by Karen Petrauskas | Oct 25, 2023
Email marketing – are you using email to reach your customers, audience, potential clients and everyone in between and beyond?
- Email is an amazing tool if used correctly.
- Email is a fantastic way to interact with a set of people.
- Email is a great way to communicate with value.
As you’ve probably heard before, “it’s all in the list” – “you grow a business through the email list” – and that’s great if you’ve got a list, but how do you get to that in the first place?
The most important question you need to ask before starting this is who is your email list for? Establishing who you want to be communicating with and how you can relate to them is the foundation of a growing list, and then offering a product or service that will benefit their needs.
Think about how you can attract those exact people to your list. You need to make it easy, you need to make it straight forward and most of all, you need them to want to sign up.
The best place to start is your website. A simple sign up box on your website allows a reader to subscribe to your list – but what would make them want to join?
Can you offer something of value in return? – For example, we particularly like our social media awareness days calendar as it contains 12 months’ worth of usable content, plus a monthly email to remind you about each one nearer to the time. The best thing – it’s all FREE!
Tip: Create a HOOK which will attract your ideal customer to connect with you.
When someone signs up to receive an email, they are giving you valuable information – their email address – which they are trusting you with.
This is not a time to start spamming them with lots of junk messages or selling at every opportunity. They have trusted you with their personal details, so respect them and gain their respect in return. Give them something that will help their pain point or will benefit them in some form.
How else can you get started:
Create Valuable Content
Produce high-quality content, such as blog posts or articles, ebooks, webinars, and offer them as incentives for people to subscribe to your email list. Always ensure that the content is relevant and addresses the interests of your ideal target audience.
Offer Exclusive Discounts or Promotions
Provide special offers, discounts, or early access to subscribers. People are more likely to subscribe if they perceive something to be a benefit.
Run a Contest or Giveaway
Have you thought about hosting contests or giveaways on social media or your website, where a reader enters with their email addresses? Ensure that the prizes are relevant to your niche to attract genuinely interested subscribers – or your email list will be populated with people are not interested in your business at all – they just want the freebie!
Utilise Social Media
Promote your list on all your social media profiles. Share snippets of your content and mention that subscribers get exclusive access to more of they join.
Regularly Email Your List
Keep your existing subscribers engaged and interested by sending them valuable content on a consistent schedule. Engaged subscribers are more likely to refer others and will organically help you to grow your list!
Online marketing can be a minefield and I totally get that, it’s not always easy to navigate what’s essential, what’s necessary and what can wait. But growing an email list will definitely make a difference to the results that you see in terms of business growth. Attract the right audience, gain the right results.
If you’ve not yet started to create an email list, or need help incorporating one into your marketing strategy, why not get in touch and let’s chat – it all starts with a conversation, so simply hit the CONTACT button and let’s arrange a [virtual] coffee!
by Karen Petrauskas | Sep 4, 2023
Small business owner, startup, hobby turned into business, running out of funds….
If you’re working with a tight marketing budget, we totally get it. But don’t worry, because being creative is the way to go and it could become your best friend!
Here are some of our creative and cost-effective marketing strategies to consider for your smaller budget:
10 Top Tips for a creative marketing strategy
#1 Embrace the power of social media
It’s your best friend when it comes to free or low-cost marketing. Create engaging content, interact with your audience, and leverage platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn to get your message across. Regularly share valuable content, run contests, and encourage user-generated content to increase brand visibility.
#2 Content Marketing
Create high-quality blog posts, articles, and videos that provide value to your audience. This can help establish your brand as an authority in your industry and drive organic traffic to your website. It might sound a little daunting when you get started, but believe me, the more you write, the easier and better it will become. You’ll discover more about your passion and even your knowledge of your subject and when you start to research and write articles, you’ll dig deeper and gain more value for yourself too. Content marketing works both ways and is beneficial to all!
#3 Collaborate with influencers
Find influencers or micro-influencers in your industry who align with your brand and values. Offer them a mutually beneficial partnership where they promote your product or service in exchange for something valuable, like exclusive discounts or samples. It will help with exposure and allowing your brand to be discovered. Start small too, you don’t have to jump on the bigger influencer you can find – in fact, micro-influencers often have a more engaged following and will give you better results. Do a little research and find a couple of good matches and give them a bell. **if you want help with this, drop us a line and we can do it for you!
