#ReviveYourMarketing Archives - The Social Media Advisor

March 29, 2016
Social Media Marketing

#ReviveYourMarketing – Don’t Put All of Your Eggs in One Marketing Basket

As an entrepreneuror small business owner, the work you are passionate about is your main driving force. However, marketing is an essential element of any successful company and cannot be overlooked. I know, you are busy and don’t have time to focus on marketing. However, the blunt truth is, if you want to grow you can’t afford to not participate in marketing.

So, you dip your toe into the water and you try something. It may or may not be achieving results. That means going back to the drawing board and adapting the technique or trying something new entirely. What I’d like to encourage each of you to do is to try different marketing methods at the same time. Don’t put all your money into the one marketing avenue you think will work. Right now, you aren’t really sure what will work. You have probably done some research and gotten a ton of advice – but the real test is actually trying it and analyzingthe results.

Why You Should Diversify

There are many different reasons why diversifying your marketingis a great idea.

1. Your audience doesn’t all hang out in the same place. Everyone gravitates to a different area of the web. By selecting only one method or channel, you eliminate any potential client who doesn’t use it.
2. Websites change, adapt and disappear. If you have invested all of your marketing into the next, great, trendy website – what will you do if that company collapses? What will you do if it is taken over or changes direction? You’ll have to start all over. No one should be dependent on just one approach.
3. The more channels you participate in, the more you build your online web presence and establish credibility. The search engines are more likely to rank you higher if they see your name come up multiple times – from multiple sources. This will also establish your digital marketing equity and increase your brand online.
4. Focusing on more than one source will help keep your content and promotional materials interesting and fresh – for both you and your audience.

Types of Digital Marketing

Here are just some of the more popular options in digital marketing in 2016. There are more marketing methods available than this blog post could possibly cover. The idea is not to try to master them all. No one has time for that. Plus, many of the techniques may not work or connect you with your ideal target audience.

– Social Media Marketing – SMM covers a lot of territory. This could mean focusing on a single Facebook Business Page, a LinkedIn Profile, a Pinterest account, or keeping up with Twitter. Often the best strategy is picking multiple platforms and cross posting information. Do some trial and error to find out which ones work best for you. Or, better yet, hire an expert to help you narrow down the platforms and teach you the best way to schedule content.

– SEO – SEO stands for search engine optimization. The Internet is a big place. If you want people to find what you are putting out there, SEO is the method to use. If you optimize your website, social media, and other online content in a way that makes is accessible and appealing to the search engines – you will rise in search ranks in record time! There is both an art and science to SEO but, if you can make it work for you, it’s some of the best free marketing available.

– Content Marketing – Another way to establish your brand online is by producing content. Content marketing focuses on creating and distributing regular and consistent online content to attract new followers or customers. If you combine content marketing with solid SEO techniques, you will achieve even better results.

– Influencer Marketing – Becoming an online influencer, or expert, is way to organically grow your following. By regularly producing content, participating in interviews and live streaming, and making your presence known online – you will generate an audience that will become brand ambassadors for you. They will share your content and refer their circles to your online sites.

– Email Marketing – For many marketers, list building is the first step of marketing. If you aren’t tracking and building a list of people who interact with you, do business with you or are interested in your content – then you are throwing away valuable permission-based marketing opportunities.

Narrow It Down

I’m going to suggest that you pick at least three different methods that will help you reach your ideal client base. Some of these will appeal to you. Others will appeal to your online followers. Do what is best for your brand and easiest for you to maintain. Consistency is important when it comes to digital marketing. If you get overwhelmed, you will walk away and accomplish nothing. Don’t do that. You need an online presence these days. The focus should be on working smarter, not harder.

As always, if you need help getting starting or advice on which direction to head into – the team at The Social Media Advisor specializes in assisting small businesses with their online branding and presence. Give us a shout so we can help you #BeAwesome.

~ Social Media is changing the way people do business. Don’t get left behind ~

Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!

Hollie Clere, of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and the tools to manage them.

Click here for her Social Media Workshops, Classes and Seminars.

