Step-By-Step Social Media Marketing Crash Course!
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Content Makes the Web Go Around
If you want
to be successful online, then you need to familiarize yourself with great
content. This is especially true for
any social media campaign, which will entirely hinge on the strength of its content.
Content of
course is writing, images or video. It is what visitors to your social media
pages and website alike will consume and it is likely what will bring them
there in the first place.
But what
makes for great content? And how to you make sure you have content like that?
Great Content is Well Written
For written
content, it is of course highly important that it be well-written. This means
that you need to create content that is easy to read and that is entertaining
and comes across as professional. You wouldn’t believe how much it can
undermine a brand when the content is written in pidgin English or filled with
typos and poor spelling.
Good
writing should first and foremost complete the objective of communicating the
point to its audience. That means you should avoid unnecessarily flowery
language and instead focus on getting the message across in as few words as
possible. This means the reader will need to spend less time reading, which in
turn means they get better ‘value’ for the time they invest.
Great Content Has a USP
This is
what a lot of people miss the point of: great content needs a USP. In other
words, it needs to be different from other content on the web in some way.
Just being
‘proficient’ is not enough. If you write content on working out, or if you
write content on making money online, then your audience has hundreds of other
sites where they can find that exact same information. So then, why should they
get it from you?
Instead,
make your content objectively different. Make it stand out in some way and be
unique so that your audience has never seen anything like it. That might mean
covering a new subject right away, it might mean posting on a combination of
two different subjects (and finding common ground between them) or it might
mean finding a new angle on an old subject.
Good Content Improves Lives
Finally,
dramatic though it may sound, good content improves lives. In other words, your
audience needs to be better off for having read what you’ve written. This means
you should post content that is entertaining, informative or both!
How to Beat Writers’ Block on Twitter
Twitter in
many ways seems like the simplest tool possible for building an audience. This
is a platform that has great ROI written right into its DNA. By it’s very
definition, Twitter can’t require a
bit investment of time. The posts are limited to being just a sentence or two
long!
But herein
also lies the problem. With so few words, you actually have to be quite
creative if you’re going to keep coming up with interesting and useful content.
Remember, your aim here is to provide value
in some shape or form.
Some people
take to this like a duck to water. Some people will post on Twitter regularly
and always with something witty, interesting and new to say. But the rest of us
can find ourselves with writers’ block when we’re trying to be witty. So how do
you get around this?
Keep a Backlog
One tip is
to keep a backlog of Twitter posts that you can dip into when your creative
pool is running dry. Some days you’ll feel particularly inspired and be firing
on all cylinders and those days you might find that you can fill an entire 2
pages with unique and fun Tweets.
So, do it!
Then just post these regularly. You can even use something like Buffer in order
to schedule those Tweets so that they go out at regular intervals.
Have a Personal Brand
A personal
brand is a brand that is linked with your name. This means that you are a part of the brand, in that people
associate you with the company. Think of Tim Ferriss, Richard Branson, Tony
Robins or Pat Flynn. Even someone like the Hodge twins.
This is
powerful because it liberates you to start posting about your daily life and
your day. Everything becomes interesting in this way and everything lets you
share content with your followers. And if you don’t have a personal brand,
consider sharing insights into the daily workings of your business.
Share Tips
Stuck for
ideas? Then just share a useful tip. If you’re in the right niche/industry then
you should have tons of advice for your audience. So just share something
useful in a couple of lines. This is guaranteed value because it’s advice that
they can act on. So it’s a great way to have a bottomless supply of useful and
interesting Tweets!
How to Create a Successful Brand on Social Media
Theory is
all good and well and we could talk about the keys to social media success
until we were blue in the face.
But that is
very different from practice. That is very different from taking the concepts
and using them to build a successful brand and then build a large, targeted
audience.
And so with
that in mind, let’s go through a hypothetical social media campaign for a new
brand. You’ve bought the site, now it’s time to get word out.
Step 1
Step one must be to create a brand. That means
coming up with a logo yes, but more important than that is to come up with the
right mission statement and the right goals. In other words, what is your
website and your brand about. Who is
it for? What do you stand for?
This is
very important because your brand should speak specifically to a particular
kind of person. If it does not, then you won’t be able to attract their
attention the way that you should and you won’t be able to build true fans and loyal,
engaged followers.
Of course,
this also means building a website that reflects that brand.
