Social Media

Social Media Strategy That Works

Social Media Strategy That Works

When I started out as a Social Media/Marketing Manager I realized right away that you need to be organized to an extent I wasn’t prepared for. Winging it only makes things take longer and makes you stress out. As part of the marketing team at @revenue, I have learned some handy strategies for not only laying out campaigns but how to make them take flight. 

 

Let’s talk about Campaigns.

 

Campaigns are a whole different animal from regular social media posts, which are usually one-off posts not pertaining to an ongoing awareness campaign or event. Campaigns are preplanned, precalculated, and usually, a series of social media posts thought through to the maximum extent. A well-thought-through campaign includes the goals of the posts, specific target audience, and message. Campaigns make reviewing the metrics all that easier, too. Helping you track what’s working and what’s not. And you know how we love to try it, track it, and change it- especially when it comes to the ever-changing world of social media.

 

Here are some basic steps to creating an effective social media campaign. 

 

  1. The first part of laying out a social media campaign is to do some deep thinking on the goals and objectives. What is the purpose of the new campaign?  What does your client have going on right now that would make a good campaign? Are they offering a workshop or class in a couple of months? Then now’s the time to get started with planning. They say that you’re 40% closer to reaching your goals when you lay them out and get specific, so try to use SMART goals when creating a new campaign. 

 

  1. The 5 W’s - When creating a new campaign, you want to make sure you are answering the basic “Ws” of Who, What, When, Where & Why’s of the campaign. These fundamental 5 W’s cover all the bases. 

Why - why are you creating the content? What is your goal? How will this benefit the business?

Who - is your audience?  Being as specific here as possible is key.

What - do you want this content to achieve? 

When - when and how are you going to develop the content, and how long will the campaign run for? 

Where - are we going to publish, and on what platforms? Remember that each platform has slightly different strategies so make sure you customize your content for each.

 

  1. Next, you’re going to want to get very clear on who your audience is, what tone your messaging will take on, and the time frame - including the start and end date of the campaign. 

 

  1. Then you delve into the nitty-gritty, such as what hashtags you’ll use to get the campaign the most exposure, and what link and CTA you’ll be using. You might be thinking that this is all just a huge waste of time, just post it already, BUT trust me, you’re going to love working this way once you start and you’ll never go back. 

 

  1. Each campaign should have its own aesthetic/look. For example, I have a client who does many things, and one of those things is hosting a monthly writers group, where she helps aspiring writers become published authors. For her writer's group, we are using Gif’s instead of branded designs, to stand out and grab her audience's attention in a different way.  We aren’t using Gifs on any other campaign or other posts on her platforms. Another campaign could be solely focused on client testimonials and should include a branded image with a direct quote or review. Campaigns should vary from each other but always try to stay within brand colors, as you don’t want your profiles to be inconsistent in the brand. It’s best to have an overall cohesive look for your social posts, so following a clear brand guidelines document is always advisable.

 

6. Last, the best way to track the metrics of any campaign is to have the right software - this alone makes it worth it. At @revenue, we use Sprout Social for our social media publishing as well as their thorough analytics and metrics features. If you have an interest in using Sprout, please reach out to us for a special introduction. Using a platform that provides media tagging and allows you to create & label campaigns is the easiest way to review metrics, such as engagement metrics, to see what’s resonating with your audience, what’s not, and where to put your ad dollars. 

 

In conclusion, campaigns will make your ad money count. Who wants to throw money at something and see how much sticks? No one. 

 

If you need any help with your marketing, sales or branding strategy, give AtRevenue a call. 

We are happy to help you find a way to make your social media, marketing and sales work for your business. 


Social Media Trends of 2022

Social Media Trends of 2022

As we enter 2022 in a full-fledged feeling of renewed hope, social media has been bigger than ever in importance for brands. 

 

So what are we really looking at in trends for this year? Let’s break it down. 

 

Short-form Video Content: As TikTok, Instagram Reels, Youtube shorts, (etc., etc., etc.,) grow in popularity, we’re going to see an uptick in brands using short-form video as an effective method of growth. It gives brands a unique opportunity to humanize and to come across in an authentic manner, which is ever important in a world of ad-conscious consumers. Not only that, but attention spans are shorter than ever with easily consumable content–long gone are the days of long-form content. 

 

Our recommendation? Get in where you can. Integrate short-form videos on platforms your brand already exists on–if you can expand outside of those and get on TikTok, even better! It’s best to set a goal of how many videos you’d like to post a week, and stick to it. 

