by Karen Petrauskas | Jun 11, 2020
With social media being the most popular way for people to communicate with a business, it is a given that businesses need to be responsive and interact on social media to keep their customers and audience engaged. A place where consumers can discover more about a brand, learn more about a product or service and get to know and trust a business before making a purchase.
The growing popularity of social media makes it an essential place for businesses to be and to reach their audience right where they are. It provides a faster and more personal touch to any conversation and allows the follower to feel cared for and part of a community. However, there are some rules and things that you can adhere to, to ensure that you’re covering the right basis and interacting in a positive way.
Post valuable content
Whatever social media content you produce needs to (and should always) produce value. Personal profiles are the place where other non-business things can be shared and talked about, but when it comes to your business profile, your customers want to see that they can rely on you giving value and being supportive when they need it. Whether you’re giving an inspirational quote or sharing a tip or advice, make sure that your followers can benefit from it.
It doesn’t always have to be something that you have written, this is called curated content. If another business or industry expert has written a relevant and valuable blog post, why not share this to your audience? Tip: You can use other people’s content to grow your own brand awareness!
Show some personality with your voice
You are your brand, yes, but the voice that you portray across social media content should reflect the right tone for your business. People will see through split personalities and conflicts of interests – be true to your brand, the core values that you believe in and the way you want your business to be seen and heard.
Create a voice across social media where you can be yourself and give a good impression of every aspect of your business. Your unique voice is your authenticity and is essential in speaking to the right people, engaging with the right people and reaching the people that are going to want to grow with you and the brand.
Creating your unique voice will make you stand out in a crowded digital space, make you stand apart from the other businesses and competition, and increase your chances of being heard and appreciated, trusted and loved. Become known in a digital world that is fighting for attention by being authentic.
Keep your social media simple
There’s nothing worse than trying to jump on every social channel, keep up with the large organisations and compete with everyone out there – it’s not going to work! Keep your social media marketing simple, make it as easy as possible with the best possible results. Learning to be effective and efficient in your online marketing will make life a lot easier and will help control stress levels which can increase when someone tries to everything all at once.
If you establish that you need to be doing more and keeping up with bigger competition, or even that you’re not the right person to be doing the marketing (everyone has their strengths and weaknesses) then why not think about outsourcing your social media to a VA (virtual assistant) or a digital agency that has the resources and expertise to be productive and reach your business objectives.
When it comes to simply, start with sticking to the point in everything that you post – captions, images, text & copy – keep it simple and easy to manage. Once you start making it complicated and adding in extras, your audience will expect that every time and it is obviously harder to keep up with. Start small and increase as you have the time and skills to do so.
Monitor your social channels
There’s one thing to create a great social media plan and schedule every post for a month in advance, but it’s something else to monitor the reactions and engagements that come from those posts. Be reactive and responsive on the content; when someone comments, respond. When someone shares, thank them. When someone recommends, engage. At all times monitor your social media profiles along with other people’s content that mentions you – this is called social listening and is a very valuable tool.
Make the most of User Generated Content
Your followers and consumers are the people who drive your business forward, who are an influence to others seeking out your business and are the people that will help you build trust and confidence with new customers.
UGC not something that is essential in your social media strategy but always an action that will help.
When someone shouts out about your business – engage with them and share their posts on your social channels. Their reviews, experiences, journey with your business can be shown to other people looking in – utilise User Generated Content wherever possible. Not only will it help with finding a variation in your content, but it will provide insight and reassurance to others.
Above all when it comes to your online marketing efforts, be consistent and on the ball with everything. Diffuse controversy, especially when it’s something that effects your business or nature. When you say you’re going to post, post. When you get into a routine, be sure to keep it up – people expect what they are used to and can get despondent or bored if they feel let down. Be true to your brand and let your personality shine through in your content. Organise, plan and prepare everything – there’s always room to add in extras, but ensure you have your basis covered first.
How do you manage your interaction and engagement on social media? Are you finding that you’re not effective or productive? Do you love social media and have some success stories to share with your audience? Are you looking to outsource your online marketing so you can focus on other parts of your business? Do you need a marketing strategy to work towards? Whatever your situation, we’d love to listen or help you engage and interact with your online audience, feel free to get in touch and let’s talk!
