Social media marketing Archives | Jim's Marketing Blog

List building: How to build a list that builds your business

May 28, 2020 by Jim Connolly

People often ask me for tips on how to build a bigger list. They want more subscribers; more readers, more listeners, more viewers, more followers, etc.

The short answer is simple. It’s this.

Create useful content, which is worthy of people’s attention and make it really easy for them to subscribe.

If you do that, you’ll attract more people and because your content is useful, many of them will subscribe. Think about it. That’s the exact process, which motivated you to subscribe to every list you’re on. Something attracted you, you found it useful, you subscribed.

This begs the question: If the answer is so simple, why is it so darn hard to build a large and valuable list?

Here’s the slightly longer answer.

The advice is simple. The process is tricky

There’s some tricky stuff between you and that massively valuable list you want.

Finding something useful to share, on a regular basis, is tricky. Remember, if you just churn out the same stuff as others in your industry, you won’t attract subscribers or retain them. This means you’ll need to be willing to do some research. You’ll need to become a regular note-taker. A collector of ideas. It’s interesting work, but if you’re not already someone who studies and takes notes, it can take a while to transition.

Finding the time to create content is also tricky. You’re already busy, right? Developing content around all that interesting material you have, takes time. That time is easy to justify when you have a huge list. It’s harder to justify, when your hard work is being consumed by just a small number of people. You’ll need to push through the tumbleweed and crickets of the early stages. And I know from personal experience, that can be a real challenge. I explain why here.

Summoning the courage to publish your stuff is tricky. Why? Because if you do it right, you’ll attract critics. Someone once told me that we have a choice to make. We can either be criticized or be ignored. If we’re being ignored, we’re invisible. That’s not good for any business.

The alternative is to not only expect criticism, but to welcome it as a positive sign that we’re no longer being ignored. Don’t set out to attract critics. Set out to be useful and worthy of attention. But see criticism as an inevitable part of becoming visible and successful.

Note: Here’s why people criticize you and how to deal with it.

Once you know what’s involved, building a valuable list is pretty easy.

And the rewards are huge

Picture this: Just imagine what a difference it would make to your business, if you were in regular contact with thousands of prospective customers. Not via advertising, which is usually seen as an unwelcome interruption. But via a subscription to your content, which people proactively requested because they WANT to hear from you. It’s almost impossible to overstate just how valuable your subscribers are.

The opportunity is amazing. And it’s right in front of you. Right now.

Why lists dominate marketing. And why you really should use them

May 12, 2020 by Jim Connolly

Photo: Shutterstock.

Ever wondered why so many articles, blog posts, videos and newsletters are based around the idea of a list?

Yes, you’re right. It’s because they’re extremely popular. People love them. And it’s easy to see why.

Lists promise lots of ideas. And fast!

List-based content promises a number of bite-sized ideas or suggestions. And quickly! So when we see “15 Things you really should be doing right now. Yes you. Yes now!“, we’re not expecting an in-depth examination of 15 urgent commercial activities.

No.

We’re expecting ideas. And we hope that at least one of those ideas will help us in some way. If it does, it will repay the 3 or 4 minutes we invested in reading it.

This begs the question my friend: Does your marketing mix contain list-based content?

If not, I suggest you give it a try. Lists are perfect for sharing, which makes them ideal if you want to expand your reach on social networks. New readers who discover your work through list content, will then get the chance to see your more detailed work. Others will follow you on the social networks, where they see your lists shared. Almost all of my most shared blog posts are lists.

Lists can also be very powerful, when it comes to increasing your email marketing open rates. Email marketing that has a list in the subject line, can result in massively increased open rates.

Here’s why.

Most small business owners are not expert copywriters. As such, the subject lines they use for their email marketing tend to under-perform. And poorly written subject lines result in low open rates. This means no matter how good their marketing message is, very few people will see it.

Using an average list title as the subject line of a marketing email, will always, always out-perform an average, regular subject line.

So, should you focus exclusively on lists?

No.

No you shouldn’t.

Seriously.

Don’t!

Allow me to explain.

True, there are YouTubers making a fortune from creating only list-based videos. And yes, there are sites that attract millions of page views, who rely very heavily on list-based content. The business model behind both of these examples is primarily advertising. If your business sells ads, keep churning out the lists.

However, for every other kind of business, relying exclusively on lists is a bad idea. And they should be used sparingly.

For example, I could have written this post as a list.

It would have taken me a lot less time to write.
It would have been shared a lot more on social networks.
And the email version of the post would have been opened by a lot more people.

However, I wanted to dig a little deeper into one thing… the marketing effectiveness of lists. I didn’t want to weaken that focus with “10 Reasons why lists dominate the internet”.

