The Ultimate Social Media Marketing Plan – Part One

Finding new ways to bring in those all-important clients can prove challenging. The modern marketing landscape changes virtually on a daily basis – particularly where social media is concerned – keeping up with the latest buzz can seem a daunting task to say the least.

But the question is; with social media fast becoming one of the most targeted and pro-active marketing platforms, can you afford not to have a strategy?

Boosting Business With Social Marketing
Done well, social marketing can be an invaluable tool for boosting sales and extending your business network. To help you get it right for your business, here are the first 5 steps of the ultimate social media marketing plan.

1. Identify your objectives
Without knowing what you want to achieve, it's pretty easy to get lost down the social media rabbit hole. Recognising the importance of social media is one thing; knowing how to use it to your advantage is another entirely.

Ask yourself – what do I need to achieve here? Whether it be finding more clients, raising your brand profile, professional networking or link building - it's important to have a clear idea of what you wish to accomplish. Perhaps most important of all, if you don't have a clear objective, you'll have nothing against which to measure your results.

2. Passive? Aggressive?
Aggressive marketing will actually prove detrimental in the long term. Think about it – 'social media' is, by its very definition, a platform based on social interactivity and therefore will to some extent be governed by accepted social boundaries.

Just as people are unlikely to respond to the loud, obnoxious drunk in a crowded pub, your audience will be equally turned off by a constant barrage of marketing hype. Find a tone and approach you're comfortable with, and stick with it.

It's also important to remember that network marketing is a two-way street. Don't be afraid to assist fellow professionals with feedback and advice when they need it – they may come to the rescue when you need it most.

3. Know your market
Whilst there are literally endless social networking sites in existence, spreading yourself too thinly could prove counter-productive. Instead, select 2 or 3 key sites that will meet your needs and enable you to maintain an active profile without taking up too much of your time.

If you're a photographer for example, Facebook, Flickr and Twitter are a great way of keeping your audience up to date with new work and clients, whilst providing a direct link back to your site. Sharing your latest portrait shots will say far more for you than any amount of cleverly worded marketing.

4. Consistency is key
Again, this is where it becomes important not to spread yourself too thinly. Once you have decided which sites you're going to use, devise a regular schedule for updates. This is where many social marketing strategies fall down, with marketers starting out with good intentions before allowing work to take priority. Before you know it, your marketing efforts are on the backburner. Remember – you're doing this for a reason and, as with everything in life, you get out what you put in. The best mindset is to believe that this is a long term investment in your business.

It's also important to assume at all times that your audience are savvy to your intentions. If you're in it just to promote yourself and your business, users will quickly see though this and be turned off. Try to integrate yourself into the community and pace your marketing efforts.

5. Remember - It's a two-way street
An easy trap to fall into for many freelancers is worrying too much about your own business and not enough about others. In much the same way as a passive marketing approach will assist in building a loyal following, establishing a reputation for being helpful and approachable will pay dividends in the long term.

Don't just focus on your own business in your updates, engage users by posing questions, offering assistance and so on. Establishing an active dialogue with fellow social media users will both raise your brand profile and inject a little personality into proceedings. Try it – you might be surprised at the response.

Next month - The Ultimate Social Media Marketing Plan – Part Two. Call us on 01454 261111 if you would like help planning your social media marketing strategy.

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Achieving a Healthy Email List Growth

Social media sites, blogging, tweeting, YouTube – the internet is littered with a veritable treasure trove of usable content for savvy marketers. Yet for the uninitiated, understanding where to start can prove a daunting – if not near impossible – task.

Whilst it can be tempting to grab the nearest social media platform and launch a marketing assault, the absence of a measured, viable strategy will ultimately spell failure. Knowing what to put and where to put it is the key here, along with stringent content quality control.

A Steady Stream of Great Content
A targeted, concise approach will pay dividends in the long term. The first part of this article contains some essential steps towards building a long-term content strategy – look out for Part Two next month.

1. Understanding your audience
Sounds simple doesn't it? Taking a little time out to assess your target audience will ultimately dictate the success of your long term goals. Different audiences have different needs, desires and expectations.

The internet is a great resource for researching tried and tested methods. Choosing topics and defining your message becomes simple when you know who you're trying to reach.

2. Creating a message
The central focus of any successful marketing strategy should extend beyond simply pushing a product or service. An aggressive strategy is likely to fail more often than it succeeds and can easily damage your brand image long term.

Understanding what your audience wants and why they want it is the key to successfully engaging them.

Larger businesses for example will need to consider the bigger picture, perhaps interweaving content with related current affairs stories and think pieces to pull readers in. Small, local businesses might consider quirky anecdotes or local links to build an audience relationship. Tailor your content and the rest will follow.

3. Pace yourself
Whether you're blogging, tweeting, YouTubing or updating your website – consistency is critical to success. Many would-be marketers start out with good intentions, falling at the first hurdle as they either lose interest or their marketing efforts take a back seat to the demands of work.

If daily updates aren't viable, consider that monthly may not be enough to keep the content fresh and engaging. Create a realistic schedule that suits you and plan your content for the coming month in advance, or even a week at a time. This way you're less likely to fall off the wagon straight away.

4. Plan a content calendar
In much the same way as your favourite magazine features monthly columns or weekly articles dedicated to a particular subject, linking relevant content to your schedule will help to pull your audience in. If a subject yields a particularly positive response from your readership, consider making it a regular feature.

Pose questions or ask for suggestions in relation to future content. Try it – you might be surprised at the response.

5. It's good to talk
Short of ideas? A great way of finding fresh and engaging content ideas is to speak with fellow professionals in your field. Not only does this help to both build relationships and garner fresh ideas, but can also serve as useful content itself as a 'spotlight' style feature.