In the meantime, our Social Media Checklist can help, you’re welcome to download our FREE resource to give you the first step up. Click the link below.
by Karen Petrauskas | Jun 4, 2020
There’s no denying that the current climate has encouraged business owners to use online marketing more and jump on the social media channels in order to stay up to date with customers. And if you’ve been one for holding back and not wanting to be online, are you able to keep up with the other businesses who are online?
The way forward is digital. The way for brands to reach out is through digital and online marketing. Social media has been and is going to continue to play a big part in business growth, providing stability to consumers and giving value at every opportunity. How can you embrace online marketing as a business owner?
Why is it important to have an online presence now?
What’s the first thing you do when you need to buy something, seek advice, research a product? You go online. You jump onto Google (or your favourite search engine) and type in the relevant words you’re looking for and results appear. Bingo!
Your customers and potential customers are doing the exact same thing when it comes to looking for your product or service. They are looking for “xxx near me” or “xyz in my area”. If you’re not online, you do not even stand a chance of being in line for that customer.
You need to be in it to win it!
Your competition is online, even if you are not.
This is the same for anything, for something to happen, you need to put yourself in the right place to start with. Give your business a head start and place it somewhere where it can be seen.
Build reputation and trust online
A key reason for being online, is to build trust, loyalty and showcase expertise where it’s needed. You can be there to help solve problems, give insight or advice, sharing your knowledge with people around you and in return building a great reputation for being a business that cares about others.
Being able to offer an outstanding customer service is also part of the package. How much quicker can you respond to a query or concern online. Giving people a place to find you, contact you and speak to you at the touch of a button.
Word of mouth marketing
We’ve spoken to a few business owners recently who still do not have an online presence (hence the reason for this post!), or they have ‘something’ out there but are not sure on how to use it effectively. Word of mouth is great and we’re not denying the power that it can have as a marketing tool but there is so much more potential out there when you make your business available. How big if your word of mouth circle? There are limits to word of mouth. How much more impact could be gained from your word of mouth customers to give you a review online and to recommend you via social media channels that can be seen by hundreds, if not thousands of other potential customers!
Where to start with online marketing
This can be a good question and very valid for anyone not used to being exposed to the open doors of all things digital.
Email marketing
For small business owners, you may have an email contact for your current clients. Why not ask them if they mind being put onto a mailing list? Your first point of call could be to send out a regular newsletter of either things that have been happening / recent projects etc, or to provide offers and latest information. You email list is extremely valuable. The bigger list you can build, the more people you can potentially speak to. It’s far quicker to send out a weekly or monthly newsletter, than to ring round a whole client base asking if they need anything. (be sure to follow GDPR protocols and get the permission of the email holder first)
Google My Business
For the people who are searching for local businesses or services, Google My Business is a great free resource that any business owner can utilise very easily. Simply search Google My Business in your search engine and follow the steps to get set up.
When you search for a business online, you will often be presented with a right hand column of information about that business. It will include website and contact details, opening hours, business information and much more. This can include client reviews or photos too. A perfect opportunity to give an insight into a business, and it’s free!
Facebook Business Page
Depending on what type of business you have, the next step could be setting up a Facebook Business page. This is also very simple to do, just make sure you have a personal profile set up first in order to get started.
Again, depending on your business, how many people are surfing Facebook and could potentially come across your business or service? How many of your current customers are on Facebook and would give you a recommendation or review? Facebook is still the most used social media platform worldwide and gives massive potential to reaching out to a wider audience. If you do not have a website, a Facebook Page could be the first impression a person gets of your business. Creating content around recent projects, live or up to date information, posting behind the scenes images and telling the story behind the brand… all these things make up positive influences towards building a business and growing your audience.
Facebook might not be the place for you, other social media channels might be relevant to your audience – how do you know which channel to choose? Research your audience, find out where they are spending their time, where they are most likely to be interested in seeing your presence and engage with you, and build a presence on that platform. Check out our post on What’s the difference between the social media platforms for more information.
Brand awareness is important however you decide create it, in order to keep a business alive, relevant and up to date.
Having an online presence in this digital age offers cheap and affordable marketing, an easy way to stay in tune and in touch with customers and raise a brand profile in the process.
With careful planning, goal setting and strategy, online marketing is a necessity to keep up with the competition and to create a growing and thriving business.
If you’re just starting out online or with social media marketing, always create a plan of action and know what you’re looking to achieve through being online. If you’d like to talk through strategy and marketing plans, we’d love to chat with you. Get in touch today and let’s start a conversation.