#4 Word-of-mouth marketing
Encourage your satisfied customers to spread the word about your business. Offer incentives like referral discounts, freebies, or even a small commission for every new customer they bring in. When someone is impressed by what you offer, they’ll have no trouble talking to their friends and family about you! It’s a cheaper way to market your business and one the most effective.
#5 Utilise user-generated content
Ask your customers to share their experiences with your brand on social media using a specific hashtag. Repost their content and give them a shoutout, which not only saves you time and effort but also builds a sense of community around your brand. Reposting UGC on your social media accounts can enhance authenticity and reach – make the most of every post that talks about you!
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#6 Get involved in local events
One that although is not an online marketing strategy, but one that if you have some spare time could work in your favour… participate in local fairs, exhibitions, or community events where you can showcase your products or services. It’s an excellent opportunity to connect with potential customers face-to-face and create a memorable impression.
#7 Leverage email marketing
It all starts in the list! Once you’ve got your list off the ground, offer valuable content or exclusive deals to subscribers. You can regularly send out newsletters that provide useful information, updates on new products/services, and special promotions.
#8 Explore partnerships
This is a big one and so worth it! Collaborate with complementary businesses that target a similar audience but offer different products or services. Cross-promote each other through social media shoutouts, joint giveaways, or co-hosted events. Build your audiences together and help each other to grow and scale. You’ll get the knowledge from both sides and also boost confidence, get encouragement and have someone to bounce ideas to and from.
#9 Focus on SEO
Doesn’t sound very creative but when you’re marketing on a tight budget this can be key to driving traffic to your website. Optimise your website and content for search engines by using relevant keywords, creating quality backlinks, and providing valuable information. This helps improve your organic visibility and drives more traffic to your site.
#10 Take advantage of free marketing tools
There are plenty of free or affordable online tools available to help you with graphic design, social media scheduling, email marketing, and analytics. Do some research and find the ones that best suit your needs, take advantage of free trials too which give you an idea of what something can do, whilst allowing you to use their service (for free) for a limited time.
Remember, creativity doesn’t have to cost a fortune. With a little extra effort and outside-the-box thinking, you can make a big impact on a marketing on a tight budget. Good luck – and feel free to get in touch if you’d like some 1-2-1 advice or assistance, always happy to help. Let’s talk!
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by Karen Petrauskas | Aug 6, 2023
School’s out for summer! But do you find balancing the summer holidays and your social media a challenge? Here’s a few tips which you may find useful over the coming weeks…
Schedule your posts in advance
Plan your content ahead of time and use a social media management tool to schedule your posts. This way you can maintain a consistent posting schedule even if you’re busy enjoying summer activities. I have a few which we use and can recommend, drop me a message if you’d like to know which ones we enjoy.
Utilise summer themes
Create content which aligns with summer themes, think about outdoor activities, holidays, and beach days. Use hashtags to increase your visibility and engagement.
Engage with your audience
Summer is a great time to interact with your followers (well, any time of year is really but summer is a fun time!) Respond to comments, answer messages, and participate in conversations. Show genuine interest in your audience which will strengthen your online community.
User-generated content (UGC)
Encourage your followers to share their summer experiences with your products or services. Repost UGC with proper credit, as it boosts engagement and fosters a sense of community.
Summer-themed contest or giveaways
Engage your followers by running contests or giveaways related to summer activities or products. This can help increase your reach and attract new followers. It’s also a great way to gain momentum before we hit the autumn and festive season (ready for the sales!).
Optimise posting times
Know and understand your social media insights to determine the best times to post during the summer. Routines change during this season, so posting at optimal times can increase your content’s visibility.
Balance promotional and fun content
While it’s essential to promote your products or services, don’t forget to share lighthearted and fun content that resonates with your audience during the summer.