Don't be afraid to bounce ideas off one another – the most enduring business relationships involve a mutual exchange of experience and knowledge. So, make a list of individuals you might like to interview and if it works for you, make it a regular feature in your content calendar. A little variety is more likely to keep your audience engaged and demonstrates.

Keep an eye out for 10 Steps Towards Building a Better Content Strategy – Part Two, coming next month. If you would like assistance with creating fresh content for your web presence, call 01454 261111.

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10 Steps To a Better Content Strategy – Part One

Social media sites, blogging, tweeting, YouTube – the internet is littered with a veritable treasure trove of usable content for savvy marketers. Yet for the uninitiated, understanding where to start can prove a daunting – if not near impossible – task.

Whilst it can be tempting to grab the nearest social media platform and launch a marketing assault, the absence of a measured, viable strategy will ultimately spell failure. Knowing what to put and where to put it is the key here, along with stringent content quality control.

A Steady Stream of Great Content
A targeted, concise approach will pay dividends in the long term. The first part of this article contains some essential steps towards building a long-term content strategy – look out for Part Two next month.

1. Understanding your audience
Sounds simple doesn't it? Taking a little time out to assess your target audience will ultimately dictate the success of your long term goals. Different audiences have different needs, desires and expectations.

The internet is a great resource for researching tried and tested methods. Choosing topics and defining your message becomes simple when you know who you're trying to reach.

2. Creating a message
The central focus of any successful marketing strategy should extend beyond simply pushing a product or service. An aggressive strategy is likely to fail more often than it succeeds and can easily damage your brand image long term.

Understanding what your audience wants and why they want it is the key to successfully engaging them.

Larger businesses for example will need to consider the bigger picture, perhaps interweaving content with related current affairs stories and think pieces to pull readers in. Small, local businesses might consider quirky anecdotes or local links to build an audience relationship. Tailor your content and the rest will follow.

3. Pace yourself
Whether you're blogging, tweeting, YouTubing or updating your website – consistency is critical to success. Many would-be marketers start out with good intentions, falling at the first hurdle as they either lose interest or their marketing efforts take a back seat to the demands of work.

If daily updates aren't viable, consider that monthly may not be enough to keep the content fresh and engaging. Create a realistic schedule that suits you and plan your content for the coming month in advance, or even a week at a time. This way you're less likely to fall off the wagon straight away.

4. Plan a content calendar
In much the same way as your favourite magazine features monthly columns or weekly articles dedicated to a particular subject, linking relevant content to your schedule will help to pull your audience in. If a subject yields a particularly positive response from your readership, consider making it a regular feature.

Pose questions or ask for suggestions in relation to future content. Try it – you might be surprised at the response.

5. It's good to talk
Short of ideas? A great way of finding fresh and engaging content ideas is to speak with fellow professionals in your field. Not only does this help to both build relationships and garner fresh ideas, but can also serve as useful content itself as a 'spotlight' style feature.

Don't be afraid to bounce ideas off one another – the most enduring business relationships involve a mutual exchange of experience and knowledge. So, make a list of individuals you might like to interview and if it works for you, make it a regular feature in your content calendar. A little variety is more likely to keep your audience engaged and demonstrates.

Keep an eye out for 10 Steps Towards Building a Better Content Strategy – Part Two, coming next month. If you would like assistance with creating fresh content for your web presence, call 01454 261111.

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Blogging Your Way to SEO Success

With increasing exposure and focus on social media as a business marketing tool, you could be forgiven for thinking the humble blog has had its day. Indeed, whilst some social media users effectively use a business page as a blog, it shouldn't be forgotten that the traditional blog – when optimised for search engine success - remains one of the most powerful marketing tools available.

Recent research carried out by Hubspot identified that businesses who use blogs as part of a consistent content strategy on average have 97% more inbound links, 434% more indexed pages and 55% more visitors. Surprised? Well don't be.

Increase Traffic With a Business Blog
In this article, we'll take a look at how blogging can help your company achieve better returns from your internet investment.

Link building
In terms of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), blogs represent a fantastic opportunity for building inbound links. A well-written, interesting blog provides a wealth of information encouraging others to create links.

For example, take amateur US photographer Ken Rockwell, a knowledgeable photography enthusiast who writes objective, informative and unflinching reviews on photography equipment. Look at literally any photography related site or forum and it shouldn't take you too long to find mention of his name. His reviews are held in such high regard that even major players such as Nikon have realised his use in terms of promotional kudos. Ken earns a comfortable living off his blog/site alone.

Establishing roots
Major search engines such as Google index pages individually, yet in terms of SEO it is still usually the primary page (homepage) that receives the most attention, because this is where many companies focus their efforts.

With blogs, any links relate directly to any mention of a particular post, whether the link has been shared or referred to. This in turn helps to spread links across different pages of the website itself, encouraging page indexing across the website as a whole.

Outbound traffic
Many marketers aren't aware that SEO is a two way street - outbound links are also vitally important. With the depth and variety of content included in a typical business blog, there are far more opportunities to post outbound links to external content. This will increase your blog/site's value in the eyes of both visitors and search engines alike.

Keywords
In terms of your average brochure website, there are only finite opportunities to push certain keywords before you overload either the visitor or search engine ' indexing bots' that scan content on the web.

Blogs represent a fantastic opportunity to experiment with different keyword strategies and boost your rankings with fresh, engaging content which, by happy coincidence, leads us onto the final point...

Updated content
Search engines love fresh content. The more content is created, the more attention that content receives from the search engines. Incorporating a blog feed or even creating a content management system within your main site is an extremely useful tool in raising the profile of your website.

Of course, it goes without saying that regular updates are pretty vital to the success of any blog. If you want to keep the attention of both your readers and the search engine, get blogging!

If you would like help implementing a blog for your business, call us on 01454 261111.

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