Going a little deeper

Sometimes, you need to offer more substance around one subject. Other times, an issue could be impacting your readers and you need to address it. And there are times when you want to share one really useful idea, which wouldn’t work if you broke it down into a list of sub-ideas.

In short, the surface-level approach that makes lists so popular, renders them ineffective for anything that requires depth.

So mix it up.

If you haven’t already used list-based blog posts, articles, videos, podcasts or newsletters, give it a go. Experiment. Test different types of list. Measure the feedback. Check things (metrics) including; sales, client enquiries, open rates, social shares and new subscribers, etc.

Because you could be missing out on a huge opportunity.

Agility is the new growth

May 6, 2020 by Jim Connolly

Photo: Shutterstock.

Since the start of the pandemic, I’ve written a lot about the need for business owners to adopt agile thinking. So it may come as a surprise that the title of today’s post is taken from Matthieu Pellerin, the founder and head of Google’s Growth Lab.

Pellerin wrote a very interesting post yesterday, Inside Google Marketing: Agility is the new growth. In it, he generously shares what he’s seeing, regarding changes required when marketing during the coronavirus pandemic. I found the following quote especially interesting:

“Our raison d’être continues to be driving responsible and sustainable growth, but we’re now operating under a new mantra of ‘organisational agility’.”

Whilst his post focuses on what his team at Google are doing, there’s clearly a core message we can all benefit from.

The needs, wants and situation of your clients and prospective clients is changing rapidly. In some cases, daily. Your marketing messaging needs to be just as agile, if you want to be as useful, valuable and relevant to them as possible. This includes your email marketing, website content, blog posts, social networking updates and vlogging, etc.

You simply cannot expect a pre-pandemic marketing message to strike the correct tone. Pellerin gives an example of just how important he believes it is, to get agile and move fast:

“We readjust these plans regularly and continue to switch resources as needed. Our key product priorities are shifting at lightning speed”.

Next steps

If, like many people reading this, you’re getting fewer sales or new client enquiries, check the messaging you’re using. If it fails to address the new and evolving priorities of your marketplace, it will also fail to deliver the results you need.

Whenever possible, hire a professional marketing copywriter to create compelling, relevant content for you. If that’s not within your budget, do something yourself. And in either case, review the message at least every 7 days. Sooner if it isn’t generating the results you need.

Yes, this means spending more time on your marketing. However, an agile situation demands an equally agile response.

Front of mind?

April 11, 2020 by Jim Connolly

Photo: Shutterstock.

Over the past few weeks, many of the people and brands that were front of mind, have now been replaced. The coronavirus is changing everything and we’re seeing different brands respond very differently with their marketing.

Allow me to explain.

What does “Front of mind” mean?

You may or may not have heard the term front of mind before. It’s generally used to describe the first person or brand that comes to mind, when someone thinks about a topic. For example, if I ask you to give me the name of a social network and you reply with “Facebook”, then Facebook is currently front of mind for you.

One of your key marketing tasks as a business owner, is to occupy the front of mind position in your marketplace. When they need whatever you provide or need help from someone in your industry, your name needs to pop into their mind first. If they think of 2 or 3 competitors before you, you’re way less likely to get an enquiry.

The way businesses are responding to coronavirus fits into one of the following three groups. It explains why the front of mind position has changed in so many instances.

1. Some have carried on as if nothing has happened

They’re unsure what to do, so they just do what they’ve always done. This makes them utterly irrelevant to the new needs and wants of their marketplace. They are quickly slipping from the mind of their existing clients, let alone those who would have been their future clients.

2. Some have made an announcement about the coronavirus, then gone quiet

This group saw other providers making a statement about COVID-19, so did the same. They then reverted back as if it’s business as usual, like those in the previous group. And they too are now fast fading from the memory of their marketplace.

3. Some have adapted to the challenges of the coronavirus

This group has increased the relevance and frequency of their marketing activity. They’re looking at the new needs and new wants of their marketplace and adapting accordingly.

It includes the largest of corporations and the smallest of small businesses.

Coca Cola is now using their Twitter account exclusively to share coronavirus advice and promote charities, to over 3 million followers.
I live in a small, rural village and our 1-man Taxi service now delivers shopping, hot food, medicines and other supplies to high-risk people who are in self-isolation.
In the marketplace they serve, these 2 very different businesses are front of mind.

Businesses in this group are also seeking out ways to proactively connect with, and be helpful to, the community they serve. They’re using social networks, newsletters, blogs, vlogs or podcasts etc., to share useful, relevant information and are thriving as a result.

And they’re front of mind!

