Last month I had the opportunity to attend Social Media Marketing World in San Diego. This is a unique conference spearheaded by Michael Stelzner, founder of Social Media Examiner (chances are you’re probably subscribed to his emails and if you’re not, well you’re missing out). The conference delivers rich sessions and workshops on all things social media, while giving you the opportunity to network with the world’s top social media professionals.
It was a jam packed three days of learning, questioning and planning. My head is still spinning with all that I learned, and I haven’t even opened the live recorded session links to the workshops I couldn’t attend.
While the information is still somewhat fresh, I wanted to write down and share my top takeaways. Whether you’re deciding to attend next year’s conference or trying to convince your boss it’s worth sending you, I think the conference offers something to anyone that uses social media for business, and hopefully this blog does too!
Let’s start with the hard truth, but do not be discouraged.
Content marketing is hard, like really hard
You’re probably asking, why should I continue to do content marketing? Why should I insist to my clients that they need to consistently blog, produce a monthly e-newsletter, and/or create a whitepaper once a quarter? Because, content marketing creates brand loyalty from the very beginning (providing you take the right steps, but that’s another conversation). Good content marketing comprises of four elements, says Robert Rose, chief troublemaker at The Content Advisory:
1. A human is part of the story
2. There’s a goal, i.e. “to slay the monster”
3. Resistance
4. Truth
If you can answer these four questions, you can develop your story and mission of your business.
Content marketing must be treated like a product. In turn, your audience will then help with product development. The purpose of good content marketing is to get the user to subscribe, win them as a customer and then use them to help your business grow. The truth is content marketing is harder and takes more time, and most ad agencies will tell you it’s not as efficient. They tend to push direct marketing and advertising, and while they are not dying that doesn’t mean they’re right for your business. This is especially true when looking to create a long-term strategy for engaging and retaining an audience of customers and referral sources.
You CAN write copy that sells without being salesy
Start by using the P.A.S.T.O.R method or strategy, a technique that Ray Edwards discussed in detail in his workshop, and act as your customers’ shepherd. The reason most copy fails is because it benefits the marketer and not the consumer.
Here’s how the P.A.S.T.O.R. method works and what you need to do to incorporate it into your own content marketing strategy:
P – Person, Problem, Pain
A – Amplification & Aspiration: This is a critical point, typically people lose their way here
S – Story: The struggle and the solution
T – Testimony
O – Offer
R – Request Response
In brief, great copy addresses a problem, makes a promise, offers proof and ends with a proposal. Every piece of marketing needs to offer value!
Plans are made for a reason, but they must be flexible
Particularly when it comes to digital marketing. While you may have your target audience defined, the data that you capture through digital efforts may tell you otherwise. Planning is paramount but understand that you must pivot based on findings and analytics. Hint: Google Analytics is your friend.
The riches are in the niches
This was a statement John Nemo opened with at his workshop: How to attract, engage and sell to you ideal clients on LinkedIn. As marketing strategists, we know that we can’t please all people, all the time. Some clients are a fit and some just are not. That’s the reality! If you focus your energy on working with similar people and/or groups, you have the potential to become more profitable than if you try to be the right fit for everyone. Do what you know how to do for the right group of people and you’re already rich!
John’s lead-in statement also resonated with me:
Don’t claim authority, demonstrate it
The best way to do this on LinkedIn, if it’s your preferred social network of choice, is to make your profile more “client-facing.” What do I mean by that, or more importantly, what does Nemo mean by that?
Unlock the potential of your profile on LinkedIn, don’t skip over your summary paragraph. This is a perfect piece of real estate to talk about what you do, and it should look/read something like this:
What do I do?
I help (target audience) achieve (their goal) by providing (product/service).
Sounds simple right?! Anything is simple once we know how. If you’re looking for a resource or template to help you write a succinct summary that explains you and/or your business, click here.
The modern consumer is smarter than you
62 percent of people conduct research prior to deciding who they are going to do business with, and you guessed it: They’re using LinkedIn to do it. LinkedIn is often overlooked in favor of the “trendier” social channels, but don’t treat it like a second-class citizen; know that your competitors and potentials clients are using it to do their homework.
Facebook has moved our cheese
What do I mean by that, or more importantly, what does Mari Smith the “Queen of Facebook” mean?
Smith began her keynote on the last day of the conference by using that analogy from the well-known business fable: Who Moved my Cheese? If you’re not familiar with the cautionary tale, in brief, it’s a story about change being inevitable and how we can best respond, adapt and prepare to embrace it in order to succeed.
Organic reach is 1-6 percent on Facebook. So, the question is: How do we change that? We use what Smith calls The Mari Method:
1. Start with a great piece of content – preferably video
2. Get organic reach for 1-24 hours
3. Promote (you need a small ad budget to be seen)
My top takeaway from her presentation is that social media is about less permanence; it’s about being more ephemeral. Instagram stories are a great example of this. Stories are growing 15x faster than feeds, so our behavior must evolve. This brings me to my next juncture:
Go deep, not wide
Vanity metrics are a thing of the past on Instagram. It’s not about the number of followers you have, it’s about the number of engaged followers you have. We forget that Instagram is a storytelling platform.
“Your posts will be seen more by 1,000 engaged followers, than 10,000 passive followers.” ~ Jasmine Star
Yes, we all bitch and moan about the algorithm daily but by going deep, not wide we can change that. Conversations lead to conversions and the best way to do that is via DM. Direct messaging is Instagram’s best kept secret. Figure out how you can add value without expectation and go for it!
No one is you and that is your power
According to Instagram business strategist, Tyler J. McCall, there are three key mistakes that brands are making on Instagram:
1. Sharing without intention
2. Making it perfect but not valuable
3. Not using stories to tell a story
I think #3 is an area I’ve seen most of our clients at marketingworx have difficulty. It’s hard when you’re not a natural storyteller, but practice is critical to making this work. For brands, the story formula should be:
- 40 percent personal
- 40 percent product
- 20 percent promotional
While email continues to reign in the marketing mix, not everyone wants to join your list and DMs are now competing heavily with being a top selling tool.
I’m finally coming down off my post-conference high and focusing on how I can work with my colleagues to create more value for our clients and our business alike. I’m excited for the 2020 conference and hoping the whole team can attend next year (cough, cough) to see what the Social Media Marketing World experience is like first-hand. If you’re an industry peer and enjoyed reading this blog and want to connect more on these trends please email me: niamh@marketingworxpr.com. If you’re serious about putting an effective social media strategy in-place for your brand or business and want to work with a team that knows how, please call our Chief Strategist, Juliet Straker at (480) 874-1524. The marketingworx team is excited to hear from you and work with businesses to create a synergy that works!