In the meantime, if you’d like to go it alone and would like a check list to ensure that you don’t miss the basics, why not download our FREE social media checklist to get started. Embrace social media, embrace the digital space and allow your business to have an impact!
by Karen Petrauskas | Apr 24, 2020
There was a time when online marketing was seen as an extra and something to do if your business had the resource, however now, more than ever, your online presence is an important and essential part of your business strategy.
Even before the global lock down, businesses large and small were recognising the need for communicating online. The move between traditional and digital advertising is forever increasing and with the amount of people accessing the internet on a daily basis growing as well, it’s a sure sign that this is where your business should be showing up.
However what areas of digital and online marketing should you focus on in order to gain the best results and see the best possible outcomes of your efforts? You don’t need to be completely tech savvy but there are some things that will helps you along the way.
First off, what is online marketing?
Online marketing is a subset of the bigger picture of digital marketing and refers to any type of marketing that takes place online. This could relate to social media, blogs, email newsletters, websites etc. It’s main purpose or focus is to attract customers and to help build an online presence.
Why use online marketing?
Your customers and prospects are looking for you online! The people you are trying to reach are spending much of their time online, they’re already searching for your services / products or what you have to offer – and here’s your chance to be there for them.
The benefits of marketing online?
As a small business or start up company, the main focus is going to be getting the first set of customers through the door. In the past, people would send leaflets through letterboxes or leave business cards in shop windows but now there is a much easier and more effective way to achieve results. The benefits of using online marketing include:
- Being able to interact and engage with your audience in real-time, 24 hours a day, being there at their time of need and providing a flow of communication when they want to hear from you.
- The ability to reach a wider audience, a global market-place, targeting specific groups or demographics where necessary.
- The ability to get to know and understand your audience, understanding their pain points and what they are looking for the most and building a relationship and trust between you.
- A cheaper and more cost-effective way of advertising.
Your competition is online
If your competition is online and you’re not, you’ll be missing out on opportunities that could have come your way. Learn from your competitors and see what they are doing – and what is working – and formulate your own version of this into your strategy. How are your competitors communicating with your audience, what platforms and content are they using?
Give your customers a choice on who they go to, if you’re not online, they don’t know you’re there!
Improve your credibility
We know that customers buy through someone they trust, and that bond and credibility is just as important when thinking about businesses online. So, using online marketing to build up that trust and to show your knowledge and expertise is the perfect place to get your message across. You can use network groups to provide indepth advise and expertise.
You can write articles and blogs to provide solutions to your audience which can be shared across your channels. You can begin to build an engaged audience through your email list and provide regular meaningful and insightful information.
The more visible you can make yourself and be available for people when they need you, the better.
Drive more traffic to your website or services
One of the main hurdles small businesses find is the ability to find quality leads and getting people to discover them in order to make sales. That’s the beauty of online marketing and using it correctly to drive traffic to your website, where people can find you and learn more about what you have to offer. Through the different types of content you produce, you have the ability to drive traffic to your site, whether that be through a Facebook post, an email newsletter or a guest blog post, when you write or create a piece of work, it’s the ideal chance to highlight your business .
Be inspirational
One point to remember is not to oversell your services as people will get bored or annoyed with being directed to the same point from every piece of content you produce. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t produce content – just mix up what you create and one of the best things you can do is provide inspirational content for your audience.
Measure analytics real-time
Another great reason to use online marketing is that you can measure and visit your analytics at any time, ready to be see what’s working and what not be. It is so much easier to be able to make adaptations and amendments at the click of a button in order to see better results. You don’t need to wait for results to roll in or for a third party to produce analytics for you – they are ready there for you. Make the use of every piece of information you can and analyse the data in order to build your business, engaging with every person that comes into contact with your business.
Marketing trends to implement
- Influencer marketing
- Content marketing
- Social media marketing
- Video marketing
- Email marketing
If you’d like to know more about any of these, we’re happy to talk through each option – just give us a bell and let’s talk.
In the meantime, why not download our FREE social media checklist – don’t forget the basics, it’s our gift to you.
by Karen Petrauskas | Apr 3, 2020
It’s no surprise that many businesses are facing hard times during the Coronavirus pandemic which the world is currently going through, and this is made worse by not being able to physically see people face to face and to promote a business in the normal way. However, we want you to know that there is a light to all of this when it comes to keeping your business alive, and ensuring that your brand is still in the forefront of people’s mind when they are looking for your services or products.
