Social media marketing Archives - Page 14 of 60

Are you making a noise or making a difference?

By Jim Connolly | March 27, 2017

All marketing fits into one of the following two groups. It’s either making a noise or it’s making a difference.

Here are examples of both and how they impact your marketing results. You’ll identify them instantly.

Making a noise

Most marketing is noise. Irritating attempts to grab our attention.

Spam emails.
Cold calls.
Banner advertising.
Pre-roll videos.
Junk mail.
Social network spam, etc.

Those tactics are unwelcome. They don’t command our attention. They selfishly demand our attention.

What do we do? We block them!

We either use software to block them or we mentally block them. But we block them.

This means business owners using those pestering tactics, are seeing worse and worse results. So they then spend even more time and money, to push their message ever harder. And even more people learn to block them. That’s why there’s so much noise out there.

Here’s a much better alternative.

Making a difference

We pay attention to the marketing that makes a difference. It doesn’t demand our attention. It commands our attention. It stands out for all the right reasons.

Valuable tips and ideas from a YouTube channel, podcast, blog or newsletter we subscribe to.
Useful updates from our service providers.
Trusted recommendations from our friends.
Targeted, valuable offers from vendors we trust, who know what we enjoy.
Eagerly anticipated communications from groups we’re members of.
Amazing service, which motivates us to return to a vendor again and again.

These tactics make a positive difference. So we value them. We pay attention because they’re useful. They don’t even feel like marketing. They’re focused on helping us rather than pestering us.

The big question is…

Which group are you in?

We know the good intentions behind our marketing. We know we’re professional and that people would love us, if only they knew how great our service is. So when we add them to our email list or call them at work when they’re busy – we think that it’s okay.

But it isn’t. The same rules apply to us. If it’s unwanted, it’s noise and if it’s noise, it’s working against us.

Everything you do to market your business is either training the marketplace to ignore you or training them to embrace you. It’s working against your business or working for your business.

So whenever possible, instead of making a noise, make a difference. And it’s always possible to make a difference.

3 Proven ways to attract massively more customers

By Jim Connolly | March 4, 2017

If you want to attract far more sales leads or client enquiries than ever before, today’s message is for you.

I’m going to share the 3 main reasons why sales leads dry up. More importantly, I’m going to give you some ideas, tips and recommendations on how to put things right.

So, let’s get March 2017 off to a flying start.

How to open the floodgates

When sales or client enquiries slow down, there’s always a reason. This is good news. Because once you identify the reason and put things right, the sales and enquiries come flooding in.

Since starting my marketing business in 1995, I have seen the same 3 causes of this problem repeated over and over again. Here they are, along with some ideas on how to open the floodgates!

1. The marketing message you’re using isn’t good enough

In which case, you need to create a more motivating message. You need to start by making sure your service is as valuable as possible. Then communicate that value to your marketplace with crystal clarity.

Tip: I want to help you avoid a common mistake here. Spend some time reviewing the guarantees, promises and range of services offered by your competitors.

Why?

Because without knowing what you are competing against, you don’t know how compelling your guarantees, promises and range of services are to a prospective client.

It’s possible that competitors have copied your U.S.P. Or perhaps something that was rare or unique when you first offered it, is now commonplace.

It’s also possible that competitors have “upped their game” and you need to improve your service accordingly, to regain a competitive advantage.

You need to know. Then you can adjust and stand out from the crowd again.

Tip: A cornerstone of successful marketing, is to have expertly written, motivating copy. It’s not enough to offer an outstanding service, if you’re failing to get that message across powerfully. You need marketing messages, which inspires people to buy from you or compels them to hire you.

Relax. You don’t have to do a thing with this one. I can do it all for you.

2. The message is fine, but you’re not reaching enough new prospective customers with it

In which case, you need to find a more effective way to reach them. The best advice I can give you when it comes to reaching your prospective clients is this: Be where their attention is.

What do they read?
Where do they go?
Who do they listen to?
What do they watch?
Whose tribe are they members of?

Find out. Then look for opportunities to reach out and connect with them.

For instance, I built the initial readership of Jim’s Marketing Blog from a newsletter I’d started back in 1998. However, after switching to blogging in 2008, I got my NEW readers from outreach on Twitter. Back then, Twitter had a massive and active community of small business owners – the exact market for my services.

I connected with small business owners on Twitter, then placed useful information on my blog, which I shared on Twitter. It worked. By being where their attention was (Twitter), I was able to build a large blog readership, which has generated regular client enquiries ever since.

