Mike McRitchie | Resume and LinkedIn Profile Writer | Telecom Marketing Content Writer

Writing Resumes that Communicate Your Unique Value | Writing Marketing Content for Telecom Business Growth

Does Your Brand Really Need a Social Marketing Strategy?

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Social Media Marketing Strategy
Photo credit: greyweed via Foter.com / CC BY
Photo credit: greyweed via Foter.com / CC BY

When it comes to your digital marketing strategy, how important is social media content for mobile users?

According to CMI, 87% of marketers are using social media as a delivery mechanism for content – making it the most common way to get content to an audience.

ComScore reported that mobile engagement on social media has grown by 55% in just 12 months.

Mobile users are more active and are spending increasingly more of their time on their mobile devices browsing content.

In order to connect with a wider range of users in a more intimate way, your brand needs to focus on creating a social media strategy that takes into account mobile users and the other platforms available on mobile.

Using Your Content for Social Media

Many brands turn to social media as a way to gain followers and increase their website traffic.

The benefits of inbound content designed for social media are huge in attracting users that are a good fit for your brand. Content on social media needs to be visually intriguing in order to catch the attention of users that are scrolling on their mobile devices.

Most mobile users are browsing a lot of content while often distracted by other events around them, so content needs to be concise and easy to skim with headers.

Include a blurb and image with your link on social media to better increase click-throughs to your content.

Respecting a User’s Space

Mobile optimized content is a great way to connect with users, but it is sending your content right to your user’s personal device.

With social media marketing, you are able to connect with your users on their own terms and by their own choosing. Your users have to choose to follow you, forcing you to come up with better content that is worth following and sharing.

If you want to get more engagement, you will be pushed to get to know your audience better and create a strong content strategy.

Allow Your Users to Find You

People now fully expect brands to be on social media – especially Facebook.

Most users will look for brands on Facebook when they want to check for brand updates or look at what the brand has to offer.

If you are absent from social media—or, worse, if you don’t update your page consistently—then you will come off as behind the times and may seem irrelevant to users.

If they can’t find you on social media, then your users are likely to turn to your competitors.

Don’t make the mistake of neglecting your social media presence. Use social media to better connect with your users, increase website traffic and get the most out of your content.

 

Author Biography

Ken Rhie

Ken is the CEO of Trumpia, the most complete SMS software with mass SMS messaging, smart targeting and automation

Are Your Leads A Mirage?

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Generating leads, as the precursor to generating sales, is the lifeblood of any business.  You don’t get business, you go out of business.

As a small business marketer who is always tight on time and money for marketing campaigns, I’m always evaluating my lead generating marketing and assessing performance.

Like many small businesses this is a part of a part time function.  I need to get to the point quickly and move on.

  • I’ve done Facebook paid ads and Facebook Page posts and boosted those posts.
  • I’ve tested LinkedIn public posts and posts to industry groups.
  • I’ve tested Craigslist Ads.
  • I’ve made opt-in offers at my website.
  • I’ve done drip marketing campaigns with email and blog posts.

And until you do the analysis, you can’t tell which is doing best.  And although Google Analytics helps you find some of those answers, there is often more to the story.

Just because you get more sales from one platform does not mean it necessarily is outperforming the rest.  Sometimes paid ads bring in more bottom line dollars (after deducting the costs of those sales) than so called “Free Marketing” channels.

And in the guest post below (they are marketing their services – aka lead generation) there are some very interesting takeaways I think you should know – whether you’re a mid-sized company who will benefit from their services, or a small mom and pop marketer who can still take these ideas to improve their business’ marketing performance.

As I went through the slides, here are some takeaways I found interesting…

  • How many visits it takes to convert into a sales lead.  You’ll be surprised by the number.
  • Why an inquiry and a lead are not one and the same.  There’s more to this than you think.
  • How overstating your leads will result in poor cost per lead and ROI assessment…which could mislead you into thinking a bad campaign is actually profitable.

Here you go.