March 22, 2016
Content Marketing

#ReviveYourMarketing – Your Marketing Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect

There is a lot out there about branding, and message and company image. You’ve been preached to about the do’s and don’ts of marketing since you first started your business. Some of it makes perfect sense, some of the advice is contradictory, and all of it is overwhelming. What happens when we get overwhelmed? You got it. We end up doing nothing at all.

This month I’m on a mission to help your revive your marketing. Promoting yourself and what you do is the key to business success. Fortunately, there are a lot of different ways to approach marketing and, even if you have let it slide, it’s easy to pick that ball back up and run with it.

The most important thing I want to emphasize is…. your marketing doesn’t need to be perfect. If you get hung up on the right image, or the right tagline, or utilizing the right social media platform – you will get nowhere at all.

It doesn’t matter what move you make, but it’s vital that you start moving. There isn’t just one way to approach marketing but here is a general outlineto get your forward momentum working.

Branding

If you aren’t clear about your brand or your message, you might as well be target shooting in pitch-black darkness. It’s possible you will find a small percentage of people interested in what you do, but it’s so much more effective to develop a brand that does your marketing for you. If you create a clear cut brand and use it to promoteyourself in person and online, you will find that people start coming to you instead of you chasing them. Why? Because they already have a feel for you before the first conversation occurs.

Develop a Marketing Strategy

Spend some time figuring out who your target audience is and where they enjoy spending their time. Then create a marketing strategy that focuses on where they already are. Instead of just putting your marketing out there and waiting on your clients to find you – put effort into creating a marketing strategy that showcases your company right where they are.

There are a lot of options to choose from and plenty of advice. Email newsletter? That’s a great way to build a list and funnel. Social media? Get your voice heard and establish an online presence. Advertising? Depends on your market and your budget. Content marketing? It’s a great way to gain traction online. Influencer marketing? That’s the perfect way to establish that you are an expert in your industry or niche.

The point here isn’t to try everything. That kind of thinking is going to keep you stalled. The purpose is to pick the one you think will offer the best results and just dive in! Something is better than nothing when it comes to marketing and you can work on making it better over time.

As you get good at one strategy, you can look into ways to automate or outsourceand then bring another technique into the fold. It’s better to do one thing well than several things in a mediocre fashion.

So, cut yourself a bit of slack and give yourself permission to focus on the marketing without worrying about perfection.

“And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good.”

John Steinbeck

Need some advice or an expert to point you in the right direction? Give The Social Media Advisor team a call and let us help you #BeAwesome at what you do!

~ Social Media is changing the way people do business. Don’t get left behind ~

Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!

Hollie Clere, of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn,Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+, YouTube,Pinterest, Instagram and the tools to manage them.

Click here for her Social Media Workshops, Classes and Seminars.

March 15, 2016
Content Marketing

#ReviveYourMarketing – Repurpose and Reuse Evergreen Content

If you are producing your own content – whether it is for social media, a blog, or online article sites – it’s essential that you understand the relevance of evergreen content. Evergreen content is anything you produce that can stand the test of time and still be useful. Most of your content will be designed to be timely so that it is keeping on top of industry trends or attracting visitors searching for something specific to what is currently happening in their lives. However, creating contentthat can be recycled and used again that also holds up regardless of current affairs gives people a way to stay relevant to their audience.

Types of Evergreen Content

The best way to explain evergreen is to give some examples of content that falls into this category. When creating evergreen content, you want to avoid dates, trends, or commenting on current affairs. Some of the best evergreen pieces consist of “How to…” guides or tutorials. These generally don’t need to be updated over time and can be used to help potential followers find you online.

Another example of popular evergreen content would be creating lists. Lists of various resources or recommendationswithin your industry attract both industry newbies and like-minded individuals seeking validation. If your lists include links, you will need to remember to check them from time to time.

Really anything that encourages people to visit your sites and find out more about you is the type of content you want to create again and again.

Reuse Your Evergreen Content

While you can let your evergreen content just sit there and slowly attract attention using SEO techniques and practices, there is another way. If you take a stance to strategically use this content to garner more attention, reusing evergreen content can dramatically increase your viewership. Understanding which pieces of content are evergreen allows you to schedule them on a regular basis in order to continue attracting attention.