We can’t all be medical professionals, working with dedication in the hardest of conditions. We can’t all be scientists working around the clock to develop vaccines and treatments. We can’t all be police officers, firefighters, military, care assistants, hospital cleaners, etc., doing essential front-line work.

However, each of us gets to choose which of those 3 groups we are in.

Businesses in that 3rd group are seeing a human tragedy unfold and have chosen to chip in and help the communities they serve. They’ve decided to be useful, by adapting to the very new needs and wants of their marketplace. They’re helping to keep their local and national economies moving. They’re also the new front of mind people and businesses.

And if we’re not already doing so, we can choose to join them.

Frequency

January 15, 2020 by Jim Connolly

Photo: Shutterstock.

Here’s a quick idea, to help you attract the attention of prospective clients AND motivate them to hire you and recommend you. It’s all about one word. Frequency.

Allow me to explain.

I was prompted to write this after 2 emails I received.

The first was from a long time reader (Sophie). Sophie got in touch to find out why I hadn’t published quite as many posts recently.
The second email was from a former reader. He emailed to say he’d unsubscribed from the blog, because I publish too often.

Here’s what this has to do with growing your business.

Frequency

Clearly, I’ll never be able to keep everyone happy with the frequency of my posts. For some it will be too little and for others, it will be too much. If I keep Sophie happy, I lose Rick. If I keep Rick happy, I lose Sophie.

So, here’s what I do.

Rather than try and get the frequency right for everyone, I use a different kind of frequency. A frequency that works. Every. Single. Time!

More importantly, it’s the kind of frequency, which YOU can use to attract more clients or customers and build your business.

The other type of frequency

There’s another kind of frequency. The kind radios use. If you tune your radio into the same frequency as a radio station, you receive their signal. You’re (literally) on the same wavelength as them.

When you’re on the same wavelength as your marketplace, you’re in harmony with them. And they’re in harmony with you. Sophie and I are on the same wavelength. If you’re a long time reader, you and I are on the same wavelength, too.

In short: I write for you and Sophie.

Now, that won’t be the right frequency for everyone. But I don’t write for everyone. And there’s a very good reason why. It turns out you can’t keep everyone happy. And the harder you try, the weaker your signal becomes. Before you know it, no one’s on your wavelength.

Though I used the example of blogging for this post, the exact same strategy works for every kind of marketing.

Supercharge your marketing

If your marketing isn’t resonating with your marketplace, it’s entirely possible your signal is too weak. This happens when you try to be relevant to as many people as possible.

By being vaguely relevant to as many people as possible, you become directly relevant to no one. And it’s only directly relevant marketing messages that motivate people to take action.

So pick a frequency. Shun the masses. Embrace the community you wish to serve. Focus on them, their needs and their wants. Be generous. And be generous as often as you can.

Pretty soon, you will have a community of people on your wavelength.

People who will value what you do.
People who will miss you when you’re not there.
People who will hire you.
People who will recommend you.
People who will talk about you.

Just imagine how valuable that would be for your business in 2020.

How to protect your business from damaging advice

January 8, 2020 by Jim Connolly

Photo: Shutterstock.

In life there are certain people who you absolutely need to avoid. The same is true in business.

Some are easy to spot

The web designer whose website is a piece of crap.
The marketing expert, who embarrassingly needs to attend networking groups because their own marketing doesn’t work.
The business guru who claims to be in high demand, yet offers free consultations.
The copywriter whose content is poorly-written and lacks impact.
The leadership expert who’s just like all the other leadership experts. (Think about that for a moment).

Others are trickier to spot

The social media guru, who used tricks to attract half a million followers.
The accountant who understands numbers, but can’t clearly explain what they mean to their client’s business.
The strategist whose own strategy is failing.
The business development coach who has never built a successful business of their own.

Protect your business from bad advice

The personal recommendation of a trusted friend is usually the least risky way to find an expert provider. Just make sure the friend has recent, first-hand experience of the quality of the provider’s work.

Another option is to find someone, whose work you’re already familiar with. For example, if you subscribe to a provider’s Podcast, YouTube channel, blog or newsletter and they regularly share useful information, they’re giving you some powerful clues.

The fact they have turned up consistently, demonstrates a degree of reliability. This is especially the case if they have many years worth of material available.
You get to experience first hand, how knowledgeable they are from the quality of information they provide.
In addition, you’ll know in advance if they share information with the clarity you need.
You also gain an insight into their personality, which can help you determine if they’re the kind of person you work best with.

With an attractive looking website and some testimonials, anyone can claim to be an expert at anything. And that’s why we, as business owners, need to look deeper. Because the cost of hiring a bad business provider is far, far higher than their fee.