The key to this light is communication. Each business that is facing hardship at this time needs to dig deeper into their communication channels and to find a way to still be there for their audience and to provide as much value as they can.
Everyone is looking for solutions, everyone is searching for answers and needs to feel that they can find what they are looking for somewhere out there, probably online. And that’s where your business can thrive. That’s where you can be the best of what you are capable of and showcase a range of solutions to reach your audience. All you need to do is understand your audience, stand in their shoes and get to grips with what they are feeling, their pain points and what they are seeking – and provide solutions for them.
It’s not a chance to ‘get rich quick’ or to make other’s out of pocket, it is a chance to provide value and stability in a time of uncertainty.
How can you communicate efficiently and effectively in times of panic?
Utilise your social media channels
As more and more people are communicating through their social media channels, connecting with friends and family, searching for online solutions and generally spending more time online, here is your opportunity to reach them right where they are.
Where is your audience hanging out? Is it Facebook / Instagram / LinkedIn? People settle into a place that’s comfortable and calming for them. Personal social media is down to the individual to find a platform that works for them and therefore it may not be where you are used to being, but if you want to speak directly to your audience, it’s where you need to be.
We say this so many times, but the more value you give, the better a) you will feel, and b) the more your audience will trust, respect and like you. It’s about building relationships and getting to know your audience. People buy from trusted sources; from people they can see and understand. People engage with people they like to hear from, where they can relate and resonate with.
Emotion plays a big part in social media, being able to reach someone’s emotions will go a long way in gaining engagement and interaction on the content that you share. Thinking about how your audience will react to your content, can you make them laugh, smile, feel inspired or motivated? Social media is about getting social and communicating at a level your audience appreciates and reacts to – every audience is different but how can you best touch their emotions and what types of content can you create that will fit the box?
Create a Facebook or LinkedIn Group
Do you have a specific group of people that you could provide even more value to in a more personal or interactive way – that’s not necessarily given to your wider audience? This is where a private group can come in. Facebook and LinkedIn groups are the perfect safe place for people to ask more direct questions, to gain clarity and insight and to have a deeper relationship with a brand or business. This is where your personality and skills can shine through. Many people are part of social networking groups, so why not set up one for your business where you can provide the same level of substance as others?
Setting up a Facebook group is easy, and once you’re set up and ready to go, it’s time to invite some people to join! You can use your social channels to ask your audience to come and check out what’s new, you can personally invite friends (if it is relevant) to join and from there it’s about creating content that will speak directly into their lives, whether that be personal or business related, depending on what your business is about. Ensure that what you produce is relevant to your brand and what they signed up for, there’s no point in creating content for the sake of it, put thought and effort into everything, and show that you care about what they are going through and who they are.
Here at KJP Creative, we have a Facebook group aimed at helping women business owners build their brand online. It’s a group for encouragement, inspiration and motivation along with advice and tips on how to use online marketing to grow a business. For us, it’s on topic and in line with our brand and core values, it’s helping a specific group of people and providing value where they need it the most. Try to think about how you too can offer something that’s of worth for your audience, what would they want to see or hear and how can you reach them in a much deeper and direct way?
Email marketing
You’ve probably heard it said “the money is in the list!”, well, we’re not focusing on the money aspect in this post, but there is much to be said for keeping the communication going through email, especially with many people using email rather than face to face meetings during the pandemic.
Email marketing, when performed correctly, can be an extra arm to your business, giving you yet another stream to be able to provide content and value to your audience. Not everyone will read your emails, but it’s a good place to start if you want to provide more than just the standard social media posts. An email can give you opportunity to utilise a number of different avenues, including asking people what they want to hear from you, what would help them and providing a private place for special offers, tips and advice.
Email marketing is a way to keep your customers informed – what a great place to add a personal video or image about what’s going on or happening behind the scenes!
It’s also a place where you can push your online sales and guide people through your sales funnel. With face to face interaction not happening and shops and services on hold, this is your chance to showcase your services to the people that are already interested in your brand. A ready-made audience.
