Social Media |
One Degree MMM is a full-service marketing firm that provides marketing strategy, services, and coaching for businesses, brands, and organizations. Forge member Jacqueline Jones of One Degree MMM wrote this blog post that we loved so much we wanted to share it with you too! Read on.
Social media is a neccessary yet complex aspect of running a business these days. Unfortunately, we’ve come to a place where we can’t simply overlook it. Keeping up with every social media platform’s changes can be extremely overwhelming when you aren’t a marketer by trade. Even if you choose to outsource your social media management, like many do, it can yield minimal results if your content manager isn’t keeping up.
It’s best to simply to stick to what you know best, you.
RULES CHANGE. YOU SHOULDN’T.
Normally platform changes are rooted in some discovery of people acting more like bots and less like humans. It’s important to do the foundational work of defining and developing your brand’s tone, voice and persona. Doing so will allow you to maintain consistency in your content. That consistency in your message will save you from having to worry about the latest changes because your relationship with your audience is authentic.
LET YOUR COMPLEXITIES SHOW.
Not only do algorthim rules change, features come and go. Do yourself a favor and don’t overthink the use of new features. If you want to try it and it makes sense for your brand and audience, do it.
If it works for you, awesome! If it doesn’t work, you tried.
AVOID TOO MUCH 3RD PARTY INTERACTION.
Outsourcing management of your platforms is not the 3rd party I’m referring to. I’m talking about the platforms that do things on your behalf to fake authentic engagement. The truth is, no matter how “normal” you try to make the fake comments look, it’s obvious that they are fake.
Again, authenticity is the easiest way to elude being affected by the every changing aspects of social.
It’s easier said than done to be totally engaged in your audience regularly and authentically. But, it’s what we choose when we desire to give our audience attention as a means to grow a loyal and engaged tribe.
One Degree MMM is always dishing out excellent marketing advice on her blog and across her social media accounts! Check out her Instagram here.
Forge News and Updates |
Forge member Jacqueline Jones wrote this blog post about mistakes we make in DIY marketing- we found it extremely helpful! Check out the original blog post here.
A large majority of businesses handle their marketing in-house. Unfortunately, marketing efforts often get overlooked or handed off to someone who knows only a little about how to manage marketing for a brand.
If you’re a “solopreneur”, you may find that you simply have to do everything yourself because outsourcing can be costly.
There is nothing wrong with DIY marketing, but there are a few things you should attempt to avoid.
1. Only talking to your audience when you’re selling.
The majority of small businesses find themselves grasping at straws when it’s time to meet sales numbers. So naturally, social media posts and emails only go out when it’s time to ask for money.
Your brand’s content strategy should focus more on building a relationship with and educating your audience. If they trust you, they will spend money with you. When they spend money with you, they shouldn’t feel like they had a cheap one-night-stand because the communication ended with the sale.
Understanding the process you want your customer to experience is extremely important to building and maintaining a profitable relationship. Most marketers call this sales-funnel development.
2. Not using Call-To-Actions.
Publishing great content is a wonderful step to achieve in the process of marketing your business. It’s just pretty pictures and nice copy if you don’t have a call-to-action.
CTA’s tell your audience where to go next. This means you have to make a place for them to go before asking them to. Don’t forget to add links, instructions, lead pages, or whatever is the next step for potential customers to take. This is a common, yet avoidable, pitfall.
3. Thinking social media is all necessary to market your brand.
Do not do think that social media is all you need. Because social media platforms are free and accessible to all, many people feel that’s all they need to market their business. It’s just not true.
Social media is only one aspect of marketing a business. It’s a great tool, but should only be a part of your process. Marketing 101 would teach you the 4 P’s of marketing are price, place, promotion, and product. Social media falls under promotion, as does digital and print advertising, website development, t-shirts, and pens.
Marketing is far bigger than your social media presence. Spend time creating a strategy that covers all bases. It will make marketing your brand much easier and far more effective.
These are simple mistakes. Mistakes can be corrected. Invest the time, money, and effort in properly marketing your business. Doing what you love and you are passionate about is, actually, the easy part. Do what it takes to take your passion to the right audience.
Forge News and Updates |
The staff at 24 Communications are part of the Forge family and they always have valuable info to share. We’ve snagged a blog post written by Charlotte Donlon from them focusing on the reasons why blogs are effective!
According to The Content Marketing Institute’s B2C 2018 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America report, organizations with an extremely successful or a very successful content marketing approach say blogs are one of the most effective formats for helping them reach their objectives. The only marketing tool more effective for these businesses is email.
1. Your Blog Can Be Used for Email Content
Even though email is the most effective marketing strategy, don’t dismiss blogs. Email and blogs go hand in hand because blog content can be used for email content. Including links to your blog in your email newsletters can help drive readers, current customers, and potential customers to your website.
2. Your Blog Can Be Used to Share Helpful Information
Your customers have the same question we all have: What’s in it for me? Your blog posts can answer that question for your customers and your potential customers. How do your products or services solve their problems? How do your products or services make their life easier? How do your products or services help them achieve their goals? Blog posts are a great way to communicate these specifics to your audience.
3. Your Blog Can Be Used to Highlight Your Products and Services
Do you have a new product or service that you need to introduce to the world? Writing a blog post about your new offering will help spread the word.
4. Your Blog Can Be Used to Respond to Objections
You know why a customer might hesitate to purchase your product or service. Why not use your blog to respond to those objections? Your customers and potential customers will see that you are trying to listen to them and trying to understand their point of view which will make them more willing to consider your point of view and more willing to move past their objections.
5. Your Blog Can Help Generate More Leads and Sales
On average, companies with blogs produce 67% more leads per month than those without.
6. Your Blog Can Help You Connect with Existing and Potential Customers
Many consumers feel more positive about a brand and more connected to a brand after reading custom content, especially if that content tells stories about the company’s brand in ways readers can relate to. Stories about your mission and your goals and ways you give back to your community will resonate with readers, customers, and potential customers.
7. Your Blog Can Increase Traffic to Your Website
Let’s talk about compounding. One in ten blog posts are “compounding,” meaning organic search consistently increases traffic over time. Compounding posts are important because one compounding blog post generates as much website traffic as six regular posts combined. Also, compounding blog posts generate 38% of all blog traffic. There’s no way to know which of your blog posts will be compounding posts. But if you aren’t blogging, it’s safe to say you won’t have any at all.
8. Your Blog Can Help You Tell Your Story
You have a story to tell. And your customers want to know it. Most consumers—70% of them— prefer learning about a company through custom content like blog posts instead of through paid ads. That’s a great incentive to blog more and give your customers the content what they want.
9. Your Blog Can Help Build Trust
Customized content can help build trust with your customers and potential customers. They will see that you know what you’re talking about. They will see that you care enough about your products and services to allocate resources to creating unique content. And if you provide custom content that’s beneficial to them, they will see that you desire to help them. It’s easier to trust someone who is knowledgeable, who cares, and who wants to help you.
24 Communications is here to help you develop and implement your content marketing strategy, and can find strategic and creative ways to leverage your content across multiple platforms to expand your brand’s reach.
Get in touch to learn more.
