You’ve got a great business in the making and you’re looking to tell the world about your fantastic product but how do you make an IMPACT using your social media? And more importantly how do you make an impact efficiently?
It all begins with the planning. Having a good marketing strategy will help you be efficient and effective in your social media campaigns and will give you clear direction on where you’re heading and what you need to be doing to get great results.
Having an impact with your social media doesn’t need to be a tricky task and actually it can be quite enjoyable when you get into the swing of how to be effective.
With literally millions of people using social media on a daily basis, the world is more connected today than it ever has been. Information and content is readily available and everything is at the fingertips of the consumer. So how in a world full of competition and no boundaries do we as business owners reach the audience that we are seeking to find?
There is such power in social media and the influence that it has on our everyday lives. Without realising, people are engaging and creating opportunities that we often are not even aware that we have become part of, by either clicking on a Facebook post or watching a video on YouTube, everything is there at the click of a button, content ready whenever we need it.
Be known
Also as we’ve said before, once your business raises its brand awareness it will be recognised by more people and the engagement through your social media channels will increase. This will help push your business forward and you’ll see better results when you gain more engagement – whatever medium or channel you are using. The more people who know and hear about your brand, the more people will want to engage with you.
What can you do to make an impact?
Firstly, you need to research your audience and be completely clear on who you are speaking to and reaching out to. There is absolutely no point in creating content for people who are not interested in it. Therefore researching who you’re trying to market to will make your content more appealing to those it reaches.
Who is your audience?
What are they seeking?
When do they like to engage most?
Where can you find them online?
Why do they want to engage with you?
Answering these questions in depth will help with your social media strategy and give you guidelines on who and why you are reaching out to your audience.
Make a plan
Once you’re CLEAR on these answers, you can start to plan your strategy. Stay focused on the target market and don’t steer away from these just because it’s nice to do something different. You’ve established who you’re speaking to, so you need to make it as tailored to them as much as possible.
What type of content do they want to see or hear? Which platforms are they most likely to engage on? What do you offer that’s different from other brands? Why should they connect with you?
Within your plan, you need to be clear that you understand your own brand identity and know exactly what it is that is YOUR unique selling point. You’ve seen a need in the market, you’ve gone out there are created a business to fill a gap – so why should people buy from you? Use THAT to connect and engage with people.
Create impacting content
Now you’ve established your who’s and why’s, it’s time to put your content together. In order for you to be noticed and stand out from the crowd, you need to ensure that your content is unique and personal to your brand. Sharing content that a hundred other people are sharing has its place but to really engage and connect with your potential customers, you need to offer something that is authentic to your brand. Something that they know they can only get from you.
Make your content eye-catching and appealing
You may have lots that you want to explain or tell your audience but how can you make that appealing?
Perhaps create a series of images with quotes over a period of time – this could tell a story or share the behind the scenes story of your business.
You could take your product out on the streets and photograph it out and about! Take your product to the school playground, take it to the beach, let people see and touch your products – what images can you make with these scenarios that make it look interesting and attractive? This may sound silly but doing this will make your business unique. It will allow people to see it in different settings and where they would least expect it – making it memorable and eye-catching. People will talk about it, if people like what they see, they will share your content. Creating engagement is key to your marketing campaigns.
Be organised
Your social media marketing needs to be organised and intentional. Creating a plan that is only half thought out could have a negative impact on your business, which is not the path you want to go down. Whether you are a small business or a large organisation, creating a social media plan that you adhere to and follow will have a positive impact on your marketing. Making sure you do everything with purpose and thought and working with all the data available to you will make your efforts efficient and with impact
Don’t let your social media take over your life though! There is much to be said for taking time away from you mobile device and enjoying the other parts of your business! Attending networking events, speaking to people you meet and sharing business cards is all great ways to market your business. But don’t forget that when you make an impact on someone and they like what they hear, they will look you up online and therefore your branding and social media profiles need to reflect everything you’ve told them about your business. Your social media profiles and any online presence you have needs to reflect what your business offers and the values that it is about. Keeping on top of your online marketing can take a lot of work but ensure that you prioritise and take time for you. Your health and well-being is also important as it will have an impact on how your business looks if you lack time and energy.
If you’re looking for an extra pair of hands to help you with your online marketing strategy or just to ease the workload, we’d love to help! Get in touch today for a friendly, no obligation chat.
In a busy chaotic world there is so much competition with brands trying to be heard, that it’s vital you offer something which is unique and engaging to your audience.
