Enhance Your Marketing Efforts With Social Media...social media. You need to show up and help...

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Enhance Your Marketing Efforts With Social Media The way you should use social media in your small business Jimmy Epperson Clear Points Messaging A Social Media Guide for Small Businesses in Dallas & Fort-Worth

Transcript of Enhance Your Marketing Efforts With Social Media...social media. You need to show up and help...

Page 1: Enhance Your Marketing Efforts With Social Media...social media. You need to show up and help others. 3) If I blog I'll get more attention There is a theme in social media… it is

EnhanceYour

MarketingEffortsWithSocialMedia

Thewayyoushoulduse

socialmediainyoursmallbusiness

JimmyEppersonClearPointsMessaging

ASocialMediaGuideforSmallBusinessesinDallas&Fort-Worth

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Hello.I’mJimmyEpperson,yourmessagingcoachandmarketingtrainer.Thisguide’spurposeistogiveyouenoughinformationaboutsocialmedia,soyoucanmakeeducateddecisionsforyourbusiness.

Thisguideisforsmallbusinessesofferingservices.Thismeansyoudoaphysicalormentalactiontofinishyourjob…opposedtosimplysellingaproductonlineorinyourstore.

Thisguidewillteachyouhowsocialmediacanenhanceyourbusiness.

Whatqualifiesmetotalktoyou?

I’vebeenincommunicationsforalmost15years.Istudiedjournalismincollege,workedfornewspapers,business-consultingfirmsandthendidcommunicationsforAT&T.

ButthethingthatreallyqualifiesmeisthatIresignedfromAT&T(ongreatterms).IcreatedanonlinebusinesscalledPointsonPaper,whichhelpsyoudevelopmessages.ThenIstartedmyownmarketingcompanycalled,ClearPointsMessaging.Ilearnedwhatsocialmediadoesforbusinessesfromtrialanderror.

HaveImademillionsuponmillionsofdollars?Ofcoursenot.

ButIdidgethundredsofpeopletosignuptoafreeserviceandbroughton25customers…justfrommysocialmediamarketingefforts.Thesecustomersareloyalandrespectmyexpertise.

Icanhearyousay,“25?That’sit?”

Ihearya.Iwishitwas2,225.Butlandingthesecustomerswithsocialmediatacticsonly…and

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startingmycompanywithoutreallyknowingwhattoexpect…It’squiteanaccomplishment.

ButIhadtoworkdamnhardforthose25customers.Veryhard.AndalotoftheworkIdidwastoodifficulttodeemitvaluableandnecessary.

Asagoodfriendnoted,Ishouldhavebeenoutonthestreetssellingandknockingondoors.He’sright.IfIreallywantedtomakesomemoneyIshouldhave.ButIwantedtoseehowmucheffortitrequiredtousesocialmediatogetactualcustomers.AndIknow…IshouldhaveknockedondoorswhileusingsocialmediatoenhancetherelationshipsIbeganmaking.

What’sthePointofthisGuide?

Therearealotofmisconceptionsoutthereaboutsocialmedia…andbecauseofthatwecanoftengetthewrongadviceforourbusiness.

Mostofusareafraidwewillbetakenadvantageofbygimmicks,fadsandconartistswhofancythemselvesassocialmediaandbusinessknow-it-alls.AtleastIwas.IhadthisfearbecauseIdidn’tknowenoughaboutsocialmedia.(AndIevenworkedonAT&T’ssocialmediateam!)

PlusIsawsomanyInternet“consultants”promisingtoincreasemysalesby120%,orimmediatelygivingmetheabilitytomakefivefigures.ThatisNOTwhatthisguidepromises.

Thisguideisnotagimmick.Thisguideissimplytohelpyoumakeaneducateddecision,anditwillhelpmenurturerelationshipswithexistingcustomersandfutureprospects.

Readthenextpagetounderstandwhatsocialmediais

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andwhysmallbusinesseswanttouseit…

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Marketing,Socialmedia101

Socialmediaisanarmofmarketing,justlikeadvertising,publicspeaking,publicrelations,andsnailmail.Socialmediaisapieceofyouroverallofflineandonlinemarketingcampaign.

Letmesaythisadifferentway.Socialmediaismarketing…butmarketingisNOTpurelysocialmedia.Marketingissomuchbigger,especiallyforsmallbusinessesofferingservicesinlocalmarkets.Socialmediaisjustapieceofyourmarketingefforts.

Sowhyissocialmediagood?