When you’re trying to generate quality leads, relying on conversion data in your marketing campaigns will leave you in a vulnerable spot. Based on “The Critical Importance of Lead Validation” study, as much as 50 percent of a company’s conversions are not sales leads. Overstated conversion data causes you to invest in campaigns that are producing much less ROI than you think, and to make campaign changes that make performance even worse.

as much as 50 percent of a company’s conversions are not sales leads Click To Tweet

By validating leads, the process of separating non-sales conversions from sales conversions, you’ll uncover inquiry data that will help you optimize your campaign to its full potential. That data includes how many sales leads you’ve generated versus other conversions, and the online marketing source for each of sales lead. Without this process it is impossible to determine the true effectiveness of your lead generation.

In the presentation below, you will find more eye-opening lead generation data.

Aaron Wittersheim, Straight North

Aaron Wittersheim is an accomplished entrepreneur with more than 20 years of business and technology experience. He is currently Chief Operating Officer at Straight North, a Chicago-based Internet marketing company.

How to Make Yourself “The Most Interesting Man [Woman] in the World”

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[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U18VkI0uDxE[/youtube]

You’ve seen “The Most Interesting Man in the World” Dos Equis beer commercials.  The guy who just attracts what he wants and goes through life without a care.  He is the ultimate embodiment of pure marketing genius.

Here are some of my favorites…

  • If he were to visit the dark side of the moon, it wouldn’t be dark
  • His business card simply says ‘I’ll Call You”
  • He once won the world series of poker using UNO cards
  • When he was young he once sent his parents to his room

Check out the rest here: 100 “The Most Interesting Man in the World” Quotes – courtesy of Jay Abraham.

So how can you become The Most Interesting?

To find out let’s look at what makes these ads so magnetic.  And how the aura of “The Most Interesting Man” is created.

Great Quotes

The backbone of the ad campaign that draws you in is the great lines.

“He never wears a watch because time is always on his side”

Always using an unexpected play on words, often using a well-known cliches as the backdrop.

They also have a visual basis (like wearing a watch) where you can picture the scene, laugh a little, and admire the moxie and bravado without ever feeling like he’s just a dumb-ass or overly cocky.  He just IS the most interesting man in the world.

Pure Alignment

He IS that man.  He doesn’t have to pretend.  Or practice.  Or try.  He just does.  And everyone just follows his lead without question.  It is the power of complete alignment of self.  Something we all struggle with – from the everyman to the beautiful, to the rich, to the famous.  We all have self-doubts inside us.  And seeing someone who appears not to is intoxicatingly attractive to us.

This is also similar to the power of celebrity and why we follow people in the public eye.  Think “Housewives” or “Trump” or “Kardashians”.

A Great Story

Great story-telling is a skill we all deep down wish we had.  Story-telling is a great sales tool (both for the beer and for the interesting man) because it draws you in.  People love stories.  They are great to listen to and great to retell.

Along with the great story, the headline/meme is great, “The Most Interesting Man in the World”.  It is easily captured and communicated around the water cooler. And all the commercials and quotes support the theme.  Building it into an indisputable force.  That harnesses the power of repetition without seeming repetitious.

Just check out the video above to see how many different ways they sell the most interesting man concept.

Social Proof

The most interesting man doesn’t tell people that is who he is.  Others say it.  That is the ultimate way to build a brand or an aura.  Demonstrate it and have others observe it so they retell your story.  It is like going for that raise or new job.  If someone else sings your praises the sale is already made.  But it you say it it often comes across as bragging or being conceited.

Video

Although words and audio often sway more than video (just try turning the sound off on your TV vs closing your eyes and listening to the TV.  You pick up much more from the audio than you realize.  That being said however, video…particularly short video clips no longer than a couple minutes (in today’s soundbite culture) with a scene that catches your attention (as these commercial spots do) is very effective.

You’ll notice these days video is hot.  YouTube is the number two search engine behind Google searches.

What makes these interesting man videos so watchable, beyond what I already mentioned, is the star, Johnathan Goldsmith.  A distinguished gentleman who young men look up to as a model of what they could be – attractive to women and respected by men.  For the women he is someone who appears rich, famous, a little bit the bad boy, and unattainable.  And this makes him the ultimate man to them.

Then there is narrator Will Lyman who delivers the lines effortlessly, setting the scene and nailing the punch lines.

Then with the movie-scene quality sets that these commercial are staged in, you’re just drawn in.

What About You?

Now I know we all can’t be like the Dos Equis’ Most Interesting Man.  But we can all learn a little something from him about how to promote ourselves better without seeming too pushy or conceited.