Step 2
Step 2 is
to do some research online. Check out your competition, see where they’re
posting, see what people are asking for in your niche, see where there are gaps
and opportunities. Why is this step 2 and not step 1? Because you shouldn’t
make a brand because you think there’s a business opportunity – you should make
one that matters to you and that you’re passionate about.
Step 3
Step 3 is
to choose which platforms you’re going to be present on. You want to be on as
many as possible but at the same time, you need to be realistic about the
amount of time or energy that you can commit to this.
Choose one
platform to be your ‘primary platform’ and at least two more to back that up.
Then use your branding across all of these and be consistent.
Step 4
Step 4,
finally, is to post your content regularly and to make sure it provides real
value. To do this, it must be unique and original and it must be well written.
Do all that and you’ll be on to a winner!
But it’s a
lot harder than it sounds…
How to Post Better Images to Instagram
Do not ignore Instagram!
Instagram
is often overlooked as a social media platform due to its nature being entirely
‘images’ based. However, this fact alone is actually what makes Instagram very
powerful – it allows you to convey much more emotion and to really make a
product or a lifestyle look desirable. Not only that, but Instagram is actually
the second largest social network behind
Facebook. That’s a pretty impressive stat, so you really shouldn’t leave it
out of your plans!
To be
successful on Instagram though, you need to be at least somewhat good at posting images. What if you weren’t blessed with
this skill? Here are some tips.
Use a Good Camera
While a
good camera can’t completely mask a bad eye, it will certainly improve the
quality of all your images to some extent.
Using a
good camera might mean using a better smartphone camera. Smartphones make it
very easy and convenient for us to take images and this means you can easily
integrate your social media efforts into your daily routine. Alternatively, it
might mean investing in a better mirrorless camera or DSLR and then uploading
via an SD card.
Use the Right Software
The great
thing about Instagram is that filters and post-editing are expected. Instagram has a bunch of filters that can add a lot to
your images but this is taken to the next level if you also do a little editing
in some other software. The best part here is that there are a lot of apps
available for your phone that let you do this right from your pocket!
The
Lightroom app for instance is particularly excellent for this. Another good one
is Pixlr, which also allows you to make some great looking collages uses
multiple images.
Consider Composition
Most
important of all though, is to take a great photo in the first place. This
means considering composition – just taking an extra moment to think about the
angle you’re taking the photo from and what else is in the shot. A good photo
doesn’t just keep the subject matter front and central and take the photo head
on! A great photo might use foreground and background elements in order to
create a sense of depth or it might use an unusual angle in order to create a
sense of drama or dynamic movement.
Consider
lighting too and wherever possible – tell a story.
How to Use Facebook Ads to Grow Your Brand
Social media marketing means building a social following by providing constant value to your audience. At the same time, it means communicating with your audience, building your network and letting people feel as though they are getting to know you or your brand.
But it can also mean advertising. Social media advertising is a particular form of advertising with a lot of unique advantages. In this case, we’re going to look at Facebook Ads in particular and why this is an incredibly powerful tool when combined with the right social media campaign.
Facebook Ads: An Introduction
Facebook Ads is what is known as a PPC marketing platform. That stands for ‘Pay Per Click’, which essentially means that as an advertiser, you only get charged each time someone actually clicks on your ad. If someone sees your ad but doesn’t click, you pay nothing.,
What’s more is that – like other PPC platforms – it allows you to choose how much you are willing to pay per click as well as setting an upper limit for when you have bottomed out. This is great because it allows you to work with any budget but it also allows you to decide how much you are willing to pay for each click. If you know your rough ‘CLV’ (Customer Lifetime Value) then you should know how much each visitor and each customer is worth to you over a long period of time. You can then make sure you are only paying that amount!
Better yet, if you use CPA – cost per action – you will only pay when someone likes your page, or perhaps downloads your ap. Now you are only paying for new, engaged audiences.
Targeting
What makes this truly powerful though, is that PPC also allows you to target your specific audience. This means that you can pick who it is that you want to market to and then ensure that only they see your adverts.
You can choose this based on all the information that they have given Facebook – such as their age, their sex, their location, their hobbies and interests and more. That way, you can ensure that not only do you only pay for new Facebook likes, but that all those people you are paying for are guaranteed to be people who are likely to be interested in reading your posts and buying from you!