 

Micro-Influencers: Speaking of ad-conscious consumers, the days of celebrities touting ads for brands are passing us by. Consumers want to relate to people–smaller influencers are making their way into the space by doing just that–anyone has the potential to go viral these days; not just a select few. With less of a pricey spend, higher engagement rates, and more impact on consumers, there’s going to be a huge uptick in the use of micro-influencers in marketing campaigns. Included in the many trends listed by Sprout Social in their recent report, influencers aren’t going anywhere anytime soon and you can expect to see more as we move into 2022, though they will need to keep their content fresh in order to stay ahead of the pack. 

 

Our recommendation? Start the hunt for influencers who have 20k followers or under. See who’s interacting with their content and how. These smaller influencers have a massive relatability aspect that followers love and trust more than that shiny influencer with a million followers and a 1% engagement rate. 

 

Accountability and Transparency: As consumers become more conscious of where their money goes, and who they’re supporting, there’s going to be massive growth in holding brands accountable in terms of ethics. Brands who say they’re going to do the right thing (and follow-through) are going to see more income than large corporations that perform in ethically questionable ways. 

 

Our recommendation? Think about what your brand is doing for diversity, environmentalism, or ethics in general. If you haven’t thought about it yet, now’s the time. Create measurable goals, be open about them, and work your hardest to achieve them. 

 

Memes: Memes have always been a great way to join trending conversations. In 2022, we’re going to see even more brands join in on the conversation, letting loose from the chains of serious, curated feeds. With a massive uptick in brands trying to relate to their consumers (and be a little less serious), consumers are going to be enticed to interact with social accounts that like to have a little bit of fun–that’s why we come to social media. 

 

Our recommendation? Find a way to integrate this in a subtle way. If you suddenly jump into making your page 100% memes, it’s going to show up in an unauthentic manner to your audience. Slowly integrate memes that you can easily incorporate into your brand and niche. 

 

LinkedInfluencers: Two words you never thought you’d see together, but it’s true; after working from home, people are seeing the value of growing their personal brand with LinkedIn outside of their job. With think-pieces and personal content, we’re going to see an increase in personal brands, and more engaging content than ever before on LinkedIn. Another great reason for the rise? LinkedIn influencers have key decision-makers in their audience

 

Our recommendation? Think about what your personal brand’s niche is. What interests you about where you’re at? What’s your story? There are no limits to what you can share nowadays on LinkedIn–it’s a great place to grow a community of folks who relate to and understand you. And if you need help, be sure to reach out to us! 

 

What are your favorite social media trends? And how is your brand going to effectively implement the usage of them? If you’re having a hard time nailing that down, be sure to let us know; we’d love to give you a hand.


Setting up your YouTube Channel

Setting Up Your Youtube Channel

We’ve all heard how important it is to create video content that supports your business strategies. There is a ton of overwhelming information out there about what to create and where to post it. Diving into video content creation can be complicated and we want to let you know that there are some simple steps to take that will get you moving in the right direction.

Whether you have an existing YouTube channel or are setting one up for the first time, here are our best practices, tips and steps you can take that will ensure you get the most out of your video producing efforts. We will discuss the optimal setup of your Youtube Channel so you can be found by the estimated 1.8 Billion users who search YouTube monthly. Once you know the steps to take, the process can be relatively easy and fun. So let’s get started!

Beyond this quick blog, there are many tools to help you along the way, namely Google. But remember, you will need to have a Google account to set up and sign in to your YouTube Channel.

Once you have signed into YouTube, you can begin setting up your YouTube channel. As you dive into this process, remember that you want to stay consistent with your YouTube page branding. This means having strong branding on your channel as well as for the videos you post.

When you sign into YouTube, you will be taken to your home page.  From there you will want to click on your icon in the top right corner and select “My Channel” so that you can start customizing the channel settings. The two first items to address are the Channel Icon and The Channel Art Banner, shown below. Here are the steps and places you need to update to make your YouTube page your own and put your best face forward.