If you’ve not yet set up a mailing list, it’s not a hard thing to accomplish (we can help if you need it!). But jump over to Mailchimp or one of the other free email marketing platforms and set start an account today. Just as a Facebook group, you can promote your email list to your current audience, you can create posts to let people know how and where they can join and then once you have people signed up, ensure that you send out regular content to them. It doesn’t how regular you send your emails, as long as you stick to the schedule you set yourself. If you say you’re emailing weekly, do it! If weekly is too much, go for a monthly newsletter – and stick to it. Once people get used to seeing your content, they will look forward to receiving your emails and knowing what’s going on.
At the end of the day, your online marketing is the face of your company at this time. In a world where people are turning to online communication and solutions, your business needs to be where the people are. Use your social media and online marketing channels to reach your audience in the best and most effective way possible. Be there for them when they need you, even if they don’t know they need you and be a shining light in a confused and momentous time.
If you’d like a guiding hand in your social media or marketing strategy, feel free to give us a bell and let’s talk.
In the meantime, to ensure you’re not missing the basics with your social media marketing, why not check out our ‘Social Media Checklist – Don’t Forget the Basics’ – it’s FREE to download and our gift to you…
by Team KJP | Jan 23, 2020
Running a business takes time, energy and passion. If you’re a small business owner or solopreneur, there’s many tasks that you will be managing yourself. So how do you make time for everything?
Planning and Organisation is key. They are the fundamental ingredients to smooth running and consistency for a small business and the same rule applies when it comes to social media marketing. Marketing on any level requires planning and strategy but when it comes to creating a plan of action and engaging content for an audience to interact with, and start to learn more about your business and values, organisation becomes paramount.
Introducing a social media scheduling tool
This is when scheduling tools are most valuable and essential. Organising social media content in advance and planning what content to use is the first step but by utilising a scheduling tool so you don’t need to think about it (or panic on the day) will ease the pressure 100%. Of course there is more to social media than just posting and forgetting about it, but getting everything planned will take a weight off your mind and enable you to focus on other parts of the business.
What social media scheduling tool is best?
This comes down to preference, it’s like choosing a supermarket. You take a look at what it offers, find the best deal for you and try it out.
To name a few:
They all have their good and bad points and all have their own benefits, but let’s focus on Hootsuite as this is a popular one for small business owners and for a smaller budget.
Hootsuite
If you’re just starting out, Hootsuite offers a free version for up to 3 social profiles. This can give you a chance to try before you buy whilst giving you a feel for what it can do.
Streams
Once you’ve connected up your 3 profiles, i.e. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, you are able to see a “stream” for each profile. Just as if you were in the programme itself. For example, in Twitter you can see your home feed, inbox, tweets you’ve posted and any @mentions about you or your business. There is even a search function so you can keep up to date with your social listening, follow certain hashtags or accounts and staying current with industry news.
Calendar View
You have the ability to see a calendar view of all your content, whether that be weekly or monthly, which can be extremely helpful if you want to look back through posts that you’ve previously done. You can even use the calendar view to select specific days to post, planning as you go with regard to your posting.
Planner
This is where it all comes together, scheduling each crafted post to its individual profile and seeing a sea of posts ready to go out to the world. The pressure it will take away from you will be amazing!
What content to post on social media
Obviously you need content to fill your social media calendar with and this will vary depending on your type of business and values but the key to scheduling is to map out the content before you go to post.
In our recent Business Focus and Social Media Strategy workshop we walked through creating a strategy for your marketing content. Break down what topics and ideas you have:
- What is your audience interested in?
- What value can you offer?
- Who are you speaking to?
- Industry news/advice
- Motivational posts
There are so many content ideas within just the above that will get you thinking about how you can serve your audience, get creative!… making sure you give value in everything you post.
Analytics
If you venture into the paid version of Hootsuite you’ll gain access to analytics for your different profiles. This can help with targeting time, reaching the right people and seeing what’s working/and what’s not.
Customer Service
Having all your profiles in one place makes it much easier to stay on top of everything, including customer service. See messages all in one place when customers contact you or give positive or negative feedback. Jump straight into answering questions or replying to comments, and never fall behind in your customer service again!
When it comes to your social media marketing, organisation has got to be top priority. Plan, create, schedule >> reach your audience, grow your business.
However if it’s still too much to get your head around, we’d love to chat with you to create a plan of action that we can implement for you. Your success is our success. Get in touch today!
And if you’re happy to get started with your own social media marketing, download our free social media checklist – so you don’t forget the basics!
