Social Media Marketing – It Starts with a Plan

Here is a blog post for everyone at the EVA (and others too!). It is on social media marketing and was presented at the EVA Lunch & Learn on March 25th. The Prezi (a presentation), at the bottom of this post, is the Prezi used at the EVA Lunch & Learn and here is a summary of what is in the Prezi.

Do some up front research . . .

• Know your audience
• Know what you want to be to your audience
• Determine what your audience wants
• Determine what your audience needs
• Understand where they spend their time (facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest . . .)
• Know what problems your audience is trying to solve
• Define how you can (will) add value

Define your plan . . .

• Define specific goals and objectives
• Determine your measurement system
• Define goals that push you but that are attainable
• Make sure your goals are time bound

Your strategies must be connected with your business objectives and resources.

Social Media Marketing is a new marketing model.

This new model requires you to learn how to:

• Interact
• Share
• Add Value (delight!)
• Engage

It is important to build up a body of delightful and high-value content in your center of content (your website and blog).

You need to do the work to gain views, likes, shares and to start conversations.

There are 2 delightful (of course!) and insightful (yeah!) videos in this Prizi.

Enjoy!

Organic Search – Shows Strong Growth

Being found in the organic search results without too much difficulty has always been good for business. A recent report by Search Engine Watch shows that search engine optimization was a very strong channel for growth in 2014.

The reason is two-fold.

 

1. When people search for something they want to find it and block out distractions.
2. Once these active seekers find what they want they convert at a higher rate than people bombarded by ads. Conversion is vital for online success.

The study covered more than 50 brands and 1.1 billion natural search visits in 2014.

Is Your Content Google Hummingbird Friendly?

When you set up a new website page or write a new blog post is it all about you and your self-serving objectives? If this is the case then you are likely to limit your search exposure with your content marketing.

Google is now starting to rank content based on user search intent and the context of the content itself. You need to understand this and make an effort to mesh with this. To mesh with the search engines drives quality traffic and this can lead to higher conversion rates.

Here are some ideas to help your content stand out. These types of content work well for humans and as content ideas in today’s SEO environment.

Leveraging LinkedIn – Profile, Connections, and News

 

There are many things that you can do using LinkedIn to build more and better relationships.

We also know that doing more and better business is all about relationships.

 

Here are five tips for leveraging LinkedIn and a Prezi that further expands on how to leverage LinkedIn. The Prezi has a very well done, high-energy and fun video on LinkedIn.

How Well Does Your Website Keep People On It?

 

Keep People on Your Site

 

So you’ve worked hard to get to a high position in Google for a number of important keyword phrases. However, you note that people who reach your site using these keywords leave quickly or bounce away.

You are not engaging your visitors that reach your site when they reach your site with your best keyword phrases. What a waste!

 

What can you do?

Essential Content Marketing Skills

Here are some ideas on how to develop your content marketing team. The skills presented here are essential skills. You need to have the proper skill set and this will help you to define the skills which can help you to identify the people.

If you are a marketer using content marketing and looking to move up in search position or need to find and engage clients then this post will give you ideas on what kind of skills are needed.

Your Shareable Content

 

You may spend time creating delightful content but do you help to make your content shareable? Delightful content is valuable. However, if your content is shared by others it becomes even more valuable. When shared it helps to spread the word about you, your business and your value.

 

Whether a tweet, a blog post, a video or a status update, everyone wants their content to engage with their audience.

For organizations and pros, that engagement has very practical value.

 

Here are some points for you to consider to help you to get your content shared.

Do Your Job!

It’s The Patriots’ Way

 

On February 1^st Pete Carroll did his job for the Patriots. He did his job 15 years later than planned but he finally delivered a Lombardi Trophy to the Patriots. All is well and good in New England.

 

One of the statements that the New England Patriots use is “Do Your Job”. Football can be a great deal like business. We all have to do our jobs. However, to simply state “Do your Job” is not enough information. What does it mean to “do your job”.

 

We can all learn from the New England Patriots when it comes to this statement. Let’s examine this simple statement in more detail.

6 Marketing Predictions for 2015

These Are Safe Predictions Because They Really Are Obvious

 

2015 is going to be an interesting year for marketers. Based on what I’ve seen over the years and my decade-long+ experience with online marketing, I think there are going to be a lot of changes – which means opportunities!

 

When you are thinking about planning your online marketing for 2015 give some thought to these 6 online marketing predictions that are sure to be more significant factors in 2015 and beyond.

7 Social Media Marketing Truths

There are certain fundamental truths to social media marketing and many falsehoods. This post will explain my social media marketing “truths”.

The blog post will help you to better understand social media marketing and get you to think about how to do it best for you and your business.