If you provide a service or a product where there is a lot of choice to obtain that particular service, then YOUR brand needs to stand out and be seen. You could have the best product in the world but if you don’t have an audience, you won’t see the sales.
1) Understand
Understanding your audience and truly getting to know them will give you edge in the competition. Find where they hang out, what their interests are, where they engage the most. Speak to people in those areas and ask questions (we would call it research!) and all the time learning more about them.
If you can understand what would make a client purchase from you rather than another brand, then you can work towards achieving that and providing a service that is 100% accurate.
2) Address the needs
What are the needs of your ideal audience? Are you able to fulfill that need? If so, that’s where you need to start. Understand the audience and address their needs. Once you understand what they need, you will be able to provide a better level of service targeting exactly where they need it the most.
3) Be honest
The worst thing that a business can do is promise something that they cannot deliver. Therefore, always ensure honesty and transparency. If you’re clear from the start in what you can provide and how you can provide it, people will know where they stand.
If you’re struggling to meet a deadline date – let the customer know.
So many businesses fail because they are not upfront with their clients. Just be honest and clear in all your practices and your clients and potential clients will thank you for it.
4) Provide excellent customer service
Customer service can make or break a brand. And people remember from experience once they’ve had a bad one! Therefore your customer service is so important to ensure good client retention. Always be on hand to help. Always be on hand to answer questions. Always be ready to get stuck in and solve a problem. Your customers will see what you do for them and whether you care and this will result in them purchasing from you or going elsewhere.
If you provide a memorable and reliable customer service experience, people are more likely to recommend you to others.
5) Be personal
At the end of the day, what’s going to make your brand unique is by being personal. Just be yourself. People learn to trust and like a brand that they can relate to and can engage with on a personal level – a brand that makes them feel special and unique and gives them time and energy to communicate. When you offer a service like that where people can rely on your service, THEN you will see your business grow.
When you get down to the details of what your business is about and what you have to offer, this can really be broken down to a human level. You can use your personality and strengths to provide a 1st class service that people won’t easily forget!
How do you get your brand to be known? Get down to be being personal!
Love your business, love your brand, love what you can be and show it off – and let people learn to trust and respect the real face behind your business. Be true to what you believe, don’t go with the flow because you think it’s the right thing to do, but stand out and be different and follow your dreams and the plans that you have for your brand. Every step you take is a step in your journey. You can make the choice to either make that step count or to get lost in the crowd.
We’d love to help you get noticed in a busy digital world where every post or comment matters. Let us help you get the engagement and reach you need to target your specific audience and don’t waste time doing an ‘ok’ job – do it right and do it GOOD!
Get in touch if you’d like to find out about our social media marketing packages.
Do You Love Your Business And Have Passion To Drive It Forward?
Do you still have a passion to push your business forward? Do you still love what you do within your business to see successful results?
If you’re not enjoying what you do, or enjoying the basics behind your business, it’s time to step back and work out how you can change that. It’s time to re-focus and work out what is is that you need to be doing to get back on track and see results in your business.
Monday’s are always a great day to plan the week ahead and to establish your targets for the week. If you’re looking at that to-do list and not seeing things that you enjoy – perhaps you’re looking at your business in the wrong light. Perhaps it’s time to strip down the different aspects of your business and your daily / weekly routines and really knuckle down to finding your true passion again to inspire you to push forward and see the results that you truly desire.
The one question that needs to be asked is: Do you love your business?
Do you REALLY love what you have achieved so far and know 100% that you’re heading in the right direction?
Do you STILL have the passion and drive that you once had when you started your business?
If the answer is ‘no’ then it’s time to step back and ask ‘why?’.
What has made you drift away or move in a difference direction?
What is it that has dampened the spark that you once had to see results and to love helping others?
When you first set out to start a business, there was a reason why you went down the route you went in – and sometimes we all need to go back to those roots and re-ignite the passions and drive that motivated and inspired us.
Understand what motivates you
Understanding what motivates you and inspires you is important steps for growing your business. It’s difficult to stay focused if you lack motivation or understanding in what you’re really wanting. Changes in circumstances and personal lives can also have an impact on direction, and often you can find yourself down a path that you didn’t expect. It’s not always a bad thing though and all experiences whether good or bad can be a learning curve and help us understand what’s really needed, expected and wanted in order to succeed.
Going back to basics
Going back to the original question ‘do you love your business?’, can you honestly say that you’re in a place that you want to be in? Are you happy in what you’re doing?