Channel Icon and Channel Art Banner Locations
  • Channel Icon: This is the icon that displays to other users for your videos and comments.
    • Use a clean and crisp logo image used in your channel icon.
    • The Icon is generally displayed in a circular shape, so make sure that your logo is sized correctly to fit into the circle without aspects of it being cropped out.
  • Channel Art Banner: This is the header background image for your page.
    • This should be a high-resolution image that is big enough to be seen on HDTVs and Monitors. Many users go to YouTube on their home televisions, gaming consoles and streaming entertainment devices.
    • Youtube will scale this image to fit an appropriate screen size depending on what type of device is being used. Preview how the channel art will look on the 3 major devices before finalizing the design:
      1. Computer
      2. Mobile
      3. HDTV
Channel Art Banner Preview on Different Devices

The next item we want to highlight is the Playlist. Playlists are created for recurring content or content that addresses a specific marketing strategy. Creating playlists will help you sort your videos inside your channel. When uploading videos to YouTube, you will be able to select which playlist they should be part of. Think about it like songs on an album, chapters in a book, or collections of art.

  • Customize your playlist Privacy settings. Sometimes it’s useful to create private playlists for content that you want to discreetly share with clients or team members. Some companies use this for internal versioning of videos, client reviews or for proposals made for specific sales opportunities. Here is what the different settings mean:
    • Private: Only those you invite to view the video can view it (they must have their own Youtube accounts and the maximum number is 50 usernames). Your video will not come up under any search results or your channel list. If you try to share it with someone who wasn’t invited, they will not be able to connect to it.
    • Unlisted: The video will not come up in search results or on your channel either. Only those who know the link can view it, and you can share the link with anyone, even those who do not have a YouTube account/username.
    • Public: Anyone can search for and view your video.
  • Ordering: Choose the order of how the videos are presented in your playlist. These options can include ordering them by date added, date published, popularity or a custom order decided by you.
  • Embedding: You can choose if you will allow other people to embed your video on their sites and pages. This means they can use your videos on their websites and make the videos more public.
  • You can also add rules to automatically add videos that meet specific requirements to your playlists, but this is more for YouTube pages that have a lot of content that are produced and regularly uploaded.

While customizing your channel, note that you are able to view the channel as yourself, new visitors and returning subscribers.  You should use this option to see how your channel will look for the various visitors as you make updates. Always keep your subscribers and video watching audience top of mind when making changes, update and even creating content.

And don’t forget to update the “About” section of your channel so that you provide important details about your company, specifically: why you created the channel, an email to contact you and your business website. A well-written Channel Description can convert visitors into subscribers and including keywords in your Channel Description can help your channel’s YouTube SEO.

Remember that your channel should be created with a purpose, not because someone on the management team wants to have a YouTube account. Take the time to set it up right, so that you can focus on the main reason for having a YouTube channel: Sharing the compelling videos that you create!

 


Sales + Marketing: Finger pointing or handshaking

Sales + Marketing: Finger pointing or handshaking?

Most businesses divide their sales team and marketing team into two different groups. At one organization I worked with, they were physically in different buildings... in different parts of the city. But what really is the difference between these two departments? They share the same goals, but their tactics for achieving these goals are very, very different.

It’s easy to get caught up with definitions like, “marketing is from the brand and sales is from a salesperson”. If that’s how you want to differentiate, I’ve got news for you. That sales person IS your brand! To more clearly separate these two facets of your business, I look at it from the messaging perspective. Here is my simplified explanation of these two departments and where the lines start to blur.

Marketing is a message sent to the masses. Like yelling into a megaphone, you say it once and it’s received by many people. For example, think of a TV commercial or a Pay Per Click ad that’s impersonal and doesn’t have a person on the other end sending you that message.

Sales on the other hand, is a very direct message sent from just one person. The message is tailored and personalized for each specific audience. It’s also not as scalable (one salesperson can only talk to so many people).

Now, here’s where it starts to get a little fuzzy. If done right, your marketing can feel like it’s coming from a real person AND your sales team can reach a wider audience.

This is why big data and targeted marketing is so exciting; it crafts a message that is targeted to the individual… but sent to many individuals. When this happens, your efforts have exponential impact.

Don’t just take it from me, here are the facts:

  • Personalization reduces acquisition costs as much as 50%, lifts revenues by 5-15%, and increases the efficiency of marketing spend by 10-30%. (McKinsey & Company)
  • By 2020, 51% of consumers expect that companies will anticipate their needs and make relevant suggestions before they make contact. (Salesforce)
  • Increasing personalization in more channels can increase overall consumer spending by up to 500%. (The E-Tailing Group)

Here’s a couple of great examples where your marketing and sales team needs to work in perfect harmony:

Email: An average office worker receives 121 emails a day and sends around 40 business emails daily (Source). So it’s fair to say that this would be a sales channel,. Right? But wait, what about MASS emails? Those newsletters, automations, promotions and drip campaigns need to incorporate best practices from both departments in order to be effective.