  • Get clear on who you are and what sets you apart

We are all different and everyone brings a different set of gifts to the world.  The key is not trying to be someone you’re not.  The Most Interesting Man is effective in the role because he IS that man.  You can do the same once you’ve found your own personal niche.

Not sure what that is?  Contact me and I can help you find it out.

  • Show, don’t tell

If you try too hard and start telling people how great you are, people will be turned off.  But if others do the telling for you (because they see how good you are), then you’ll get much farther in life.  Yes, there are ways to tell without coming off as too into yourself, but it takes a little bit of skill and underselling.  Much better if others sell you to others.

  • Tell stories that support your message

We all have great stories inside us.  And telling stories that demonstrate your gifts and expertise don’t seem like you’re bragging.  So work on the key stories that reinforce your personal brand.  And get good at telling them.

  • Be interested

One key to being interesting that I heard from my mentor Jay Abraham was a story (there it goes again) about how he chatted with a man for several hours, listening intently, only asking a probing question or two.  When the time was up and Jay had to leave, the man commented about how interesting Jay was – even though Jay said nothing about himself.

Too often people are so busy trying to get the next word in or telling their next thought, that they never truly listen.  A good listener is a true gift to someone else.  Very few people are truly listened to intently.  And by listening fully, they will value you.

  • Share

We live in a Facebook culture.  You know those people on Facebook who post their pics of trips to Europe, Hawaii, beaches, mountain skiing and hiking.  It seems like all your friends are having fun all the time.  They really aren’t.  Yes they look like they’re smiling all the time.  But that doesn’t count all the dreary, boring, annoying things they do every day that they don’t post.  But if you look at your news feed, you’d think you’re the only one not having fun.

You really aren’t, but there is a small group of people actually posting cool things and taking exciting trips.  You don’t have to keep up, but it does help you to be engaged and share something.  You can choose – family occasions are often popular.  Skip the food posts.  Share the funny videos.  And if it reinforces your personal meme, share it.

  • Live Life

Life’s too short to worry about everything.  One thing you learn as you get older is to not take things so seriously.  Life will be over in an instant.  The best you can do is live in the moment, share your gifts, and do those things you would wish you had done.  Remember the bucket list?  Start doing some of those things.  They don’t all have to cost money.  And if they do, save up for that instead of buying the next latte.

Enjoy!

 

Want to get more out of life?  Start here.

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Got Your Shopping On?

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2016 Goal Attainment Challenge Shopping Spree

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.  Now’s the time to shop for the things you wanted but didn’t get, exchange the gifts you got two of or were the wrong size, or just get out of the house and enjoy your vacation time.

This is the time of year we eat and drink too much, sit around and watch basketball and football, and assess 2015 and prepare for 2016.

Not sure if you saw this coupon on Facebook or not.

Target 40% Off Refer Two Friends Coupon

It was an intriguing social media marketing approach.  Tried it but didn’t get a coupon so not sure if it is just another scam.  There were some good elements in it though.

  • 40% Off

Target is a retailer that has a good variety of products for sale – from clothes to groceries to electronics and housewares.  And in the world of 10% to 20% coupons, 40% is enough to catch your eye.

  • “Simply Invite 2 Friends to Get a Coupon”

It seems so easy.  Just click the link and share it on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, etc.  If two people click the link, you get the coupon.  Another version of multi-level-marketing or the good old pyramid scheme.

  • “Holiday Shopping Spree”

Timely.  With people doing post-Christmas shopping – exchanges or purchases with Christmas cash, it ties in to what people are thinking and doing this time of year.

Here’s another holiday offer from Guitar Center.

Guitar Center Sale

So what are some of the good elements here?

  • “New Year Sale”

Tells you what to expect.  Kind of worn out as a phrase but we’ll see what else is there.

  • “After-Christmas Sale – Deals Up to 68% Off – In-Store – Today Only”

There’s a lot of good stuff here – probably should have been a bigger part of the ad instead of the New Year Sale headline.

  • “After-Christmas Sale” – This is more in line with shopping instead of New Year Sale.  People aren’t thinking of the New Year as much as spending Christmas cash.
  • “Deals Up to 68% Off” – That is a really big number and a non-rounded number to catch your eye and get you thinking, “What item is 68% off that I could get?”  Keeps you clicking further.
  • “In-Store” – Tells you you need to get to the store to get the item for that cheap – so no internet shopping from home.
  • “Today Only” – Good urgency.  With Guitar Center coupons though they have them all the time so the urgency has worn off somewhat due to the volume of emails when you subscribe to their e-newsletter.