Companiesmarketonsocialmediabecauseit’samoreaffordablewaytogaintraffic,attentionandgetprospects’informationbygivingawayvaluablecontentlikehow-toguidesandpromotions.Everyonecanbenefitfromit…butit’snotalwaysgoingtobethemainchannelthatfindscustomersforasustainablebusinessofferingservices.Formanybusinesses,socialmediawillonlyenhancethemarketingeffortstheyarealreadydoing.

Gotothenextpagetolearnfivesocialmediafallacies.

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5SocialMediaFallacies1)WhateverIpostwillgetmybusinessattention

AdentistIknewhadlittletimetodevotetosocialmedia.ShehiredasmallmarketingcompanyandtheybeganpostingcontentonherbusinessFacebookpage.Shecomplainedthatthesocialmediastrategydidnotwork.UponaskingherwhatthestrategyoftheFacebookpostswere,shesaiditwastopushcontenttogetpeople’sattention.Thissimplydoesnotwork.Wemustcreateusefulcontentthatwillhelpthecustomerswehaveandprospectsdebatingapurchase.

2)IfIhaveaTwitterorFacebookaccountpeoplewillfollowme

Thisistheequivalenttobeingscheduledtospeakataconference.Butinsteadofspeakingyouarehappywithyournamebeingintheprogram.Youthinkthenamerecognitionintheprogramwillgainyoucustomers.Weknowthiswillnotwork.Instead…whatworksisgivinganamazingspeech,teachingyouraudienceandbeinguseful.Thesameistruewithsocialmedia.Youneedtoshowupandhelpothers.

3)IfIblogI'llgetmoreattention

Thereisathemeinsocialmedia…itisalmostaltruistic.Ifyourblogcontentdoesnothelppeople,isnotinterestinganddoesnotclearlypointtoyourvalueproposition,thenitprobablywon’twork.Justlikeintheexampleabove,youmustshowupandgiveyourcustomerbaseandothersvalue.

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4)Socialmediaisapowerfulenoughmarketingtoolthatitcanbemyonlychannelofcommunication

Ifyouoffersomethingyoucanonlypurchaseonline,thenyes,socialmediaisgoingtobecritical.Afriendofminestartedanonlinetraininguniversityfordevelopers,FreeCodeCamp.Hestrictlyusessocialmediatoattractnewstudents.Butseveralnewsoutletsandblogshavecoveredhisnewuniversity.Soevenhedoesnotstrictlyusesocialmediatogethismessageout.

5)IfIamonsocialmediaIwillimmediatelygetcustomers

Thebestinternetpersonalitieswilltellyouittakesaboutsixto18monthsforyoursocialmediapoststostartworking.WhenIstartedPointsonPaper,acompanydevotedsolelytocreatinggoodmessages,ittookaboutsixmonthsofcontinuousbloggingbeforeIlandedavaluablecustomer.Thereturnoninvestmentwasgreat,butwedon’talwayshavethatkindoftimeandrunway.

NowIknowwhatyou’rethinking:“Wow,JimmyEpp!Socialmediaisabsolutelypointlessformybusiness!”

Let’slookattheadvantagesofsocialmediarealquickbeforeyougiveuponmeentirely…

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5WaysSocialMediaCanHelpYourBusiness

1)Enhancesthemarketingyouarealreadydoing

Let’spretendthatyouareaseven-figurelandscapingbusinessinDallasandyou’renotusingsocialmedia.You’reprobablynotgoingtoneedsocialmediatofindcustomerssinceyouarealreadymakingsevenfigures.Yourwordofmouthandreferralsystemisextremelyeffective.Tosayotherwisewouldbepresumptuous.

However,thelandscapingbusinesscouldstillusesocialmediatoimprovetheirwordofmouthandreferralsystem.

Forexample,thecompanycouldofferahow-toguideonkeepingyouryardinperfectshapeallyearandpromoteitonsocialmedia."HeyevenifIcan'tgetyourbusiness...checkoutourguideonFacebook.Ittellsyouwhatyouneedtodoeachseasontokeepyouryard,bushes,treesandshrubsinshape.Wealsosendourfanstipsandremindersthroughouttheyear:whenit’stimetofertilizeinthewinter,weedpreventiontips,wateringtipsinadroughtandmore."

Prospectsandcustomerswouldbeinterestedinthis.Theymightevengivethecompanykeyinformationtoreceiveit...likeanemailaddress.Thenthebusinesscoulddoevenmoremarketingtogetthisprospect'sbusiness!