Important: Today, Twitter is far less effective as an outreach tool. You’ll get much better results from a Facebook Page, Instagram or Linkedin.

I share lots of tips and ideas, which don’t appear on my blog, over on my Facebook Page. Join me!

Then there’s frequency.

Frequency is extremely important, if you want to reach a growing number of new, prospective customers. You need to make sure you’re getting your message out there often enough.

For example, if you publish blog posts or newsletters, make sure you’re publishing them regularly. If you want to get more leads from your blog, start publishing useful posts at least a couple of times a week. If you use newsletters to reach prospective clients, publish something useful every 10 to 14 days.

Don’t expect an infrequently updated blog or occasional newsletter to be a frequent driver of new sales or client enquiries. Regular contact with your marketplace allows you to be “front of mind”. This is marketing-speak for being the first person or provider they think of.

That’s exactly where you need to be.

Here’s more information on how to be where their attention is.

3. Your clients, former clients and contacts are not sending you enough referrals

In which case, you need to find out why. The answer is almost always connected to the customer experience you provide. Allow me to explain.

A remarkable customer experience gives people a story worth sharing. It gets them talking about you.

Here’s the good news: It’s never been easier for people to recommend you. Plus, their reach has never been larger. There are currently almost 2 billion people on Facebook alone. These people are actively looking for interesting stories (or experiences) to share with their friends.

Our job as business owners, is to provide those share-worthy experiences. They already have the sharing tools. What they need from us is the story! Need help?

Moving forward

If you improve in those 3 key areas, it will transform your business. It has to.

The key is to get moving.

To take action.

So please, don’t just find these ideas interesting. Use them.

Are you using the right kind of marketing for your business?

By Jim Connolly | February 2, 2017

immediate Marketing results, fast marketing results

Many small business owners make the mistake of using the wrong type of marketing for their business.

For example, did you know there is a huge difference between Internet marketing sites and marketing sites? Well, there is. If you’re using ideas from the wrong type of site, you’re wasting your time and your money. As you will see from an example I am about to share, if you get it wrong it will seriously damage your business too.

First, here’s what you need to know about these VERY different types of marketing site.

Internet marketing sites

Internet marketing sites focus on how to make money online and have well-known Internet marketing gurus behind them. Here’s how to spot them: They mainly sell (and show you how to sell), software, online marketing courses, digital products, etc. The BIG get rich quick product right now is online courses.

They usually market their products to you… AND show you how to make money, doing what they do. That’s why there are so many of these sites out there. They are intended for people who want to sell low priced, Internet only products or services.

Marketing sites

Marketing sites, including Jim’s Marketing Blog, are a lot less common. They focus on ideas to help you increase sales and grow a successful business. Most, like my own, don’t cover affiliate marketing or make money online products or services at all.

The wrong type of marketing for an accountant

I was prompted to write about this, after being emailed by a new reader. She’s an accountant, who started her business just over a year ago. She contacted me after a marketing consultant identified why her marketing wasn’t working. She wanted me to share her experience with you, to stop others from making the same expensive mistake.

Here’s an excerpt from her email, published with her permission:

“I read a ton of big name marketing blogs and did what they said; at least the things that seemed to make sense to me. Anyhow I invested over $2000 on a bunch of marketing software, on-line courses and forum memberships. None worked for me. Finally I instructed a local marketing guy to get expert help. He took a look at my website and emails and said “woah!!”
[…] He explained that I had been marketing my service like some nasty affiliate product!!”

She ended up with a site that’s hurting her business and damaging her professional reputation. I took a look at her site and here’s what I saw:

Blog comments from affiliate marketers, using SEO loaded keywords instead of their names.
Nasty looking ads for 2 affiliate products.
Sensationalist blog post headlines, designed to attract drive-by readers.
Pinch pages, to sell her services.
An automated Twitter account, which she told me is part of a Twitter resharing network.

All in all, she had wasted thousands and done nothing more than make her site look cheap. She’s now in the process of unpicking a year’s worth of damage to her reputation and her business.

Use the right type of marketing for your business

The type of marketing used to sell cheap software, get rich online crap or affiliate products, is totally different from the kind of marketing required to sell your services. The level of trust required to hire a coach, accountant, lawyer, designer, therapist or consultant is huge.

When a service provider wants to attract new, high quality clients, the make money online approach to marketing is not only ineffective, it’s toxic.

Match the marketing you use, to the type of business you want. Unless you sell Internet marketing products or affiliate products, think twice before using ideas from Internet marketing sites.