Alright, what else is on the page of interest?

  • “Don’t See The Deal You Want? Call Now”

A good way to get another chance to get them off the couch.  Have a salesperson answer the call and tell them about other offers that might interest them further.  Another way to draw them into a purchase.

So as a business owner, what holiday offers are you making?  Are they showing some great deals?  Some timely tie-in?  And a little urgency?

Or are you looking to make that end-of-year purchase to make your holiday season brighter?

For me I’m kicking off my “2016 Goal Attainment Challenge”.  For those of you who read this blog regularly, you’re probably the type of person who makes things happen.  Who wants to improve yourself and make next year even better than this year.

If that is you come join me.  There’s only six days left and we already have a good group of nine people signed up to participate.  You’ll have weekly check ins, a monthly progress check, online forum for cheerleading successes, sharing challenges for others to help with, and accountability conference calls to help you overcome the inertia we all feel once we get past the excitement of the holidays.  You choose the goals you want help achieving.

It should be fun.  If you’re not yet on board, accept the challenge today.

Viral Video Marketing Hack

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoKUh_NKIYw

Everyone wants to make their blog posts and videos go viral.  And there are many ways to short-cut the  process.  Whether that is having unique and awesome content, getting influencers on board to promote it, or tying to something that is hot in the public consciousness.

This one though was an interesting twist.

Now before I go into I must confess…I do have a vested interest…

I’ll tell you what it is at the end.

So what is the twist that makes this video so interesting?

Think back to Apple.  How often do you see Apple advertise these days?

Everywhere?

Actually no.

What you’re seeing is Apple everywhere.  But it isn’t Apple advertising per se.

It is Apple product placement.  Whether it is in movies or TV shows or other commercials that are leveraging off of Apple’s awesome products.

And just like Apple, you can do the same.

This video is a perfect example.

In this case you start off with a celebrity-based talk show (Modern Living with Kathy Ireland) – always a great way to start.

Then you have someone being interviewed – marketing expert Kathrina Miranda from the MiMA Marketing Agency.

Then you have the product placement.  In the video it is the testimonial video shown on the screen during the interview – HIPLegal’s spokeswoman, Annie Rogaski.

The exciting thing about this is there are actually three people marketing in this video – Kathy Ireland, Kathrina Miranda (MiMA), and Annie Rogaski (HIPLegal).

Imagine the exposure you get from this approach.

  • For the interviewer they get a great interview and added credibility
  • For the interviewee they get exposure from a key influencer’s audience/fan base
  • For the product/service placement person they get publicity from both audiences (in this case Kathy’s and Kathrina’s audiences).
  • And with this video you can also post to your blog (as I did here)
  • You can also tweet it, share it, and like it on all the social media channels
  • You can add it to your About or Media page for added credibility booster
  • If you’re the subject (Kathrina) of the testimonial then you can use the video with future offers or in sales presentations – isn’t it better to have someone else talk about how awesome you are?

So those are the big takeaways I got.

Now what other marketing ideas were interesting in this video?

  1. Video marketing is currently an awesome way to market.  People love videos (think YouTube as the 2nd most popular search engine behind Google).
  2. H2H – human to human marketing instead of B2B or B2C marketing.  The human touch is something many people overlook in their quest to become more credible they tend to corpify their marketing (basically make it sound boring, overly technical, and not focused on true benefits for the person buying the product or service).  H2H is a great habit of thinking to get into with your marketing.  Kudos to MiMA
  3. In the testimonial they talked about MiMA being essentially their “external marketing department”.  People often try to do it all themselves.  And as such they lose out on so many opportunities that could be leveraged from someone else’s knowledge, expertise, or insight due to not being as close to the business as you are.  And building relationships with those around you often translates into new opportunities.  HIPLegal wouldn’t have been promoted on Kathy Ireland’s show had it not been for the relationship with Kathrina.

What did you get from this video?  Any other insights?  If you liked it please share, like and tweet this.

P. S.  About that vested interest I mentioned at the start of this post?  Annie is my sister.  So proud of her.  And if you need intellectual property guidance check out her firm, HIPLegal.

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