How to Use the Best Hashtags
There is an
art and a science to choosing the right hashtags for your tweets and your
Instagram pictures. Get your hashtags right and you can quickly grow your
audience and get hundreds of likes for every single image.
Get them
wrong and you can be posting into the void and getting nothing but tumbleweed
in return!
So how do
you go about using the best hashtags? Let’s take a look!
The Basics
So, the
main objective with using your hashtags is to make sure that you post things
that people are looking for. At the same time though, it is also very important
that you make sure you use tags that aren’t already saturated.
So, for
example, let’s imagine that you have a post of the sunset. The temptation here
might be to use #sunset. This seems logical because people like sunsets and it
will get a lot of searches.
But the
problem is that it won’t take long at all until your post is buried. There are
so many photos with these hashtags
that it will only take minutes for your post to be driven to the bottom of the
searches.
To get
around this then, you need to post images that have hashtags people are going
to want to search for. For instance, this might mean a hashtag like ‘dusk’ or
‘twilight’. Or maybe ‘golden hour’ (a photographic term referring to this kind
of light). These terms get searched but they aren’t so common as to face huge amounts of competition.
Other Strategies
When
looking for these kinds of terms, you can also think about particular niches,
as well as things that are currently in vogue. For example, you should consider
posting images and Tweets that respond to what’s currently in the news and
what’s currently trending. If a big event happens, this will likely get a lot
of searches and you can get in on that action before the market is saturated
with related posts.
Another
strategy is to think about a particular niche or market. I often post images
with the hashtag #laptoplifestyle or #digitalnomad which appeals to a
particular type of person.
Finally,
consider using hashtags that relate to an event or local news. These will be
very popular but the total number of people posting those images will be
limited geographically or by attendance. Just been to an Expo? Perfect
opportunity for some related Tweets!
The Secret to Success on Social Media Is…
And the
secret to success on social media is…
Being
social in real life!
This might
come as a surprise. It goes against conventional wisdom. But it is entirely
true and it will help you get ahead much quicker. Are there other ways you can
build a massive audience on Twitter and Facebook? Sure, but they all take much longer and are far less guaranteed.
Think about
the people who are most successful on social media already. Who are they? Most
of them are celebrities. This is obviously because they are in the spotlight
already. But is it? Because if you look a little further, you’ll find that
producers, executives and others in that world are also big on social media.
So why is
that? Simple: it’s because they’re rubbing shoulders with the massive
influencers. They’re in that world.
And if you’re in the in crowd, it is very easy to see your content explode as
it gets shared and liked by all the right people, or as your channel gets
recommended by other top producers.
That might
sound cynical. It might sound like it echoes the somewhat cynical notion that
the easiest way to get ahead in life is to go to a university like Harvard
where you make the right contacts and the opportunities just throw themselves at you.
Maybe, but
it’s also true.
But here’s
the good news: if you’re not already ‘in’ that crowd, there are still ways you
can get around it.
Right now,
if you message Richard Branson and asked for him to promote your latest product
he would not answer you. He might if you were friends with Bill Gates, but
you’re not, so that’s a different story.
But if you knew Richard Branson, then he would
almost feel obligated to at least respond
to your Tweet. If he had met you in person, it would be different.
Now, you’re
not going to find it all that easy to meet Richard Branson in person or to
begin moving in those circles. But what you can do, is to start moving in the
outer circles. You can rub shoulders with people who are little bigger than you.
How? You do
this by going to social events. You do it by going to networking events and
events thrown by Facebook for its
smaller influencers.
Socializing
in real life builds real connections. And real connections are worth much more
– even on social media!
Using Social Media for Research
Social
media is not just a platform that you can use to shout at the world. If you’re
thinking of this as a foghorn, then you’re going about it in completely the
wrong way.
Social
media in fact has much more in common with a telephone. It is two way tool that allows you to
communicate with others. Never forget the ‘social’ in social media!
This means it can be used for many more things than just
getting word out. Here are a few powerful examples.
Check Out the Competition
Before you begin trying to market your products, it’s a good
idea to start by doing your research. That means checking out the competition
and seeing what they have to offer and how they’re performing in terms of
numbers. You may find that there are some brands that you wish to emulate:
brands that have managed to build a very big and engaged audience. Look for
these and make sure that you learn from them.
Another thing to look out for is opportunities. Spot the
brands you want to emulate but also ask yourself what they’re doing wrong and
more importantly – who they’re missing out in their marketing! Are their
elements of their demographic that they have forgotten? Are people asking for
something particular on their wall and going unheard?