Go live
Share real-time experiences and behind-the-scenes moments. This can create a sense of authenticity and create a deeper connection with your followers. Plus you can do it on the spot and don’t necessarily need to create a plan (although you might want to), and this can be a good ad-hoc way of keeping content flowing on your channels.
And here is the most important one …
Take breaks when needed
Remember to take some time off and enjoy your own summer! If you need to, let your audience know that you’ll be taking a short break from social media. People generally understand and appreciate when you prioritise self-care.
By forward-thinking and implementing some of these strategies, you can effectively manage your social media presence while enjoying the summer season to the fullest.
If you’re a small business owner trying to balance out the summer holidays and social media marketing, these tips could save you some time and energy. Get ahead of it now while it’s fresh in your mind and give your business a chance during the holiday season. And if it’s not right for now, you’ll have an idea and way to plan for the next set of holidays!
In the meantime, why not join our weekly newsletter to get extra tips and advice direct to your inbox or contact us for an extra pair of hands.
by Karen Petrauskas | Jul 15, 2023
Grow and scale your small business with our tips for improving your marketing strategy.
If you’re struggling to get the attraction, interaction and of course ‘results’ you need to promote your small business – there are many things you can do to improve your marketing.
We’re all aware of social media, most people have a Facebook personal account, if not Facebook, then one of the other channels – depending on your age!
But social media can be a great tool for small businesses to promote their brands, products and services too – it’s not just for personal use, utilise what’s out there for the greater good.
By creating a strong social media presence, small businesses can reach a wider audience, attract potential customers, build relationships with existing customers, and increase brand loyalty.
Here are 6 ways you can improve your small business marketing through social media:
#1 Increase brand awareness
Social media platforms allow small businesses to reach a much larger audience than traditional marketing methods and it’s much more cost effective than other means. Starting with creating engaging content, a business can increase brand awareness 100-fold and reach out to potential new customers.
Tell your story, showcase your ideas, shout about what’s going on behind the scenes, share your expertise and knowledge, talk about past projects, highlight your values… the list is endless. But it’s all about being unique and creative. People have heard it all before but when you put your own spin on your business, it becomes authentic and new.
#2 Build customer relationships
Social media can be used to create a community around your brand and engage with customers on a personal level. By responding to comments and messages, small businesses can build strong relationships with their customers, which can lead to increased brand loyalty. Think about you feel when a brand takes an interest in you, not just for the sake of a sale, but truly values you as a customer. This is all part of a customer’s journey, and every interaction plays a part.
Why not try mapping out the customer journey, this doesn’t start from when they buy from you, it starts from way back in the thinking and processing stage (even if they don’t know it!). How can you be there in the foreground, ready to approach when they are ready to purchase?
#3 Drive website traffic
Social media can be a great way to drive traffic to your website. By sharing links to your website or blog posts on social media platforms, small businesses can attract potential customers to their site. Think about the good old days when people handed out a business card to everyone they met – yes, this still has a place, but it’s much more effective to be able to direct someone via a quick link online.
The more traffic that is diverted to your website, the better your search engine rankings become too. Engagement, link clicks and interaction all help to get your business noticed!
#4 Promote products and services
Social media platforms provide a great opportunity to showcase products and services. Through visual content, small businesses can promote their products and services in a way that is personal, relatable and engaging to all those likely to want to see or hear.
Products or services can be explained, can be talked about, can be backed up by testimonials and feedback and they become more alive when being shared on social media.
#5 Multiple social media platforms
We always advise that it’s better to the best at one platform than spread yourself too thin and be inefficient on all. However, when you can master more than one, then go for it.
Think about where your ideal customer is going to be hanging out, which channels you are likely to find them on. This is where you need to base your focus. Doesn’t matter what platforms you enjoy the most – although this does help when you have an interest in it too – but your business needs to be visible where your potential customers are.
This comes down to research, understanding your audience, and discovering the best approach for the ideal client. And when you know which platform(s) to use, what type of content is going to work on them, so you need to mix up your type of content, do you need to work with a specialist who can help you create great content, can you utilise other content and re-use?
