and then stick to it! When you are building your community on social platforms, this community is built on relationships. Relationships are trusted through consistency.
- Choose Not To create blanket content. Create content that speaks to your Avatar!
- Choose Not To be everywhere. Your customers are not everywhere, you should not be everywhere either.
- Choose Not To be fake. Do not try to be who you think people want you to be. They want you! Be you!
- Choose Not to be afraid to ask for help or guidance. As a business owner you cannot do it all. There is no shame in getting someone to help you with your Social Media Planning and Posting.
We are thankful for the work that Jacqueline is doing to help Small Business Owners grow! If you would like to contact Jacqueline to get more information or learn how she can help grow your business, you can email Jacqueline at info@onedegreemmm.com.
If you are interested in diving deeper into your business, Jacqueline is hosting Boiling Point: A Group Marketing Strategy Session, at Forge on March 11. Use the code APLAN to receive a $30 discount!