Learn the Lingo and the Audience
Another tip is to try and spend some time immersed in the
‘world’ that you are entering into. That means contributing to the social
groups that you will later be promoting in and it means reading the content that is being shared. What’s popular? What’s
not? Are there different groups within this niche? Are their controversial
topics and things that you should try to avoid mentioning?
This is also a good time to build your own reputation and to
establish yourself as something of a leader in the niche and an authority. Let
the community get to know you before you start ramming your content in their
face!
Find Partners
This is also a good opportunity to scout for partners. That
means looking for influencers that might be willing to give you a shoutout, it
means looking for brands that you could potentially do cross-promotions with
and it means generally finding people that you can work with. You’ll be
surprised just how many opportunities are there if you’re willing to look – so
just spend some time doing that critical research.
Why Video Needs to be Part of Your Social Media Campaign (And How to Get Started)
When you
think of social media, you probably think of written content. You’re probably
thinking of things like Twitter posts or Facebook statuses. Maybe at a push,
you’re thinking of Instagram images.
But the
reality is that video is also a big aspect of social media and it absolutely should be a part of your own strategy.
Why Video is Critical
In case
you’re not sold on this idea, consider that video is much more
engaging than other forms of social media. That’s at least partly because video
assaults all the senses. It contains movement, imagery, music and
gesticulations and all this makes it far more captivating, far more persuasive
and potentially much more emotionally stimulating. This is everything you need
to sell to someone and it makes social media a considerably more powerful tool for selling and persuading – or
just getting someone to care about and be interested in your brand.
At the same time, video helps to elevate your status. Video
is something that not anyone can create and that often requires specialist
equipment, editing tools and more. Video with high production values looks like
something that a bigger company with more resources must have made and that in turn makes it very effective at
elevating your brand, your authority and your trust.
How to Get Started
The best way to get started with video marketing is with
YouTube, which in some ways is similar to a form of social media. At the same
time though, you can also be successful by using live video on platforms like
Facebook, by uploading very short videos to Instagram etc., or by using videos
through other social media channels. Even paid Facebook Ads let you incorporate
video!
To get started creating
video, then conventional wisdom is that you will need a good quality
camera, some basic lighting equipment, a sound recording device etc.
All this is true to an extent, but it isn’t strictly
necessary if you’re shy to go on camera or don’t know how to create that kind
of content. In fact, a ‘video’ can be much more of a podcast with a static
image and you talking over the top. Or it can be a slideshow with no talking at
all! There are lots of ways to create video and the only thing you absolutely need
is some basic editing software.
Why You Should be Doing Live
It is easy
to look at advice surrounding social media marketing and to feel as though it
is a little stale. You get a lot of the same stuff regarding hashtags,
frequency and providing value and it tends to all be focussed on the same three
platforms it always has been: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
But social
media marketing like so many other things is constantly moving forward and
upward. If you want to make a big impact, then you need to move with the times
and adapt to the changes. That means, in this case, being on live platforms in
order to enjoy the unique advantages that they offer.
What is Live?
Going live
is a feature that is available on Facebook (Facebook Live), on YouTube, on
Instagram and on dedicated platforms such as Periscope and Meerkat. In each
case, this allows you to stream live video to anyone who wants to log into the
feed and watch. Not only can they watch, but they are also able to post
comments, which you can then respond to in real time.
Why This is a Big Deal
There are a
lot of reasons that doing live is a good way to gain more followers and is
something that you should be investing it.
We could go
into a lot of detail now about why Live might well be the ‘future’ of social
media in many ways. For now though, suffice to say that for you, it offers a
unique way to communicate with your audience without the limitations of having
to wait for a post or a message to be delivered. Your audience will feel as
though they’re getting real insight into your lifestyle, your business and your
personality and you will be able to answer their question directly.
This is a
fantastic format for a whole range of types of media, from AMAs (Ask Me
Anything), to interviews, to product reviews.
The other
reason you should be on live is that it is new. That means it’s exciting. And
what’s more, is that it means that there isn’t so much competition there.
Struggling to gain traction on traditional forms of social media? Try going
live and your whole audience will be notified (this is something that Facebook
and other platforms are trying to promote) and you’ll find that there aren’t
all that many other channels doing the same thing. It won’t be that way
forever, so act quickly!