Periodically post this evergreen work to your social media channels. Since you gain followers all the time, these posts will be new for much of your audience. This will keep you from having to constantly reinvent the wheel and come up with new content which will allot you the occasional break.

Repurpose Your Evergreen Content

Some of your content won’t exactly fit into the evergreen mold. Maybe because the industry has changed a bit since you first wrote it or because there are references to current events or affairs within the piece, not everything you write can be edited into an evergreenitem. However, much of your previous content may only need a bit of tweaking to convert it to something you can use repeatedly. Reviewing and repurposing your content to match up with your current needs is a great use of your time and resources.

The whole goal of focusing on evergreen content is to increase your efficiency and help with your content management. This is especially true during periods where you are experiencing a lack of inspiration or do not have the time to create something new but want to remain consistent online.

If you aren’t where you want to be in social media, we’d like to help you #ReviveYourMarketing and get back on track and successful. Need a helping hand or just some encouragement to #BeAwesome? Our team at The Social Media Advisor gets pumped to help business owners take a lead with their social and create something amazing!

~ Social Media is changing the way people do business. Don’t get left behind ~

March 8, 2016
Social Engagement

Stagnant on Social Media? Re-engage Your Audience!

There was a time where anything you did on social media would make an impact. However, billions of people are logging in and using these platforms everyday. Complex algorithms mean that most of what we post won’t hit many feeds. As a busy professional, perhaps you’ve just ran out of time to really get creative on social or you’ve gotten into a rut of posting the same content over and over? It could just be that you are experiencing a bout of social media fatigue instead. There are many reasons you’re social media has gone stagnant but that doesn’t mean you have to accept that fate! Here are some ways to switch up what you are doing on your social sites to #ReviveYourMarketing and re-engage your followers.

You Have to Give to Get

Yes, your goal on social media probably has to do with signing more clients or getting more sales. That’s all right. It’s important to remember that social media is not your website. The 80/20 rule of posting only 20% of your own content exists for an important reason. People do not want to develop connections with businesses – they want relationships with other people. This means creating content that has no ROI other than engaging your audience. It also means becoming an expert or influencer in your niche or industry. To do this requires an investment of time and energy. However, that is how to gain true social media ROI.

Remember to Engage

If you are caught up in a loop of just creating and scheduling content, you are missing out on the most important aspect of social media. Social media is intended to be social! This requires you to regularly read, comment, ask questions and share other people’s content. It means using social media not just as a business owner but also as a follower. Participate in conversations and groups. Engagement is the key to active social media. Therefore you need to become an active participant.

Clean Up Your Social

It’s easy to get caught up in the pattern of just following any individual or company we might have an interest in. However, the more people you follow – the more clogged your feeds become. That’s a lot of content to go through on a regular basis, much of which isn’t worth the precious little time you have to browse. A better option is to get clear on which accounts are worth watching. Who inspires you? Which ones do you really take the time to stop and read? Which social platforms are still fun for you? Once you have your list – unfollow and ignore the rest. You don’t have time to follow accounts that aren’t encouraging you to be better on social media.

Let It Go

There is a ton of advice out there. It can be way too easy to get hung up on doing things the “right way” even if they aren’t working. It’s essential to monitor, analyze and evaluate what is and is working and be willing to toss techniques that don’t produce results. It’s perfectly okay to get creative and try new things to see whether or not they work. Leaving a social platform that doesn’t do it for you – is also just fine. Give yourself permission to evolve and change and try something new.

You’ve Lost Your Magic

All of us get caught up in the loop of productivity and projects. If your social has become just another thing you need to get done, then it’s not just your audience that has lost interest in engaging online. Time to take a moment and remember why you started in social media to begin with. Social is important but it’s not a requirement. If you simply hate it, walk away or hire someone else to manage it for you. The best social media accounts are ran by brands that love what they are doing and love sharing it with the world. These accounts become inspired by interacting with their followers and keeping their feeds full of great content.

Do you need some additional help or support? Want to hire someone else to handle your social media so you don’t have to? Our social media team loves this type of work and wants to help you #BeAwesome!

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