2)Helpsyoustayconnectedwithcustomersyoualreadyhave

Youhaveanadvantageoveronlinecompanies.Youarefacetofacewithyourcustomer.Imagineifyou

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couldsendtheminformationthatwillmakethemvalueyourrelationshipmore?Tokeepusingthelandscapingbusiness,youcouldsendtipsonwateringwhenit’shot.Youcouldsendfreezewarningsandtellyourcustomerswhenandhowtocoverbushesorshrubs.Wecansendthiskindofinformationtoouraudienceonsocialmediatoenhancetheirlives.

3)Helpscustomerswithpurchasingdecision

Ifyoudoyoursocialmedia,websiteandmessagingright,allofitshouldpointtothesameconsistentmessage.Andwhencustomersgotoanyoftheseplaces…itshouldgivethemreassurancethatyouareanexpert,thatyoucanhelpthemandthattheywillhaveagoodexperience.

4&5)Youcanspecificallytargetcustomersusingsocialmedia…andit’sinexpensive.

Socialmediauses(4)inexpensiveadsandyoucan(5)specificallytargetthepeopleyouwant.Thisishelpfulifyouaretryingtobuildbrandawarenessaboutyourcompany.

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TheConnectionEconomyTherealmarketingguruofourtime—SethGodin—saidweareintheconnectioneconomy.It’seasierthanevertoconnectwithothers.Andwhatwe’realllookingforismeaningfulconnection…aplacetobelong.

Ibelievewithsomuchdigitalcommunication,we’regoingtobegintakingstepsbackwards.We’regoingtolongforconnection,andthecompanythatcanprovidethisclosenessthemostisgoingtowinmorecustomers.Face-to-facemeetingswillbecomeevenmorecriticaltodobusiness,butsocialmediawillbecomeevenmorecriticaltoenable,facilitateandnurturetheserelationships.

Thiscommunicationneedstobeauthenticandneedstobewiththemotiveofreallywantingtohelpourcustomers.

Prospectsandcustomersaresmartthesedays.Theyknowwhenwearejusttryingtoimpresssomeonewithartificialspeechorwriting.

Sotobetrulyauthentic,youneedtobehonest.Original.True.Authenticcommunicationdoesnottrytodupesomeoneintobelievingsomething,anditdoesnotbringoutacaneandponyshowtodazzleandamaze.

Ifwetakethisapproachwithsocialmedia,itwillbeachannelworthinvestingintoenhanceourmarketingcampaign.

Wesimplycannotshowapresenceandexpecttogetresults.Wemustparticipateifwewanttofullytakeadvantageofthischannel.

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TheNeedforClarityThroughoutYourMarketing

Togetaconnection…weneedtomakesureourmessageslineupeverywherewecommunicate….Orwewillconfuseourcustomers.

ThisisaproblemIsee.Themessagethatpullsacustomerintoasaleisnotuniformlydistributedthroughoutyourbrand’scommunication.Inotherwords,whenyoutalktoaprospectabouttheserviceyouprovide,itisnotthesamemessagetheygetwhentheysearchforyouonlineandseeyourFacebookoryourwebsite.

Thissendsdifferentmessagestoourcustomers,anditcanconfusethemandgivethemdoubtsabouttheirpurchasingdecision.

Herearesomequestionstoaskyourselftodetermineifyouhaveauniformmessage:

• What’sthemessagethatmakescustomerswanttobuy?

• IfIlookatmybrandonlinedoesitrepresentthesamemessage?

• IsallofthestuffIpostonsocialmediapointingtothisoverarchingmessagingIamtryingtogetacrosstomyaudience?

• Doesmywebsite,FacebookorLinkedInrepresentwhatIthinkmycustomerswant?

Ifyouanswerednotomorethanoneofthese,itmightbetimetorethinkyourmessagingandmarketingstrategy.

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AbouttheAuthor

I’mJimmyEppersonandIliveandworkinDallas,Texas.IworkedasanewsreporterandincorporateAmericabeforebecomingafulltimeindependentmarketingtrainerandmessagingcoachforlocalbusinesses.

Mygoalistoarmyouwiththeknowledgeyouneedtomakethebestpossibledecisionsforyourbusiness.Ibelieveyouareinamuchbetterpositiontoletsocialmediaenhancethemarketingyouarealreadydoing.Yougettointeractwithyoucustomerfacetoface.

Socialmediaisnotcomplicated.Buttheproblemisthereissomuchinformationoutthere…weusuallyendupconfusedormisinformed.

Ifyouhavequestionsaboutmarketingorcommunications,[email protected].

Ifyouknowabusinessownerorsomeonewhocouldusethisguide,Ihopeyouwillshareitwiththem.

Mybest,

JimmyEpp


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