#6 Paid advertising
Another way social media marketing can increase brand awareness is through paid advertising. This offers businesses the ability to target specific demographics based on their interests, behaviours, and other deciding factors. This can help ensure that the brand message is getting in front of the right people, increasing the chances of conversion and brand loyalty. It can be a costly experiment if you don’t know what you’re doing, so always ensure that you’re working with an experienced media buyer before jumping into this. *We can help, just message us!
In summary, social media marketing can be a highly effective tool for businesses looking to increase brand awareness and see growth. When done correctly, social media marketing should be an essential part in the funnel which creates more leads & sales, and a healthy, sustainable, and reputable business.
If you’re not getting the results you need from your marketing strategy, or you’re not sure where to even start putting together a marketing plan or strategy, we’d love to sit down and talk this through with you. Simply get in touch and start a conversation, today.
by Karen Petrauskas | Jun 14, 2023
If you’re not seeing the results you need through your social media content to grow and scale your small business, what could be the problem?
Social media marketing should be fun – it’s there to attract and engage an audience. Can you say this sums up your social media content? Are you optimising your efforts to achieve the best possible results?
If not…
Step into your client’s shoes.
- What would you want to see or hear regarding that product or service?
- What would attract you?
- What would make you stop scrolling and read the caption?
- What benefits would make you want to look further?
Once you’ve answered all these questions, think how you can turn it all into content.
Video Content
Could you do create some videos which describe what you’re offering, giving a concept for people new to your brand.
Videos are great for story telling, so you can showcase what you’re doing and why, what you do behind the scenes, a typical day in the life of…
Videos are powerful.
Informational Content
But also informational content which asks and answers some of the most common questions your ideal client will be asking, either before they buy or even before they know they want to buy.
What pain points do your audience face, what struggles do they go through, how could your product or service help, and what benefit it is to them?
Information carousels are great forms of posts on social media, they talk directly into what a customer is already thinking about and feeds their need for more information. Without physically speaking to them, you are inserting your knowledge and expertise into their minds which relaxes them and lets them know that you have an insight into what they’re facing.
Utilise this to create impactful content which answers the deep questions people may not even know they’re thinking about until they see your posts. Break down each question with relevant and bitesize responses that people can take away and digest.
Eye-Catching Content
Is your content eye-catching? Would your posts make you stop if you were reading it on someone else’s feed? You could have the best information out there but if people aren’t stopping to read, what’s the point?
Bold colours, fonts that stand out, captions which entice a response.
If content is hard to read, in small or scripted fonts, too much information all in one place – it’s not eye-catching enough against other social media feeds to warrant someone to stop scrolling.
Make your posts as eye-catching as possible to the reader – not just to you. What you like might not be the same as your audience – do some research, visit other pages and profiles to see what type of content is gaining the most views and interactions.
Plan your Social Media Content
A big tip we’re giving you is to plan your content. We see many small businesses creating their social media posts off the cuff. And that’s fine if you’re regular, on the ball and can think on the top of your head. But there may come a point when you’re stuck for ideas and you get fed up with posting every day… you’ll burn out! It’s not sustainable to keep that going long-term.
Invest in a social media scheduling tool, there are plenty out there and it comes down to budget and preference. But take advantage of free trials and give them all a go and then choose the one that works for you.
We’ve tried all sorts, from Social Pilot, Hootsuite, Buffer, Later, Tailwind, Social Sprout, Tweekdeck – and there are many more out there. We personally love Social Pilot as it has so many great features that it’s perfect for scaling small businesses.
Create a content marketing plan around the above ideas and get to work creating content that actually speaks to your audience.
Hire a Content Marketer!
If you’re not a creative person, you don’t have the time to create batches of posts, or you simply know that marketing isn’t your thing – that’s ok! We can help and would love to get to know you and your business in order to create a content plan for you, and help you implement. Just get in touch today and let’s talk. It all starts with a conversation.
Plus if you become a KJP client from this post, we’re offering a MASSIVE 20% off your first THREE months bill!
*Mention this post when you speak to us to qualify.
We look forward to hearing from you but in the meantime, why not subscribe to our KJP community newsletter – tips and advice sent to your inbox every Friday (plus many freebies too!)
Speak soon 🙂