Your actions say more than words and the way that you present yourself professionally can have an impact on your business. Being joyful in your actions, sharing what you do, talking about your passions and what you do in life will help you to network, to build work relationships, meet new people and build contacts – all attracting potential new clients.
You are the face of your business, you are the voice that people see and hear and therefore this needs to be a positive process.
Dig deep, understand where you have come from, where you are heading and what makes you tick – and more importantly – where you can add value. Then you will be happy in what you’re doing, and people will see that you’re confident, positive and believe in what your business is about.
So today, re-discover what you love about your business, re-discover the drive to see success and let’s help each other move forward.
We would love to hear your comments below; what do YOU love about your business and how can you inspire others to dig deeper?
When you’re starting out in business and you’re looking for an extra pair of hands to help you, it’s often hard to find the right balance in what you need to suit your circumstances.
If the big clients haven’t started rolling in yet, or you’re not quite ready to take the big step in hiring a full time employee, knowing what to do to ease the work load and make life practical for you can be a tricky decision.
There are options out there though and if you’re not in a position to hire an employee, you could consider hiring a freelance worker instead.
Both has it’s pros and cons and both are valuable considerations – it all comes down to what your business needs right now.
In our previous post we go in more depth about the differences between hiring a freelancer or an employee. At the end of the day, as a startup business you need to think about what is best for you both personally and financially. Small businesses will see success if they plan carefully and productively.
If you’re looking to hire a Virtual Assistant for your business and would like to know more about how this could benefit your business, get in touch for an initial consultation.
We all have our own approach in how we view or look at leadership and what makes a leader. It can depend on your environment, the type of industry you are in or even your own personal life. But what makes a great leader is the attitude to see results and lead by example as well as getting the job done.
“As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.” – Bill Gates
So what makes a great leader?
We must believe in what we are doing and have faith that are able to achieve it. This does not necessarily mean that you’re going to do all the work, but you learn to delegate or lead by example in order for a task to be complete.
A leader is used to make hard choices and to take the initiative to say yes, or no, to a problem or solution. It’s very easy to get swept along with the tide in busy business environments or to get into a routine that doesn’t allow for improvement. However leadership really is a mindset that is in action. A leader doesn’t need a title, they believe in what they are doing and they act on that, taking initiative to see something through to completion. The title is not given, it’s earned.
“The only definition of a leader is someone who has followers.” – Peter Drucker
If you want to make the move from managing to leading, from being a professional to being an inspirer, from being one of the team to being a leader of the team, you need to know the ABC of Superlative Leadership.
Take a read of the Leadership ABC’s:
Let’s take a look at these in more details:
A is for Appreciative Cultures, the end result of a leader’s work, when the culture he or she fosters becomes an appreciative value of the company.
B is for rock-solid Belief that your team can move mountains.
C is for Culture, which is the way people behave when you’re not looking.
D is for the Drive for Power that makes you want to lead.
E is for Encouragement, like sun after the rain.
F is for Fun, an indication that the right work is happening.
G is for Growing your people and believing that they can achieve their goals. Putting them first.
H is for Helicopter vision, because you need to see in three time zones: the near, the middle and the far.
I is for leader Identity, the ability to be comfortable in your own shoes.
J is for Joy because leaders rejoice in their own blessings as well as the successes of their team.
K is for Knowing your people, not just by name and number, but by strength and weakness, character and spirit, skills and potential, what makes them sigh and what makes them soar.
L is for Learning, because learning is change and learning is growth.
M is for Mission which leaders live as well as dream and portray.
N is for the Nobel complex, the belief that everything your people do is worthy of a Nobel prize.
O is for Opportunity. Take hold of everything you can in order to see results.
P is for Plain-talking because leaders need to be understood.
Q is for Questions, such as “What do you need me to do?” and “How can I help you work better?” and “What should I be doing?”
R is for Respect, the touchstone of every relationship a leader has.
S is for Symbols, the language of leadership.
T is for the Traits of courage and determination, patience and perseverance.
U is for Unleashing what’s there, allowing team members to express themselves and explore new ideas.
V is for Values, the guiding principles of the team, or “the Walkmans of the mind”.
W is for the Way, the Chinese “tao”, the route that leaders take and others follow.
X is for Xtraordinary because leaders get ordinary people to do extraordinary things.
Y is for Yes, because there is always a plus to be found even in the worst situation and the toughest setback.
Z is for Zero tolerance of failure, sub-performance and giving up.
Learn these simple principles and there are no limits to where you can lead your team.
Can you add to these points? Do you have your own A,B,C of leadership that you apply to your way of working? Please comment below and share.
