Creating Great Content for Social Media

I regularly get asked about the pressure of writing or somehow how finding great content for social media marketing purposes on a regular basis. Simply put it does take some effort but that effort does not have to be as great as some may think.

To begin with there are many types of content that can be used and integrated within the various platforms your business is involved in.

Some of these include but are not limited to:
-Articles
-Blog Posts
-Images
-Videos
-Case studies
-Widgets
-Presentations
-Workbooks, etc.

The best approach as we all know is to vary what you do and how you do it to keep things interesting and  fresh. It is interesting how often my blog post for example will flow directly from a discussion I have that week with a client or student, and the question or issue we discuss which is of interest to others as well, easily becomes a blog post.

It is always of course important to try to make your content informative, educational, novel, amusing or all of the above because these are the factors that drive people to forward content on to their respective networks, and therefore form the basis of content that may potentially go viral.

At the end of the day all it takes is a little effort and care and you'd be surprised what you can come up with as well.

And until next time, good luck and good marketing.
Regards,
Daniele.

Social Media: Reputation Builder or Destroyer

Only yesterday I was presenting to a large group in Melbourne on the strategy of social media marketing and I received an interesting question  from a gentleman. In fact know that I think about it, it was not so much a question but a statement that went something like this. "You make social media sound interesting consider the damage to our reputation."

It's really interesting to me that even now after all the documented successes businesses are having in every conceivable market with social media, the perception of many remains that by taking part in these types of activities, the reputation of your firm and brand will in some way be diminished or tarnished.

I say ironic because the expectation of the majority of consumers now is that businesses they deal with have a web presence and are actively involved in platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and You Tube, as a means of engaging with their audience.

The loss of reputation can occur of course if the firm allows boring, inaccurate or offensive material to be put out their under the company banner, but the provision of some common sense safeguards such as final edits for all content along with a modicum of common sense will eliminate 99% of all problems and quick and decisive action  if a mistake is made, will take care of the rest.

AS we quickly approach the middle of 2013, it has become obvious that the days of wait and see are now long gone in terms of will or wont social media marketing make it on the world stage. Bottom line is that it has and good firms worldwide are continuing to enter the social media slipstream and leverage the power of communication, engagement and connection it promises.

And until next time, good luck and good marketing.
Regards,
Daniele.
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The Need to Find the Unmet Need

This week I got asked a question that frankly staggers me. Namely:  Why should we bother to work hard to find the unmet need of the customer? Surely it's enough that we have good products and sell them at a good price.

The saddest thing about this example is that it's true and that experienced business people still believe that it's all about them and their products.

Memo to those of you that believe this. You're wrong.

The reality of course is quite different. As I have said may times to anyone that will listen, all that matters now and anytime in the future is what the customer wants.

It's ironic to me in fact that the word 'selling' is actually derived form a Scandinavian word 'sillas' which literally means 'to serve'.

So joining the dots, how do we serve our customers? Answer: By finding their unmet needs be their recognised or unrecognised  and meeting them.

A simple and brief blog post this week to really hone in and ensure that you are all focused in on making sure that for your business at least you have your eye firmly on the prize.

And until next time, good luck and good marketing.

Regards,
Daniele.

10 Tings No Marketer Should Ever Do

Following on from the recent blog post on the 10 things good marketers do consistently and consistently well, I though it may pay to look at the other side of that coin. Namely: the ten things no marketer should ever do.

Take a look at this list below and answer honestly which of these you do, how often you do it and most importantly what is the consequence of doing it to your business.

•    Assume they know what their customers needs are
•    Underestimate their businesses short comings
•    Try to market their product to everyone
•    Take their customers for granted
•    Hire slick salespeople with poor listening skills
•    Design your marketing plan in a vacuum
•    Leave weaker areas of the businesses alone
•    Launch into expensive research every time
•    Only reinforce poor performance and behaviour
•    Stress out completely and lose your work-life balance

If having reviewed the list you feel you hardly ever do any of these things, give yourself a well earned pat on the back. However if in reading down the list you find that you have done or continue to do three, four or five of these things it needs to be a wake up call for you to reset your processes and procedures back to a starting baseline and start again.

And until next time, good luck and good marketing.

Regards,
Daniele.

Ten Great Marketing Tips For Your Business

One of the ongoing questions I get asked almost weekly by people is to give advice on some quick and easy marketing tips that can be applied to their and any body else's business.. 

 

Taking up the challenge here are ten that you may wish to consider and put into effect for your current or proposed business.

·       Know exactly what your customers want.

·       Listen to your customers before you do the talking.

·       Respect your customers.

·       Look for groups of customers with similar unmet needs.

·       Be honest about the strengths and weaknesses of your business.

·       Strengthen areas of relative weakness.

·       Observe the market to capture early opportunities.

·       Always exhaust available data before paying for research.

·       Reward those people who contribute to your success.

·       Enjoy the journey and learn from the ups and the downs.

And now having read the list if you're sitting there saying yes but I already do all of these things (which I doubt), ask a follow up question becomes, how well do you do it and how can you do it better.

Until next time, good luck and good marketing.

Regards,

Daniele.