Social Media: With over 2.19 billion monthly active users on Facebook, this must be a mass audience channel, right? Think again. Sure, you can have your marketing team create a bunch of posts, but without a sales perspective and communication style, your engagement and conversation ends there. To be successful, you need to build a relationship with your following, and who is better at building relationships than your sales team? By bringing together your marketing and sales minds, you’re able to attract, engage and even convert a dedicated community.

Sales and marketing are very clearly differentiated in our minds. But aren't they really doing the same thing? Connecting, convincing, and communicating. Any good salesperson or marketer knows that is the key to success.

If you are having challenges connecting with your clients, leads and audience, contact Marie at marie@revenue.wp10.staging-site.io


Annoying or Appealing? 5 Ways Brands Get Unfollowed on Social Media

Annoying or Appealing? 5 Ways Brands Get Unfollowed on Social Media

 

www.suekoch.com

Too many businesses come out of the gate on social media with no plan of attack. It’s a completely normal response, as even many Fortune 500 companies admit to shooting from the hip without a strategy when it comes to social media. The downside of that, however, is that you’re more likely to fall into habits that turn your target audience away instead of drawing them in.

Investing in a content strategy is the best way to make sure you develop relevant ideas, creative content and a delivery style that inspires a loyal community.

A Sprout Social study found that 86% of social media users want to follow brands. But when they do, there are particular social media habits that cause them to turn and walk away.

Over-promotion: If someone you’d never met before knocked on your door and told you to go to their new store down the street, would you? What if they did it every day? Or three times a day? No. You’re more likely to slam the door in their face and hide. But if they introduced themselves & demonstrated interest in your needs, and shared a bit about their story, you may stop by for a visit in support of them. Then, you may build a rapport and start to appreciate their brand. Soon, you buy something. And you tell your friends and they buy something.  And the cycle continues. It is better to have patience in the process to inspire relationships, referrals and longevity, instead of forcing a first date where someone leaves when you go to the bathroom.

Slang & jargon: If you said something like “I soo can’t with adulting right now, I’m getting turnt tonight!” Would your friends look at you like…

Yeah, then don’t…

Trying too hard: Have you ever watched a newbie comedian struggle, and curled up in your chair with discomfort & embarrassment for the poor entertainer? It’s kind of like that. You may not walk out on the show, but on social media, we have an unfollow button.

Be yourself. Don’t try to hard to force humor or a style of communication you think is going to appeal to your audience. If it feels weird, it probably is. Do research first. Follow other pages that appeal to a similar audience as your business. Watch their interactions and participate. This will help you get a better feel for how to be yourself while communicating successfully to grow an authentic following.

Obvious automation: Do you post every single day at 10:18 am? Does every post follow the same format in copy, link, and image? Is there no personalization to your conversation? We see you robot! There’s nothing wrong with scheduling your uniquely crafted content in advance. But it’s critical to show up and mix in some ‘in the moment’ content and participate. The days of “set it and forget it” are long gone, and people will move on to a more real experience.

Ignoring conversation: This can be a result of automation, missed notifications, or simply lack of awareness. Make sure to respond to your community. People expect a response on social media. It doesn’t need to be immediate, there is still some forgiveness mindset out there but never ignore them.

Especially if someone asks you a question in a comment, sends a private message to your business, or presents you with feedback. It is critical to makes sure the original poster and the rest of the community see you acknowledge, demonstrate care and follow up. People may be a bit forgiving about how long it takes for you to respond, but they are not forgiving about being completely ignored.

What you should do:

Edutain them! People crave new ideas, they want to learn, to be entertained, and yes, to get to know the humans behind a brand. Make them laugh! (In an authentic way of course. See: “Trying too hard” above…)

They will buy from you, but first, they need to… !!cliche alert!! know, like and trust you. 

Make notification and message review a part of your daily process. This will help you keep in touch with your community and also learn more about what they want to see from you.

How do you make that happen? A solid strategy and action plan. Unless you are a master of improv, shooting from the hip will never support you in truly crafting a message that meets your audience in a consistent, cohesive manner, and allow you to build a strong community.

Get in touch with Sue via Facebook Messenger at @SueKochCatalyst or via the contact form. Thank you!